Matt Baumgartner’s frustration reached a new level when he resorted to driving to a local hotel’s parking lot to tap into reliable internet over the guest Wi-Fi network.
Matt, lead pastor of New Life Church, and his wife Melanie, a remote-work employee for the state of Wyoming, had experienced issues with their internet provider since moving to Laramie in 2017 that included frequent outages and slow speeds.
Baumgartner said his internet would go down as often as once a month for up to three hours and then he’d get the “run around” from the provider’s customer service. Slow speeds didn’t help either, as Baumgartner would have to disconnect every other device in his house to stream his beloved Dallas Cowboys. And the trip to the hotel was necessary after a video upload for work was projected to take 16 hours over his home network.
“It became where the internet that is supposed to make your life better became a source of conflict and frustration for our family,” he said. “The answer [from their internet provider] was always pay more, but yet we weren’t happy with the product that we were paying for already, so we definitely didn’t want to increase the price.”
All of which led to Baumgartner being one of the first to connect when Bluepeak launched in Laramie last month. He’s been “super happy” so far with the switch to fiber internet and noted the ease of installation and helpfulness of the technicians.
“When we heard about Bluepeak, we were like this is too good to be true,” he said. “Usually when things sound too good to be true, you find out they are, but in this case, it’s been a great experience. I couldn’t believe how fast the installation was and how inobtrusive the process was. It’s total night-and-day from what we’ve had in the past.”
And those video uploads now take less than two minutes, which helped Baumgartner realize the importance of fast, reliable and affordable internet for local businesses. He and Melanie recently became co-owners of Star Awards, a promotional products supplier store, in Laramie.
“Really the question is ‘why doesn’t a community the size of Laramie, with all that we have going on with the university and business opportunities, have quality internet options already?’” Baumgartner asked. “Bluepeak bringing fiber internet here is opening the door for Laramie to be all that it can be.”
Baumgartner explained he would recommend Bluepeak to others and already has.
“If I was looking for a job right now, I’d want to be a salesperson for Bluepeak because what an easy job,” Baumgartner joked. “Can I save you money on your internet services and make it reliable and fast to meet all your needs in a way your current service, that you’re paying more for, isn’t? To me, that’s got to be the easiest job in the world.”
Bluepeak’s service area in Laramie currently includes neighborhoods north of Harney Street and Grays Gable Road between 15th Street and Inca Drive and the area north of Downey Street between Ninth and 15th streets. Those interested in signing up for fiber internet service – with packages from 1 to 5 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) for homes and 10 Gbps and beyond for business – can check service availability with their address on mybluepeak.com.
About Bluepeak
Bluepeak is building a faster, more reliable internet without the things that get in the way of great service — like red tape, hidden fees, and slow response times. Offering up to 5 gigabits of speed for residential customers and 10 gigabits and beyond for businesses, Bluepeak is a whole new ballgame — from internet to TV, to connecting every device in a home, to powering a business, Bluepeak not only provides the best fiber connections in the communities it serves, but also meets the growing needs for how its customers live.