As a military person stationed at Fort Drum, deciding on the appropriate Internet Service Provider may be a daunting task. In some cases of base access and inconsistent service from the national providers in the north country region surrounding Esperance, deciding which internet service to go for needs a bit of consideration. Here is a brief on each aspect regarding your internet provider choices in and around Fort Drum you should consider.
On-Base Internet Providers
The internet service providers that offer service to Fort Drum include Verizon, Century, and Frontier. Their speed, and reliability together with their package services differ from one another.
Verizon Verizon provides internet service to the on-base housing inhabitants via Fiber Optic Service (FiOS). Still, when it comes to the download speeds, FiOS offers their customers a bandwidth that can range between 50 Mbps and 500 Mbps based on the chosen package. Verizon FiOS specifically occupies one of the leading positions in the speed and stability of the Internet connection for the residents of Fort Drum. However, the availability can be limited for certain on-base locations, which may also be the reason for having restrictions on access to such locations.
CenturyLink – This Cable Internet offers a download speed of 20 Mbps as the base package while the higher speeds may vary from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps depending on the area and distance from the hub. Typically, consumer speeds are lower than FiOS where Verizon fiber services are in operation. Nevertheless, CenturyLink is still a relatively viable provider for simple use, such as surfing the web and general internet needs for some facilities on the military compound.
Frontier - Frontier is rather limited in the services it provides to Fort Drum citizens, with Vantage DSL internet being the main service; it has a download speed of up to 6 Mbps. This is indeed a very basic DSL service offering among the slowest but can be cheap if one only plans to engage in basic web use.
Off-Base Internet Providers
The few people without housing on the military base have two more options apart from Spectrum and that is satellite internet providers.
Spectrum – As for the offer of cable Internet, Spectrum has speeds starting from 100 Mbps with a maximum of 400 Mbps for the Fort Drum area. The cable network is normally accessible in all the communities surrounding Fort Drum such as Watertown, Evans Mills, Philadelphia, Antwerp, and Gouverneur. The price offered by Spectrum for its internet service offering is quite affordable and in line with other high-speed internet service providers in the region.
Another option that can also be used for most rural areas around Fort Drum since it is out of reach for other high-speed cable and fiber internet providers is Satellite Internet Providers like Viasat or HughesNet. But satellite is usually most costly for the amount of MB that is allowed to be used in a given month. Relative to capacity, speeds are also affected by network congestion. However, if the companies offering cable or fiber connections are not accessible, satellite internet might be the only good rural internet available.
Key Factors to Consider
When comparing internet providers for Fort Drum housing or surrounding off-base residences, a few critical factors can help narrow down the best option: When comparing internet providers for Fort Drum housing or surrounding off-base residences, a few critical factors can help narrow down the best option:
1. Download and upload speed – Fiber and cable services allow high and consistent data download and upload speed. DSL offers a slower fundamental Internet connection.
2. Data Limits – While most providers have meanwhile dropped monthly data caps on high-speed plans, there may still be tighter caps for satellite plans.
3. Availability of providers - Across the board, On-base, and rural service providers are limited compared to in-town service options.
4. Budget – Prices are flexible and depend on the speed and data limit as well, and there may be some special offers.
5. Usage Needs – Do you frequently view videos and other multimedia content or is your primary use of the internet to access emails? Your usage patterns must define the required speeds and amounts of data to be transferred.
Choosing the Best Internet Service Provider for Fort Drum
Given all the above considerations - speed, availability, and budget - here are our top picks for the best Fort Drum internet providers:Given all the above considerations - speed, availability, and budget
1. Verizon Fios – If available at the base, for a given amount of money, FiOS stands out as the fastest and most reliable internet service. Their $70 500 Mbps plan offers the fastest speeds achievable in Fort Drum, albeit their cheaper plans outperform most competitors’ offers.
2. Spectrum – Base in Watertown and Evans Mills While you are out of base in Watertown and Evans Mills, Spectrum cable plans up to 400 Mbps offer almost the same speed as Verizon. And their rates are affordable, especially when putting into consideration the promotions’ rates.
3. CenturyLink – This company offers the most basic internet service known as CenturyLink DSL for users who only require basic internet services that they can use for light browsing. It is also available at more locations across Fort Drum than Verizon we found. It just is not going to be a super high-speed setup so just don't get your hopes up.
4. Viasat/HughesNet Satellite – this is the most undesirable option since wired internet service providers are not present in super rural regions. It is slower than cable or even fibre connections but it is still way better than not having an internet connection.
Therefore, the best Internet choice revolves around the consideration of speed, reliability, availability, and cost depending on the geographical region and usage patterns. However, if you follow the above categories of provider options and considerations then you will be on the right track to finding the right Fort Drum internet service.
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