Spectrum in Wisconsin offers business internet solutions.
Spectrum in Wisconsin offers business internet solutions.
Yes, those prices are normal for DIA (Dedicated Internet Access) connections. The cost is significantly more because the ISP expects you to utilize the bandwidth you pay for (so it can't oversubscribe to the extent it does for residential or small business connections). In addition, you probably get better customer support, more included IPs, an SLA, flexible billing and plan options (such as being billed by 95th percentile, unmetered or pay as you go), and support for customer BGP advertisements (so you can multi-home with connections from other ISPs and/or use your own provider independent IP space). You will probably notice that DIA connections will commonly use metro Ethernet over fiber instead of the PON based fiber that you get with residential and small business grade fiber (such as AT&T Gigapower, Verizon FiOS, and Google Fiber) which means that your connection to the ISP shouldn't be contended (however, after it reaches the ISP, speeds are no longer guaranteed). For reference, here's AT&T's list prices (actual prices may vary depending on location): https://www.business.att.com/products/de...ernet.html
These services typically include several advantages: focused assistance with reduced call volumes, guaranteed service level agreements with fixed IP addresses, no need for private IPs, improved PTR ratings because users are often excluded from blacklists, increased upload capacity, and most plans cap connections at around 1000 simultaneous sessions.
It seems the DIA speeds lag behind faster connections, even when we weren't getting the full rate we paid for. ISPs need to fix this so more people can use it effectively. Back then, the internet was around 100 Mb/s—still considered business-grade, which should cover these benefits. It doesn’t make sense that they’d leave such a gap. Upgrading would have been urgent enough. Personally, I’m glad we’re moving away from fiber soon.
Worked in a call center once. A colleague mentioned that at a Comcast center they treated every call as a sales opportunity. Sounds like your world? How about switching to something better? It probably explains why they rank poorly in customer service ratings. It really depends on the internet type you need. For instance, Comcast Business Class (Coax) does cover some of these issues. From what I understand, SLAs don’t apply, static IPs might add extra cost, and upload speeds seem similar or even lower. Business class usually means slower speeds for a higher price. You’ll get a different support line, though—this applies to Coax, not Fiber (Metro Ethernet). The main benefit of Comcast Business Class is no data limits. Still, you might be stuck using their gateway, especially with static IPs.
The cost per Mbps of DIA connections isn’t great when bandwidth is limited, but it drops significantly as you increase your data allowance (pricing also improves). You’ll get speeds beyond what consumers typically see. At low bandwidth commitments, these connections come with a higher price due to the SLA terms. Performance remains consistent whether you’re on a 50Mbps or 5GBps plan. Support is another factor; you may receive dedicated assistance from an account manager, unlike standard call centers used by smaller businesses. Although some interactions felt less informed, things could be worse with lower-tier internet. Advanced users might need extensive IPv4 resources or own their own IP space, or join BGP networks for better routing. Even if the benefits don’t matter to you, many providers still offer these premium options at a premium price. If those distinctions aren’t valuable, ISPs continue to provide SMB-grade solutions—choose accordingly.