How to Lower Your Home Internet Bill in 2019


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I get asked all the time how you can lower your Internet bill. I have a few tricks that I find help us save money on our home internet. Now in recent years, internet service providers have made it more difficult, but there are still several excellent options for cord cutters to cut the cost of home internet.

#1 Shop Around

Shopping around is most important when you are looking at downgrading from a bundle to internet only. Cable companies especially seem to hate giving any type of discount to someone who wants to downgrade. For example, my local cable company will charge a new customer $29.99 for 100 Mbps down, but customers who downgrade to the same plan pay more than double that: $70 a month.

Take some time, do some research, and do not discount DSL. I often switch between DSL and cable TV. You may be surprised to see AT&T DSL in some areas even offers a 1 Gbps option and 100 down DSL is more common than you may think. Don’t want to go with AT&T or CenturyLink? Look into some of the smaller DSL companies such as Toast.net.

Also, look around for other options like Fixed Wireless and 5G as slowly they have started to roll out across the nation offering a new option for home internet.

Even if you don’t plan on switching knowing what the other providers in your area charge will help you negotiate for a better deal.

#2 Lower Your Speed

Often when people become cord cutters, Internet service providers try to talk them into crazy high Internet speeds. I always recommend starting with the lowest cheapest internet option that is at least 20 Mbps down or faster. You can always go up in speed later. I cut the cord with just 10 down and later found that about 20 to 25 Mbps down is all you need. Once you get over 100 down, it has little effect on streaming.

Here is what Sling TV says you need for Internet speeds to stream Sling TV. The following are the recommended speeds according to Sling TV’s Help Center:

  • Constant speed of 3.0 Megabits per second or more: Streaming video content on portable devices such as tablets and phones.
  • Constant speed of 5.0 Megabits per second or more: Single stream of video content on a TV, PC, or Mac.
  • Constant speed of 25 Megabits per second or more: Recommended for households that maintain Internet use on multiple devices.

Still struggling with buffering and have more than that? Check out our guide to fixing buffering.

As always be careful not to be talked into overpaying for internet. A gigabyte connection sounds great, but will you really use it? As always, my recommendation is to start low and if you need to upgrade. Internet service providers will always be happy to offer you a faster internet package for more money. It can be far harder to convince them to lower you to a cheaper internet package after you sign a contract for a more expensive package.

#3 Buy a Modem

Most ISPs charge $10 or more a month to rent their modems; however, many, such as Comcast, will let you buy a modem from them and save $120 a year. This is a great deal when you consider that most modems cost less than $100 and you can start saving money the first year.

If you rent a modem for three years that will cost you $360. If you buy a $100 modem, it would still save you $260.

Do you have a tip for saving money on home Internet? Leave us a comment and let us know what it is.

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