How Much Speed Do You Need?

Kosciusko Connect offers three different lightning-fast, residential fiber internet plans. The Surfer plan provides 100 Mbps, the Streamer plan 500 Mbps, and the Speed Pro plan 1,000 Mbps. There are different factors to consider when it comes to choosing the right plan for your household. How much speed do you need? We talked with Haley Donahue, Kosciusko Connect Customer Engagement Specialist, to find out what new and existing customers should consider when it comes to choosing or upgrading a fiber internet plan.

Q: What are the key factors that customers should consider when determining their internet speed needs?

A: Key factors could be: Are you streaming? Do you have or want a security system? Do you have any gamers in the home? There are more variables that have influence when we’re placing someone in a package. However, those are the most common variables and the types of activities that take the most bandwidth.

Q: When is the Surfer plan typically sufficient for a household?

A: If you are not streaming, or you are only streaming one TV every now and then, the Surfer plan should work for you.

Q: In what situations would customers benefit from upgrading to the Streamer plan?

A: Say they start out with the Surfer plan, and they start to see lag as they add devices like another TV, more gaming systems, or a security system. Or, if they start streaming and doing other things at the same time and notice lag on one of those devices. Then it is time to upgrade to the Streamer plan.

Q: What situation would make someone choose the Speed Pro plan over the Streamer plan?

A: A lot of households are choosing the Speed Pro plan when they sign up for our service and recently, we’ve also seen an increase in current customers upgrading to this plan. We often hear from subscribers who choose Speed Pro because they are working from home and uploading data to a cloud. If you’re using your home network to upload or download a significant amount of data, then that would be one example of when the Speed Pro plan would be needed because the upload speeds are twice as much.

Then of course, there are the gamers. Gaming is huge and anyone who is a serious gamer wants our Speed Pro plan. The lower latency, symmetrical download and upload speeds, and higher ping rate make the Speed Pro plan a no-brainer for online gamers.

Q: Could you share some real-life examples of how different speed plans have made a difference in customers’ daily internet usage?

A: We have a co-worker who started off with Surfer plan and didn’t think she’d need anything more. She had previously been with a competitor and had less than 10 Mbps. However, when she got our good fiber internet, her son got a PC. She also started going to school, so she is doing schoolwork online and learning from professors on Zoom calls. That takes up bandwidth. So, you start to add things because you think, “Hey, I’ve got good internet now!” But as you add devices, the quicker the bandwidth is going to get eaten. She upgraded to the Streamer plan and things have been working much better for her.

Q: Are there any common misconceptions customers have when it comes to internet speed?

A: Along the same lines, I think new customers assume the Surfer plan will automatically work for them long-term. But then they realize that the bandwidth does get eaten up a lot quicker than expected as they add devices. Many customers have no idea what bandwidth really is and that’s ok. There are different ways we like to describe or simplify it.

One way to think of it is that your internet connection is like a water pipe in your home. The pipe itself is the bandwidth. The water running through is the data. The larger that pipe is, the more data that can be transferred per second. The speed of the water is like the internet speed. The data can download or upload quickly. But, without a proper sized pipe, it can get backed up in the system.

Q: Are there any tools or resources that Kosciusko Connect provides to help customers estimate their speed requirements?

A: When new customers place an order online, our website lists all the packages and options available. The fiber internet plans have a description indicating the kind of use appropriate for that plan. We often recommend the Streamer plan because it is 4 times more speed than the Surfer plan for only $15 more per month and it best suits most of our subscribers’ internet needs. But again, we see more and more subscribers opting for the Speed Pro plan as it’s a great value and there is no question that it will provide the entire household with more than enough bandwidth for their various online activities.

If you still have questions about which internet plan is right for you, please call us at 574-269-0327. Our team will be happy to assist you!

You might enjoy these previous blog articles:

Five Signs You Need Better Internet

How Does Fiber Internet Work?

How to Manage Your Own Home Network