Sponsored Sponsored content Why Ithaca Families Count on Fiber Internet During the School Year

Faster speeds, safety tools and local support from Empire Access keep homework and school projects on track.

It’s 7 p.m. on a school night — one child is uploading a history project, another is streaming a math tutorial, and a parent is on a late video call for work. Without reliable internet, that homework hour quickly turns into a household bottleneck.

During the school year, dependable internet keeps the whole household running without interruption.

“With fiber internet, even if it’s a peak time during the day, you’re not going to have an issue of people in the household fighting over the bandwidth,” says Mark Lamendola, Director of Marketing at Empire Access. “It’s a dedicated fiber line to your home. You’re not sharing that internet connection with your neighbor.”

How fiber speeds help students and parents

Since the surge of online learning in 2020, the way we use the internet at home has changed dramatically. It’s not just about streaming movies anymore—we’re all creators now. Think about a typical household: a student uploading a large video project for school, a parent on a video conference for work, and a security camera constantly uploading footage. These tasks all depend on a strong upload speed.

“This is where fiber-optic internet shines with its symmetrical speeds, meaning your download and upload speeds are exactly the same. Unlike traditional connections where your upload speed is a fraction of your download speed, fiber gives you a perfectly balanced connection,” says Lamendola. That balance can make the difference between a glitchy video call and a crystal-clear one, or between waiting an hour to upload a project and finishing it in minutes.

That balance matters even more as families connect dozens of smart devices alongside homework and work calls. 

“Many homes have anywhere from 15 to 25 connected devices,” he says. “Everything seems to be smart within the homes now: There’s the smart thermostats, the smart washer and dryer, refrigerator, the security cameras, plus everyone’s personal devices. You want that to all be connected and working.”

Safety tools to protect kids online

While fast internet is great we also need to make sure we keep our kids and our devices safe when they’re online. Empire Access pairs its service with an app that allows families to manage screen time, security and all of their devices across the home. 

Through the Empire Access CommandIQ app, parents can:

• Protect devices: The ProtectIQ feature blocks harmful websites and keeps viruses out.
  
• Manage screen time: The ExperienceIQ feature lets parents limit apps, set schedules and screentime limits or block content by device.
  
• Prioritize what matters: Families can make sure a parent’s work call gets bandwidth priority over online gaming.

“Our enhanced plan allows users to manage screen time and content by user,” Lamendola says. “If a parent knows one of their kids has a big test the next day, and doesn’t want them scrolling on social media that night, they’re able to block it from any device that kid may have.”

Local support families count on

Technical troubles don’t follow business hours. Having 24/7 local customer support based in upstate New York can mean the difference between a pass and a fail.

“Someone who has an issue at 11 at night is going to be able to call our local Customer Service team and speak to a live representative,” Lamendola says. “It’s not going overseas; it’s not a recording. There’s someone helpful to talk to who lives locally within the communities we serve.”

That focus on service has made Empire Access one of the most highly recommended providers in the industry. Customers consistently report strong satisfaction and say they would recommend the service to friends and neighbors. 

Reliable connections this school year

For families, the benefits of moving to fiber are immediate. “What we often hear from people is how the issues they were running into before, such as devices dropping, those issues go away,” Lamendola says.

Getting started is also easier than many expect. “Sign up, installation and set up is very simple and straightforward,” Lamendola explains. “Our local technicians care and do a great job of walking customers through the process and making sure that all their connected devices are ready to go once they leave from the install.”

Back-to-school season is stressful enough. A reliable fiber internet connection ensures kids can get their work done, parents can stay productive and households can juggle everything online safely without buffering or slowing down.