Saturday, November 6, 2010

Higher Speed Internet in Rural Mountainair Area

Living in rural New Mexico some days is more of a job than an adventure, especially when rural New Mexican's are seeking viable Internet services.  I, like many of you, have probably lived through the deadly dial up years, grant funded Internet providers that have failed, followed by satellite service companies. 

Over all, rural New Mexicans have enjoyed better internet service options, but we are still only offered sub-standard service when compared to our municipal neighbors.  Lucky for me and hopefully others, Higher Speed Internet can now service portions of rural Mountainair.  

If you don't know who Higher Speed Internet is, I can say that I have observed this company for the last 10 years and offer my observations and experience with Higher Speed as a new customer.
  • Company Stability & Expansion:  Over the past 10 years, Higher Speed has grown its service area.  During that same 10 year period, our area has had numerous companies - grant driven and out of state companies that have blow into the area, sucked up money, provided minimal to no service and then just disappeared leaving customers searching for service over and over again.

    Higher Speed has had the ability to expand its service area over the past 10 years in spite of competition from the "big boys" and grant motivated operators. They have steadily grown the company adding new coverage areas only when they could fully service them.  Higher Speed is in it for the long haul, they are a part of our community, a small business that fully vested here.
     
  • Company Ethics: Higher Speed has honored not only their spoken word and hand shake conversations, they have honored their contracts very well. Steve and all of his crew are some of the most honorable and hard working business people I have know in this area. They stand behind everything they do.
     
  • Company Customer Service: Higher Speed has gone the extra mile for every customer, their customer service is outstanding in large part based on owner & employees honorable nature further complemented by living in our central mountain region instead of out of state.
        
  • Company Knowledge: Steve and all of his crew are knowledgeable in the field. Higher Speed understands the technology they use to provide service, how to help customers who have limited technical skills, and their tech support services are top drawer in my opinion. Higher Speed tech support is a complete turn around from the pat response systems of satellite and other internet service providers.
       
  • Community Support: Higher Speed and all of its staff support our area as a community through local purchasing when ever possible, by participating in local groups, organization, and education. As a small business Higher Speed understands that community focus and support is the key to the betterment of our area.
     
  • Outage/Down Times:  As an individual and business person I understand that no matter what the service is, there are always problems that come along - just a part of life.  Is Higher Speed perfect, no, but they are continually working toward perfection.   As a new customer of approximately 2 months, I ask Steve about outage and down times.  Steve promised me that he would address outages as quickly as possible and that any down time/outages would depend on the situation at hand. I have experienced two outages since I began using Higher Speed's services and was very impressed with Steve and his staff.  The first outage occurred due to an equipment failure - Higher Speed resolved the issue in under 24 hours over a weekend and were forthcoming as to the nature of the problem. Going the extra mile, Steve has taken steps to reduce the potential of such an outage again.  My second outage was beyond Higher Speed Internets control - a massive power outage from CNME dropped the service but only briefly. 
     
  • All Weather Connection:  While using satellite, I would have down time even during clear whether at home because my providers main equipment would experience weather events.  Unlike satellite connections, Higher Speeds signal type works through overcast skies and rain bands. 
     
  • Contracts, Fee's & Billing:  I really like Higher Speed billing policy - No Contracts (unless a new customer needs to spread out the installation fee over time).  One time installation fee, and flat rate monthly billing. If you are unhappy with the service, there are no outrageous early termination fees and all parties can go their separate ways unencumbered. 
     
  • Customer PerksHigher Speed Internet gives back to its customers - for every referral that joins Higher Speed Internet, the customer that referred gets a months service for free.
       
  • Telecommuting: I have a family member who was to begin tele-working (working from home) this year.  Before hiring Higher Speed our teleworking capacity was greatly reduced because of latency (hesitancy) in signal and bandwidth reductions even for high end satellite services. Since we have been using Higher Speed's service tele-working from our home is now fully possible. 
If any one would like to try out Higher Speed Internet, email me (george@whisperingrange.com) or give me a call 505-847-2220 (please not before 9am or after 7pm) - we can set up an appointment to meet at my office for a test drive. 

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