SUPERIOR — Lucky timing made Robert Larson of North 17th Street the city’s first broadband customer on the new fiber optic network installed last fall.
Stephanie Becken, the city’s broadband manager, posted the registration page for the city’s
ConnectSuperior broadband network
as a test. Larson happened to find it and registered before Becken had a chance to take her test down again.
“I had to call him like, ‘Oh, please be patient, but you’re first on the list,” Becken said.
The city contracted with Hanco Utilities to build out the fiber optic network in the area bounded by Tower and Catlin avenues between Belknap and North 21st streets as a pilot area.
Gary Meader / Duluth News Tribune
The network came online about three weeks ago. The open-access network allows
two internet service providers to offer
various speeds of service ranging from 300 megabits-per-second for $62.95 a month to 1 gigabit-per-second for $83 or $85. An internet and phone bundle is also available for $87.90.
Larson chose the highest-speed option with Superion Networks, owned by Pat Malley of Duluthian Networks, doubling his speed while paying about the same as he did for cable internet.
Larson said making the switch was very easy.
Hanco Utilities installed the network drop directly to his home.
“They were very friendly,” Larson said. “They planted grass seed and made it look like they were never here.”
Once installed, Larson said they put a small box in the house and turned it on, but the network wasn’t ready to transmit data yet.
“Then one day, I got a call from Pat Malley, and he said we’re going to turn it on,” Larson said.
Moving to the higher-speed internet then only required Larson to reconnect his wireless router to the ConnectSuperior box.
“We didn’t even have to change our passwords or redo anything on our phones,” Larson said. “It just recognized it, so that was easy.”
With about 20 devices — including computers, televisions, streaming devices, smartphones and personal assistant speakers — connected to the network, Larson said everything moved seamlessly to the new network.
With equal upload and download speeds available on̈ the fiber optic network, Larson said it’s faster to move data over the internet than it was using a hard drive or flash drive. Teaching media production at the College of St. Scholastica, Larson said it’s much faster to upload videos now than it was when he was using cable internet.
Over the last three weeks, Larson said his network has been delivering 1 Gbps with only one minor hiccup as he was transferring a massive amount of data from one computer to another over the internet. He called Malley and the issue was quickly resolved.
“It was in very early testing,” Larson said.
“We’re not really testing anymore,” Becken said. She said customers weren’t charged during the testing phase; billing started Aug. 1. And now when customers connect to the network, they get online immediately, she said.
ConnectSuperior now has 26 customers online, with another 34 working through the process, Becken said.
Larson encouraged others to give it a try, especially if shopping locally is important to them.
“It’s a huge investment in local infrastructure,” Larson said. “So, if you’re one of these people who wants to support your city and local infrastructure, this would be a great way to do it. It is much faster, and so far, incredibly reliable.”
The city plans to build out the network over the next several years until it runs past every home and business in Superior. This year, the city also built out most of the network north of Belknap Street from Catlin Avenue to the east side of Baxter Avenue, but Becken said homes in that area won’t be connected to the network until next year.
Shelley Nelson is a reporter with the Duluth Media Group since 1997, and has covered Superior and Douglas County communities and government for the Duluth News Tribune from 1999 to 2006, and the Superior Telegram since 2006. Contact her at 715-395-5022 or snelson@superiortelegram.com.