Windstream’s network extends from the southern border of Texas to USA’s border with Canada on the North. It has a strong rural footprint.
If serves internet through two types of plans; ADSL and VDSL, the latter being the faster of the two. Freedom from contracts and data caps is a standard feature of their plans, as is a 30-day refund policy. They start at 10 MBPS download speeds and go all the way up to 1 Gig, riding on the fiber network being laid out.
As is the case with most providers, their pricing, and even availability, could vary by location, hence best to check pricing and deals available before committing. In general, Windstream is not known as being an expensive provider.
This guide will provide information on:
Windstream Internet Plans
| Plan Name | Download Speed | Upload Speed | Bandwidth | Connection Type | Regular Price | Sales Prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Speed Internet 25 MBPS | 25 MBPS | Unlimited | DSL | $27 | $27 | |
| High Speed Internet 50-100 MBPS | 100 MBPS | Unlimited | DSL | $37 | $37 | |
| High Speed Internet 200 MBPS | 200 MBPS | Unlimited | DSL | $42 | $42 | |
| High Speed Internet 300-400 MBPS | 400 MBPS | Unlimited | DSL | $47 | $47 | |
| High Speed Internet 500 MBPS | 500 MBPS | Unlimited | Fiber | $47 | $47 | |
| Kinetic Gig | 1000 MBPS | Unlimited | Fiber | $57 | $57 |
Price includes promotional credit for the first 12 months; effective price will rise after 12 months
Where speed is shown as a range, the attempt is to deliver the higher end, but owing to constraints, may not always be possible
Why choose Windstream ?
Hinterland availability Though satellite based internet services are available in the remote areas of the country, they are often not as fast or stable as the wired services. In addition, they could be more expensive. The best thing going for Windstream is that is takes its wired internet services to the rural areas through the legacy copper wire network and provides services normally only available in the urban or semi-urban locations. The speeds may, however, be slower than urban areas as the distance from the service hub impacts on the speed of the DSL network. However, it is available. And, in relative terms to the ther options available, they are fast and cheap. Reasonable pricing Despite catering to widely distributed populations in rural areas, Windstream pricing remains competitive, even inexpensive. Being expensive has not been a complaint heard about them. Of course,pricing could vary by location. Variety of plans There is a wide variety of plan options available, mostly differentiated by the download speed offered, as is the case with all residential internet providers. Despite being in a possible monopolistic position in some areas, it offers choice to customers. No data caps None of the plans offered by Windstream have data caps. The customer does not need to keep track of her usage, and tell family members to slow down when she sees the usage going close to the danger mark. No excess usage charges, no throttling down of speed. No nothing. Just plain plan as long as it is valid. Watch movies, stream music, play games. Whatever. No early termination cost What this really means is that you don’t need to sign up for a contract, terminating which prematurely could have entailed a cost. There is a down side, however, which is that the first year prices are promotional. At the end of the 12-month period the prices will increase. Though it is a common practicefor internet providers, as a customer it is not good news. Some providers offer a continuance of the introductory price based on certain T&Cs. Check them out att your location.Pros
- Windstream does not bind customers to contracts.
- There are no data caps on usage. It also does not throttle down bandwidth after a certain amount of consumption.
- Availability in rural areas is a great boon. In fact, it is believed that many Windstream internet customers do not have wired access to other internet services.
- Though prices vary by location, Windstream is known for customer friendly pricing.
Cons
- Prices offere to new customers are promotional prices, with a hike being imminent after 12 months.
- Customers have reported interruptions in service occasionally.
Windstream Internet Coverage
You are likely to be a rural area resident if you use the Windstream internet service. That is a common belief which highlights their strength in providing a wired internet service in rural locations, otherwise dependent on satellite internet, usually more expensive per unit of speed.
States with Windstream internet service are:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
Frequently Asked Questions
There are many technologies used to deliver broadband to your home or office, like Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Cable, Satellite, Fiber and Wireless.
DSL is the technology that transmits data over the copper lines that brought telephones to homes and offices. Being a widespread network, DSL reaches many corners of the country where other technologies cannot. The connection emanates from the phone wall jack of your existing telephone network. As it works works within the frequencies that the telephone doesn’t, there is no overlap between the two and both can be used simultaneously.
