Devices we repair · this page
Stokes · Forsyth · Surry · Rockingham · Yadkin
Internet options in the Piedmont Triad
We do not sell internet. We help you understand what can actually reach your road, what the old company names became, and whether the problem is the ISP — or the box in the closet. Test the line you already pay for, then check the provider yourself.
Monday–Friday 9:00 AM–7:00 PM by appointment. On-site speed tests use the same branded tool as this page.
Test your ISP speed
Click GO. Use a computer on an Ethernet cable if you can — Wi-Fi will lie. Close the video call first. This is Ookla Speedtest with our name on it, so a client and a technician are looking at the same number.
Open the speed test in a new tab
A speedtest measures this device to a nearby server. Slow Wi-Fi, a dying mesh hop, or ten phones on one radio will tank the result even when the fiber in the ditch is fine. If a wired test is slow and the ISP app says the modem is “online,” that is a useful ticket.
What an ISP actually is
An Internet Service Provider is the company that delivers access to your address. They use fiber, coaxial cable, copper phone pairs, a cell tower, a WISP radio, or a dish. Bandwidth is how much data moves in a second. Latency is how long a round trip takes. A “gig” plan with 80 ms of lag still feels like 2008 on a video call.
Advertised speeds are a ceiling, not a promise at 7 p.m. on a Sunday. Data caps, equipment rental, contracts, and upload speed matter as much as the download number. We do not pick a winner and we do not collect a referral fee. We will tell you what the jack in the wall is, and whether the router behind it is the real problem. That hardware lives on networks.
You are not stuck with DSL just because Spectrum never buried coax on your road. 5G home internet, a local WISP, and Starlink exist for a reason. Traditional satellite (HughesNet / Viasat) is still a last resort, not the only rural option.
Connection types — what they are, and the tradeoffs
A company can sell more than one of these. Brightspeed and Kinetic both still run DSL on some roads and fiber on others. AT&T Fiber, AT&T Internet Air, and remaining AT&T DSL are three different products. The logo on the truck is not the technology in the wall.
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Dial-up cannot do broadband. If that is the only copper story on the road, look at 5G home, a WISP, or Starlink.
Providers in this five-county mix
Links go to the company’s own site so you can check your address. Availability changes by driveway. Bringing Your Tech to Life does not endorse, sponsor, or partner with any of these companies.
Wired — fiber, cable, and DSL (sometimes from the same company)
Spectrum
Widest coax footprint in the Triad. Forsyth, Rockingham, parts of Stokes. “Fiber-powered” often still means coax to the house.
AT&T Fiber
Symmetrical fiber. Forsyth / Winston-Salem, Rockingham, southern Stokes (Stokesdale). This is not Internet Air and not DSL.
AT&T DSL
Old copper pair. Still on some roads. AT&T may push Internet Air instead of repairing copper. Check the address — do not assume Fiber.
Brightspeed
Took the CenturyLink/Lumen plant here in 2022. Fiber where they have built. DSL where they have not. Stokes and Yadkin still see both.
Kinetic
Windstream’s residential brand after the 2025 Uniti merger. Lists King, NC. Fiber and remaining DSL — check which one the address actually gets.
Optimum
Pockets of Stokes and Rockingham. Confirm the address — not county-wide.
Zirrus
Yadkin Valley Telephone. Yadkin, Davie, western Forsyth. Fiber up to multi-gig.
Surry Communications
Fiber-to-the-home through Surry County and adjacent Stokes borders.
Lumos
NorthState became Lumos in 2022. Some 2025 bills now say T-Mobile Fiber — same glass, new letterhead. Forsyth / Guilford-border. Not T-Mobile Home Internet.
RiverStreet
Wilkes Communications. Bought Stokes Wi-Fi. Fiber build plus remaining WISP radios in Stokes.
Piedmont Communications
Rural fiber around the Surry / Stokes foothills. Related to Surry Communications.
4G and 5G home internet — a gateway on a cell tower, not a dish and not fiber
These plans use the same towers as phones. Some addresses get 5G. Some get 4G LTE. Check the company’s tool for your address — the logo on the box is not the radio in the sector.
AT&T Internet Air
Gateway on AT&T’s 5G network. Different product from AT&T Fiber and from your phone line. Check availability separately.
T-Mobile Home Internet
Gateway + tower. 5G where the sector has it, 4G LTE where it does not. Not the Lumos/T-Mobile Fiber glass product. Return it if the sector is junk.
Verizon 5G Home
Home gateway on Verizon’s 5G network. “5G” on a phone is not this product.
Verizon 4G LTE Home
Same idea as 5G Home, on 4G LTE. Often the option when 5G is not at the address. Still a tower, not a satellite.
