{"id":8070,"date":"2023-07-24T05:04:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T05:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/?p=8070"},"modified":"2023-09-29T06:14:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T06:14:22","slug":"the-factors-that-affect-internet-speeds-in-different-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/blog\/the-factors-that-affect-internet-speeds-in-different-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"The Factors that Affect Internet Speeds in Different Cities: What You Need to Know Before You Choose an ISP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada may be one of the most economically and technologically progressive countries across the globe, but life isn\u2019t always the same across different cities. Depending on where you live, you may not experience the same economic and technological standard that other cities may offer, especially the most populated and advanced ones. One aspect of life where these differences can be most apparent is in terms of connectivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it\u2019s often said in real estate, location is everything. While any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/internet\/\">internet service provider<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0(ISP) can reportedly offer the fastest internet speeds, the reality is, actual speeds can vary based on where you are. There\u2019s a good chance that the fastest internet speed\u2014the one you want\u2014isn\u2019t available in your location. As a result, you may be stuck with a speed too slow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, before you choose an internet provider, it\u2019s important to make sure that they can deliver. To get the best, cheapest internet, you need to choose the right ISP and get the speed you need, no matter where you are. Find out all about the different speeds across cities, and learn how you can get the best internet service, only from Comwave.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is my internet slow?<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Factors at Home<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re wondering why your internet is slower than what you should be getting, the first answer is often to diagnose your current connection and look at factors inside your home that may be affecting your speed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some common culprits include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your computer, phone, tablet, or other device used to connect to the internet may be slow and needs to be upgraded in order to support demanding applications, such as streaming videos.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your modem is an older model that isn\u2019t built to handle the fastest internet speeds. If your modem can\u2019t process them, it can\u2019t convert these speeds so you can enjoy them on your devices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to your modem, your router may also be older or isn\u2019t built for faster speeds. In this case, the router can\u2019t provide a strong Wi-Fi signal, which can cause wireless connections\u2014such as those on your phone\u2014to be spotty. In other cases, the router may also be too far from where you are, resulting in a weaker signal and slow speeds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The website or app you\u2019re on is experiencing unusually high levels of traffic, making it hard to browse, load videos, post, and more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Technical factors, such as latency or the time it takes for data to travel to your device, and packet loss or the number of data packets lost in transit, can also slow down your internet connection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And lastly, the speed of your internet plan is simply too slow. If you\u2019re utilizing speeds lower than 50Mbps, you\u2019ll likely experience slow internet while doing high-bandwidth activities like streaming and gaming. It only gets slower when you\u2019re using multiple devices and there are lots of people at home sharing the same internet connection.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Factors Outside Your Home<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what if your connection is slow even when your internet plan is the fastest, you recently upgraded your modem, router and devices, and there are no other factors inside your home that could be causing it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, the answer is outside your home. There\u2019s a very good chance that your location is the reason why your internet is slow. Where you live is one of the factors that determine whether you get the best and cheapest internet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Great Internet Divide: Two Types of Internet Service in Canada<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Canada has some of the world\u2019s fastest internet speeds, this is often only true for major urban centres. On the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.gc.ca\/app\/scr\/sittibc\/web\/bbmap?lang=eng#!\/map\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you can easily see that access to internet providers, a wide range of plans and fast internet speeds is concentrated in big cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Higher Population Equals Demand for Infrastructure<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, rural areas and northern provinces and territories have a much more limited choice of internet providers and plans. Due to a larger population in cities, many ISPs have invested in the necessary infrastructure to deliver the fastest internet speeds. With the population and therefore demand in rural areas smaller, there hasn\u2019t been much incentive to set up new internet infrastructure; if there is, it often results in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/deeply-disturbing-nunavut-internet-still-slower-more-costly-than-rest-of-country\/article_f462c3c8-1953-599d-af0d-3487f1436801.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">higher costs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for residents to reach the same levels of data consumption as their urban counterparts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minimum Internet Speeds in Canada<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these differences, it\u2019s important to remember that the Canadian government has set standards for home internet. When choosing an ISP, make sure that they meet the standard and you can get at least the basic speed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that they are setting new targets for internet speeds in order to reflect growing demands for the best and cheapest internet that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the CRTC, homes should be able to access speeds of at least <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/internet\/performance.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50 Mbps for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Further, the CRTC also aims to ensure that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/internet\/performance.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">90% of homes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across Canada have access to these minimum service levels. These targets are certainly encouraging, but more work certainly needs to be done in order to ensure that Canadian cities get the best, cheapest internet.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fibre Internet: The New Best Internet in Canada<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fibre internet is the future of internet connectivity. It\u2019s currently the best and fastest type of internet connection, but current gaps in availability persist with fibre.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The biggest factor causing this is infrastructure. Installing fibre optic cables is labour-intensive, often requiring providers to excavate streets in order to lay new lines. Because it costs a lot, many providers are inclined to start this work in big cities where demand is high and guarantees that they can recoup their costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For cities where fibre internet is available, upload speeds have been found to be <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ookla.com\/articles\/fiber-speeds-canada-q4-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12 times faster<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than broadband and provide up to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ookla.com\/articles\/fiber-speeds-canada-q4-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11 times more advantage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in major Canadian cities. Previously, upload speeds were known to be much lower than download speeds, essentially requiring more bandwidth to send data over the internet than receive it. But with fibre, both speeds are parallel, resulting in a massive jump in previously lagging upload speeds.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get the Best, Cheapest Internet from Comwave<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you\u2019ve seen, the availability\u2014and quality\u2014of home internet varies across cities in Canada. And while your location is a major factor in the internet speeds you get, that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t get the best internet service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you choose Comwave as your ISP, you get a lot more than you bargained for. Now, you can get the best internet speed available in your area, at the cheapest prices. Start by finding out how much internet speed you need and the best way to get it. Whether you need just the minimum speeds or ultra-fast 1 Gbps speeds, Comwave lets you choose how fast you\u2019re connected, at the best value for your budget.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to upgrade your speed or find out if you\u2019re getting the best internet service in your city? Choose Comwave as your ISP. Check out our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/internet\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comwave internet plans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for the best and cheapest service.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canada may be one of the most economically and technologically progressive countries across the globe, but life isn\u2019t always the same across different cities. Depending on where you live, you may not experience the same economic and technological standard that other cities may offer, especially the most populated and advanced ones. One aspect of life&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/blog\/the-factors-that-affect-internet-speeds-in-different-cities\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Factors that Affect Internet Speeds in Different Cities: What You Need to Know Before You Choose an ISP<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8070"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8107,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8070\/revisions\/8107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comwave.net\/residential\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}