DSL internet is frequently compared with cable internet,as thatis the other network with a fairly large reach. Both have their advantages as well as disadvantages:
Speed – DSL generall maxes out at 400 MBPS download speed, which is more than adequate for most househo;ld requirements. Cable can deliver gig speed dpownloads.
Bottlenecks – DSL is a dedicated network, not affected by the internet usage of others. Cable, on the other hand, is a shared line; speed could be thrittled if your neighbors decide to connect at the same time.
Cost – Both being established networks, are fairly reasonably priced.
There are no caps on any of Windstream’s internet plans. We also do not have a policy of slowing down the speed after you have crossed a threshold. You will get the committed speed during the currency of your plan.
What you may need to know, however, is that providers have the right to slow down the speed in order to manage the network. This could be in times of high usage or some other stress on the network like a breakdown.
It is a great question that does not have a simple answer.
For a household, an internet speed of 100 MBPS is generally considered good enough for most of its requirements, including streaming videos and working from home and participating in video conferencing, by multiple people simultaneously. The only excpetion to this would be gaming for which 100 MBPS may not be adequate.
Here are some rules of the thumb you could use to work out your download speed requirement:
- For each user: allocate 25 MBPS
- For each device that is not a 4K device: allocate 10 MBPS
- For each 4K device; allocate 25 MBPS (most devices like laptops and mobiles are not 4k)
Multiply by the number of people and devices likely to be used simultaneously during peak hours and you should get an idea of the bandwidth you need.
Also, bear in mind that most households are consumers of data, and not producers; their upload requirement is limited. if you need to upload substantial amounts of data, you may need to look for a suitable plan.
Windstream’s DSL plans use the phone wiring that extends to your home to deliver internet. A live connection is all that is needed, not a working phone. If you don’t need a phone, you don’t need to get one only to get the internet service in your home.
Kinetic is the brand under which Windstream’s gig-speed fiber internet service is delivered to your home and business. It is already available to many communities across 18 states and growing every minute as we continue to expand our fiber footprint.
Check out if we are already delivering fiber internet to your location through the utility on our website.
Installation cost can be advised once your location is known, as we serve a lot of rural communities that could be far from our service points. It can take about 2 hours for a professional installation, depending upon the amount of work that needs to be done, especially outside the house. Our technicians come equipped for all requirements related to installation.
Self-installation options are also available. If that is the option you choose, expect to receive a package with the necessary instructions and step-by-step guide. Our experience is that it can take upto an hour for a self-installation, so plan accordingly.
About Windstream
Windstream traces its origins to formation of the Allied Telephone Company in Littlem Rock, Ark., that served rural communities in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. In 1983, Allied merged with Mid-Continent Telephone Company of Ohio to form Alltel, the nation’s 5th largest local telephone company. Alltel merged with Standard Group in 1999.
In 2006, Windstream Corporation was created by soinning off Alltel’s landine business and merging it with Valor Communication Group, that had been formed in 2000 with the acquisition of GTE Southwest Corp’s telephone assets. At that point it reached 3.4 million access lines across 16 states. Its stock began trading on NYSE and was included in the S&P 500 index.
Windstream became a Fortune 500 company in 2013. It also formed Windstream Holdings Inc., the new publicly traded parent company that includes Windstream Corporation and other subsidiaries.
Windstream Enterprise offers solutions across Healthcare, Retail. K-12 Education and Higher Education, Banking, Hospitaility, Federal Government, Sate and Local Government, Content and Media for:
- Remote Working – that make collaboration easy
- Network and Connectivity – for delivering bandwidth and associated reliability
- Unified Commuications and Voice – to deliver a differentiated CX
- Security and Compliance – to protect your data, customers and business
Windstream Communications offers TV, Entertainment, Voice, Wi-Fi and Security services to residential, small business and enterprise customers across the country, in addition to, as well as a part of its internet delivery capability.
As a carrier partner, it also acts as a wholesaler and supports media companies, data centers, network service providers, cloud operators, carriers and cable operators in delivering their services more efficiently and gorwing their customers and revenues. Windstream Wholesale has 170,000+ route miles, 3,700+ PoPs, 840+ Lit buildings and 840+ cities served.
Headquarters:
4001 Rodney Parham Rd. Little Rock, AR 72212
