Internet
 

Besides Metrocast, what are my internet options in the Laconia area?

The Breeze
Wave,'cuz I'll be wavin' back

.....sit in mcdonalds parking lot?

.... a-top sunset hill
 

.... ditto that for the very sunny Meredith McDonald's parking lot..... a-top sunset hill with the 150,000-dollar view where I'm parked right now with my $150 Samsung lap top. No need to go inside the McDonald's.

It has an AT&T wifi that almost always works real good!

You own a house on the lake!

FairPoint DSL:

http://www.fairpoint.com/residential/internet/

We use it out on Welch as it is the only option out there. Low speed 1.6 Mbps out there but higher speed available on the mainland.

May be no better an option than Metrocast but depending on your specific address may be worth looking into.

...... and, talking about the Meredith McDonald's ....... their dollar menu is no longer a dollar menu......it's more like a 1.39-menu ...... and their reliable wifi makes the place a great quik stop!

........ say hey.....I'm over on the poor side of the lake.....barely able to pay my property taxes.....along with all the waterfront poor!

.........last quarterly tax bill.....I was a little short......so I pryed some shingles off the side of the house, and tried paying with these expensively assessed, real estate property.....you know.....shingles.....and town hall was not agreeable to accept!

.......... free wifi hits the spot for the waterfront poor!

Library
 

You can also try any of the libraries in the region. Even in the parking lot!

........yeah ......and the libraries have some real good bathrooms.....with real town water.....not untreated lake water, ......and hot water that is hot.....soap in the dispenser.....paper towels in the towel dispenser.....and a working lock on the door.....makes me feel like I at least get a real usable service for my $8500 property tax money.......plus the lib's free wifi!

Let us not forget the disaster that was the 4-mile long Meredith Neck Rd ....which was extremely overdue for a repaving job for about five years...... ye olde ka-bumpa-bumpa-bumpa-mega-pot holes Rd.....ye olde Meredith Neck Rd.....ka-bumpa!

Hey! I resemble that remark! Went away for the weekend and came back with it paved! Heck, they even repainted the lines on Eaton Ave :)

More on topic - I actually don't have much to complain about regarding my 50mbps Metrocast service, esp considering where we are out on the neck.

-jim

Let me withdraw and rephrase the question
 

While I do appreciate all the wise apple answers :laugh:.... I need some recommendations for home internet service in Laconia, who has the best service, speed, price and reliability ? Does Verizon service the area?

Thanks
The Breeze
Wave 'cuz I'll be wavin' back

I'm in Gilford and have Metrocast Ultra. It's been great and their customer service has been excellent. I have Fairpoint on the island only because I have no other choice. I would definitely stay clear of Fairpoint unless your really stuck. They are just awful to deal with...

Dan

Fairpoint is the only player on pine island...
 

Completely agree with Dan. I have Fairpoint DSL on the island, with a Verizon 4g LTE wi-fi link as a backup. Fairpoint has been miserable to deal with and the link speed varies quite a bit. The consistent and faster speed on Verizon was a draw, however they charge by gigabytes used... When i tested using Verizon full-time for a month, the usage costs were triple what the monthly cost of the Fairpoint link is... bummer!

If Verizon ever goes back to an unlimited usage model, I'm in!

Boating without ice in sight... PIG

I have Fairpoint DSL on an island location as well. Old technology (twisted pair wiring) and old infrastructure (cable from the 60s laying across bottom of lake) and the best I can get is 3-4 mbps. It works well most of the time for all of the web surfing and surprisingly well when I switched my TV to slingbox last year.

New Alternative Coming to Alton
 

from the Baysider

It would be great if they would come to Meredith to compete with Metrocast

Laconia area
 

Unfortunately Metrocast and 4G are the only game in town for high speed internet. Fairpoint has me on a list a decade ago that they will inform me when fibre optics service will be available in Laconia, otherwise you are stuck with DSL.

It took a decade for Metrocast to figure all the hiccups I have been having. Right now I am sitting at the damn excuse that the association has to upgrade the underground wires to the new digital wires. Association claims they are not responsible for underground utilities.

As for Fairpoint, a company rep did inform me that although Fibre optics are available for business in the commercial areas, fibre optics will not be available in residential areas and not even in the future. This contradict what Fairpoint advertised when they first bought the lines from Verizon.

Right now, I have a setup that when Metrocast is down or flaky, I can use my 4G LTE phone as a backup. The 4G network is surprisingly fast! Download speed may be a bit slow, I can't stream HD movies, but uploading photos and documents appears faster. An internet speed app proved my observation.

I no longer have a TV channels subscription. My 'smart Blu Ray' and my laptop connected to the TV provides all the news, shows etc. without the commercials and on my own time convenience. Verizon wireless has an app that allows me to have exclusive coverage of sports events. Who needs cable!

Why is it that my sister in NC can choose from a number of internet providers. Because of the competition she pays almost half what I am paying and a faster speed! My guess is that the cable company pays good money lobbying for exclusive rights in NH. No wonder the subscription prices are high!

Infrastucture cost
 

That is the simple answer. How much would it cost a new company to wire up all of Laconia, in identical places Metrocast is? If you think Metrocast is making a barrel of money, if a new company came in, and competed and drove the prices down to 1/2 what you pay now, then Metrocast would make 1/2 a barrel and this new company with all the new infrastructure costs would only make 1/2 a barrel too. Not very impressive to a new company for non guaranteed income with a large out front cost.

I have relatives in NC too, and the population density and non seasonality of the area makes a big difference in customers per square mile, which is how you divide up infrastructure cost.


Edit: Blaring mathematical error, my apologies. If the price halves, that is 1/2 a barrel, and if there is two companies sharing the 1/2 barrel, then there is 1/4 of a barrel for each company, assuming each one shares in 1/2 the customer base.