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Review by jopfef See Profile

  • Location: Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA
  • Cost: $65 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
  • No Cap
Awesome internet speed, and it's rock solid. And -- "Streaming TV"!
Nothing, at this point in time.
Can't beat the speed!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well above consensus)

5-3-2017: Still a big fan of my wonderful speedy internet service from Charter. I have speed tests that consistently show 134 megs; the upload speed has ticked up a tiny bit, to solidly at almost 6 megs. Charter really does need to do something about their upload speeds, but I have no idea if it will happen. With their purchase of Brighthouse and Time Warner, heaven only knows what is coming down the pike. They did jack up the price another $5 a month.

Had yet another boom truck episode last winter, they ripped everything off the house yet again. This time it was the trash truck that did the damage, when they were moving with the trash lift thing still up in the air. The tech that came out and put everything back up (I had already rolled up the broken cable and laid it next to the pole...), decided to break the rules a bit, since this wasn't the first time this had happened. He put the cable alot higher on the pole itself, and then ran the cable to the house at almost the peak of the roof! No way can it be pulled down again now, as it's higher than all the other lines running to the house now, including my non-existent phone service and the power lines. So that works for me!

I did turn on the TV to watch the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and really enjoyed the 11 days that I had it running. That turned into a nightmare, when I got the bill -- it was double what I was told it would be!!! Called to cancel the TV after the Olympics, and got a really nice rep who got it straightened out for me, since I had the service less than 30 days, and had been quoted a completely different price. I hand-carried the box back to the Charter office. She told me to check out Charter's new "Streaming TV" service, as it is now available in this area, and would provide me with all the local channels -- and I can only get Channel 4 on the OTA antenna. So I bit the bullet on TV several months ago, since Charter is now officially offering "Streaming TV" in St. Louis. Just $11 month ($13 with taxes) for all the local channels, and it streams via their app on a Roku 3 box provided by Charter. That was an upgrade for me, since my Roku box was a much older Roku HD box. (I gave the Roku HD box to Amanda and Brian.) I get to keep the Roku box, regardless of whether or not I keep the service. Well, the app sucks, to put it bluntly. It consistently dies after 2.5 hours of watching TV on it, and I have to do a reset on the Roku box to get everything back running. No other app on the Roku box does that, just the Charter app (now called Spectrum, yuck). Finally called yesterday and told them to cancel the Streaming TV and about all the issues I was having with the app; the Retention specialist told me she had the same problems with it, but hers stopped working completely after the app upgraded, whereas mine runs for a couple of hours and then dies, and this happened after the upgrade. She offered me a deal -- Streaming TV free for a year, if I keep the service. So, I still have the TV service here, now it's free (!!!) for the next year, and was advised to contact Internet Repair about getting the app fixed. So, when I have some time, I'll contact them and find out how and when they're going to get this fixed. Beggars can't be choosers, and free works for me. *grin*

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2-15-16: Still have my wonderful speedy internet service from Charter. Consistently, speed tests from DSLR, Speedtest dot net, and Charter all show that I run at 99-102 megs. I like that! I still wish that Charter would increase their upload speeds; don't know if or when that will happen, but I hope it does.

The only issue I've had here was last month, when a boom truck of some sort drove by and pulled Charter's line off my house! I heard a loud sound around 6am, but didn't connect it with the line being ripped off my house, until I took the dogs out and saw the line lying in the street! Obviously, no internet service, so I called Charter and requested service. I don't know who I talked to, but I was told that it would take 2-3 days for Charter to get here to do the repair -- NOT ACCEPTABLE!!! It does pay to rock the boat, believe me. I called Corporate and talked to the people who handle service for employees, and told them what happened; since I am a retired employee, it got handled immediately, and I had a technician here by 4pm. He did an awesome job putting the line back up, and this time he hung it up as high as the electrical lines coming into the house. There was quite a bit of damage to the siding where the connection box was torn off the house, so he repaired those areas with silicone before re-hanging the connection box. He made sure that everything was properly grounded, since the ground line was also affected when things were torn off the house. It was bitterly cold and windy that day, and I stayed outside most of the time, in case the tech needed any help -- and to offer moral support for being out in that weather. He had my internet back up and running in an hour, and I was just totally impressed with his level of service; he did an AWESOME job!!!

Still no plans to add TV service back, until it's time for the Olympics, and then it will just be for the duration of the Olympics. I rarely, if ever, watch TV, but I do have Amazon Prime and Netflix and stream to my laptop. I really should set up the Roku box again, and stream to the TV, but it's more comfortable to be in my leather computer chair at the desk. I don't miss having TV; it's mostly garbage these days, and I can get all the news I need online.

