Moving To a New Home Should Mean Having Access to the Internet

When moving to a new home, many owners expect to start living their new lives almost immediately! Arranging furniture, buying new stuff, and installing new equipment should take a few days at most. Getting acclimated once you get things settled down is the priority. However, for many new owners, the lack of internet access upon moving in a source of great agony. While electricity and water usually come preinstalled at their new homes, the internet is sadly not a given. Especially for professionals with remote work duties or young families dependent on internet for everyday communication, this is a very vexing problem.  

Typical Problems When Applying for Internet Connection

If you just moved into an existing unit in an existing residence, then getting an internet connection shouldn’t pose any problems. Where neighbors already exist, and they take up more than half of the available units, chances are that there’s good internet connectivity available. However, some condominium associations or community HOAs reportedly allow only one internet provider. Well, having one provider instead of none is preferable right? Not if slots are limited. While newer residences tend to allocate individual lines per unit, some older buildings and subdivisions might have limited lines as they adopted much older technology. 

Then, there’s the problem with brand-new or newly turned-over residences. Internet Service Providers usually require a minimum number of users to activate local internet services. For purely business reasons, they will wait for occupancy rates to reach a certain level before connecting the residence or building to their broadband network. 

Manage your Internet Expectations When Moving to a New Home

When confronted with the issue of having no available internet services, the best thing to do is ask around first. A visit to the homeowner’s association can give you the full story of why some residents have internet access and some have not. This inquiry can also tell you if the HOA made an exclusive deal with an ISP.   

Truth be told, you should ask about the internet situation with your real estate agent the moment you signed the term sheet. Or, check with your potential landlord before signing a lease agreement. While internet access might or might not be a dealbreaker, it at least allows you to think of options before your move to your new home. 

Below are some of the questions you should ask before moving to a new home:  

• Ask if the internet provision ratio is one line per unit. If yes, you will also need to ask if that line is already existing or if the ISP will only act on it once a minimum number of residents move in.  
• Is the condominium/apartment/residence open to multiple ISPs? Or is there an exclusive arrangement with a single ISP? If the latter question’s answer is yes, does the existing ISP have enough lines for all households? 

What to Do if Stuck in Your New Home without Internet Services? 

For those stuck with their earlier choices for their new homes, don’t fret. Prepaid internet services are widely available. As long as your mobile phone can get a signal where you live, you can enjoy internet access through prepaid wifi kits from your mobile service provider. 

Thankfully, internet services are already established as a basic need, so developers, owners, and HOAs recognize that eventually, their properties will need a connection to remain occupied. Until this happens, make your voice heard through your homeowner’s association. Other residents without broadband will be more than happy to join this call. 

Meanwhile, renters might want to talk to their landlords about the lack of internet services. You can use this issue as a bargaining chip when negotiating a lease renewal. If you get negative responses to your questions about internet services, consider moving to a new home yet again. Preferably, this one should have no problems with internet access. 

Ohmyhome Lets You Look for Internet-Ready Residences

If by chance you have yet to decide on a new place to live, and internet connectivity is something you require, there are developers that are offering internet-ready units. We don’t mean having the place wired for ISPs to move into. We mean offering internet services as part of their basic utilities. Among these developers is DMCI Homes, who started offering built-in commercial-grade internet for each unit in Prisma Residences.  DMCI guarantees buyers that residents will have access to broadband service on the first day of moving in. In addition, DMCI allows buyers to bring in their ISP of choice should they prefer other options. Learn more about DMCI’s Prisma Residences by visiting Ohmyhome Philippines. Ohmyhome’s customer service is happy to take your inquiries regarding this property or any other property from any other developer. For easier access from your smartphone, subscribe to Ohmyhome’s social accounts. Follow our Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube accounts, or download the iOS or Android app.