Recently we saw several big cable trucks patrolling the streets of Northeast Seattle, putting new wires up on the city telephone poles. When asked if this was fiber internet, the answer was… vague.
It appears that the NE Seattle area will be getting faster internet, as to whether or not its true fiber, is another question. But the speeds now listed on several major providers’ websites seems to indicate that the option to upgrade is here, or will be coming soon.
Several years ago, there was a rumor that Seattle would be applying for Google Fiber, but that never seemed to materialize, either due to tough regulatory hurdles or because Google Fiber slowed its roll out nationwide. Probably a bit from column A and column B. You can view the full City of Seattle map here.
Regardless, if you’re curious where you can find the best internet in Seattle zip codes, you can use this tool to search.
Here are a few of the specific zip codes in Northeast Seattle:
If you’re hoping to check the government record rates of internet from the major companies operating in Seattle, you can review those here.
There’s no doubt that Seattle as one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the world will see some major competition among internet providers in the future, but for right now, Comcast does hold a majority monopoly on the lines they have run throughout the city. There has been a lot of pressure from city residents to bring more options to the city, but for now, contracts prevent much change from occurring.
Interestingly, Washington state is now currently adhering to recently nationally repealed net neutrality laws, which will likely bring some interesting legal battles. This will perhaps set a national precedent for other states hoping to maintain net neutrality.
Regardless, if you live in NE Seattle and you’re looking to upgrade your internet speeds, you might have a worthwhile option to explore! Keep an eye out on your street for service workers installing new lines, it might just be fiber.