Do you have fast Internet? Do you have great Wi-Fi?

January 31, 2022

Do you have fast Internet? Do you have great Wifi?

It can be challenging to buy something that doesn’t need the Internet to make it work, including TVs, gaming devices, cameras, appliances, and exercise equipment to name a few. So, what does your home need to ensure you can make these devices work and function at their optimal performance?

The two biggest factors impacting your Internet-connected devices and how enjoyable your experience is include: 1) how fast your Internet connection is; and 2) how good your wifi is throughout your entire home.

Why Internet Speed Matters

The amount of Internet speed (also known as bandwidth) is a set speed depending on what your home subscribes to. If you are using more bandwidth than what you are subscribed to, you will experience buffering or appearances that your Internet is not working at all. When you don’t have enough bandwidth, at times devices fight each other and lock up or appear to quit, which then causes user frustration! The number of Internet-connected devices in homes today has generally led to a need for faster Internet. Pair that up with how information is now delivered, and you are looking at even more bandwidth usage! If you notice, companies have gotten very clever at implementing video in everything they deliver to you over the Internet. Humans are more attracted to video than reading articles (like this), which means there’s a greater chance the video will catch your attention. Videos use constant and much more Internet bandwidth than reading an article with just text.

Why Wi-Fi Coverage Matters

The second factor that affects your Internet experience is your Wi-Fi connection or coverage. Long gone are the days where you have 1 desktop computer plugged into the router and that’s your only device connected to the Internet. Today, most homes don’t even have a device connected via hardwire and utilize the Internet all through wireless connections. Routers and the wireless coverage they provide continue to improve. If your router does not have AC or AX (Wifi 6) technology, you really need to look at upgrading your equipment. Outdated routers that are not supported or don’t have the latest security patches can open your home up to cyber vulnerabilities as well.

How to get the Best Wi-Fi Experience

Sometimes a router isn’t enough to cover your entire home or business. If you have cameras on the outside of your home, or TVs, laptops, and other connected devices in the outer rooms or far away from your router that don’t seem to function properly or are always buffering, it might be time for an access point. An access point can help broadcast wifi coverage out further, reaching areas that your router can’t.

If you have an old router or would like to extend your wifi coverage further, GBT has a great solution in our Managed Protection offering which includes Wifi 6 technology, automatic security updates, and the ability to add additional access points, increasing your wifi coverage. Contact GBT and we will help you get the best user experience for your Internet-connected devices!

The Fiber Road Less Traveled – GBT’s 600-Mile Fiber Quest in Rural Kansas

Community, Internet

If you drove from Kansas City to Denver, it would take you almost 9 hours and a little over 600 miles to get there. Now what does this distance have to do with GBT? That’s the approximate amount of fiber optic cabling, 600 miles, that GBT is installing to homes and businesses in our Rural Part of Kansas, just in 2023! Fiber optics is hard to visualize because it’s just a small piece of glass the size of a human hair, but if we stay on the roads theme, GBT is essentially laying 600 miles of a 1,000-lane highway to 100s of rural residents so they have the same access to broadband and the world that many of us take for granted. As one resident who was recently connected to fiber Internet services conveyed to GBT, “For the first time since we have lived in the country, we now know what it’s like to have Internet that we can do anything we want with. We can watch streaming shows on our tv, my kids can do homework on their tablets, and my husband and I can browse or search the Internet all at the same time. It is amazing!” “For the first time since we have lived in the country, we now know what it’s like to have Internet that we can do anything we want with. We can watch streaming shows on our TV, my kids can do homework on their tablets, and my husband and I can browse or search the Internet all at the same time. It is amazing!” With 600 miles of fiber being buried in the ground, and hundreds of homes that need to be connected, planning, timing, and implementation is key. GBT understands everyone is excited and wants to be first to get fiber, and it is our goal to get fiber deployed as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of quality, safety, or reliability. When deploying fiber, many just see the final part of the process when GBT technicians install the fiber service inside the home, but few realize that staking, right-of-way permits, ordering and receiving of materials, main-line and drop-to-the-home construction, installation of central office electronics,...

Fiber is the name of the game

Community, Internet

[elfsight_social_share_buttons id="2"] APRIL 2022 | 2 MIN READ FIBER IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. As GBT continues to provide the best Internet and Communication services to residents and businesses in our area, GBT is very excited to announce the expansion of Fiber services in 2022 to the communities of St. John and Larned, as well as bringing Fiber to the rural customers in the Garfield, Burdett, and Bison exchanges. The 2022 rural exchange Fiber builds will begin in Garfield this summer, followed by Burdett, and finishing in Bison. St. John - Bringing an even BETTER user experience. GBT has been providing communication services to the community of St. John since 2008. GBT General Manager Beau Rebel stated, “With the continued growth and support GBT has seen in the community and the need for even faster Internet services than what we provide today, it was an easy decision to invest and upgrade our current infrastructure to a fully Fiber network within the entire city limits of St. John. We hope the community is excited to have access to Fiber services and understands the positive economic impacts Fiber can have with this upgrade.” GBT plans to start converting St. John customers to Fiber in the Summer of 2022. “It was an easy decision to invest and upgrade our current infrastructure to a fully Fiber network within the entire city limits of St. John. We hope the community is excited to have access to Fiber services and understands the positive economic impacts Fiber can have with this upgrade.” Larned - Filling a Fiber need. In Larned, GBT brought Fiber communication services to many of the businesses in 2018. The businesses that switched to GBT’s Fiber services have consistently voiced praise about GBT’s reliability, price, and the level of customer service they have received compared to what they had experienced from their previous communication provider. GBT General Manager commented, “As business customers have become familiar to GBT’s service, now the...

Is all Internet created the same?

Internet, Tech Tips

Is all Internet created the same? Do you know what type of technology GBT or your current Broadband provider uses to provide Internet to your home or business? Did you know there are about 6 different ways to provide Internet, and the type of technology used will greatly affect the capabilities and user experience your household can come to expect? GBT provides Internet to our customers via 4 methods. Read on as we briefly explain each of their capabilities and limitations. Internet provided via Fiber Optics Fiber optics today is the best type of technology to provide Internet service. Fiber is a buzzword for those that do not have it but also the most expensive way to provide service. Fiber is the best because it can deliver very fast synchronous download and upload speeds and is the most reliable. At GBT, we can provide up to 1000Mbps download by 1000Mbps upload to almost 95% of our Cooperative territory, including the rural areas. Fiber is also the best when it comes to latency, which is the time it takes to send information. When it comes to latency, the lower the number the better, and typically fiber can produce latency at 17 milliseconds (ms) or quicker. Fiber is typically a dedicated connection to every home or business and does not have its bandwidth shared between other subscribers within a service group. Internet provided via Coax or Coaxial Cable Coax cable, which at one time was mainly used to provide cable TV service, is a second way to provide Internet. Like fiber, coax connects to your house utilizing a physical cable that transports Internet from GBT’s facilities to each individual home. Like fiber, coax can provide fast download speeds up to 250Mbps on a GBT Internet connection, but it is somewhat limited on the upload speed to 25Mbps, and latency usually is the 50-60 millisecond range. Upload speed is used to send files to other people via the Internet and is also utilized when using applications like Facetime or Snapchat. Internet...

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