How to slash your internet bill

(WSPA) – For most of us nowadays the internet is a necessity, but what is not necessary is paying too much for your service.

That is because in the last few years, even months, major competition has entered our market and that means better prices for you.

Time to shop around

As an artist, Melinda Hoffman in Mauldin has a unique attention to detail. But she admits, that when it came to her Spectrum internet bill that started at $49.99, she overlooked a lot of incremental price hikes over the years.

“I don’t think I was paying the $104 but for 4-5 months, but I think I was paying $89.99 and stuff like that for several years. And that’s upsetting,” Hoffman said while looking at her bill.

Cell tower-fueled internet service

That’s when Hoffman learned cell towers can provide reliable internet, especially if you don’t need a ton of bandwidth like streaming on multiple TVs or video gaming. So she looked into T-Mobile’s 5G Home, which connects to a nearby cell tower.

“T-Mobile came out at $50 a month, which I’m going, yeah, that’s going to be a promotion. Well, no it’s not. And I just thought, well I just have to do this,” Hoffman said.

Kathy Mabry was fed up with her old school $60 a month AT&T DSL phone line internet constantly dropping.

“And you can just imagine how frustrating that would be,” Mabry said.

Therefore, she contacted 7NEWS Here to Help.

While Mabry’s Glendale home is in a bit of an internet service desert, 7NEWS looked into it and was able to show Mabry another option with AT&T called “Air,” a 5G service also fueled by cell towers.

“I’ve had it now for a couple of weeks. It’s $10 less a month and it hasn’t gone out one time,” Mabry said.

Both women told 7NEWS their service is much more reliable in addition to being less expensive.

Know your need for speed

When choosing a service keep in mind that speed, how fast you can download and upload a file, and bandwidth, set limit of data that flows across a wired or wireless medium, are important.

The 5G Home options from companies like Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T run about $50 and give you 100 megabits per second (Mbps); enough to stream on one or two TVs while also using your laptop and cell.

Fastest internet options

But, if your household has a lot of devices that stream all at once, Spectrum Cable is your best option, unless you live in an area with underground fiber optic lines, the fastest speed yet.

And along with AT&T fiber, there’s a new option called WOW! that’s in more Upstate neighborhoods. Even its lowest tier has speeds comparable to 5G for just $30 dollars a month.

New broadband labels can help

Benjamin Inman is the owner of How? Smart Solutions. An Upstate tech company that helps people with all things internet.

He says people need to know exactly what they’re getting and a new Federal Communications Commission rule makes that easier. It requires providers to offer customers fact sheets that look like food labels. They show things like the speed and how long the service will last at that price.

Is your router too old?

Inman also knows the importance of making sure you have an optimal router.

“A lot of customers think the internet and WIFI are the same. So they may be paying for internet saying that it doesn’t work but it’s actually their wifi equipment that’s causing it not to work in their house,” Inman said.

An updated router can make all the difference.

Negotiation tips

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of switching providers, find out what other people who live near you are paying.

Then call your provider and ask to be transferred to “retention”
Ask the representative for a rate reduction comparable to your neighbors’ or competitors
If that doesn’t work, ask to be transferred to a supervisor
Some people have had luck by asking again to be transferred to another supervisor; persistence can pay off