Feedback: Cable Internet

[T_Downey]

Thanks Scot once again for another informative article. I guess this could go under the "How do you connect to the Internet" thread. But with the ongoing information Scot had been sharing regarding Comcast practices I thought I'd share my situation since I use cable internet at home. Basically something that Comcast users can compare to. I live in the St. Louis area and Charter Communications is the prevelant cable provider in the St. Louis area. There used to be several providers depending on the area you lived, but Charter has pretty well swallowed all the competitors up. FYI - Charter is owned by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. I'm stuck with cable since dsl is not available in the area I live. I'd definitely prefer to get a sattelite dish for TV with all the great rates being offered nowadays and have dsl internet. I'd be a heck of a lot cheaper. The situation with Charter is they require at least basic cable tv access before they will provide you with Internet access. So I'm stuck with cable tv since I have cable internet. There are no discounts whatsoever for having both services with Charter. So those of you at least getting a discount for having both services, consider yourselves lucky. I agree with Scot something needs to be done about this practice of requiring you to have TV service before they will provide internet. Charter has 3 levels of service, bronze, silver and gold which represent different levels of speed. I think them being 256, 512 and 1 meg download speeds. Charter does offer what they call the "holiday special" every year around the holidays. If you pay for the full year up front you can get silver level service for the price of bronze. They don't advertise it, but if you ask, they will provide it. This is only available during the holiday season. This is what I've done for the previous 2 years. Unfortunately I asked about it too late this year and missed the deadline. So I had to pay full price for silver service. I also prefer to pay for the full year of internet service at once just so that I don't have to look at a ridiculously large cable bill every month. Makes it a bit easier to swallow. I really have no complaints about the service Charter provides other than their requirements and costs. Actually the internet cost is par with what most probably are familiar with. Pricing is $30, $40, or $50 dollars a month depending on the speed you pay for. This includes a $5 a month rental on the modem. My last renewal I actually bought the cable "modem" so I'll save myself $60 next year. Probably what bugs me most is the cost of TV. I'm actually not a big tv watcher, but it's nice to have certain things available when you do want to "zone out". I recently read that Charter is changing they way they will be pricing and packaging their service. It may become even more expensive or possibly less depending on what you want to have available. They're going to package things like sports channels, kids channels, news, movie channels seperately and you'll have to pay for each package separately. So instead of having basic cable, expanded cable and movie channels, you may find yourself paying a price to watch channels like espn and fox sports channels. Or to have nickelodeon for your kids to watch. I have no complaints about the service Charter provides. There is hardly ever any down time time with the tv or the internet and when it occurs it is usually not of long duration. Also their phone support is pretty good as well. I guess the only complaint I have with Charter is their tv pricing. I may wind up having basic cable tv, not used, a sattelite dish for my regular tv watching, and cable internet which is a must have of course.....maybe I'll take up reading as a hobby instead of tv.

[GolfProRM]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones when it comes to cable internet. Nebraska ruled that cable companies must allow outside ISPs to "rent" access. We have TimeWarner here in Lincoln, and RoadRunner costs $46 w/cable or $50 w/o cable. Because of the ruling, Companies like Earthlink, AOL, and a few local companies can offer the service also. Even without cable TV, I can get Roadrunner (through iNebraska) for $40/month. I have to contact TimeWarner about any issues, and I pay my bill to TW, but it's cheaper. A nice deal in my opinion!

[quint]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones when it comes to cable internet.  Nebraska ruled that cable companies must allow outside ISPs to "rent" access.  We have TimeWarner here in Lincoln, and RoadRunner costs $46 w/cable or $50 w/o cable.  Because of the ruling, Companies like Earthlink, AOL, and a few local companies can offer the service also.  Even without cable TV, I can get Roadrunner (through iNebraska) for $40/month.  I have to contact TimeWarner about any issues, and I pay my bill to TW, but it's cheaper.  A nice deal in my opinion!

