There is a way around the notoriously sluggish internet in West Virginia. You just need a car and some time.
Kelly Povroznik can tell you, when she happens to get a good signal. She teaches an online college course so hampered by unreliable connections that she has had to drive a half-hour to her brother’s place just to enter grades into a database.
“It added so much additional work for me, and I just don’t have the time,” said Povroznik, who lives in Weston, W.Va. “I just kept wanting to beat my head into a wall.”
Across rural America, a bandwidth gap separates communities like Weston from an increasingly digital world where high-speed internet has become a fundamental component of modern life, putting them at a disadvantage when it comes to economic growth and quality of life advancements.