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 Post subject: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:59 pm  (#1) 
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After years of being stuck on a 3Mbps DSL connection, I switched to a cable modem provider.

I'm now getting 10 times the download speed at a lower price. :wh

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http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
My upload speeds are now faster than my old download speeds. I'm loving this! :jumpclap

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:19 am  (#2) 
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Good for you Tux. Last I checked, Charter gave me very similar results that you got despite only having the cheapest tier. Still, our internet's still snail level compared to some of our counterparts in Japan and Europe. What I really wish, since I upload images a lot, is a synchronous connection at 10mb/s (1.2MBytes/s roughly). Not too concerned with download speeds since, for the most part, I only do browse, but having 1.2MBytes upload would be nice; 400K/s (3Mbps), though tolerable, doesn't give me so much joy. lol

Yes, I know I'm approximating the conversion between bits/s and bytes/s. Lot's of things have to be considered including error correction bits and such, but the approximation is close. :)

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:27 am  (#3) 
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I remember that I was so excited when I upgraded from a 300 baud modem to 1200 baud model. That was the cat's pajamas. :lol

On DSL, my upload speed was .32 Mbps so 3Mbps is a nice step up for me. :hehe

I guess you could go with this...

http://www.charter.com/internet/ultra

100Mbps down and 5Mbps up. That's pretty good for the average home system.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:37 am  (#4) 
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Too cheap to change Tux, so I tolerate the 3Mbps too. Here's my current state and trust me, it depends on the time of day. I'm happy; trust me when I say that. I still remember, and not so long ago, that I was on dial-up myself. lol

:)


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Last edited by lylejk on Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:52 am  (#5) 
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I sent urgent Private Message to GnuTux and lylejk.


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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:58 am  (#6) 
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Check the image again Bar; lol

Thanks for the PM. Idiot I am. :)

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:01 am  (#7) 
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Thanks, Bar!

lylejk wrote:
Here's my current state and trust me, it depends on the time of day. I'm happy; trust me when I say that. I still remember, and not so long ago, that I was on dial-up myself. lol

Yeah, I've noticed the speeds vary depending on time of day. I guess that's just the nature of cable modems and a "shared" pipe.

Looks like you and I are on the same tier. I'm using the "Express" tier for $30per month. They say up to 15mbps but like you, I'm getting over 30Mbps, at times. It all probably averages out to 15Mbps.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:26 am  (#8) 
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I am still in the olden days :lol And i use a cable modem. *sigh*
Not dialup but close to that slow. :)

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:39 am  (#9) 
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A few months ago mine gave similar results as yours Rod. My modem was over 5 years old though so I gave it back to Charter for a new one and then bang; got what you see now. Maybe your modem is antequated or has latent issues. :)

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Lyle

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:46 am  (#10) 
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I only have 1 choice for cable here in the sticks..heck of a lot better then dial-up tho

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:25 pm  (#11) 
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Location: Wisconsin
Well...
The nearest town with a cable system is 25 miles away. Everyone around here has dishes.
So...
DSL with 7 miles of wire between me and the phone system:
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Also, I'm currently connected through a server located 70 miles away. - My external IP address bounces around within an 80 mile radius and I've been connected through 14 different locations (towns/cities) during the past month. But that doesn't affect my speed.
The seven miles of wire between me and the phone exchange is the limiting factor.

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 Post subject: My Charter Saga Continues
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:41 pm  (#12) 
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Here I am 5 months later and my internet is on the fritz.

My cable modem is not working properly. I can connect but sites load slow and hang. I'm getting less than 1Mbps DL speed. A friend, who is also a Charter customer, brought his modem over and it works fine, so I know it's an issue with the modem.

I signed a two year agreement with Charter for 15m/3m up/down using a Docsis 2.0 cable modem. I own the modem. Bought it on eBay for $15.00.

