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Review by gzt7d8 See Profile

  • Location: Swartz Creek, Genesee, MI, USA
  • Cost: $110 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Speeds are more consistent since we went to 8 channels in June 2014
Raised my rates $15/month and NO EXPLANATION!
Spectum raised some downloads (30Mb to 60Mb) at no cost, but those on Ultra plan got no lift, so bad value for the $$
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

Update September 17, 2015
Charter quietly upgraded our speeds, I believe it was for those on the Ultra plan only. We went from 100MB/5MB to 130MB but the upload stayed the same, 5MB. Rates have not changed since last year, thankfully. Hearing rumors of 300MB download for those on Ultra by the 2016; we'll see.

I'm not changing any of my ratings at this time. I don't think any category desires a better rating than what I've given at this time.

eom

Update September 11, 2014
Our area went to 8 channel bonding in June 2014. Since that time, my speeds are much more consistent even during prime time hours. Consistently get 100Mb+ on the download now, even during prime time hours 7pm - 11pm, my speeds are 90Mb+.

The only annoyance there is now is the fact that move to digital, Spectrum, raised the speeds of those from 30Mb to 60Mb plans, but us on Ultra got no lift so we are not getting any bang for our buck right now, considering dropping down a plan to get a better value.

eom

Update April 14, 2013
Charter removed their social media support here at the site and the downward spiral continues. Now they've raised my rates by $15/month and I got NO explanation why. And did we get any improved service................NO.

I'll say one thing, the first service interruption or slow down, I'm going to make sure they see how pissed I am.

eom
Update December 16, 2012
Charter has removed their social media support at this site. A very sad day, in deed. I have had much success using this to resolve my problems, now the bean counters have shut it down and want you to call in and get frustrated out of your mind.

Service has been good but will take a turn as Charter positions itself. I'm on the Ultra 100 and have good speeds, usually in the 95%-105% range of the paid service. I don't have Television, just Internet. Connection is good so I haven't adjusted that.

I've reduced Tech Support not because of an experience, but because they removed coverage at this site.

Greg

Update November 18,2010
Channel Bonding has Arrived!! Oh and Ultra 60 came along too.

First night test

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 0191.png

Updated November 7, 2010
Charter has moved customers on the upper tier, here in Michigan to 25Mb/3Mb package. I continue to have pretty stable speed tests. I run a lot of my tests at SpeedTest.net, Since July 1, 2010 I've run 56 tests. My average download/upload is 34.22Mb/3.17Mb.

Best test
»www.speedtest.net/rank/1 ··· 1081.png

Earlier this year there was a lot of chatter about channel bonding being rolled out with Charter, but I haven't seen anything Michigan, yet. Closest I've seen any posts was in Wisconsin. Got my DOCSIS 3 modem, ready when ever you are Charter!

************************************************************
Updated April 19, 2009
Just upgraded to the 20MB/2MB package about a month ago. I was on the 10MB/1MB for some time and it was a very reliable package, for me. I consistently got 95% of the advertised speeds all the time, even prime time.

When I upgraded to the higher package my speeds were not as consistent as before. In prime time I'm lucky to hit 15MB on the download. Now reading other Charter posts on BBR forum I would have to consider myself lucky. I've read some real horror stories. Never the less, I'm disappointed in the results.

I'm not a heavy download user, but I still expect to get what I pay for. I've been checking my speeds daily since I upgraded. I've ran over 300 tests using Charter's speedtest and another off network speed site. When you breakdown the results, the morning time frame averaged 17.5MB, afternoon averaged 16.9MB, prime time averaged 15.9MB and late night averaged 19.5MB. The overall testing has averaged 17.1MB. People will say that you should have no complaints, but I wouldn't agree. I've only hit 20MB one time in my testing and that was in the 1AM time frame.

I not sure if contacting Charter would help, since there was so many others that have posted the same results. I'll tolerate it for now, but if it gets worst, I will contact tech support if I get no satisfaction I'll got back to a lower tier.

Lastly, I do want to give kudos to the techs that monitor the Charter Forum on BBR. They do attempt and have fixed problems that you have, and for that I'm grateful for their efforts.

Greg

Updated March 8, 2008
Late 2007 had issues with speeds. Prime time speeds were 20% - 40% of advertised tier. Actually got tech who monitors the Charter Forum to take notice of our problem. They were the reason it was corrected. Speeds have been very consistent for me other than the occasional problems.
I recognize that I pay a lot for the service 10Mb/1Mb, but it is not a packaged deal, so I have no room for compliant. I have to accept that and hope that the cost will drop over time. There is no competition where I live, so I don't have much leveraging capability with Charter.
I will consider the 16Mb service when it becomes available, because I love to surf at the speed of life.

Greg

Updated May 6, 2006
I've been disappointed with Charter this year. The speeds are not consistent anymore. I feel like I'm on a party line and all the life gets sucked out between 6pm and 11pm, daily. I'm paying for 5Mb/512Kb but it is not worth the value when you download speeds drop below 1Mb in the evening. It is just prime time that I see the huge slow downs, and I never had that problem prior to this year.

I've called Charter, but no change. Let's just admit that the infrastructure needs investment and they don't have the capital to get it done.

So I can complain, but I don't have other Broadband choices. Using direcpc was like a fast phone line connection, that is way over priced.

Greg
-------------------------

I live outside of any major city in mid-Michigan so my only broadband service available was DirecPC satellite service. I used this service for 21 months before Charter Pipeline was made available. Satellite worked well for me but it was a very inconsistent service.

