We asked Warren Neily how things were going after his first year on WideOpen Blacksburg's fiber network. Warren’s property is the last house at the far end of our rural fiber network:

"Wide Open Blacksburg was a game-changer for us in Ellett Valley! We struggled forever with slow speeds from Verizon, including paying extra for “band-width boosters” that throttled down mid-month after the allotted megs were consumed. Forget Netflix—we couldn’t stream anything.

BUT Adding Wide Open Blacksburg changed things for us overnight.

Overall better EASE OF LIVING. Finally, we have speeds to allow today’s family to function. Now we ARE able to work remotely--which was not possible before due to speeds / buffering. Plus, the kids stream content all they wish—no fear of throttling or monitoring controls to “save it” for work hours.

VALUE – cost-effective AND better. We could see value immediately in what we paid, vs what we got/ or didn’t get before. The math was simple.

BONUS to Business… adding new Wide Open Blacksburg service helped increase our AirBnB revenues. WIFI, if listed as an amenity, requires a documented speed making mid-week bookings harder. We regularly received critical reviews about slow internet—but no more! Now it’s mostly 5-Star reviews mentioning “great farm-experience paired with a week of Zoom Calls”—that’s what it takes to support today’s working professional traveler!

Kudos to Wide Open Blacksburg—we are getting great service for a price we never thought possible on our rural, remote hillside."

You can check out Warren's beautiful Airbnb by visiting the link here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/24334209?source_impression_id=p3_1636385601...

Google honored Mr. Kao on their homepage today.

“Kao founded the department of electrical engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1970 before moving to Roanoke, Virginia, in 1974. In the U.S. he worked as chief scientist and later as director of engineering at ITT Corporation, the parent company of Standard Telephones & Cables. During this period, several important patents related to fiber-optic technology were filed.”

Read more on Newsweek about how the ‘father of fiber optics’ revolutionized the way data is shared around the world: https://www.newsweek.com/google-doodle-charles-k-kao-physicist-nobel-pri...

In this 3-part series, we'll be checking out the best home security systems on sale today.

Blacksburg, Virginia, 10/27/2021

The second brand in our Home Security Series is Vivint. It’s a bit more professional than our last feature, and with that comes a higher price. However, if you’re looking for a great professionally installed system, this may be the one for you.

Vivint offers many standalone products; including their indoor and outdoor cameras, smart locks, and garage door opener to name a few. Those all work great on their own, but Vivint’s greatest strength is when all the products work together and can all be controlled from one system. Vivint makes home automation a breeze, especially considering that the entire system is installed by a team of professionals. That means you won’t have to worry about the best placement of the devices on your property. Included in the home security package is outdoor cameras, interior flood alarms, locks, thermostats, and lighting.

Vivint not only specializes in home security, but they also have a medical alert system for seniors. Included in the medical system is an emergency pendant that can be fitted on a necklace, safety alarms, 24/7 monitoring, and indoor cameras to keep check on loved ones when you’re away. And if you have a doctor or therapist coming by for a visit, you can provide them with a unique code that they can enter into the smart locking system for easy access to your home. To learn more about their medical system, visit the link here: https://www.vivint.com/medical-alert-systems

When you have this many devices working together to keep your home and loved ones protected, you need a network that you can always rely on. When you’re connected to WideOpen’s fiber network, you’ll always have peace of mind.

To get in contact with Vivint for a free quote, visit the link here: https://www.vivint.com/

Stay tuned for our next post.

- The WideOpen Team

In this 3-part series, we'll be checking out the best home security systems on sale today.

Blacksburg, Virginia, 10/22/2021

Home security products on WideOpen's symmetrical fiber service have never worked more reliably and quickly. From cameras and locks, to fire alarms and smart lights, you can be sure these devices operate at their maximum potential. And because WideOpen's network doesn't experience slowdowns in peak usage hours, you can be sure your residence is protected - whether you're at home or away.

The first brand we’ll go over in this series is Ring. You most likely know this brand from seeing their small doorbell cameras on houses around your neighborhood - or maybe you even have one yourself. But did you know they offer a full suite of security products? They’ve even got their own security subscription with 24/7 protection for your home, and an app called Neighbors by Ring, which enables you and those in your area to keep up to date on important information, like missing pets and package thieves. Find out more about the app here.

Ring has a multitude of security devices including smart lighting to make it look like you’re home when you aren’t, and motion detected flood lights with built-in cameras. Their most popular product is, of course, their doorbell security camera. They currently have 7 separate doorbell cameras to choose from all with different features, wireless or wired, motion detecting enabled or not, and unique designs to match the look of your home. You can see all the doorbells available by visiting their site here.

Ring has recently announced a new security system called Alarm Pro, which features a built-in eero Wi-Fi 6 router to protect your whole home and your network – which of course will work flawlessly on WideOpen’s network. The new Alarm Pro features 24/7 monitoring, whole home motion detection, and a DIY set-up. You can pre-order this system now at this link.

Stay tuned for our next post.

- The WideOpen Team

Paramount+ combines shows, movies, and live TV programs on their new app.

Blacksburg, Virginia, 10/19/2021

Are you wondering where your Star Trek Series disappeared to? ViacomCBS is calling many of their popular series home to their new Paramount+ Streaming network. Paramount+ is the home service for Nickelodeon, CBS, CBS Sports, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, MTV, VHI Showtime, and BET.

Originally launched as CBS All Access in October of 2014, the service added a more diverse selection of content and rebranded as Paramount+ in March of this year. Their rebranding efforts included adding much more content; sports channels including CBS Sports, original series like 60 Minutes, and additional content for kids.

Last month they announced that they would be launching a new streaming bundle for both the ad-supported and premium tiers that include Showtime. They are competing head to head now with the mainline HDTV streaming service by adding the extended content from Showtime, on top of what’s already available on Paramount+.

Are you enrolled in an accredited university? Current students get 25% off their monthly subscription by filling out the form at this link. www.paramountplus.com/account/edu

To view everything available on the new service, visit their site.
If you like what you see, click here to try it out free for a week.

Enjoy the Fall season!

- The WideOpen Team