Megabits Matter: Our Fastest High-Speed Packages

It's funny to me that not too long ago, I had never really experienced high-speed Internet on my home computer before. Within the past decade, we've seen crazy leaps and bounds in terms of what we can do on the Web, at speeds most of us probably didn't think were possible in the 90's. The crazy thing is, as fast as my home high-speed connection is at 6.0 Mbps, there are even faster speeds out there.

Have you ever wondered about the fastest possible high-speed Internet package you can find? Lately, I've been curious about this, thinking about the best connection I could actually find and get hooked up in my home. Granted, I think about things like this because I'm a nerd, but I'm sure you are not a nerd, so you probably have more valid reasons to be pondering this idea. Regardless of why you've considered this question, I did a little bit of research into WhiteFence's providers to find the fastest high-speed Internet packages offered.

While most providers offer packages ranging from 1.0 Mbps to 10.0 or even 12.0 Mbps, there are some that go far beyond that. Check out the interesting results below.

How to Prepare for Your Move This Summer

Summer is on its way, and that means moving season is too. We’ve all had the stressful, thrown-together move experience where you just start throwing things in trashbags and random boxes, hoping everything works out in the end. If you’re moving this summer, you can probably hear that little voice in the back of your head saying “Start preparing now, we promised the next move will be different.”

I have to agree with the voice in your head, a little planning and preparation now can save you the heartburn of a stressful move. Here’s how WhiteFence can keep your move from becoming a nightmare:

• Plan if you’re going it alone or hiring the pros – The first thing you need to do is work out if you’re going to be moving everything yourself or if you’re hiring a moving company. While you’ll save a little money doing it yourself, it can be quite the headache. Unsure if you can afford to hire a mover or just looking for the best price on moving service? Check our Mover Quotes page to get quotes from all of the top movers.

• Put together a checklist and stick to it – The most important thing you can do now is to blueprint everything you’re going to have to do for your move. Not sure what you’re going to need to do? No problem, just head over to our Moving Checklist page and we’ll build a checklist customized for your schedule and needs for FREE!

• Order your home services in advance – The only thing worse than unpacking all day, is not having any TV to watch when you’re done for the day! Unless you’re planning on going without TV, Internet, a phone line, electricity and natural gas for a while once you get to your new place, you’re going to have to order your services in advance. With WhiteFence, you can shop all the top providers at once to find the best plans for your needs. Just head over to the WhiteFence homepage and enter your address to get started!

WhiteFence 101: How to Read an Electricity Bill

Electricity bills can be a little complicated at first glance, but I assure you they are full of valuable information and paying attention is worth the time. Here’s an overview of what you’ll find on your bill:

• Account Information – The bill should include your name, account information, address, and an invoice number.

• Amount Due – Your provider will list the amount you currently owe and when it is due. There will be an itemized breakdown of the various items that make up the amount due, so you can see what you are being charged for. They will also probably list when the payment will be considered late and what late charges you will be charged.

Find Average Utility Bill Costs with the WhiteFence Index

Recently, we've had a few discussions on this blog about monthly spending as well as the average cost of utilities during the summer. Naturally, utility costs and rising prices are always a concern for people, especially during an economic climate such as this one. It always helps to save money wherever we can, and the easiest place to start is our home services like electricity, high-speed Internet, etc.

Another resource that can prove useful if you're trying to get a sense of how your average utility costs rank is to use the WhiteFence Index. This tool allows you to look at top cities, by utility or service, to see what the average costs are for that area. It's actually pretty helpful, and looking at it right now I can see that I'm paying a little more than average for my home phone/TV/Internet package.

So, where do your bills fall? To find out more, visit the WhiteFence Index.

Qwest Merges with CenturyLink

If you're familiar with the Telco space at all, then you know that some big things happened last week in the industry. CenturyLink, formerly CenturyTel and Embarq, has agreed to buy Qwest, a fellow telephone, DSL and TV service provider based out of Denver, Colorado.

According to BusinessWeek, this "purchase allows CenturyTel, which serves customers in less populated areas of the U.S., to move into four new U.S. states and add customers in 10 more". In addition, Qwest provides service to many commercial properties, so there will be expansion on that side as well. The move also gives the companies an enlarged fiber network to better serve customers in many territories.

Naturally, the splash created by this merger will be a big one for the telecommunications business, which will have some ripples and side effects. Qwest comes with millions of broadband, wireless and phone customers, so there will no doubt be questions about what happens next, and what the timeline will look like for any kind of switch in service. Big changes like this affect WhiteFence as well, so we'll be posting details as soon as they are available to help answer any questions you might have. In the meantime, you can search for home phone service deals in your area.

Source- Businessweek and Qwest

Taking Stock of Your Monthly Spending

In dealing with most things in my life, I wouldn't generally consider myself an apathetic person. In fact, I'm fairly on the ball when it comes to taking care of my responsibilities at home, or to my friends. But for some reason, when it comes to money matters, I sometimes adopt a lazy attitude about my finances and how I can be saving more money.

I don't mean being a budget hawk or anything like that, where I'm counting every cent (oh those good ol' college days), but being conscious of where my money is going and where it is being wasted. Really, sometimes money just seems to disappear like picnic baskets in Jellystone Park. Minus the bears, of course.

