USVI-On-Line

Internet access and speed on St. John has typically been slow, and at times, intermittent. After a first start with DSL over the phone line with Innovative, we switched a few years ago to Broadband VI, which uses line-of-sight transmissions to and from a tower across Pillsbury Sound. That hit download speeds of 3 Mbps on a good day. For years, we had heard about the rollout of a high-speed fiber optic network in the VI, funded with Federal stimulus grants. That network was first up and running in St. Thomas, but we watched last year as road crews unspooled and hung new cables on St. John. Well, the system is now up and running in St. John, at least on the Cruz Bay side. It is offered by Innovative under the name "EVO", either on its own, or as a bundle with telephone and cable. We switched over at Coconuts and Plumeria a few days ago, and the speedup is impressive. We are now getting consistent download speeds of over 18 Mbps, upload speeds of over 2 Mbps, and ping times of 20 to 30 milliseconds. Sites now load right away, and browsing is seamless. We also have Picostation M2 high power outdoor access points, which ensure great access anywhere on the villa and grounds. It was a long time coming, but worth the wait. St. John now has a pretty high-tech connection to our increasingly wired world.
All the best,

Kevin

Very nice. I hear so many complaints from friends about Choice and Broadband VI.

AT&T wireless Internet has been great for us on de boat, but not cheap. I need to remember to turn the mifi off at night.

Cheers, RickG