This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Comcast Houston. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
We have been customers of Comcast here in Houston for quite some time now. I don’t remember exactly which year we switched over to their internet service, Xfinity Internet, but I do recall it was a tremendous improvement. In those days, we were starting to rely a lot more on our connectivity for the day-to-day tasks we were taking on as budding entrepreneurs. We learned quickly that higher speeds and decreased lag times meant we could be more efficient and lose less time trying to troubleshoot problems on our own. If we were to go back in time and look at the speed we were paying for back then, it would probably be laughable.
You see, while Anjelica and I did not grow up with internet at home, we have pretty much built our roster of businesses and projects around the internet itself. What we discovered on the world wide web is that the playing field is much more leveled, in a way. You really get out what you put in, and since we put in so much time and effort online, we needed to have the fastest speeds available which could only be delivered by our provider. .
Precisely because of our upbringing, we also understand what it is to do without the things you need to complete simple tasks. My parents once purchased an entire encyclopedia collection on an installment payment plan for years because we could not afford to purchase a computer, much less pay for internet service on its own. Anjelica did not have access to either at home. So, we visited a lot of libraries and completed as much of our work as we could on the computers in school. It wasn’t ideal, but we managed to make it work. Years later, as parents ourselves, we did what we could to give our son more access than we had. Even then, he didn’t get his own computer until he started high school.
This year, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, it again became abundantly clear the divide between the haves and the have nots. Edgar is now a senior in high school and has been tutoring elementary and middle school students online as part of his volunteerism before graduation. He soon discovered that a lot of his students only had access to one shared mobile device at home, which meant they were figuring it out themselves through text messages, FaceTime and apps like WhatsApp. Honestly, if we were struggling as kids back then when the internet was just getting introduced to the classroom environment, I can’t even imagine what it must be like for kids today.
As the number of devices continued to increase in our home and we needed to stay inside due to the pandemic, we realized how important it was to have strong connectivity across the entire house. That is when the new and second generation of the xFi Pods came in as a lifesaver. The xFi Pods are small devices that, by only being plugged into the wall, eliminate any “deadzones” or areas within the home where the signal from our xFi Gateway may not be as strong. The first generation of the xFi Pods was amazing, but with these new ones, we see maximum speeds that are up to two times faster and upwards of 500 Mbps.
Not only do we enjoy and benefit from their internet service and products, we love that the company is committed to making internet affordable and accessible for everyone. Recently they announced plans to rollout WiFi -Connected Lift Zones, in local communities nationwide. Both as customers and as supporters of their continued commitment to delivering innovative products and services that enhance and improve people’s lives, we are excited to continue our relationship with Comcast and their Xfinity brands as they become official sponsors of our blog and podcast.