As an example, my wife and I recently noted two areas where we could tidy up our monthly spending. The first was home phone. While having a home phone line can be useful for a variety of reasons (such as home security), we decided recently that we just weren't using it that often and might consider changing our plan. Likewise, our electricity contract just went up last month, so it's time to start looking around for a new rate. Guess which one of those we've done. Neither. I'm not really sure why that is, but I guess it's just easier to retain the status quo than it is to actively search for better deals.

So, here are some easy, non time-consuming things to help take a quick stock of your monthly spending:

The WhiteFence Virtual Plant-athon Has Begun!

Earth Day is finally here! To celebrate, we’re having our first ever Virtual Plant-athon.

What is a Virtual Plant-athon?
It’s simple, for every new fan of WhiteFence on Facebook from now through Arbor Day (April 30th), we will donate $1 to the Arbor Day Foundation (up to $1,500). Each dollar donated plants one tree, so every new fan means one new tree in the world!

How can you help?
First, if you’re not already our fan on Facebook, become one now! All you have to do is visit our Facebook page and hit the ‘like’ button. That’s it! The final count will take place 6pm PST on April 30th, so make sure you’re still around then.

Second, once you’re already a fan yourself, you can help spread the word to your friends and family. An easy way to do this is to post a link to your Facebook profile. To do this, just head over to the WhiteFence Facebook page and find the ‘share’ button on the left side of the page below the friends and event. Click that, type a message to all of your Facebook friends and hit the share button.  Don’t forget to let everyone know they should tell their friends and family too!

This is a really easy way to take action today and do something positive for the environment. Please join us this year in making a difference!

5 Easy Ways to Go Green for Earth Day

Tomorrow is Earth Day and all over the world people are getting ready to do their part. Are you ready? Don’t worry, if you’re not sure what you can do to help tomorrow, I’ve put together five quick and easy tips:

• Become a fan of WhiteFence, plant a tree – That’s right, starting tomorrow for anyone that becomes a fan of WhiteFence on Facebook and remains a fan until Arbor Day (April 30^th), we will donate $1 to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree (up to 1,500 trees)! How easy is that?

• Buy a programmable thermostat – Climate control makes up the bulk of many electricity bills (especially down here in Houston). Before the summer heat hits, why not invest in a programmable thermostat? They let you schedule your heating and cooling—so you don’t end up wasting electricity on an empty house—and can lower energy use by 10 percent.

• Dump your incandescent light bulbs – So, you’ve wanted to switch to CFLs for years, but haven’t made the plunge? What better time than Earth Day to make the change? Compact fluorescent light bulbs last much longer than traditional bulbs and can cut energy usage by a whopping 75 percent, making them an easy target for those looking to go green.

• Invest in a smart power strip – Did you know your house is filled with energy vampires? That’s right, lots of your household items draw power even when you’re not using them. Smart power strips let you cut those vampires off when you don’t need them, saving lots of electricity in the process.

• Switch to a green energy plan – Reducing energy use is incredibly important, but let’s not forget about the other side of the coin: where that energy comes from. By switching to a clean energy plan, you can make sure that the energy that you do use is not hurting the planet. To get started, head over to the homepage and enter your address to see if you have the option to switch to a renewable plan.

Who Has the Most TV Channels Per Dollar?

When it comes to ordering TV packages, many people base their decision on the number of channels that come with each plan. That got me thinking, which package out there has the most plans for the money? I decided to look through all of the different TV packages (not including bundles) available here on WhiteFence to find which package has the most channels per dollar (each month).

After checking each provider and plan—and man there's a lot of them—I found a winner: TVMAX with their XDtv Digital Ultra plan weighing in at a whopping 6.1 channels per dollar. Other great deals out there include DIRECTV's CHOICE XTRA^™ Package at over 5.7 channels per dollar and DISH Network's America's Top 200 at over 5.2 channels per dollar. Prices do vary by location, so let me know if you find an even better deal out there.

Of course, this doesn’t take into account upgrades like premium channels, HDTV service, DVR service and more, nor does it take into account the savings you get with a bundle, but it’s still cool to see.

How many channels do you get to the dollar? Let us know in the comments.

Reminder: WhiteFence Virtual Plant-athon Is This Week!

In case you didn't know, I thought I'd put up a quick reminder about our WhiteFence Virtual Plant-athon, which starts this week on Earth Day, April 22nd, and runs through Arbor Day, April 30th. What is a Virtual Plant-athon, you ask?

Starting this Thursday, we will be donating the cost of planting a tree ($1) to the Arbor Day Foundation for every new Facebook fan we get. That's right, one tree per every person that fans us on Facebook. We'll do this for up to $1500, so that means a total of 1500 trees could be planted around the world. So be sure to spread the word on Facebook and tell your friends how they can help make a difference with us.

Here are the details, bullet-point style.

• What: WhiteFence Virtual Plant-athon
• When: Earth Day (April 22nd) through Arbor Day (April 30th)
• How You Can Help: Fan WhiteFence on Facebook! We will donate the cost of a tree to the Arbor Day Foundation for each new fan, up to 1500.

To read more details, check out our original blog post on the Virtual Plant-athon.