Why NewarkNet?
The Alternatives...
T-Mobile Home Internet
T-Mobile Home internet offers attractive prices for "unlimited" home internet if you happen to live near enough to one of their low utilization towers. However, as usual, there is lots hiding in the fine print:
They always put extra limits on streaming content that won't show up when you do a traditional "speed test". This deceptive technique results in customers believing they have enough bandwidth to get the highest quality video steams, but they will not. No T-Mobile home internet customers will receive any Netflix 4k "Ultra HD" resolution content, it is usually a much lower bitrate stream.
T-Mobile is primarily a mobile service provider, that is their main business. They simply have excess capacity on some of their towers which they then sell to home users as deprioritized service. This means if your neighbor has a party, or heavy mobile (non-home internet) data user connects to the same antenna/tower you connect to, your T-Mobile home internet service will be slowed down to keep the service fast for mobile customers.
T-Moblie home internet doesn't support hosted services or public IPv4 addresses. If you have certain smart home devices, gaming systems where you host a games or VoIP system that requires a mapped port and Public IPv4 address -- they will not work on T-Mobile.
NewarkNet never artificially limits video streaming or deprioritizes home users. We will work with you to help get your smart home device working or game hosted by assigning a dedicated IPv4 address to your home for a small additional monthly fee, if needed.
Newer Low Earth Orbit Satellite Internet (Starlink)
Starlink can offer extremely fast home internet to anyone with an unobstructed view of the sky. However:
They offer only one residential plan at ~$100 per month and the installation charge for the equipment is $500.
The service can reach trip digit speed (XXXMbps) but the available bandwidth is extremely variable and drops frequently as different satellites pass over your home antenna.
It is considered "beta" with minimal to zero support available.
All customers who can see the same satellite at any given time share it's total available bandwidth. This means the service is sub-optimal for those that live near densely pack suburban areas or major cities. The service is really designed for sparsely populated areas with users who are extremely rural living 100+ of miles from major cities. In this area, satellite passing over your home will be sharing bandwidth with Starlink users all over the western and south western suburbs of Chicago.
NewarkNet is now offering our own triple digit (100Mbps) internet speed package for $100/month to those customers living near our newest upgraded towers. Not all customers, can get this service, nor do most customers have a legitimate need for triple digit internet speeds. In 2021, we increased the bandwidth on every one of our traditional plans and also lowered the price on our previous fastest package from $95/month to $85/month while simultaneously increasing the speed of that package by 25%. We are constantly investing in our network to make sure can offer the fasted internet speed we can at the lowest price.
Cable / Fiber (Comcast Xfinity, Metronet)
In many cases if you have access to real Cable or fiberoptic internet access it may be your best option. In most cases, nothing can compete with the lower cost and speed you can get with an actual wired connection. Even still, we have quite a few customers who have access to these services and still get internet service from us because they like our service or they hate trying to deal with service or support from these large companies, and our prices are competitive.
However, be aware of deceptive pricing. For example, in this area Comcast supposedly offers "$50/month internet." That is not unlimited, unlimited is $10/month more. They will want you to rent their modem hardware, for another $10/month more. So, now it's $70/month. Then, after 2-3 years you will discover you were enrolled in the limited introductory plans and the base price you were used to is now double ($100/month +10 +10, you will soon be paying $120/month for internet service), while that $50/month internet introductory price is designed to run all competitors out of business. That way, when your prices go up you may have no alternative to switch back to still covering your area. This is their pricing strategy, be warned.
Traditional Geostationary Satellite Internet (HughesNet)
Many, many of our customers have come to us after having tried to use satellite internet and are always blown away by the difference. Satellite internet has very restrictive monthly usage limits (with severe slow downs once you reach the limits). They are also more recently advertising faster speeds, but what they don't explain is that your data has to go into space and back before it can reach you, meaning there is bad lag or delay anytime you ask for data (even clicking links on websites). If you really have no other alternative, only then should satellite internet be considered.
Standard 3G/4G/5G mobile Internet (AT&T Verizon Sprint)
Coverage of these services is often spotty in our area but for those customers who can get a decent 4G/LTE/5G connection from a major nationwide carrier, be warned.
They usually have very low monthly usage limits for their data plans. And with their "shared data" or "family plans" they allow even more devices to pull data out of that small monthly limited data amount and usually charge you an additional monthly fee for each device you connect to your data plan. These plans get expensive quick. NewarkNet never charges more for monthly data use or for each and every device you connect to the service. We believe that is your business, not ours -- you already paid for it.
NewarkNet...
Speed
Our #1 goal is that our customers are happy with the internet service we provide and of course that means it has to be fast and reliable. We obtain bandwidth from multiple providers with failover and redundancy on our backend network to ensure our customers service is always fast and responsive. We added the new Residential Plus speed level for those customers who want higher speeds for streaming video services or downloading large files and are open to providing whatever speed level our customers desire if there is sufficient demand and we can provide it for an affordable price.
Service
We aren't a large ISP and have no desire to become one. We simply want to provide our small area with the best possible service for the best possible price. When you call or email us you'll be talking to the same few people who set up your service to begin with, we really know our customers and our customers really know us. You won't find that personal level of service with anyone else.
No Monthly limits
Nationwide mobile carriers are trying to convert customers to their 4G/LTE services and while some of those services can offer high-speeds they also limit how much you can use the service each month and quickly start to charge you extra for going over your monthly limit. At NewarkNet we are strongly opposed to monthly limits and will never institute such a policy. We believe the internet should be open and free, and that no one should have to worry when clicking a link to watch a video or stream a movie if that is going to somehow end up costing them more. We feel this is wrong!
No Contracts
Because we provide a great service at a great price, we have no need to lock you into a service contract. If you don't like our service, let us know and we'll remove the equipment from your home at no cost. But, if you are thinking of trying something different please let us know first if there is some way we can improve your service. In reality, the only reason people usually ask us to stop their service is because they are moving away. Our customers like us and want to be with us, they aren't with us because we are holding them hostage with a contract like many other ISPs do.
No Hidden Fees
No one wants to read through lengthy contracts for hidden fees, but with most of the NewarkNet alternatives you really should! From over use fees, to early disconnection fees, fees for asking questions on the phone and some even charge you a mandatory fee to remove the equipment needed when you want to disconnect your service!
Compared to other area Wireless ISPs(Rise broadband, and smaller options)
Generally we have a pretty good working relationship with other neighboring small wireless ISPs. If we can't offer you service and we know another company that can, we'll point you in that direction. In some cases there are overlaps in our coverage area and customers might have a choice. In those cases, we do recommend that you do you your homework and answer the following questions:
Are their prices and speeds clearly listed on the website or do they have vague speed ranges or "starting from" prices?
Do they have a contract with tons of hidden fees inside?
Do they have happy customers or customers who are stuck with no other option or can't quit because of their contract?
Do they have over ten years experience offering reliable high speed internet access to a smaller area or are they new and hoping to take over the world?