RCN

RCN offers high-speed broadband cable service to over four million people with a focus on major metropolitan areas like New York, Boston, and the Washington D.C.-Baltimore areas. Currently in seven states, RCN’s focus on cable over other technologies like fiber and DSL due to cable’s high bandwidths. RCN continues to grow its network and if available, is an outstanding choice for residential consumers to connect their homes to the internet. With multiple different plans, all at different speeds and prices, there’s sure to be an option for any household.

RCN was created by founders Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc and developer David McCourt. RCN first focused on telephone and cable television services while still offering internet connections. Through a series of acquisitions and splits, RCN increased its capability to deliver internet through their already existing cable lines and as demand for a reliable internet connection increased, RCN’s focus shifted more and more to providing internet. In 2017, RCN was able to merge with Grande Communications and Wave Broadband to increase its coverage area and the level of service and speeds than it was previously able to provide. This merger took RCN from a mid-sized company to one of the largest broadband providers in the nation.

RCN’s infrastructure is based on coaxial cables, much of which already existed before internet service became the focus and much more having been added in subsequent years. They have since also started using a hybrid fiber-coaxial network to better manage the high levels of bandwidth that the company deals in. RCN was able to do this by leveraging existing DOCSIS technology to transmit data over radio waves and copper. This is often compared to DSL with the similarity lying in both technologies using copper telephone cables. Where it differs from DSL however is in the amount of bandwidth that is able to be transmitted. Cable lines are able to handle a much higher level of bandwidth making speeds like 1000 Mbps possible. Matter of fact, RCN does not offer speeds lower than 250 Mbps making.it an ideal choice for even the largest families and the most modern of users.

RCN is currently available in the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, a very limited area in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Where it’s available is dependent on where they have laid those coaxial cable lines. Because of this, they have placed a large focus on heavily-populated urban and suburban areas where they can be sure that they’ll receive a significant return on investment. Laying those lines can cost in the millions, if not billions, of dollars but even still, RCN is constantly looking to increase its coverage area. It has been investing in areas not only where they already offer service, to improve reliability and speeds, but also into new markets to compete with some of the larger internet service providers. RCN is a great choice for any residential consumer capable of handling the highest resolutions when streaming and with low enough lag to appease the most competitive of gamers.