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8-8-15: I moved from the little house in the woods in very early May, after the roof started to cave in! Transferred my Charter service to my new little house, so there were no costs involved in setting up Charter at my new location. I still have the blazing 100 megs in download speed, and the really atrocious 5 megs in upload speed. There is a rumor going around that Charter is going to bump their upload speed to 15 megs; I'll believe it when I see it. I hope they do something about upload speeds soon; 5 megs is just inexcusable. I discovered that Mother Nature had zapped yet another Cisco modem during the move (lots of storms in the area at that time), so went over to the office and traded it in on a working modem. Set it up, called in the numbers, and it works like a champ. Wireless here is another whole ballgame, since there are lots of houses in the neighborhood; glad I believe in strong security and strong passwords -- nobody is going to be accessing my wireless! Finding a good channel to use is a paininnabutt; I check every few days, and move channels if it gets too crowded.

Still no TV service, and no plans to bring it back -- at least until the Olympics next year, and then it will only be temporarily. I set up an OTA and have local channels only; the programming sucks, the quality is lousy at times, but I hardly ever watch TV, so it's not really an issue. Still have my Roku box with my Amazon Prime account; just haven't taken the time to set it up since I moved. Will probably get that done fairly soon, since Winter will be here soon enough, and it will come in handy then.

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2-3-15: I'm still living in my little house in the woods, and I still have Charter. I'm still enjoying the blazing 100 megs in download speed, and griping about the miserable 5 megs in upload speed; Charter really does need to do something about their upload speeds. The download speed is still awesome, and I've noticed an improvement in speed, albeit a slight one, since I upgraded to a Cisco Linksys EA6300 router. Works like a charm with the Cisco modem from Charter; I don't like to mix equipment manufacturers, so Charter has continued to provide a Cisco modem as needed. Mother Nature has managed to zap two Cisco modems during summer storms over the last several years; I now unplug everything when I hear the first roll of thunder. Better safe than sorry!

Still no TV service, and no plans to bring it back. I thought the TV had died and dropped the TV service. Just for a lark, I turned it on one day last year, and discovered that it wasn't the TV that had died, but the Charter cable box! And that's when I switched over to using a Roku box with my Amazon Prime account. Still doing that today, on the rare occasions that I actually turn on the TV. I prefer to just stream my cop shows online; as long as I can get those, I'm happy. *grin*

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5-1-14: I'm still living in my little house in the woods, and still have Charter -- but internet service only now. I couldn't continue to justify the increasing cost of the TV service, so dropped it in favor of a Roku HD box to use with my Amazon Prime account. (And yes, the internet service went way up in price, for just having a single service.) I now stream my cop shows via the internet, so haven't really lost out on anything. Planning on purchasing an OTA antenna next month, so that I can pick up the local channels for the news and weather. I still have great internet speeds, and I do NOT miss paying the huge Charter TV bill every month. Unless something really drastic happens, I will probably never sign up for TV service again; it's just a waste of money for me, since I'm not a big TV watcher.

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9-20-13: Yes, I still live in my little house in the woods, and I still have my Charter services. I'm on a fixed income now, so dropped the 100 megs for the internet to the 30megs; funny part was that I didn't see that big a change, but it saved me a boatload of money! TV is still just the Select service; all I ever watch are my cop shows, so it's not worth paying for anything else. No DVR box, just an HD box. I don't ever have any problems with internet speed; I have the tap in my back yard, and usually run at 40-45 megs. *grin* Sometimes there is pixelating on the TV, but not any internet issues. Still happy with my services, but am seriously considering trying an antenna and going OTA; not sure it will work with all the trees around here -- but I am on the top of a hill. That remains to be seen on trying it; it would save some money, but the increase in price for just internet makes me think it might not be worth it.

AT&T has been sending me a bunch of literature in the mail lately, but I'm not interested at all. They don't even come close to the internet speed that Charter provides, so I'm not changing.

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2-10-2013: I still live in my little house in the woods, and still have my Charter services. Unfortunately, I'm retired now, so have to shell out for Charter, so that's a bite in the butt; services are NOT cheap. I'm spoiled with the 100 megs for the internet so will continue to pay for it, but dropped my TV down to just the Select service; all I ever watch are my cop shows, so it's not worth paying for anything else. Also got rid of the DVR box and now have just an HD box; no sense in paying for those services either. Had yet another round with the bad signals a couple of weeks ago, along with pixelating on the TV. A Charter tech working outside informed me that there was an issue with all the wiring up here on the hill. Took them all day, but they have the problem resolved now, and all is well again.

