[cwal37]

I am now surrounded by Google Fiber to the east and west, and Chattanooga's public fiber to the south, out here in Knoxville, TN. I really wish we could manage something here. This area has the biggest national lab, and a host of tech industry around it, I was kind of surprised more options didn't exist when I moved down a year ago.

It makes sense to me that Google went after these southeastern markets, because we are the area where Comcast is already enforcing (I've had to pay a couple times) data caps[1]. It's called a "trial" on their site, but the charges are real.

[1] http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/data-u...

[saboot]

Same situation for myself currently. Doing some grad work at ORNL also.

I'm really frustrated by comcast, my fiance and I have a hard time doing bandwidth using things simultaneously (netflix/twitch). I constantly watch our data meter to make sure we don't approach the cap.

Although it's kind of baffling because I recently lived in the bay area. AT&T's UVerse I had wasn't much better in terms of the bandwidth and price, I don't recall a cap though.

I'm here for a few years before fleeing back to CA. I've been researching how to start any sort of movement for reasonable service in town but it seems the town council is pretty alright with comcast, even though some tech business have actually moved from knoxville to Chattanooga for the internet. So really not sure what to do other than give up.

EDIT: Wow, I actually didn't realize how bad the situation is here in Knoxville, read more here http://www.metropulse.com/stories/features/downtown-knoxvill...

[cwal37]

Unrelated to this, but do you guys like board games or really almost anything else? I made the mistake of living in Oak Ridge and I've had a hell of a time meeting people ( I mean, clearly, I'm propositioning a random person in an unrelated HN thread). When my mentor isn't around I can go days without talking to people, and it's starting to drive me a bit mad. I keep buying board games and local multiplayer PC games, but they all languish unplayed.

Back onto the topic, I seriously feel Comcast is "trialing" their data caps her because the southeast is perceived as less tech-savvy, and they're probably aware they can get away with it more.

EDIT: Thanks y'all, I'll be sending out some emails when I get home.

[saboot]

Hah, I feel the same way! We have carcassonne and pandemic, but playing with just my fiance and I got boring quickly. I usually play single player pc games for the same reason. I'm in a bit better situation socially since I take classes at UTK and commute to ORNL twice a week so I talk and meet other students, but I'm always up for meeting new people who are similarly bored :) I'd probably be available on either the weekends or Friday, feel free to email. I'm also trying to get into hiking and exploring the area if you are into that stuff also.

I agree with your data cap comment. Although it's not just the southeast. Any cornered internet market seems to have them. They're pretty widespread in Canada.

[cjslep]

My friend and his wife are in Knoxville working at ORNL (He's also working on his Masters at the moment). He was in my DnD group at NC State for our Nuclear Engineering undergrad. Feel free to email me and I can put you guys in touch.

[jamesmishra]

Hey! I'm currently doing an internship at ORNL and hang out with a bunch of the interns / employees / postdocs. Send me an email if you'd like to join us on skiing trips, hiking, other get-togethers, etc.

[peckrob]

Hey cool! I grew up in Knoxville! :) I still have family there, so I'm up there several times a year. Last time I was up there I saw a billboard for gigabit connections being offered by TDS Telecom, but I'm guessing that's in a reeeeeally small area there near Farragut.

FWIW, It's the same way down here in Huntsville. Google Fiber in Nashville and Atlanta, fiber in Chattanooga, and I'm stuck with a 25 megabit cable connection that I pay out the nose for. We're trying to get something together here with the local utility[0] (a la Chattanooga), but it's still in the very early conception stages. It's still years away, if ever, from actually happening.

[0]: http://launchfiber.com/

[infogulch]

Wrong kind of trial. In Comcast's "trial", you're put on the stand and found guilty of your wallet being too full, so they relieve you of your burden.

[nathanb]

I'm from Knoxville, though I currently live in the Raleigh-Durham area (one of the areas the fiber gods have smiled upon). You should consider coming out here. I would not go back.

(Land prices are super cheap in Knoxville, though!)

[cwal37]

Well, I'm only down here for a relatively short bit. Just starting the second year of a postmasters at Oak Ridge National Lab, and at the end either there's funding for me to stick around and be real staff for a while or I'm off to some bigger city.