Charter has been a good move for me. Installation went very well, and the service is consistent and my average speeds are very close to the service that I pay for. (1544/128) These speeds are all day long, I haven't had any experience with degradation of speeds. I hope it stays that way.

Of course, I can only speak for the service in my area. I have seen and read where the Charter service is less than desirable in other areas of the US. That was the reason why I tried a 3 month package with Charter before I committed.

My bad experience happened the first week after I had the service. I lost my service and after 4 field visits and 2 no shows it was fixed. Good thing I wasn't running a business.

At this time, my experience has been great. I'm very pleased with the service and hope continues.

Greg

Update June 8, 2003
I am coming up on 1 year and for the most part the Good and Bad points still apply. I feel "lucky" that the connection works as well as it does, but when I have a problem, it has taken Technical Support weeks to get the problem fixed. The last occurance probably could have been fixed in a week, but it took 7 weeks to fix. The Technical Support offices and Field Services do not work together in this area. I'm not sure why but Field Services keep sending the wrong Tech to fix the problem. It took way too long and was unexceptable service.

When it works, it works, but boy when it goes in the ditch it seems to take for ever to get fixed.

Greg

Update September 28, 2003
For Charter customers the recent upgrade to 2Mb down has been a hot topic of discussion. I was part of a stress test that Charter ran in the month of August for customers on the east side of Michigan. The network seems to handle the increase without issue. My speed tests continue to run in the 95% - 99% of advertised speeds. I also have had many speed tests exceed the 2Mb cap.

Upload continues to be a question of debate. But my conversations with local offices here indicate that 256Kbs will become the norm pretty soon.

For me, and I can't speak for others, Charter has been a good value. The sound bites above continue to summarize my experience. I suppose I probably land in the lucky category. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Greg

member for 22.6 years, 7392 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 8.5 years ago


davrox012
Come On
join:2002-02-07
Fenton, MI

davrox012

Member

Pipeline in E Michigan

Charter's service has been decent since I have had Pipeline since 2/2002. Rare outages, consistent speeds near 256 and 768k caps (I haven't tried 1.5m service yet). Pipeline in this area is pretty stable.
Qarl
join:2003-06-08
Bridgeport, MI

Qarl

Member

Charter 2/5 stars for me.

I've had AT&T, Comcast & now Charter depending where I was living at the time. Charter is comparable in service/reliability but EXPENSIVE! I couldn't afford the 1.5Mbps for $60 / mo. so I had to opt for the 768bps which is quite a bit slower than the 1.5Mbps I had in Chicago from AT&T for $40 / mo! Also, if you hooked the cat 5 WAN line from the cablemodem to a switch with AT&T's service, they would dole out as many "real" IPs as computers you had connected to it (I don't know if this was just an oversight on their part, but I do know everyone using AT&T had the same "feature" So, compared to AT&T IMHO, Charter sucks.

-Qarl

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

almost 4 years

I've had Charter since the day it became available in my area. That was almost 4 years ago. Only complaints I've ever had, have been the lack of system status on their site or at least some way of being notified of scheduled maintenance. Last time they did scheduled maint., it wiped out the entire lower peninsula of Michigan and they were only doing the maint. in Kalamazoo and someplace else nowhere near me. My other complaint is the tech support. It is definitely their weak spot. Luckily don't need that myself. Otherwise, Charter has rocked the entire time.

Charter_Sux
@bellsouth.net

Charter_Sux

Anon

Charter is The Worst Ever

Dropped that bull crap Charter for Bellsouth DSL. Best thing I ever did.

SrsBsns
join:2001-08-30
Oklahoma City, OK

SrsBsns

Member

whoop

I dumped charter as well for COX HSI. A good isp is like a good car. You should never have to worry about it. I was so tired of the charter 512/128 AKA 768/128 for 40 a month. Cox got me 3000/256 for the same price.
Chubbysumo
join:2009-12-01
Duluth, MN
Ubee E31U2V1
(Software) pfSense
Netgear WNR3500L

Chubbysumo

Member

Channel bonding

Channel bonding is only needed on the higher tiers, like the ultra 60. I was running my old DOCSIS 2 modem on the 25/3 and it ran just fine, but channel bonding is necessary to obtain speeds of more than 30mbps up or down. Here in Duluth, mn/Superior, WI area ultra 60 works great, and you need a DOCSIS 3 modem for it(channel bonding only works on a DOCSIS 3 modem)

gzt7d8
Aliens live amongst us
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
Traverse City, MI

gzt7d8

Premium Member

Re: Channel bonding

That's my understanding too Chubbysumo, that channel bonding applies to the Ultra 60. I saw a post from another person here in Michigan that they've seen where channel bonding was turned on for them. They are about 70-80 miles north of me, so I suspect Charter is working on it here in Michigan too.

Greg
Chubbysumo
join:2009-12-01
Duluth, MN
Ubee E31U2V1
(Software) pfSense
Netgear WNR3500L

Chubbysumo

Member

Re: Channel bonding

They have channel bonding in my area up and running(Duluth, mn/superior, wi) and it only turns on when you use the ultra 60 tier. I was on the 25/3 and when my own modem went bad, I got a d3 modem, and it supports channel bonding, but it did not turn on for the 25/3. Once
I got the ultra 60, channel bonding turned on.

gzt7d8
Aliens live amongst us
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
Traverse City, MI

gzt7d8

Premium Member

Re: Channel bonding

Click for full size
A picture says it all!

Greg