Need to know information about Internet service for new home buyers.
We put together a page to talk about the elephant in the room. Good reliable Internet service is not yet available everywhere. New home buyers should always call a few Internet service providers to inquire about Internet service before buying their home.
Buying a new home or moving? Check availability here!
New home and your Internet services
When it comes to moving or purchasing a new home, we are often faced with the following questions:
What are we doing about our Internet service?
Do we finally get rid of the home phone?
Do we just cut the cable already?
Is Internet service available?
All of these are basic questions for Canadians who need access to high speed Internet at their home. However, with the rise in citizens working from home, more are looking to step further away from city centers. Enters the elephant; Sadly, we talk to many citizens who have just bought their dream home. After all has been signed, they call to start setting up their services and find out for the first time that only limited Internet service or no service at all is available to their home.
While Traditional home phone and television have been around for a long time in Canada, most houses have access to either or both. When it comes to the Internet however, the answer is never that easy.
Internet service
If Internet services is available, some are often faced with speed limitations reducing the ability to stream television, use VoIP or communicate with a remote office.
Mathematics for internet speed are:
6Mbps for each device using Netflix HD
1Mbps upload for VoIP phone
1.5Mbps for skype Video HD call
Minimum Internet requirements per household
Most homes today, with 2-3 people streaming, working, gaming and communicating from home require an ideal Internet speed of 30Mbps. This will give each person an average of 10Mbps. Hence it will allow each person to do the above on their personal devices at the same time.
The slowest and widest available Internet plan is the 6Mbps DSL connection using the traditional phone lines. While almost everyhome with access to a home phone can potentially access to this service, the speed is less than ideal. When this speed is not fast enough, subscribers will often turn to wireless Internet service. The drawback with this is the fact that no wireless provider offers unlimited downloads, so to watch netflix a few hours a night would be quite costly.
VoIP Internet requirements
If you are planning on using VoIP (digital home phone) or are required to access a company PBX or phone system to connect to your work. Note that you should look for a new home that has a good solid upload speed as well as download. We always recommend Internet using the Cable or DSL backbone.
While most cable plans will already come with a solid upload speed, DSL can be a bit more tricky. Generally the available options for any service provider offering DSL is the following:
6Mbps down and 1Mbps upload
10Mbps down and 1 or 10Mbps upload
15Mbps down and 1 or 10Mbps upload
25MBps down and 10Mbps upload
50Mbps down and 10Mbps upload
Home buyers using the Internet for work related tasks, we only suggest using a connection offering the 10Mbps upload. In our experience, the 1Mbps upload can often cause your phone to break up for the person listening to you. This is due to your upload speed not being fast enough to carry your voice over the Internet.
In conclusion, if you using your VoIP as a basic home phone backup, you can sometimes get away with the 1Mbps upload as the issues may not always be present.
Cut the cable at your new home
The final mecca to great Internet service is the ability to cut the cable and stream to your heart’s content. While a non cable cutter would never understand, the worst news a cable cutting home buyer could hear after making their investment is that only limited Internet is available at their new home.
Very simply, if you are someone who streams more than 2 hours of TV a day on one or more devices, you may want to read our article about unlimited Internet and why you need it. As far as Internet speed related, the basic math will give you a better idea.
To stream netflix, youtube or Kodi in HD you need a minimum 6Mbps per device streaming.
To stream 4K or ultra HD from netflix you require 25Mbps per device.
How to solve this issue
While the government has already set a mandate to insure that all Canadian’s get access to high speed Internet service. It is our belief that every home should be given an internet score on popular listing sites like realtor.ca or Duproprio MLS listing services.
If you have fallen victim to this unfortunate circumstance, help save the day by letting your realtor know how this can negatively affect your life. We have even heard of some new home buyers needing to drive to local coffee shop everyday just to be able to connect with work.
We hope this article has brought your some food for thought on your new home purchase.