Internet Services Providers Available In Murphy NC and Cherokee County NC

Posted by I Love Murphy on

Internet Services can be a huge consideration when buying a home no matter where you’re looking to purchase. When you’re shopping online for real estate, determining what internet speed is available is nearly impossible. When working from home is crucial, homeschooling is common, and simply wanting to watch a movie to relax is important, knowing what internet is available is vital.

Several companies have reached out to us wanting us to add their maps of internet coverage to our website. After we dug into them, we realized they had major flaws in being able to provide what properties have what type of internet. Because of that, we didn’t use them and decided to post this to give you insight as to what to expect.

Here are the types available here in Murphy NC:

  • Fiber Optic Internet – Provided by Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp., this is the fastest option with no data caps. The base package is around $40 per month and download speeds tend to be 15-40 Mbps. Other packages are available. Finding homes with Fiber Optic is a gem – they are not common because our area is spread out and the cost of building the infrastructure is high. Thanks to a federal grant many years ago, the system was built out and is much larger than it once was. If you find a home with fiber optic, this is a huge plus.

 

  • SkyTek Internet (now River Street) – this is a local company that offers point-to-point internet and is largely found in homes that are higher up in elevation with views or unobstructed views to their repeaters. It works through Blue Ridge’s Fiber Internet Service and covers folks who don’t have fiber directly available at their home. It also has no data caps and plans start around $40 per month as well but are slower speeds than fiber. They do have higher-level packages that come close to the speeds of fiber and can be around $70 per month. This is what I personally have at my home and have been very satisfied with their service. The customer service is great, the owners are very good, hard-working folks, and I love that we support a local business in the process. They can do a site visit to any property and tell you whether service is available.

 

  • Cable Internet – Provided by Murphy Cable, they offer TV services and internet with no data caps. They have excellent speeds in our experience and do a good job. Their region is largely confined to being close to town so properties that are far out are unlikely to have this option available. They’re cost-effective and speeds are quite fast. Their speeds can vary widely based on distance from their stations so you are best to contact them IF cable TV is available at the property to see what you can expect from their services. 

 

  • DSL – Provided by Frontier Communications and/or AT&T depending on where you are in Cherokee County, DSL generally offers 3 MBPS download and up to 512 KBPS upload speed with no data caps. It can stream YouTube and other services but does tend to buffer especially in times of high usage. It is important to note they are out of ports in many parts of the county so if you buy a property that has active DSL services you want to continue that same service, be sure to have the seller set up for a transfer of the port rather than canceling service. If you don’t, you may find there isn’t a port available.

 

  • Satellite Internet – this is usually available in areas where none of the above options are. The two main companies we see folks use are Hughesnet and Viasat. We’ve heard the best feedback on Viasat from our clients. Most of their packages have caps on data usage and different plans are available based on your needs. Check out their website by clicking the name for more details.

Have a specific property in mind and need to know what it has available? Do you require a certain type of internet? Give us a call at 1-866-687-7496 and we can help you find out what there is so you can find the perfect home! Search all available properties online here!

Please note all information provided herein is based on personal experience, speed tests, customer feedback, and more. All info is subject to change, package pricing changes, location differences, and more. If the Internet is very important to you, we highly recommend you independently verify it will suit your needs prior to purchasing a home.

Wildblue Satellite Internet is a Terrible Company to the People of Murphy NC

Posted by I Love Murphy on

About a year ago, I wrote an article as to how Wildblue Satellite Internet was a great opportunity for folks in Murphy, North Carolina because it brings high speed Internet to anywhere in Cherokee County. Now I must tell you how poor my experience with them was.

After having them for a full year now, I can personally provide a testament to their disservice.  Do not waste your time or money on them unless you have no other option. Although I’ve not used them personally, I would consider the other alternative company, Hughesnet.

Don’t get me wrong, Wildblue works fine when it is set up correctly. Their problem is customer service is atrocious at best. They are not willing to do anything to help the customer, If you do decide to use them, make sure you do a speed test and it has the amount of bandwidth you’re supposed to have before the technician ever leaves.

If you would like to know more details of the experiences I had, here they are in bullets:

  • First sign was when I first got it, they were not willing to alter plans to show me the different speeds even though I was possibly willing to pay more. They wanted to bump up the plan, force me to pay for the entire month when I wanted less than ten minutes just to see if it was worthwhile to upgrade.
  • I referred at least two clients/friends to them when I first signed up that I know for fact purchased their service. As part of their referral program, they agree to take $50 off your bill as an incentive to send them business. Both I know mentioned my name and told them about the referral. They never gave me one cent credit on my bill even though I called them and told them about it, who bought their service. They could easily verify it on their computer.
  • After having it for a couple months, it caused problems switching back and forth between service providers. Example, going back and forth to the office was painful. I called and they had me change some setting. It helped some, but it took our office technician to actually fix it.
  • After 4 months or so, I inquired as to why I was only getting half the speed of what I was paying for. The representative agreed there was a problem and asked if I would like a technician to come out and check the dish. Of course I would! Good – that will be a $99 charge. What??!! I didn’t touch the dish and it has been like this since the beginning? Even the phone company comes out and fixes the lines if you have problems. In the end they would do nothing to help.
  • Blue Ridge EMC is running fiber Internet and I signed up with them around month 10 of the service just to have true high speed and began using it.
  • Month 11 – I call to cancel. Can’t do it till closer.
  • Month 11.5 – I called to cancel again. They agreed to send a technician out and fix it for free. Nope – too little too late. Offered a free month of service. Again, too little too late. Finally was able to cancel. Received a confirmation number (THANK GOODNESS I wrote it down) and made sure that I would get no more bills. Nope, Nothing, The end is what I was told.
  • Today – I’m on hold with them having to fight a charge they told me they wasn’t going to happen. I don’t expect much help. Thankfully its on my American Express who will dispute it for me if I get no where with them. And now after holding for 50 minutes and 19 seconds, I’m hanging up with them and letting AMEX deal with it.

John and Jessica Poltrock – The POLTROCK TEAM at RE/MAX of Murphy NC – Real Estate Services – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call Toll Free (877) 837-3002 and demand The POLTROCK TEAM!