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I own an online business and in 2012, my wife and I moved from a large city where we had 20Mb Cable Internet to Hendersonville, NC. Not being too familiar with the area, we made the decision to rent.

Most will never understand what it is like to not have broadband as they haven't recently had to do without it.

As we looked for houses to rent, we had to make decisions based on internet connection. It was unfortunate to find out that DSL 6Mb is the fastest speed available in the area where we were looking.

We've been here for a year and would $100/month for faster internet but that is not an option. As we look for land and the possibility of buying a house, internet availability is the first thing we have to consider.

Even if someone gave us free land, if it did not have broadband, we would not build on it.

Prior to my own experience, my thought was for people to move. It's easy to have that mindset when you have your own fast connection.

Thanks for your efforts and keep at it.

-Steve

Our home is in a 4-5 year old development on Lake James. Frontier services the area on a very limited basis. Some homes in our development cannot obtain DSL at all. Most, like ours, is limited to about 1Mbps because of the distance to the central office. Frontier is not offering any plans for adding or upgrading equipment to better serve our community.

Morris Broadband cable service ends at the entrance to our development. Only 1 house in the entire community has cable. Morris Broadband has no plans for providing services to the rest of our community.

Please help us obtain quality broadband services around Lake James in McDowell County. Thank you.

We live on Old Linville Road in McDowell County and still use dialup. Frontier often sends offers for high-speed internet, but of course that offer is not available in our area (although their more expensive satellite service is). Perhaps moving might be the best option but who wants to buy a home in an area with such limitations?

We never really had much of a problem with our broadband, but all of a sudden we're lucky to have .50mbps download speeds. We're paying for 3mbps. This is our only broadband option which is via AT&T. Looked into that new Vistanet service but can't afford to pay $60 a month. Almost worth it to go back to dial-up.

We live off of 226 South on a road that had at least 13 houses. Local cable companys have never come out our road, so we thought we would call Frontier and to no avail they too would not come to our home. If you want phone lines they will. I don't want phone lines just better internet. I have been with Verizon wireless for at least six years and need something faster and something not so expensive. I live less than five miles from Marion and everyone can get cable and internet but us. HELP!

We have no high speed, no cell service, and many times no land line phone service. It amazes me that even in third world countries they can get high speed and cell service and here in the US we can't in many places. I took the test but can't be certain you got the results, so here they are- download 0.02, upload 0.04.

We live 1.5 miles from the line of the company that provides service in our area and they will come no further. We have to use satellite service which is very expensive. We would really like to have broad band accessibility.

I live on US Hwy 19W in the Burnsville area about 8 mi from TN border and have been here for 9 years. We have no access to DSL, cable, or anything but satellite. Satellite is not only expensive, but upload speeds are incredibly slow (actually both upload and download are slow, but upload is crawling)...this makes it difficult to be on the same playing field as others, especially when working from home and taking classes online (I am a graduate student depending on distance learning at times, which is interactive). The quality of phone lines out here is poor, so DSL is something that is only promised in the future and has been for 9 years. We were promised broadband several years ago through a local cable company (grant funded initiative), but that is something we still do not have access to and may never. It's hard to compete in a competive world when technology cannot be brought current. By the way, we pay the same for phone service for lines that crackle when it rains compared to someone in town who has better lines and access to DSL.

I live in Rutherford County between Lake Lure and Rutherfordton and have NO options for broadband. Please bring me some internet!

The only service available in my area is through Wild Blue, which I used in the past for about $80 a month. The customer service was through Dish Network and was terrible. The connection was down a lot and when I called, they said must be bad weather or that they just didn't know why. At the end we had not been able to connect for days and they were going to send someone out three weeks later. That was it for me with them.

Next we tried Frontier who delivered the equipment and began charging us with no problem but then had a problem with everything else. After weeks of scheduled service visits that they never made it to and running tests on their end that showed no problem they finally sent someone out who discovered we weren't in an area that could receive broadband service. So that was it with me for them also.

Now I use a wireless hotspot through Virgin Mobile. The one month plan is $50 and lasts no where near a month. I have never been able to watch videos with any of my plans because the speed is just too slow. I would like to take online classes or at least have Netflix but it isn't possible with these speeds at these prices.

