Not connected and no Netflix: ‘It’s frankly embarrassing’ in these Kansas towns

The internet service was so bad at Citizens State Bank in Cottonwood Falls that its computers could hardly handle a routine update from Microsoft. So not too long ago, bank vice president Matt Lindamood loaded up the PCs and drove them over to Emporia, 30 minutes away. There, he connected the desktop computers to a fiber internet connection. “What we couldn’t get done here happened in a matter of minutes there,” he said. Such is life for a small-town Kansas bank — and most everyone else, for that matter — as politicians talk about the need to improve rural broadband year after year. As Lindamood can attest, there’s much more at stake beyond passing time on social media or watching Netflix.