Is all Internet created the same?

Do you know what type of technology Pioneer Communications or your current broadband provider uses to provide Internet to your home or business? Did you know there are about 6 different ways to provide Internet, and the type of technology used will greatly affect the capabilities and user experience your household can come to expect? Pioneer Communications provides Internet to our customers via three methods.

Fiber Optics
Fiber optics is the best type of technology to provide Internet service. Fiber optics are cables consisting of hundreds of strands of glass thinner than a human hair. Fiber is extremely reliable and can deliver the fastest speeds available. Currently, Pioneer has built fiber to 75% of our cooperative customers and continues to invest millions of dollars each year into building more fiber.

Coax
Coax cable, which at one time was mainly used to provide cable TV service, is a second way to provide Internet. Like fiber, coax can provide fast download speeds up to 250Mbps and upload speeds up to 50Mbps on a Pioneer Internet connection. Upload speed is used to send files to other people via the Internet and is also utilized when using applications like Facetime or Snapchat. We also continuously invest in our coaxial plant to keep it up to date and continue to increase download and upload speeds.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
DSL uses copper cables also used to provide telephone service to allow for Internet speeds up to 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload. DSL Internet performance is affected by the age and quality of the copper wire that connects your home or business and the distance away from electronics that power these services. Pioneer Communications continues to invest in our cooperative areas to replace all of our DSL copper wire with fiber optic infrastructure.

There are other ways to provide Internet, but these are the three primary ways Pioneer Communications provides service. Geographic location decides what technology we use to provide your service. If you’ve ever wondered why we have maintenance in different areas at different times, or why we are consistently performing upgrades on equipment and software, its because we provide and maintain Internet service on many different platforms. We have extremely talented employees who are able to adapt and support service no matter what medium we are using. Our number one goal is to ensure every Pioneer Communications customer has reliable, state-of-the-art communication services, no matter how you get it!