Hello,
We are a wireless ISP running from Cashiers, NC and will be glad to service everybody located in the triangle Lake Toxaway - Highlands - Sylva (AFTER SITE SURVEY TO DETERMINE OPTIONS AT LOCATION). We offer plans starting from 1.5Mbps symmetric all the way up to 60Mbps in certain locations. Give us a call and inquire if you have a residence or business in the serviced area. 828-743-8006. Best of luck to everybody if you really need service. Please support your local Wireless Internet Service Providers wherever you are!
Regards,

I live in West Marion, where Frontier Telephone Co. and the cable company do not provide service to me. It ends approximately one mile from my house, but they will not bring access any closer to me. I tried satellite internet, but it only works when the weather cooperates. Sometimes you have service...sometimes you don't. I cancelled the satellite when I discovered that I could get service through Verizon with their JetPak, but it is quite expensive...10 gigabytes for $80/mo. If you go over any amount over 10 gigabytes, no matter how small the amount you go over 10, it costs an extra $10 for EACH gigabyte over 10 gigabytes. I am so tired of not having quality internet service. It is very frustrating.

We live on NC Highway 226A between Marion and Little Switzerland. This highway climbs a mountain and has sharp curves. According to the Verizon Wireless map our house gets a broadband signal from three different towers, but actually we only get a signal from one - the one near Marion. That signal is weak, so we put a large, expensive antenna in our attic to boost it. We feel lucky to get a signal at all, because most of our neighbors do not. As you drive up or down this highway your cell phone signal disappears entirely for long stretches, so broadband signals must do the same.The local phone company (Verizon, not Verizon Wireless) apparently has no plans to provide modern phone cables to the hundreds of residents along this highway. We cannot get a direct answer from the "customer service" reps because they don't have this info in India/Pakistan.

For the past 11 years I have put up with a frustrating dial-up connection. I live on the southern end of McDowell County and have tryed with every internet provider I can find and NO ONE will offer high speed in my area. My husband uses the internet to order supplies for his business and really needs the high speed offered in other nearby locations. Please help!

I live on Old Linville Road north of Marion. For a while years ago I tried dial up but was so frustrated I gave it up. I have been told by Verizon and Frontier that I am on the border line for service. I don't even own a computer now. Satellite is too expensive for me. Internet is a necessity. I feel like I'm living in the dark ages!

We live off Hwy 64 west, a Murphy NC address but about 18 miles west of town towards the Tennessee line. Have lived there 12 years. Our phone is AT&T. Our only access for high speed internet is satellite, and 'Exceed' is expensive ! I have family members who would consider coming to live on our property but can not because their jobs require the higher speed access. I am in medicine, and would love to have what my colleges in the city have when it comes to Internet access.

We use mobile "broadband." Verrryyy slow. Been waiting for faster option since 2006 when we moved to Marion. We're only 10 minutes from downtown where cable is available. I work mostly from home and it's a nightmare to try to download necessary forms, etc. for work. I keep getting notices in the mail from Frontier DSL but when I call they tell me it's not available for my area.

in certain roads in our area there is no broad band .I live off bethleham rd. off old fort sugar hill in old fort nc.

We moved to Nebo about 3 years ago. My husband was trying to work from home and we were told that we could get Verizon DSL. We not only could not get it, but we were unable to get a landline phone for over a year. Verizon had pulled out and Frontier was slow to take over service. We are in an area with poor to fair cell phone reception, and there were times when we had no phone service for weeks. We had the Verizon card for our internet service for 1 1/2 years and it was extremely slow. I think dial up would have been better. It is not suitable for video or uploading or transmittal of large files. After many calls to Frontier we were able to get their wireless DSL. It is terrible. We have an 2 Apple computers and our signal is so poor that our wireless connection has to be rebooted several times a day. Customer service is unsympathetic to the problem. They say there is something wrong with our computers. If we take our laptop to Marion or Asheville, we get great wireless service on our "defective" computer. Can we get some help out here please?

I live on highway 209 between Waynesville and Hot Springs right on the county line. I zoomed your service map in on my location and it is not correct. Maybe it is only in demo mode now and not fully updated for accuracy? The map says there is a wired broadband connection across the street from me. Not. Verizon once told me the same thing looking at their own map a couple years ago and I laughed at them. Now AT+T owns the phone line and because the line is damaged they have to come up once or twice a year to fix it when the static gets out of hand. I always ask the linemen, when are you going to run a new phone line up here? When are you going to run high speed internet up here. They just say it's not going to happen.

When they won't even bother to replace a damaged buried phone line, I feel confident high speed internet will never be run up here unless they are forced to do it.