Now, less than 6 months later, they have changed everything and no longer offer the plan I have and they no longer allow new customers to own their own modem. All new modems must now be Docsis 3.0 compliant. So, when I called with a problem, they tried to get me to lease a new modem from them for $7 per month, which would cost me an additional $133, over the last 19 months of the contract. If I were a conspiracy theorist. I might suspect they are doing this to all customers who owned their own modems and have a long term contract, in an attempt to get them lease one from them. Then again, maybe my cheap eBay modem went bad.

I still have the option to purchase a modem because of my existing contract and I can buy a Docsis 2.0 modem for $20 or a v3.0 for $40 on eBay. It's a bit of a gamble but I don't think I want to lease one from them for the remainder of my contract. Under their new pricing structure, they provide the modem but they increased their rates by $15 per month so now, it's not so good of a deal anymore. I think I'll return to lower cost DSL before at the end of my contract.

Don't you just hate it when companies change the rules in the middle of an agreement? I probably should have known better than to make a two deal with a cable company.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:00 pm  (#13) 
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That's why I rent my modem from Charter Tux. My first modem lasted 5 years (and problem really not that long since I was getting way under performance but tolerated that). My last model lasted 3 months and I'm on a third modem now. lol

Modems go back due to many factors including storms. Even if not a direct hit, it can do latent damage to circuitry even if you still get partial function, it is not what you want. You were lucky that you only paid $15 for you modem. Again, I still rather just rent (believe it's 5/month) the cable modem and if anything goes wrong, it's just a 3 mile trip to Charter to exchange it with a new one. I think of it as paying for insurance more then a modem. :)

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:06 pm  (#14) 
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If your contract is in writing and signed, wouldn't they have to honour it until the expiry date. That sucks.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:25 pm  (#15) 
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Not if it's the modem being the cause Molly. Unfortunate for Tux that he is using his own. Still, at $5/month and he used his modem for 5 months, he did save $10. Still, I can't tell you how many customers came to us thinking their PC was bad, but it turned out to be their cable modem (since the NIC worked fine in the shop; at $70 just to look at the PC, it didn't make for happy customers, but that was what we had to charge). I decided, when I got cable modem access, to just rent the modem. Might have lost out because a new modem was, at that time, around $90 and a years rent is $60 and I used my first cable modem for 5 years (therefore, I could nearly buy 3 modems for the price paid in rent), but when I had to replace the original, the new one only lasted 3 months, so now, Karma balanced things out. Of course, I'm assuming full price; ebay will give you much better deals, so, you would still probably be better off owning your own modem, but I'll stick with my insurance plan. :)

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Lyle

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:31 pm  (#16) 
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@Lyle It's $7 per month here so I saved $20.
Yeah, renting does have advantages and disadvantages. They have to make it right when things go bad but you really pay for that service. On the other hand, many people own two modems so if their modem dies, they're right back up. If your rented modems dies on Friday @ 6:00pm, you might get back up on Monday, if you're lucky. I can buy a lot of $15 modems for the $133.00 it will cost me to lease one for next 19 months.

@Molly
I hope they will honor their contract. I'll know soon enough because I just ordered another $15 Docsis 2.0 modem on eBay, the same model that my friend has that I just tested, so we will see if they provision that modem or give me a hard time about it.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:52 pm  (#17) 
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The did recently raise the rates for cable tuners boxes and probably modems too so it may indeed going to cost $7 when the contract is up. Yea, if I didn't have such disdain at online purchasing, then I would be doing what you do Tux. Is the $15 the complete cost, or do you have to pay shipping too? Just being a jealous a-hole Tux. lol

:)

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Lyle

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:02 pm  (#18) 
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Actually, the cable modem I just bought is $12.95 including shipping. Looks like they're selling a lot of them. Money back in 60 days so if it doesn't work or dies, I can get a refund or replacement.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:33 pm  (#19) 
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Cool, we will keep our fingers crossed.

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 Post subject: Re: New Internet Service Provider
PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:50 pm  (#20) 
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wow wht a difference...I cant get cable where I am so have to be content with adsl...maxing out usually at about 6.5 to 6.9 but at times can be much slower....lets see what it says today....
http://www.speedtest.net/result/2204977951.png


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