By Merri Ann Simonson
Managing Broker
Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands Inc
1-800-451-9054 Office
360-317-8668 Cell
Rock Island has been busy for the last 4 years installing the base structure for our fiber and other internet connection options throughout the County.
I decided to write this article as a layperson so that the options for our Internet service could be easily understood. I have purposefully not used acronyms and the technical terms. I hope that this article won’t make the technical persons in the industry LOL, too much. As a REALTOR, I can state that internet reliability is discussed as part of every real estate transaction. Islanders, as well as newcomers need to be connected and they desire their families to visit and, of course, the children and grandkids must have devices.
As I understand, there are several avenues for consumers to obtain Internet service in our County and they include the following:
• Dialup – Internet through the telephone line, which is very slow service. Basically obsolete.
• DSL – Internet through the Century Tel telephone line and the level of service depends on your distance from the central office; 0.5 to 2 megabits per second is typical, but they will sell you 10 which a few people on San Juan do receive. The service is inconsistent and
dependent on well-maintained copper lines and the most unfortunate event is you must work with Century Tel. Rock Island can also provide the DSL service using the Century Tel telephone line which is what I recommend, if DSL is your only option.
• Satellite Service – Internet through a satellite connection. The level of service can be up to 12 megabits but the delays in signal are
significant and high data costs are an issue.
• LTE from Rock Island. Rock Island partnered with T Mobile and now we have 39 cell sites in the County with 11 on San Juan. Service
speed is 10-25 megabits for $75 per month. They have a seasonal rate for this service for $49 if you don’t live here full time. For this
option, you do need line of site with one of the towers.
• Fiber Optic from Rock Island – Internet service with 30-1000 megabits per second; the gold standard. Reliable and scalable. $80-$180 per month based on the speed you select. They have seasonal rates for this service starting at $55.
To read this article in full visit, http:www.sanjuanislands.com/
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