There’s nothing quite like the excitement of moving into your own place, be it a dorm or better yet, your own apartment. Usually, when you go off to college, it means that you need to get your own place and this is your first chance at being independent.
As exciting as it is to have your place, it comes at a cost. Of course, when we say cost, we’re not referring to the down payment or the lease of the apartment, but we mean it metaphorically.
One of the most basic things to make your home functional is the internet connection. In today’s day and age, nothing is possible without the internet. Whether it is studying, working, enjoying, or even securing your home and devices, the internet plays a big role in all of this. So, now, aside from other responsibilities, you need to decide on a service provider that is within your budget and is good enough to support your activities.
How do you find a good enough ISP, though? There are some ways you can assess them and if you want to know, keep reading!
How Much Speed do You Need?
First and foremost, you should focus on what you need in terms of internet speed. This is something that can change your entire internet experience so you have to be very careful. You don’t want your internet to fall through while you’re attempting an online exam, do you?
At the same time, you don’t want to be struggling to pay the bill just to get a super speedy internet connection. Find the middle ground, find out how much you actually need, and then get what you want.
People/Devices | Usage Level/Activities | Speed needed |
1 person or 1 device | Light (Email, browsing, radio) | 3 – 8 Mbps |
Moderate (Streaming HD video, Video conferencing, online gaming) | 3 – 8 Mbps | |
High (Running 1+ high-demand applications) | 12 – 25 Mbps | |
2 people or 2 devices | Light (Email, browsing, radio) | 3 – 8 Mbps |
Moderate (Streaming HD video, Video conferencing, online gaming) | 12 – 25 Mbps | |
High (Running 1+ high-demand applications) | 12 – 25+ Mbps | |
3 people or 3 devices | Light (Email, browsing, radio) | 12 – 25 Mbps |
Moderate (Streaming HD video, Video conferencing, online gaming) | 12 – 25 Mbps | |
High (Running 1+ high-demand applications) | 25+ Mbps | |
4 people or 4 devices | Light (Email, browsing, radio) | 12 – 25 Mbps |
Moderate (Streaming HD video, Video conferencing, online gaming) | 25+ Mbps | |
High (Running 1+ high-demand applications) | 25+ Mbps |
In the table above, you can get a rough estimate or idea of what you need and how much internet speed you should opt for. To get a more specific or detailed idea, you should talk to a customer service representative at your local ISP’s office and see what they have to say depending on the information you give them.
Learn to Compare the Right Things
There are a few concepts regarding the internet that you need to understand before you buy a plan. For example, the terms connection speed and bandwidth are often used synonymously. While in some cases, it does not really have that much of a difference, in others, it can cause quite a confusion. So, let’s take a look at these words and see which means what.
Connection Speed VS Bandwidth
Connection speed and bandwidth are both measured in Mbps, which is the reason for the confusion. So, to make things clear, let’s make use of an example. Everyone has a pipe system in their homes for running water, right?
We all know that the pipes bring water all the way from your local water company to your home. How much water you get depends on the size of the pipe. If you have a small pipe, you won’t get much water, but if you have a bigger pipe, you get more water.
Now add faucets into the equation. If you have a smaller pipe and you turn on all the faucets at home, you will get less water pressure in all of them and you might not even get water in all of the faucets. Whereas, with a bigger pipe, you get more water pressure and water from all of the faucets. In this example, the pipe is the bandwidth, the faucets act as the devices, and water coming through the faucets is like the connection speed.
Top speed vs. Actual speed
Usually, what happens is that people misunderstand the actual speed for top speed. People assume that the advertised speed is the actual speed. However, that is not always the case and if you were to get into the terms and conditions, you would see why that is. Usually, you can get the top speed when and if you have connected your device via an Ethernet cable.
Otherwise, if you are wirelessly connected to the internet, the speed can vary depending on your distance from the modem, any physical barriers or blockages, etc.
One thing you can do is use an internet speed test tool, plenty of which you can find online, and run a test to see the speed you are getting. Keep in mind that this speed test will work on your device, so you need to be as close to the modem as you can and then run it to get accurate results. If the difference between the advertised and actual speed is not too much, then it’s not a point of concern, but if there is a big difference, then you can consult with your service provider and question them about it.
Upload Speed vs. Download Speed
When looking for an internet plan, you see that the internet speed is advertised. Well, this is the download speed only. More often than not, the upload speed is not the same as the download speed. We will see why that is the case shortly. But first, let’s discuss the download and upload speed by themselves.
Download speed refers to how quickly you can get data from the internet to your device, whereas upload speed refers to how quickly you can send data from your device to the internet. This is the simplest way of explaining the difference between upload and download speed.
Anyway, the reason for the download speed being the only advertised speed is that it is used or needed more than the upload speed. You use download speed whenever you want to browse, shop, download files, stream media, talk over VoIP, and more.
The reason you should focus on upload speed, if any, is when you know you have a lot of file uploading and sending to do. For example, being a college student means assignments and projects back to back. If you know you might need more than usual, you should consult with the customer agent at the ISP’s local store or over the phone and make sure to get that cleared out.
Grande Internet Plans
If you are a college student living in Texas, then you don’t even need to worry about all that we discussed above, as we have just the solution for you. Astound Broadband powered by Grande, which was previously known as Grande, is a well-known ISP that offers internet, TV, and phone services in the state of Texas! Since it is purely a Texas-based company, Grande Internet is very easily one of the best internet services you could sign up for.
If there’s one thing that Grande has done, it is that they have constantly upgraded and improved their service quality so that their customers do not face any problems or issues. Moreover, they are not even offering your slow speeds in terms of the internet, but their lowest internet speed offer is 600 Mbps, which is enough for an entire family even! Check out their internet plans below.
Grande Internet Plans | Internet Download speed | Internet Upload Speed | Data Allowance | Pricing |
Power 600 | Up to 600 Mbps (Internet speeds may vary depending on the area. Offer availability depends on the area.) | Up to 20 Mbps | Unlimited | $39.99/mo.
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Power 940 | Up to 940 Mbps (Internet speeds may vary depending on the area. Offer availability depends on the area.) | Up to 20 Mbps | Unlimited | $49.99/mo.
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Power 1000 | Up to 1200 Mbps (Internet speeds may vary depending on the area. Offer availability depends on the area.) | Up to 50 Mbps | Unlimited | $59.99/mo.
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Why Should You Choose Grande?
Aside from the fact that Grande is a leader when it comes to excellent services in Texas, we mentioned that Grande offers other services as well: TV and phone. Not only is Grande internet something you can’t pass up, but Grande TV and phone are just as equally good and promise you variety and reliability. Grande is the perfect representation of the phrase, “Value for money”.
The Final Note
The internet makes up a big part of our life and it is not easy to live without it anymore. This is why it becomes more of a priority for students to get a good plan. Grande is a great internet option for families, businesses, and even students living in Texas. It stands in perfect competition against some of the biggest providers in the U.S. like Spectrum, AT&T, and the like. This should show you or anyone how good of a provider Grande can be.
What’s your next move? Are you getting that plan or do you not live in Texas? That could be the only reason that we can think of why you wouldn’t get a Grande internet plan.