Yahoo Finance I Cut My Wi-Fi Bill: Here’s How I Did It
Your Wi-Fi (internet) bill is a utility charge you can optimize to reduce your expenses, much like water or electricity. The obvious first assumption is that you could turn it off or reduce its power draw, lowering your electricity bill. This is true, but there are also a number of other ways that you can lower your internet bill. Here are 4 ways I managed to lower my bill.
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Make Sure You Have the Right Plan
Many of us want the fastest speeds possible. Whether you need it for work or steaming movies, no one likes seeing connectivity issues due to insufficient speeds. Because of this, it’s easy just to choose a large data plan and be done with it – never realizing how much excess you weren’t utilizing. The simple solution is to observe the different programs and platforms you use, which often provide information on the minimum speed you need to achieve a particular quality level or for it to function at all. While it makes sense to have a speed higher than the one indicated, especially if your household regularly uses multiple devices simultaneously, you may find the disparity is significant, according to CNET. You could lower your plan and find that your internet experience is no different. This is, in part, due to the fact that internet speeds have grown exponentially over the last 10-15 years. Fast speeds have become more of a norm and are not limited to the highest and most expensive tiers. As such, you might not have realized that the lower, less expensive plans are adequate for your needs.
Lower Your Overall Connectivity
Just because you have many devices that require internet access doesn’t mean that they require it all the time. Fortunately, most internet packages offer an easy way to check what devices are connected through an app for security purposes and to understand your usage. Take home security systems – it makes perfect sense to have these on while you’re away from home, but you can conserve data usage by disconnecting them during the day while you’re home. If you’re charging your smartwatch in another room, you can put it on airplane mode so that it doesn’t use data to receive notifications you check on your phone or computer. Having numerous devices connected all the time inflates your overall usage. It may cost you extra by charging you for additional data beyond your limit – or even convincing you that you need more data than you do.
Negotiate Your Bill and Plan
You may be surprised how common it is for a company to offer you a lower bill for a certain period. Sometimes, all it takes is to speak to a customer service representative, according to Forbes. Company policy often involves rewarding customers who appear invested in the company. Research the competitor providers in your area; if you find that a similar plan is being offered for slightly less than the one you’re exploring, that information might get you a reduction. From the company’s perspective, having you pay less is more desirable than having you go to a different provider.
Use Third-Party Equipment
Service providers often charge you a fee to rent the proprietary modem and router equipment, but you may not know that there’s a good chance you can use equipment from a different manufacturer. Other brands tend to be cheaper than the major service providers. Amazon Eero is a Wi-Fi router that costs one up-front fee, which ends up being cheaper than renting or buying it outright. Verizon charges $18 per month, or $399.99 per year, for their router, while Eero‘s is $70. In the likely scenario that you plan on having the internet for longer than 4-5 months, you stand to save substantially.
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