County Broadband Upgrades Finally Reaching Sonoma

For those in major population centers, the fastest broadband plans have likely been available for a while. For those of us in smaller communities, however, finding faster online connections sometimes isn’t so easy. Thanks to a $71 billion investment in broadband infrastructure, the next generation of connectivity might just have arrived on your doorstep, or could be coming soon.

Closing the Divide

With the introduction of fiber-based broadband, the installation of new cabling and connection towers became a necessity. While older copper cables could be used for ADSL, faster systems require the laying of fiber optic connections and the installation of new wireless towers. For the greatest access to the internet, these systems always target population centers first, where outlying areas can be forced to rely on older connection types.

Thanks to a nationwide $71 billion investment, these outlying areas are finally getting their due. With the majority of this investment coming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $6 billion has already been marked for California cities like Sonoma. It might have taken a little longer than we would have liked, but as they say, better late than never.

Should you Make the Change?

While it might be tempting to run out for an upgrade as soon as it becomes available, it’s worth remembering that this newest generation of online connections might not be necessary for you. Unlike older technological leaps like the one from 56k to DSL, the step forward from ADSL to fiber isn’t nearly as noticeable to most people. For a closer look, users need to consider how many people use their online connection, and what they use it for.

In simple terms, any internet hub like a router is going to try to share its connection speed between all connected users. The more users, the slower it could run with multiple people trying to access the internet at once. If you’ve ever experienced quality drops while having an entire household stream different things at once, this is likely why. On the other hand, if you live in a smaller household with only one or two connections, the strain on your internet should be much more minor.

For a more technical look, we can consider the overall internet speed, measured in Mbps. If you have a 50 Mbps connection and use it for high-definition streaming, which can cost 25 Mbps, then you could expect up to two users at once to engage this way without issue. Of course, most users won’t push their connections anywhere near this far.

On the other end of the spectrum, consider a type of entertainment like playing bingo and collecting the bingo promotions on the biggest online websites. Whether claiming these bonuses like welcome offers and bonus spins or playing the games themselves, bandwidth requirements here will only be minimal. In fact, while you might be able to handle only two connections with our video streaming example, for something like this, we’d expect dozens of simultaneous users to play without issue.

Regardless of whether or not you intend to use Sonoma’s new upgrades directly, we also have to point out the effect that new options can have on existing plan prices. As new broadband arrives, the cost of your existing plan will likely drop, but your internet service provider probably won’t update you on this fact. Check to see if you can update your plan, and you could find savings even at the same speed. Good luck, and happy surfing.