The State That Has Everything Except Rural Broadband
Massachusetts gave the world the internet revolution. MIT, Harvard, Route 128 — this state practically invented the digital economy. So it catches people off guard when they learn that thousands of Massachusetts residents cannot get basic broadband at their homes.
The problem is concentrated in western Massachusetts. The hill towns of Hampshire and Franklin counties — places like Shutesbury, Warwick, Wendell, New Salem, Plainfield — have populations so small and terrain so rugged that cable companies never built infrastructure there. Berkshire County, despite its cultural draw (Tanglewood, Mass MoCA, the theater scene), has significant pockets with no wired broadband at all.
The state has been working on this through the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and the MBI Last Mile program, which has funded municipal fiber in some towns. But progress is uneven. Some towns have fiber. Others are still in the planning phase. And even where municipal fiber exists, it does not always reach every address, particularly properties on long driveways or in areas with expensive pole access.
What Hill Town Installations Look Like
We have done installations throughout the western Mass hill towns, and they present a consistent set of challenges.
Dense mixed forest. These towns sit in the Berkshire foothills, covered in oak, maple, birch, and hemlock. The tree canopy is a serious problem for satellite reception. Ground-level placement almost never works. We typically need a pole mount extending well above the roofline or a chimney mount on the highest point of the house.
Steep terrain. Properties often sit in valleys between ridges, which limits the visible sky even beyond the tree problem. We use the Starlink app's obstruction scan to map exactly what the dish can see from each potential mount point. Sometimes the best location is not on the house at all — it is on a detached garage, barn, or purpose-built pole in a clearing.
Long driveways and distance from the road. These properties are often set back 500+ feet from the road on unpaved driveways. That is part of their charm, but it is also why cable companies quoted $50,000+ to run a line. Starlink eliminates the ground infrastructure entirely.
Older construction. Colonial and Federal-era homes are common in western Mass. Plaster walls, post-and-beam framing, and historical considerations all affect how we route cables. We work carefully to maintain the character of these homes while getting a clean cable run from the dish to the router location.
Berkshire County: Tourism Meets Connectivity
The Berkshires have a split personality when it comes to internet. Pittsfield, Lenox, and Stockbridge have reasonable options. But step outside those centers and you are in trouble. Properties in towns like Otis, Becket, Tyringham, and Monterey frequently have nothing beyond slow DSL.
This matters because the Berkshires rely heavily on tourism and second-home owners. People who buy a weekend house in Becket or rent a cabin in Savoy expect to stay connected. Cultural tourists visiting Tanglewood want to post photos. Remote workers choosing the Berkshires for quality of life need reliable video conferencing.
We have installed Starlink for several Berkshire vacation rental owners, and the feedback is consistent: guests comment on the Wi-Fi quality in reviews, and it directly affects booking rates. One owner in Otis told us that adding "high-speed Starlink internet" to their listing was the single most impactful change they made in three years.
Performance in Western Mass
Here is what we typically see on western Mass installations:
Latency sits around 25-50ms, which is fine for video conferencing, VPN connections, and general use. Not ideal for competitive gaming, but perfectly usable for casual play.
The biggest factor in speed is obstruction level. A dish with 2% obstruction will perform dramatically better than one with 8% obstruction. That is why professional mounting — getting the dish high enough and in the right spot — makes such a measurable difference.
The Municipal Fiber Question
Some people ask us whether they should wait for municipal fiber or get Starlink now. Here is our honest take.
If your town has a fiber project that is actively under construction and your address is in the build plan, it may be worth waiting. Municipal fiber will deliver faster speeds (typically 1 Gbps symmetrical) at a comparable monthly cost.
But if your town is still in the "studying the feasibility" phase, or you are on a road that is not in the first phase of construction, you could be waiting two to five years. Starlink works today. You can always cancel it later if fiber arrives at your door.
We have also seen cases where fiber reaches the road but the drop to the house costs $5,000-$15,000 due to the long driveway. In that situation, Starlink at $80/month with a $349 equipment cost is the obvious financial choice.
Getting Connected in Western Mass
If you are in the Berkshires, the hill towns, or anywhere in western Massachusetts where broadband has been a struggle, we know the terrain, the housing stock, and the installation challenges. We have done this work throughout the region. Book your installation and we will evaluate your property, identify the best mounting approach, and get you online properly.