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7-15-2012: Still living in my little house in the woods, and still have my Charter services. Still running at 100 megs, although the squirrels did finally do in the line running down the pole a couple of weeks ago. A wonderful tech named Danny came out and replaced the line, it's buried to the house once again, and my service is back running at blasting speeds again! Just internet and TV, as usual, and I've actually watched TV a little bit more lately. With the Olympics about to debut, I know I'll have the TV on alot more while that's going on, particularly the Equestrian part. Looking forward to kicking back and watching things in London! Very happy with my Charter services!

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12-7-2011: Pearl Harbor Day! 70 years ago, this year. Wow.... No change in the housing situation, and still no change in my Charter services. Just internet and TV, and am happy with both, even though I don't turn on the TV that often. I've had a running battle with the squirrels this year though! Four tech visits this year so far, due to the little buggers chewing the line where it runs down the pole and gets buried to the house. Too bad I can't discharge a weapon within the county limits! I gave myself a birthday present this year and upgraded to the 60 megs -- WOW!!! And then, unbeknownst to me, down the pike came the upgrades, so I'm blasting along at 100 megs now!!! Speedtest from from the head end has me at 98 megs, and Speedtest dot net has me at 89.7 megs -- can't beat that with a big stick! *grin* Very happy with my Charter internet, and my TV, on the rare occasions that I turn it on.

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3-9-2011: No change in the housing situation, and no change in my Charter services. Still have the internet and TV services, and still not much of a TV watcher, even though I have all the services as a Charter employee. Maybe one of these days. *grin* I'm an avid computer junkie and put the internet service to plenty of good use, and thoroughly enjoy having my 25 megs here at home. One of these days I might actually consider making the jump to Ultra. Who knows???

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5-26-2010: Still living in the little house in the woods on top of a very big hill -- and Charter is still my provider, since I'm an employee. I got the auto-upgrade to 25 megs, and now have a ubee Docsis 3.0 modem installed here; leasing it from Charter until prices come down a bit, and then I'll purchase my own. I was having a problem with slow speeds, until I got smart and changed the DNS servers; running like a scared rabbit now! *grin* Still have just the TV and the internet service, and I should probably dump the TV connection; even with a nice flat-panel here, I hardly ever watch TV. And still using my BlackBerry phone so don't need a house phone.

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11-17-2009: Moved this fall, to a little house in the woods on top of a very big hill -- and had Charter re-installed the day I moved in. Install tech looked at the outside line after he couldn't get a good signal, said it was badly damaged, and then saw the squirrels running around in the trees. *grin* He immediately ran a new line and arranged to have it buried this time, to prevent any more damage from my friendly little "neighbors". Bury crew was here the next day, and no problems with any connections at all. Still have just the TV and the internet service; not paying for phone service as I pay a ton of money every month to have my BlackBerry phone and need it more than I need a house phone. Still running at 20 megs with no problems, and very happy to have the service on top of this hill; wasn't sure Charter was up here when I moved, but happy that they are!

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5-5-2009: Still have Charter cable installed, and still working for Charter. The only problem I've had was a 9-day delay in getting the outside line put back up when a boom truck went by and pulled it down (had the boom partway up). Due to the stupidity of the person who took my call, the work order was entered incorrectly, and it took NINE DAYS for a tech to get out here and restring it. Once that was done, no problems.

I'm now running at 20 megs, and it's great! Today, just for fun, I installed Windows 7 RC 1, and it's running on Charter. Way better than Vista, and my laptop is hitting top speeds now. Very pleased with that, and will probably upgrade when the final release comes out.

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9-23-2008: Well, it's back to Charter cable for services again. I moved in June, and the DSL that was available here absolutely sucked on speed. So out the door with it. I'm a Charter employee, so had the TV and the internet installed, and it's running just fine. I jumped to 16 megs for the internet, and it's awesome! AT&T doesn't have anything close to that, needless to say. The only problem I had was when a boom truck drove by with its boom up, and snagged both the Charter line and the electrical line coming into my house. Utility company was here in less than 30 minutes. Even with all my ranting and raving, it still took Charter NINE days to get the line put back up. Disgraceful.

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9-13-2007: I'm still gone from Charter, but that will probably change within the next few months. I'm in the process of looking for a home to purchase, and depending on the availability of cable being there, plan to have Charter installed again. It'll be free this time around -- it's one of the perks of being an employee. *grin* I find it quite humorous that my current living situation dictates that even though I work for Charter, I have AT&T DSL at home. I did just upgrade to the 6 megs on the DSL, to see if it's any good; I'll know when the new modem gets here -- I'm running the DSL here on an old 5360!

