Time Warner Roadrunner "Turbo" broadband Internet: Are you really getting what you paid for?
Recently I had to "choose" a broadband Internet provider. After having my "choices" narrowed down for me by a serious lack of competition ( I hear U-Verse is on its way some day), I went with my first, last, and only choice, Time Warner. Despite feeling trapped, the Time Warner customer service rep wooed me with promises of a new broadband paradigm, Roadrunner "turbo." For some reason this "15 Mbps down, 2 Mbps" up Internet was cheaper than the default 8 Mbps/ 1 Mbps option of yesteryear, so I pounced on the deal like a caged tiger given extra scraps of meat at dinner.
All seemed fair. I signed away my first born and promised to tattoo the Time Warner logo on my body, and Time Warner promised to possibly show up in a 4 hour window. After installation, the problems began. I noticed slower loading times than I had previously with Roadrunner.
So I ran a series of speed tests at speakeasy.net. The results showed all servers on Speakeasy returning almost exactly 1500 Kbps, that's 1.5Mbps, Time Warner's basic rate. Not 15 Mbps, 1.5 Mbps. I called Time Warner to chat about the issues with my service, and to see when the "turbo" would take effect.
This is where things get interesting. Apparently, had I never called, I would have simply been provided the basic bandwidth, while paying the "turbo" price. The technical department said that what can happen is that the turbo signal does not "attach" to a particular line that the cable modem is on. The explanation was vague, but the lesson is clear, check the bandwidth you're getting from your broadband Internet provider by using a tool like speakeasy.net, and don't take it for granted that the install was done properly.
This seems to be especially true these days with Time Warner's Roadrunner "turbo" Internet.
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WOW, Turbo over here in
WOW, Turbo over here in Southern California is 10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up =[ I wish they would upgrade my area (93030) to 15/2 -_-
I'm envious of you guys for
I'm envious of you guys for having the ability to choose an internet provider.
Here in New Zealand, we have Telecom, Vodafone, and Telstraclear. Apparently there's another company that you can get in one part of the country, but I'm not sure if that's still going. Telecom owns all the phone lines in the country and Vodafone is a mobile phone only company.
Telecom is still peeved about a law being passed about 2 decades ago that put a stop to it's monopoly on the industry and because of that charges it's competitors HUGE fees for line rental, the end result being that telecommunications here are some of the most expensive in the Western world. A 10gB capped broadband plan (if you can get broadband in your area.. it overloads the lines and Telecom is looking at updating them.... they have a 15 year plan...) is around NZ$170 a month (roughly US$130). On top of that, you have to pay $65 a month for line rental (to have a home phone line) and pay about $600 for the products that you need to be able to use the phone and the internet at the same time.
wow new zealand does seem to have a bad broadband deal
Well it is true those those prices you quoted do surpass prices here. That said, I did have more than a hint of sarcasm in my comments about "choosing" (notice the quotes) a broadband provider. In my particular area, there really is NO other realistic option than Time Warner. That said, the 1 or 2 other options that do exist or are on there way in other areas of San Diego and Southern California (DSL, Fiber) do put some amount of pressure on prices. Just imagine what prices may look like if there were even more competition, such as exists in other basic products like food or clothing.
Fire Your cable Company
I have had very good experiences with AT&T's high end DSL Internet service ("Elite" DSL) It is available even if U-Verse has not been rolled out in your area yet. It will not give you subscription TV but there is always satellite (DirectTV or Dish Network) and AT&T can provide subscription TV in a bundle even if U-Verse is not available yet.
Time Warner Cable is notorious for terrible customer service, so much so that a lawsuit was recently filed against them by the City of Los Angeles.
Also, the Cable Companies are on the warpath against customers who share lots of files or use lots of bandwidth- the FCC is contemplating taking action against them for this practice of trying to charge those cutomers more money or disable their Internet service.
Be sure to get the lowest introductory rate on Elite DSL from AT&T.
http://www.att.com/gen/landing-pages?pid=3308
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