In response to recent letters that discussed the quality of internet service in Ocala/Marion County, more residents wrote in to share their thoughts on the topic.
“I totally agree on the slow internet issues in Ocala and the surrounding areas. I live in southeast Ocala just off Baseline Road. I’m stuck with CenturyLink as my only choice at just 5 Mbps, and this results in daily Wi-Fi freezes while streaming. It is very frustrating. CenturyLink has been promising faster speeds in my area for over a year now. Why don’t I have another choice? I didn’t know that there was a monopoly on Wi-Fi in certain areas,” says Ocala resident Gregory Johnson.
“I’m not sure what they are talking about: upload or download speed. These are two different things,” says Harold Peterson, Ocala resident.
“Let’s talk technical internet speeds. CenturyLink provides two kinds of internet: fiber (mostly new developments) and DSL over copper cable. Fiber speeds are up to 1000 Mbps. With DSL, it depends on the distance from their main distribution box. It is 40 Mbps within about a quarter of a mile, 20 Mbps at one-half of a mile, and it gets slower the farther you go from the box. I doubt CenturyLink will put in new fiber unless they are pushed by local government or by Elon Musk’s yet-to-be-determined Starlink. Cable TV suppliers can reach 200 Mbps over coaxial cable, and smaller suppliers may not have a strong internet backbone to supply reliable service. If anything happens with the ‘Infrastructure Bill,’ we would need the Marion County Commissioners to actually do something for the citizens of the county,” says Dunnellon resident Jim Kohrs.
“The internet with Cox is an absolutely disgraceful service. It is very slow. Cox encouraged us to increase the speed, so we increased it to over 250 Mbps. It worked well for a time and then it slowed back down. The TV keeps buffering and we have to keep refreshing it. We don’t have a choice. Some of the providers advertise on TV, but when you call them, they tell you that they’re not in your area,” says Cynthia Brown, Ocala resident.
“For those of us that have City of Ocala utilities (electric), they do offer high speed internet if you are in their plans to provide that service. We currently have Cox where we live, and the costs are really outrageous. We watch maybe 15 to 20 channels out of a 240-plus channel lineup. We don’t even have any premium channels and our monthly bill is in excess of $240. We looked at downsizing to their next package, but some of the few channels we watch are not in the lesser package. Yes, the internet speed is great, but it has grown in price and we don’t stream or download movies or even do any gaming. I feel that because we do not live in one of the more ‘affluent’ neighborhoods in Marion County, we will never be offered this internet service from OEU. Typical Ocala/Marion County: slow to react and/or offer new technology,” says Ocala resident Jeff Davis.
Would you like to share your thoughts with us? Share them in a comment or by writing a Letter to the Editor.