Boulder's weather can swing from a warm, dry afternoon to a fast-moving snow squall within a few hours, and a household running its internet over the air — rather than through a buried cable — feels that swing differently depending on which wireless technology is doing the work. Some of what looks like a weather …

Drive ten minutes west of downtown Boulder and the internet map falls apart. The cable runs out, fiber was never trenched up the canyon, and even 5G fixed wireless needs a tower it can see. For households in the foothills, the canyons, and the rural stretches of Boulder County, Starlink is often the only broadband on …