Gainesville Internet providers like Cox Communications, Gainesville DSL and Gator.Net advertise lightning-fast service; however, consumers are finding that their Internet access isn't always as fast as it is advertised to be.
A new report by the Federal Communications Commission shows that users are paying for speeds of 7-8 megabits per second on average, but are receiving only about half the speed they expect, usually around 4 Mbps.
"Cable modems can be problematic," said Jeff Shelton, a customer service support specialist at Gator.Net. "They can be affected by the weather and humidity. It's the same thing with DSL."
While advertisers are able to use the maximum speeds that their service may reach, service can slow down because of net congestion - a long delay between the server's transmission and the consumer's reception of information.
Though many users may not realize their Internet service is slower than advertised, some residents are trying to change the way Gainesville receives its Internet.
Dave Pokorney of UF Computing & Networking Services is campaigning for Google to build a fiber network in Gainesville, which would deliver data transfer rates of 1 gigabit per second.
"I'm very hopeful that it comes to Gainesville," Pokorney said. "This will make Cox and DSL look like dial-up does now."
Though many cities are competing to be the home of Google's gigabit fiber, Gainesville is a strong contender with help from groups like Gig 4 Gainesville.
If users want to check their Internet speed at home, they can test it at www.speedtest.net.