Satellite — a dish talking to space
Starlink (low Earth orbit) and the older GEO services are not the same product. Latency is the difference you feel.
Starlink
Rural high-speed when nobody buried glass. Latency is why it replaced “satellite” in most conversations.
HughesNet
Older satellite. Still sold. Read latency and priority-data terms.
Viasat
Same class as HughesNet. Not Starlink.
If your bill still uses the old name
Internet companies in this area have been bought, merged, and renamed for twenty years. Clients still search the name on the invoice in the junk drawer. That is why this section exists — not because we sell any of it.
Road Runner → Time Warner Cable → Spectrum
Road Runner was Time Warner Cable’s internet brand. Charter bought Time Warner Cable in 2016 and rebranded the plant Spectrum. If the bill, the modem sticker, or the neighbor still says Road Runner or TWC, the current company to check is Spectrum.
CenturyLink → Brightspeed
Brightspeed was formed to take Lumen/CenturyLink’s copper and fiber in this region. CenturyLink customers here became Brightspeed customers on October 3, 2022. Same poles. New letterhead. They sell fiber where they have built it and DSL where they have not.
Windstream → Kinetic
Windstream’s residential internet is now Kinetic after the 2025 merger with Uniti Group. Kinetic sells fiber and remaining DSL. Their site is gokinetic.com. A Windstream bill, a Windstream.net email, or an old “EarthLink on Windstream” story is the same company to look up.
Stokes Wi-Fi → RiverStreet
Stokes Wi-Fi is now part of RiverStreet Networks (Wilkes Communications). If your equipment, invoice, or old bookmark still says Stokes Wi-Fi, RiverStreet is the company to contact. They offer fiber in some parts of Stokes and fixed wireless in others — check the address to see which one you can get.
Yadtel → Zirrus
Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corporation now does business as Zirrus. Same co-op, new brand. Yadkin, Davie, and western Forsyth.
Suddenlink → Optimum
Suddenlink rebranded to Optimum. Same last-mile plant in the pockets they serve. Look up Optimum, not Suddenlink.
NorthState → Lumos → (some accounts) T-Mobile Fiber
NorthState Communications combined with Lumos and took the Lumos name in 2022. In 2025 a T-Mobile / EQT joint venture began moving many Lumos residential accounts onto T-Mobile Fiber. The truck and the fiber may still say Lumos. That is not T-Mobile Home Internet (the 5G gateway).
AT&T is three products, not one logo
AT&T Fiber is glass to the house. AT&T Internet Air is 5G home internet from a gateway — wireless, not fiber. AT&T DSL is the old copper pair, still on some addresses. A bill that only says “AT&T Internet” does not tell you which one you have. Check the equipment: ONT on the wall is fiber. A gateway with cellular antennas is Air. A modem on a phone jack is DSL.
What to look for before you switch
- Test the line you have — wired, on this page, at the hour you actually use the internet.
- Upload — work-from-home and cameras care. Cable and DSL often starve upload. Fiber usually does not. 5G home varies with the tower.
- Latency — under ~40 ms feels modern. GEO satellite will not.
- Data policy — “unlimited” that deprioritizes you after a number is a cap with manners.
- Contract and equipment — can you leave in 30 days? Do you rent a modem forever?
- The box in the closet — a $40 extender is not a mesh, and a mesh is not fiber. We fix that on a network ticket.
Why is the Speedtest on your website?
So a client and a technician are looking at the same branded test during an on-site — not three different apps arguing. It is Ookla’s custom widget. We do not see your browsing. We see a speed number if you tell us it.
Spectrum is not at my address. Am I stuck with DSL?
No. Check T-Mobile Home Internet, Verizon 5G Home, AT&T Internet Air, RiverStreet (fiber or fixed wireless in Stokes), Surry / Zirrus / Piedmont if you are on their co-op plant, Kinetic, Brightspeed fiber if the pole has it, and Starlink. GEO satellite is the fallback after those.
My bill still says CenturyLink / Windstream / Stokes Wi-Fi / Yadtel / NorthState.
Those names changed. CenturyLink here is Brightspeed. Windstream is Kinetic. Stokes Wi-Fi is RiverStreet. Yadtel is Zirrus. NorthState is Lumos (some bills now T-Mobile Fiber). Use the history section above, then check the current company’s address tool.
Can you sign me up for a provider?
No. We will not pretend to be a sales agent. We will tell you what the jack is and whether the router is the problem.
The speedtest is fast but Zoom is not.
That is usually Wi-Fi, a congested mesh hop, or upload. Bring a ticket. That is a network visit, not an ISP change.
Is the ISP the problem — or the network?
A ticket is how we come look. We do not sell you a carrier on the way out.