Free Internet Performance

In text below: IME means "in my experience". IMO means "in my opinion". 

If you need help setting up your devices to work with our free Internet, our in-house maintenance people have basic IT skills and will provide limited, basic, free setup assistance.

If you need additional or more advanced help setting up your devices to work with our free Internet, or have other computer support needs, you'll need to hire an outside technician. We recommend Sutinen Consulting because they set up our free Internet and are familiar with it. They are skilled at general computer support, repair, networking, Internet setups, etc. They make house calls (often on a priority time table). House calls cost a bit more, but are convenient for you, and sometimes are necessary to solve Internet-device setup issues. For other issues (such as general computer repair) you can save money by bringing your device to their retail store (2 blocks from Hearthside Apts), but a house call is usually an option if you prefer. Sutinen Consulting's phone is 360-578-9144. Their hours are Mon to Fri from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Corporate Housing Longview WA has 1 in-house IT people (with basic skills) and we often hire Sutinen Consulting for advanced work on our computers, networks, Internet access, and other devices. We have been doing business with them for 22 years.


Summary

We know Internet access is important to our residents, especially our extended stay (corporate housing) residents. We strive to provide reliable, fast, free Internet access. Our free Internet speeds are good for most people, but power-users may want to upgrade.

Internet peak use hours are 6:30 PM to 11:30 PM weekdays, and all times on weekends. Peak-hours are rush hour traffic on the Internet. If your schedule allows, using Internet during off-peak hours is 3x to 4x faster!

Our Wifi is dual broadcast in 2.4G and 5G. Please try both our 2.4G and 5G Wifi to see which works better for your device (and your location in the building).

Most people don't need to read further, but power-users should read further to determine if our free Internet performance meets their needs (and to learn upgrade options).


General Info and Specs

The info below is based on our tests, experiences, and opinions. It's provided to help you understand how much speed you need, what we offer for free, and your upgrade options at each building.

How much Internet speed does a person need? That varies by person and needs, but here are some general suggestions. 25 mbps actual speed is a reasonable minimum in our opinion.

25 mbps is fast enough to watch an ultra high def 4K movie on Netflix with perfect results. 25 mbps also gives a good Internet browsing experience, and acceptable download times for most people. 50 mbps allows one person to watch a UHD 4K Netflix movie while another person in same apt browses the Internet or downloads. So 50 mbps is the gold standard. Faster than 50 is gravy. There's no real advantage (for most people) in being faster than 75 mbps because most websites you'll browse are slower than that. Likewise, most servers you might download from can't go faster than 50 to 75.

So how much actual speed (not rated speed) do you really need? 15 mbps actual speed gets you by just fine for web browsing and smaller downloads. 25 is ideal. 50 is super awesome, but not necessary. There is little benefit of having faster than 50, and no significant benefit of having faster than 75 (in our opinion) because most websites can't serve you data faster than 50 to 75 mbps. 

Hearthside Apartments and River's Edge Condos have the fastest free Internet in the county. All units (unfurnished and furnished) at these buildings have fast free Internet.

Test figures stated below are actual speeds. Rated speeds would be 20% higher. The difference between rated vs actual speed is overhead for encryption and other things. The actual speed is what's left (after overhead). Actual speed is what speed tests show. Actual speed is the speed you can use for your data.

Our speed tests have shown (in each apt/condo) actual speeds of 25 to 50 mbps during peak times (6:30 to 11:30 PM), and 50 to 75 mbps during off-peak times.  That's download and upload speeds. Our goal is to always provide 20+. We are exceeding that at Hearthside and River's Edge. 

For comparison purposes: Most coffee shops' Wifi actual speed is around 7 to 9 mbps. Most phone carriers' actual speed is 2 to 4 mbps.

Copper Wood Apartments free Internet actual speed is 16 mbps (rated speed 20). If you want faster Internet in a Copper Wood Apartment, you may purchase faster service. To have an actual speed of 25, you need to have a plan with a rated speed of 30 mbps.  


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