Spectrum Internet has been the only option in the South Bend area for high-speed internet for a decade.
Spectrum internet is incredibly frustrating. It’s slow, the customer service team hardly helps at all, and it can be hard to figure out precisely what services they’re even providing. Spectrum is a cable company that doesn’t offer cable service.
If you want cable, you have to get it from them, but they don’t give you cable channels. If you want a DVR from them, you have to pay extra just for that privilege.
Why Is Spectrum Internet So Bad?
Spectrum Internet is overpriced and underperforming compared to other providers in the area. The internet is highly unreliable and slow.
What’s more, when you call Spectrum customer service, it feels like you’re being held hostage by a cable company.
They have all of their customers on contracts, so they know you won’t leave if the service is terrible because it’s much harder to switch providers without paying hefty fees.
What Exactly Is Spectrum?
Spectrum Internet is a new internet service that provides customers with a faster, more reliable internet experience. In the United States, Spectrum Internet is one of the most popular internet providers.
Spectrum Internet is the only Internet plan that includes all the benefits of HD TV for free, including up to 200 all-digital channels, HD On Demand, and interactive features like program guides and Picture-In-Picture.
Plus, you get up to 120 MBPS download speeds! A lot of people may not know what spectrum internet is because it’s a relatively new concept.
Spectrum Internet also called “the intelligent broadband network”, is cable internet that uses the same cable lines as TV and phone services to transmit data.
The best way to explain Spectrum internet is with an example. Imagine you are on your laptop, and you want to watch a heavy video on graphics or action scenes.
This type of video might require more bandwidth than what the average internet connection can provide.
When this happens, Spectrum Internet will automatically give you access to the necessary amount of bandwidth needed for the task at hand.
It does this by adjusting your speed not to interrupt other things you do online or slow down your experience.
Due to its dependable service and affordability, Spectrum Internet has grown into a billion-dollar company with about 7 million subscribers in just fifteen years. This shows how excellent their service is for their clients.
Spectrum Internet is available in all 50 states and offers several plans with different speeds for each one. New York is one of their most popular locations due to how many people are concentrated.
The average cost of cable internet service per month is $100, whereas the average monthly charge of Spectrum Internet is only $45.
Spectrum can be found in 41 states. They are not your average cable provider.
They are the second-biggest cable company in the country after Comcast, just behind Charter Communications.
Spectrum-Time Warner Cable was created when Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable for $79 billion in May 2016.
The merger brought together two of the biggest telecommunications companies in the U.S., creating a new force to compete with big players like Verizon and AT&T.
Nearly all of the customers who use Spectrum’s service are delighted with it. Their overall rating is a whopping five out of five stars.
However, there seems to be a significant drop-off in customers who have used this service for a while and stick around. A lot of people don’t stick around too long with this provider.
If you can get past an initial month or two, your chances of keeping a customer increase dramatically.
The Issue With Spectrum Internet
There are significant issues that Spectrum Internet customers have been facing over the past few months.
These are all common problems that people have reported when dealing with Spectrum Internet.
These complaints have been so consistent over time that many people have come to view this company as one of the worst in America for internet services.
The lack of upload speed
The Issue with Spectrum Internet is that their internet service is generally slower than other cable internet providers.
If you’ve got a wireless network, you’re probably familiar with the problem of spectrum internet. Y
our clients can access your network easily in one part of the building, but the range is significantly reduced in another.
Lack of clarity on specific channels
Spectrum has two different services that they offer; one is called “Spectrum”, and the other is called “Charter Spectrum.”
The issue with Charter Spectrum is that they are not related in any way to Time Warner Cable or Charter Communications.
They are a completely separate company that purchased some of Time Warner Cable programs.
Their billing system
Spectrum has been known to have problems charging customers for speeds that are not delivered or slow down the customer’s connection.
Lag on some games
The issue with the new generation of internet, i.e., 4G LTE, is that it can’t give you consistent download speeds.
The connection speed keeps fluctuating depending on the number of people using the network at any given time, so no one can guarantee you a minimum rate when connected to this type of high-speed internet.
It’s not a good option for those who want to watch videos or stream videos from Netflix or YouTube, as their streaming quality will be affected by the fluctuations in your connection speed.
It’s unreliable
The data speeds provided by Spectrum are slow and inconsistent. Spectrum Internet offers internet connections with several different speed options, ranging from 50 Mbps to 400 Mbps.
However, even at its fastest connection speed, users are experiencing widespread problems connecting to the internet.
While Spectrum claims to offer a “blazing-fast WIFI network”, most users experience serious connectivity issues when using the WIFI on their devices in their homes.
They have the worst customer support
Customers often complain about poor customer support when dealing with Spectrum representatives on social media or live chats because problems take weeks or months to resolve.
What Is The Solution To This Problem?
The FCC has been concerned with Spectrum for a while now. The problem is that there is too much demand for the available range and not enough supply.
Some of the solutions to Spectrum problems include:
- The answer to the spectrum internet problem will be to create new wireless networks, which can take advantage of unused frequencies to provide better service for everyone.
These new networks are called cognitive radio networks, or CRNs. They have been shown to increase bandwidth capacity by as much as 1000x compared with traditional wireless technologies.
- One solution to this problem is implementing an Unifi system from Ubiquiti Networks. their products solve the spectrum internet problem and increase Wi-Fi coverage.
- Spectrum internet is delivered over the same wires that provide TV and phone service, meaning your internet connection can degrade or be interrupted by things like phone calls.
The solution is to use a different wire for your Internet service, where fiber comes in. Spectrum offers fiber-to-the-home service using Fiber Optic cables to provide blazing fast Internet speeds that are not affected by other household activities.
What Are The Alternatives For Better Internet Service?
The main reason why Spectrum is so much faster than other internet services is that it doesn’t use copper lines or DSL technology. Instead, it uses fiber optic cables that deliver data at incredible speeds.
However, this technology is expensive and not available everywhere—which is why there are alternatives.
- There is now an option available called Fixed Wireless Internet, which can provide a fast and reliable internet connection without dealing with all the issues from Spectrum.
- DSL Internet service also offers high speeds at a low price. The downside is that it tends to have slower upload speeds than other alternatives on the market. It’s not ideal for uploading photos or videos, but it works well for streaming and downloading media files.
- Satellite Internet services are also available in most areas of the country,
Satellite internet connects to a satellite dish that receives signals from satellites in space that then transmit the signal through a modem to your computer or tablet.
4.The other alternative is WiMAX.
This is another type of wireless broadband that uses 3G/4G data networks similar to cell phone plans but much faster when connecting with a Wi-Fi device such as a laptop or smartphone.
Spectrum internet is excellent for home but not outside the house. WiMAX gets around the same speeds as Spectrum would but does so over a different network.
Conclusion
With the internet being a necessity, Spectrum is the only choice for many people in the United States; however, that doesn’t mean it’s good.
Spectrum internet can be highly unreliable, especially if other people in your area are also using it. To avoid the frustration of slow internet or even no internet at all, you may want to consider switching to an alternative service provider.