Ryan,You're very fortunate. Here in the O.V. we have a choice: Comcast cable or dial-up (several ISP's). When Comcast is working, it's great, but when it's not, it's an adventure just to see how long you're on "hold" to even report a problem. The worst part is that they know their subscribers have to put up with it, and then - sometimes - show arrogance and a condescending attitude.

[Prelude76]

i feel for all you fellow americans. yup here in the desolate cold white north (canada) we have cable AND DSL in 90% of cities. I lived in Wasaga Beach for 6 months last year (its a summer beach resort, population only 12,000, about 40 minutes from nearest 'big' town of Barrie, population 110,000. Even in Wasaga beach, i had both Cable and DSL choices. and now that I moved into Barrie, theres 3 choices. The third is Wireless. All 3 are under $45 CAN per month, including modem rental of $10 / month. And in the DSL field, our Bell Canada has no monopoly so theres about a dozen 3rd party DSL providers in town. So about 15 hi-speed choices. It really helps to keep competition alive. In fact, I switch providers every 3 or4 months due to many offering "first 4 months for only $25 / month" don't mean to rub it in. just complain to your government and press them to fast-track broadband. it is possible, the technology is there, but i think the big communication giants in America are just imposing territorial monopolies and that stops the implementation of new DSL lines and such.

[Guest LilBambi]

Prelude76 --Feel free to rub it in ... you are right <_ this is one specific area where canada has definitely taken a solid lead and done fantastic job with it btw>

[Scot]

I've been meaning for over two years to do a huge report on Canadian broadband and rub it in on all of us south of the border. It's sickening. I think Canadians are due their right to gloat over their U.S. cousins though. The problem is that it's hard to get my hands around it. I keep thinking that I should make a trip up there or at least do some phone interviews.But I think Prelude76 said it all: 90% of the cities have it. It's also both cheaper and from what I can tell on the whole much faster than the services we have in the States.Every way you look at it, you want to punch out a U.S. politician. -- Scot

[Guest LilBambi]

I hear ya Scot! Me too! Being on dialup with no hope of cable/dsl internet for some time to come ... no cable or dsl in our foreseeable future as a matter of fact according to Verizon, Charter and Cox ... it's all around us but no relief in sight!Firesign Theater said it best "They never come up into the hills!"

[Prelude76]

So true, we've got a very good hi-speed coverage up here. In fact, i know only 1 person on ancient dial-up internet in Toronto, but its my dad and he's cheap; i'm thinking of force-upgrading him to DSL on father's day But what worries me is what happens later down the road. I've heard some rumors that they might double the price of hi-speed, and impose download limits to curb pirates (ar arrrr)Bell Canada, the leading DSL provider started doing this a year ago. Instead of $40 for hi-speed, they now have 3 options: Basic Hi-Speed for $30/month, and combined 2GB download/upload, with $8 extra per GB over the limit; normal hi-speed for $45/month and 10GB limit; and Ultra hi-speed for $70/month for 20GB limit.That is a scary trend, and so far, no one else has followed suit. (if you are a Bell Canada customer, boycott them, and switch and tell them the reason for the switch is the stupid limit)They keep the limit hidden in tiny tiny prints and a friend of mine said he talked to Bell and they told him that yes, there is a limit,but going over is a tiny tiny fee and not to worry about it. I dont know, but $8 per GB is robbery! and the 2GB limit? pure bull! download 4 CDs of a Linux Distro and you're already 1 GB over the monthly limit!But i talked to a Rogers installer (the Cable giant in our area) and he said they dont have a limit yet, but not to be surprised if it happens soon. I think they're all edging to impose download limits.So not to rain on your parade down souh, but by the time DSL/Cable is common, be prepared to read the fine print on download limits.

[badcat]

Every way you look at it, you want to punch out a U.S. politician.  -- Scot

Scot, As far as punching out pols, broadband is just the beginning There must hundreds of good reasons to punch some of them out Robbing us blind would be number two!Chris