Blackwell Family's Internet 70 Times Faster with Bluepeak's Fiber Internet

Joseph Pawlikowski’s children (clockwise from top) Matthew, Adam, Jacob, Miriam, Aaron and Simon are big fans of Bluepeak’s fiber internet service.

(BLACKWELL, Okla.) – Jan. 26, 2023 – One cold and windy mid-December afternoon in the Pawlikowski home in Blackwell, Joseph Pawlikowski’s kids sat in front of the TV, “oohing and ahhing.” They weren’t watching a can’t-miss sporting event. They weren’t binging the latest hit show. They were admiring their new Bluepeak download speeds.

Pawlikowski’s five sons and one daughter range in age from 11 to 22 years old. The first thing they did after getting Bluepeak fiber internet service last month was connect their six Xbox One gaming systems. Then they switched all their other devices to the new WiFi network to download software updates they had been putting off for months or longer. They were awestruck by how fast the updates downloaded.

“I’ve never seen kids sit there and make a big fuss about how fast it was going,” Pawlikowski laughed. “The downloads were moving so fast you could watch the bar [on the screen] go up. Before, when you saw how slow it was going, you would turn off the TV and walk away because it wasn’t going to be done until the next day.”

The kid’s excitement, and Pawlikowski’s relief, were the culmination of a long, frustrating journey for the family. According to Pawlikowski, they had suffered through slow, spotty internet service from AT&T for years. The term “surfing the internet” didn’t feel like it applied to them, as they trudged along on just 14 megabits-per-second (Mbps) of bandwidth, despite purchasing the highest speed package offered in the area.

So how did Pawlikowski’s family of seven run multiple gaming systems, cell phones, tablets, laptops, TVs and other smart devices with such sluggish speed?

“We didn’t,” he said with a chuckle. “Most of the time there would only be three or four of us that would try to get on gaming. We would make sure everything was turned off the WiFi. We really had to manage our network, like strict managing, just so we could have good gameplay.”

Which meant other members of the household had to be careful not to connect to the WiFi and accidently kick someone off a game. Pawlikowski said he used to turn off his doorbell camera or other devices just to save bandwidth.

Things got even worse during the pandemic in 2020 with so many aspects of life – including school and work – moving online. Pawlikowski confirmed the frustration of rationing bandwidth between users in his household added to the strain on him and his family during an already challenging time.

Moreover, Pawlikowski worked as an AT&T internet installer before. The company would send him to larger Oklahoma towns like Edmond or Stillwater to upgrade their network with fiber lines, according to him. That experience gave him a unique perspective.

“I love living in a small town, but it’s just old lines here for AT&T,” he lamented. “They never update anything. They are working in all these bigger cities to update, and they are just leaving these smaller towns off to the wayside.”

It’s a sentiment that is all too common in smaller Sooner State communities. Oklahoma currently ranks 46^th in the nation in internet coverage, speed and availability, according to broadbandnow.com. And a Kansas City Federal Reserve study estimated 30 percent of Oklahomans have access to fewer than two wired internet providers.

When word spread that Bluepeak was building to Blackwell, Pawlikowski recalled his kids being immediately excited to see fiber coming to town, but the former internet technician was skeptical at first.

“I said, ‘I’ll see when they get here and turn everything on,’” he remembers.

Now, Pawlikowski is a Bluepeak believer. His one-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) package is over 70 times faster than the top speed of 14 Mbps he was getting from AT&T.

“We can actually run all six Xboxes at the same time,” he laughed. “I never hear complaining about lagging anymore or anything like that. Now they can all get on and play together. I can hook up my cellphone to the internet now, where I used to only do it when there was an update that needed to take place. It’s a lot better.”

Less WiFi network wrangling has allowed Pawlikowski to focus more on his new home business. Last month he launched Joseph’s Carpentry and Handyman Service. It’s a venture he said Bluepeak’s internet has “tremendously” affected and says the service is a “gamechanger” for his business.

As for the rest of his community, Pawlikowski confirmed he “definitely” recommends Bluepeak to others in Blackwell.

“[I would tell a friend] mainly about the speed,” he said. “Even over WiFi, the speed is really good. It’s amazing how fast it is. And reliable too. I haven’t had any issues with it whatsoever. I’m really pleased with it.”

Like Bluepeak, Pawlikowski believes the size of the town shouldn’t determine the quality of the technology. As an internet consumer and former installer, he says it’s only fair that everyone has access to a fast, reliable, affordable connection.

“We’re just the same as any other big city,” he said. “We still have all of the shopping that we want to do online. We have a bunch of small businesses here in town that rely on good internet upload and download speeds. Our kids want to stay connected to their friends and family. There shouldn’t be any reason why we’re not getting the fast stuff just like the big city.”

Bluepeak began connecting its first customers in Blackwell in August and is still building out its service area here. Those interested in checking service availability at their address or signing up for updates throughout the construction process can log on to 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 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. Visit mybluepeak.com to learn more.