We live in an era where the internet is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. In fact, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled high-speed internet a basic service for Canadians. Knowing this, what’s the best way to get reliable and fast internet for your family?
Why Is Fast Internet Important?
The expectation of fast internet has seeped into every corner of our lives. From our jobs, to our education, to how we communicate, fast internet has become essential to many of our everyday tasks.
Work
More and more of us are using the internet to do our jobs. Around 62% of people use the internet at work. Given how many of us rely on the internet for our work, it stands to reason that the faster your internet is, the faster you can get your work done.
Faster internet increases efficiency at work and can save your business thousands of dollars. The larger your company, the more you can potentially save. In addition to getting work done faster, faster internet just makes work easier.
From better collaboration to being able to send larger file sizes over email, better internet speeds make work more pleasant for your employees and increase the value of the end product for customers.
School
Just like work, more and more of us are using the internet to learn. There are countless courses accessible online and many traditional brick-and-mortar schools rely on online platforms for education.
70% of teachers assign homework that requires internet use, making fast internet access essential to learning and securing good grades. Unfortunately, 50% of students have been unable to complete a homework assignment due to lack of internet access. Known as the digital divide, this lack of access largely affects the learning of students in low-income and rural areas.
Communication
The internet has also become essential for communication. Think of when you last used a land line phone to make a phone call. Chances are, you spend a lot of time on your phone using email, messaging services, and social media.
Around 293 billion emails are sent per day globally. That number is also in the billions when it comes to messaging and social media users. And while you might not need high-speed internet to send a simple message, it’s essential for communications like video chatting and sending photos.
Health Care
Enhanced communication from fiber internet can even have health benefits. People can reach specialists outside of their area through a video call and if you’re sick, you can video chat with your doctor instead of risking infecting others.
Known as telehealth, this emerging industry relies on high-speed internet connections. As more people get access to high-speed internet, more people can benefit from better access to health care. Telehealth has the potential to replace 75% of doctor’s visits, including visits to urgent care and the emergency room. It could also save patients, living in rural areas, thousands of dollars in travel costs as they will be able to communicate with their specialist through a video call.
How Do You Get Faster Internet?
Internet Speeds in Canada
When it comes to fast internet, almost every provider advertises high-speed service. In Canada, high-speed internet is defined as anything over 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. However, the average internet speed in Canada is 30Mbps download and 8 Mbps upload and those numbers are even lower for people in rural areas.
Rural Canadians average 19.5 Mbps download and 7.62 Mbps upload. While this number is improving every year, the fact is the majority of Canadians, especially rural Canadians, are living without high-speed internet.
If you’re unhappy with your internet speed, there aren’t a lot of options. You can complain to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, but ultimately, your only option is to switch internet service providers. Depending on your area, however, providers may not offer high-speed internet.
Internet Connection Types
In many rural areas, the only option for internet is satellite internet. It’s a better option than outdated connection options like dial-up and DSL, but satellite internet is inherently slow due to the signal having to travel from a satellite in outer space all the way to your house. Cable internet isn’t much better either, especially during peak use hours. The more people using cable internet at once, the slower the connection will be.
Your best options for high-speed internet are wireless internet and fiber internet. Wireless internet doesn’t rely on cables, so it doesn’t experience the same slow periods as cable internet but weather, building structure and distance from a tower can make it susceptible to signal weakness. For many rural Canadians, however, wireless internet isn’t an option in their area.
What’s Your Best Option for Fast Internet?
Fortunately, both the Canadian government and private companies are working to bring high-speed internet to under-served areas. Some of these companies are offering fiber internet, which is considered the fastest internet connection option.
Fiber internet sends information through a coded beam of light that travels through an ultra-thin plastic or glass cable. The concept is similar to cable internet, but fiber internet doesn’t have the same issue with slower speeds during peak use times. Fiber internet is able to send information faster over longer distances.
Some fiber internet providers offer incredible speeds of 1,000 Mbps for upload and download. There are many other benefits of fiber internet, in addition to drastically increased speed. The speed doesn’t fluctuate based on use volume, it’s more secure, and less likely to experience outages.
Tether is working to bring fiber internet to rural Alberta. If you live in rural Alberta and want to increase your internet speed from 19 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps for as little as $100 per month, Tether wants to hear from you. Contact us and let us know that you want faster, more reliable internet for your home or business.
