How to lower your internet bill

(WSPA) – For most of us today, the Internet is a necessity, but what is not necessary is paying too much for your service.

This is because in the last few years, even months, a lot of competition has entered our market and that means better prices for you.

It’s time to buy

As an artist, Melinda Hoffman in Mauldin has a unique attention to detail. But he admits that when it came to his Spectrum Internet bill that started at $49.99, he overlooked many incremental price hikes over the years.

“I don’t think I was paying the $104, but for 4-5 months, but I think I was paying $89.99 and stuff like that for several years. And that’s annoying,” Hoffman said as he looked at his bill.

Internet service powered by cell towers

That’s when Hoffman learned that cell towers can provide reliable internet, especially if you don’t need a lot of bandwidth like streaming to multiple TVs or playing video games. So he looked at T-Mobile’s 5G Home, which connects to a nearby cell tower.

“T-Mobile came out at $50 a month, which I go, yeah, it’s going to be a promotion. Well, no, it’s not. And I just thought, well, I’ve just got to do this,” Hoffman said.

Kathy Mabry was fed up with her old-school $60-a-month, constantly-dropping AT&T DSL phone line.

“And you can imagine how frustrating that would be,” Mabry said.

So he reached out to 7NEWS Here to Help.

While Mabry’s home in Glendale is in an internet service desert, 7NEWS checked in and was able to show Mabry another option with AT&T called “Air,” a 5G service also powered by cell towers. cellular

“I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now. It’s $10 less a month and it hasn’t gone out once,” Mabry said.

Both women told 7NEWS their service is much more reliable as well as less expensive.

Know your need for speed

When choosing a service, keep in mind that speed, how quickly you can download and upload a file, and bandwidth, set the limit of data flowing through a wired or wireless medium, are important

5G Home options from companies like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T cost about $50 and give you 100 megabits per second (Mbps); enough to stream on one or two TVs while using your laptop and mobile.

Faster internet options

But if your home has many devices streaming at once, Spectrum Cable is your best bet, unless you live in an area with underground fiber optic lines, the fastest speed yet.

And along with AT&T fiber, there’s a new option called WOW! that’s more neighborhoods in the north of the state. Even its lowest tier has 5G-comparable speeds for just $30 a month.

New broadband labels can help

Benjamin Inman is the owner of How? Smart solutions. An upstate tech company that helps people with all things internet.

He says people should know exactly what they’re getting, and a new Federal Communications Commission rule is making that easier. It requires suppliers to provide customers with information sheets that look like food labels. They show things like speed and how long the service will last at that price.

Is your router too old?

Inman also knows the importance of making sure you have an optimal router.

“A lot of customers think that Internet and WIFI are the same thing. So they may be paying for Internet saying it’s not working, but it’s actually their Wi-Fi equipment that’s causing it to not work in their home,” Inman said.

An updated router can make all the difference.

Negotiation tips

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of switching providers, find out what other people living near you are paying.

• Then call your provider and ask to be put on “hold”
• Ask the representative for a rate reduction comparable to that of your neighbors or competitors
• If that doesn’t work, ask to be moved to a supervisor
• Some people have had luck asking again to be moved to another supervisor; persistence can pay off

One more option: Satellite

Of course, not all of us are lucky enough to have access to 5G, fiber or even cable.

Kelly Corl lives in a wooded area of ​​Simpsonville.

“Nobody could give me internet here, so I talked to Spectrum and they were going to charge me $46,000 to run a line to my house,” Corl said.

Then 6 months ago, Starlink made its service available to everyone anywhere, which brings us to one more option; satellite

Although Starlink is $120 a month, experts said its service is far superior to older satellite options like Hughsnet and Viastat.

“And it’s been amazing, it’s a game changer,” Corl said.