So I have Hughes satellite internet. It is adequate, but forget watching any kind of video and you have to be careful with large downloads so you don't go over your daily allowance. The speed is moody to say the least. I get adequate service for $90 a month. Such a deal.

We are exactly 1/2 mile off of Hwy 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge and just 1 mile from NOC. They (NOC)have ultra high speed internet and have had it for nearly 15 years. I first enquired about DSL over 7 years ago and each year I am promised it will be the "next" year. My cabin business relies on internet connectivity more and more each year and so we are forced to pay high rates for slow and unreliable satelite internet service. The most painful and frustrating part is knowing the internet superhighway is just 1/2 mile away!

I have had DSL (if you want to call it that today) as long as DSL has been around the Walnut area. For the most part, it has been working well, however, over the last 6 to 8 months, we have gone from DSL speed to dial up speed.
The breaking point was when I was going to upload a 30 minutes video and found out it was going to take over 13 hours to upload. I took to another place that did not have Frontier and uploaded in less than 30 minutes.
Called Frontier and they gave me the, "You're in a high volume area." They further said they were trying new things with their fiber, which runs in front of my home to the switch, which is less than a half mile from my house. I even talked with a friend of mine who installs cable and when I told him the speed, and the distance from the switch, he could not believe.
In talking with Frontier, they say they talked with a programmer who was to have "moved me to 3 Mb/s. As usual, customer pays for something and does not get.

Broadband internet access is important to the recovery and growth of our economy. I work from home in the community of Burningtown outside the city of Franklin, NC. For years I have been trying to get broadband internet first from Verizon and then Frontier when they took over service approximately 3 years ago. In FCC filings related to the sale of service from Verizon to Frontier, Frontier promised to bring high speed internet access to remote areas of Western NC within 3 years. They have not done this and now tell me there are no plans to bring high speed internet to the area - despite their mailing campaigns for service availability which continue to arrive in my mail and in my local newspaper. Broadband internet access via satellite cost me $129.99 per month with Exede / WildBlue is very expensive and weather dependent. Can you please help me investigate why Frontier is NOT being held to their commitments in their FCC filings to bring high speed internet access to the Burningtown community? I've written to Congressman - Mark Meadows, complained to Frontier, contacted the NC Utilities Commission.

Internet access was not an issue 30 yrs ago in the quiet farm community of Big Sandy Mush. Internet is now used for almost every conceivable need, and I'd be lost without it. As an organizer of various public events it is an essential tool, especially keeping in touch and answering folks questions in a timely fashion.
When everyone had dial up we didn't know the difference, but now we've got a high speed satellite dish. However It is expensive, goes down due to weather and other unknown reasons just when you really need it, is erratic, and can be an exercise in frustration. Since it is a satellite you are charged $100 for a service call when something breaks. I might add there is also no cell phone service. Peaceful here? yes, frustrating, emphatically yes!!!

Where I live I am unable to get cable or cable internet. The only option that is available to me is DSL through Frontier. I pay right at $60 a month for very poor quality service. I initially signed up for 3mbps service and could not get but 1.5 mbps. I was told that was the fastest speed my lines would handle. I then downgraded to the 1.5 mbps service. At that point my speeds dropped to 1.0 mbps or less. I have requested service calls numerous times for a technician to come see if they can help and appointments are made, but Frontier never sends a technician. We have been told that they are not required to send out a technician. We have been bluntly told that the level of service we receive is what we pay for. $60.98 is my internet bill after taxes and fees for one month for this level of service. As I have no other broadband options where I live I am forced to pay this every month. I receive very poor quality of service and very poor customer service. I have gone days with the internet not functioning at all only to be told there were outages in the area and receive no credit on my account. I recently returned to Franklin from a year in Phoenix Arizona. There I paid less than $50 a month for 30mbps and in 11 months I lost service twice for a combined total of 35 minutes. I have been told that the phone lines were set here in the early 80's and that Frontier does not have an upgrade or replacement of these lines or any infrastructure in this are for at least the next 3 to 5 years.

I love our little mountain home; however, we pay a lot for sloooow Internet service through French Broad Electric. I never click to watch videos because it takes 6 minutes to download a 2 minute video. I have to take my devices to someone else's house to do updates and back up data because it always times out at my house. I am in the real estate business, so it is really difficult for me to work without high speed service! HELP!!

Living in the wilderness has its advantages, but broadband is not one of them. After two years of expensive and mediocre satellite broadband, we now rely on wireless tethering via our mobile phones. It's costly, cumbersome and inefficient.