Bringing the Internet Home:
How REC Transformed Life for One Greene County Family
For Jen Hill, living in rural Greene County meant a constant struggle to stay connected. Before
high-speed internet reached her home this year, simply getting online to work was a daily challenge.
“It was difficult to find places where I could connect in order to work,” said Hill, who works remotely as a computer programmer.
“I would find myself going to the library, sitting in the parking lot at a McDonald's or, you know, just going through all kinds of machinations in order to get connected to work.”
Managing limited internet speeds was a constant stressor.
“I would always, throughout the day, check and see how fast my internet speeds were and whether I could watch a television show upstairs, and my husband could be watching a different show downstairs — was it OK, or could I work now?” she said.
“I would find myself working early mornings or late nights in order to have the speeds to do things that I needed to do.”
Her family invested in a range of temporary fixes.
“Just throughout the years, in order to function and have decent internet speeds, we’ve had to get a cell phone booster to boost our cell phone signals so that we could hotspot off the phones,” she said.
“We’ve tried different things like an antenna through Verizon — it was on the roof — in an attempt to provide whole-house internet, but nothing worked.”
That all changed as a result of REC’s efforts to build a fiber network that an internet service provider now us
es to provide broadband to Hill and her neighbors.
“It's been great. I don't have to even think about it. I just turn on my computer and I can get started right when I want to,” she said.
“It was fantastic to just realize that I didn’t have to check speeds all the time. Now, I could just work anytime I want. I never have any issues and so it can be more on my schedule.”
Hill is grateful for the investment REC made to create this new reality for her family.
“I know that [REC has] spent a lot of money and time in order to go into out-of-the-way areas and connecting [internet] there," she says.
“Providing broadband to areas that couldn't get it in any other way.”
For Hill and her family, the impact has been profound.
“Living in a rural area and having broadband now — it’s fantastic. I can’t say enough how much we like it.”
To REC and the teams that helped bring broadband to her family, Hill has one simple message:
“Thank you. I appreciate it so much. You guys have made my day — or made my year actually — and having it available now, it's been awesome.”
