Your DSL Is Slow Because Nobody Is Going to Fix It
If you're reading this on a DSL connection from your local phone company in northern New Hampshire, you already know the problem. Your "broadband" tops out at somewhere between 5 and 25 Mbps download, if you're lucky, and upload speeds that barely clear 1 Mbps on a bad day.
You've probably called and asked about faster service. You've probably been told fiber is coming. Maybe someday.
The reality: the incumbent phone company has not made significant speed investments in their northern NH DSL infrastructure. Their focus has been on fiber deployments in other parts of their service territory and in other states entirely. The copper phone lines delivering your internet were designed for voice calls decades ago. They were never built for streaming, video conferencing, or households with 15 connected devices.
DSL isn't going to get faster. It's time to look at what else is available.
What's Actually Out There
Cellular Hotspots and Home Internet
T-Mobile and Verizon both offer "home internet" products using their cellular networks. In northern NH, coverage is spotty at best. Many areas in Coos County have limited or no LTE coverage, let alone 5G. Where it does work, typical speeds are 25–50 Mbps download with high variability and deprioritization during peak hours.
If you have good cell signal at your house, it's worth testing. But most people in rural NH already know their cell coverage situation, and it's usually the reason they need a real ISP in the first place.
Starlink Satellite
Starlink has become the go-to option for homes that can't get anything else. And for truly remote locations, it might be the only option.
What's good: 25–100 Mbps download, available anywhere with a sky view, no contract.
What's not: $120/mo is expensive for residential internet. The $599 dish cost (or $15/mo lease) adds up. Snow accumulation on the dish is a real issue in NH winters. You either need to heat it (which uses significant power) or manually clear it. Latency can spike during peak usage or weather. And Starlink now uses priority data tiers, meaning your speeds can drop significantly once you've used your monthly allotment.
For homes deep in the woods with no line of sight to anything, Starlink may genuinely be the best option. But for the majority of homes in towns like Lancaster, Littleton, Berlin, Colebrook, and the surrounding areas, there's a better answer.
Netafy Broadband Fixed Wireless
Fixed wireless uses ground-based towers (not satellites) to deliver internet over the air. Netafy Broadband's towers throughout Coos County, Northern Grafton County, and the Lakes Region are connected to fiber backbone, so the speed bottleneck isn't on the backhaul side.
What you get: 50–400 Mbps download depending on plan, upload speeds up to 100 Mbps, latency of 10–25 ms (basically cable-internet levels), no data caps, no contracts, and a local support team based in New England.
What it costs: $49–$109/mo. Installation is $99–$199. Month-to-month after that. No equipment lease. They install a small receiver on your home and that's it.
The technology: Netafy Broadband's GigTier equipment uses non-line-of-sight beamforming, which means it can maintain a connection through moderate tree cover and around terrain features. This is a significant upgrade over older fixed wireless systems that required a clear visual path to the tower.
Why People Stick With Bad DSL
Mostly inertia. It works just well enough that switching feels like effort. But think about what you're actually getting:
- 10 Mbps DSL at $60/mo vs 50–100 Mbps Netafy Broadband at $49/mo: you're paying more for less
- 1 Mbps upload makes video calls unreliable, cloud backups take hours, and uploading photos or files is painful
- No upgrade path. The phone company isn't going to double your DSL speed. The copper can't carry it
If your household has more than one person trying to use the internet at the same time (streaming, working, kids doing homework) 10 Mbps doesn't cut it. It hasn't cut it for years.
What Switching Looks Like
It's less dramatic than you might think:
- Check your address at netafy.com/contact. You'll know within a business day if your home is in coverage.
- Pick a plan. Basic ($49/mo) gives you 50–100 Mbps. Premium ($69/mo) gives you 75–200 Mbps, which is the sweet spot for most households with remote workers.
- Schedule installation. A technician comes out and mounts a small receiver on your home. Takes a few hours. No digging, no construction.
- Cancel your DSL. Or keep it if you want, but once you see the speed difference, you won't want to pay for both.
The Comparison That Matters
| What you do | DSL at 10 Mbps | Netafy Broadband at 75 Mbps |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix (4K) | Won't work | Multiple streams simultaneously |
| Zoom/Teams call | Choppy, freezing | Smooth HD video |
| Upload a 1 GB file | 2+ hours | ~3 minutes |
| Three kids streaming | Everything buffers | No issues |
| Smart home/cameras | Marginal | Full quality |
| Online gaming | High ping, lag | <25 ms latency |
Not Everyone Can Switch
Netafy Broadband's fixed wireless coverage depends on proximity to their tower network. If you're in one of the 33 towns they serve across Coos County, Grafton County, and the Lakes Region, you're likely in coverage. If you're outside that footprint, deep in unincorporated territory, satellite might still be your only option.
But for the thousands of homes in Lancaster, Littleton, Berlin, Gorham, Colebrook, Bethlehem, Franconia, Meredith, and their surrounding areas, fixed wireless is a real, available, and better alternative to the DSL connection you've been tolerating.
View all plans at netafy.com/residential-internet-pricing, or check your address at netafy.com/contact.