I'm NOT a fan of the bundle setup that Charter is offering. I don't own a television, haven't owned one in years, and see no need to own one. I also don't need a phone, since I depend exclusively on my cell phone. The phone line here is used strictly for the DSL line; there isn't even a phone hooked up to it. So I don't know how that will fall out if and when it comes time to install Charter again. Time will tell!

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It's been awhile since I posted an update and there have been some changes, so here goes. I'm gone from Charter even though I loved the speeds that I got; very consistent, as tested with the tools here at DSLR. I was on a special rate at Charter for the last several years. Not only did I lose that rate ($26/month), but I went straight from it to the new rate of $58/month -- and that's just for Internet service!!! I don't have cable TV here, so that was just too rich for my blood. Called Charter and cancelled the service, effective the day of the new rate hike, and called AT&T and ordered DSL.

My Linksys BEFCMU10 modem is packed away for another day. I'm currently house-shopping, and it will most likely be put to use again after I move. For the time being, I'm using an old Speedstream 5360 that I had lying around here; it does the job admirably well, and is hooked to my Linksys router before branching out to my systems.

I was very unhappy with the massive increase in price with Charter. I still think they have the best speed in town, although I'm not at all interested in their 6meg offering. I am sad to depart from them, but have to do what's best financially right now. I think those prices for naked internet are ridiculous. :-(

member for 22.9 years, 10029 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 6.8 years ago


cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

free installation

Rock on, Charter! Been with them for 4 years. Rock solid every dang day since. Should've used some of that tech savvy and got the free install. Of course, $9.95 is pretty darn close to it. Cost me $100 4 years ago.

stickside
join:2000-11-10
Worcester, MA

stickside

Member

DSL smokes Charter any day of the week

No way you get a full 3mbit d/l during peak hours. Not to mention that if you use newsgroups, the Charter newsgroup server caps you at 156kbps.

I've had Charter and DSL. First I had DSL, then Charter. I went back to DSL because Charter sucks during peak hours and the fact that their news server is capped at 156k.

Charter blows.
stridr69
join:2003-05-19
San Luis Obispo, CA

stridr69

Member

Re: DSL smokes Charter any day of the week

When I can get 3Mbs/256Kbs from Yahell/SBC, then maybe I'll think about leaving Charter.
Until then, DSL blows big time...12,000'from the CO-no RT's here in SLO city limits-750Kbs/128Kbs is all I can get on a good day...plus the PPPoE crud...jeeze.
BoMarty
join:2001-02-01
Ballwin, MO

1 edit

BoMarty

Member

Charter- St Louis 10/1 service !

"and have no plans to change anything anytime soon"

Soon......St Louis will have Charter's 10/1 service anyday now

Check Charter Forum for updates, pricing, modem's that will work, etc if you are interested.......

BTW, Charter does rock I get OVER the advertised speed package I am currently on for both download and upload (5meg/512K)
blade720
join:2004-01-18
Saint Peters, MO

blade720

Member

Re: Charter- St Louis 10/1 service !

Yea I had Charter too.. 5000/512 Service in Saint Peters, MO.. I would get maybe 2 mb DL Speeds 6pm threw 12pm .. it sucked..talk about over subscribed.. So i went with DSL, and they are rock solid, if your close to the CO or an RT, go for it, great pings, solid speeds.

AT&T Elite Plan (6016/768) $27.99 A Month..

4979/640 kbps 24/7 365
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

1 recommendation

rradina

Member

Downstream should be faster than 100 in STL market...

You should be getting 120/4 in the STL market. Are you connected to the modem with 1Gbps Ethernet or a wireless signal capable of exceeding 100Mbps? My Charter service in Chesterfield benches 134.xx downstream on SpeedTest.net. It benches about ~130 down on DSLR speed test. This is on a 1Gbps wired ethernet drop. It's just a bit slower on 802.11AC (R7000 Netgear Nighthawk).

jopfef
Home of The Rat Patrol
MVM
join:2001-03-31
Saint Louis, MO

jopfef

MVM

Re: Downstream should be faster than 100 in STL market...

I'm in Webster Groves now. Charter service for everyone in the neighborhood is right at 100 megs download, and just under 5 megs upload. I've been hearing rumors for the last couple of months, that Charter is going to push upload to 15 megs, but I'll believe that when I see it. Yes, I'm on a 1200Mbps Ethernet/WiFi setup; I get the same test results on both Ethernet and on my 802.11AC Cisco router. I moved here last May; before that, when I lived across the road from the Train Museum, I always got 110-120 megs. There were only four of us living on that road, so that may have something to do with it; there are a ton of people in this neighborhood, so I figured it was just a bit slower because of so many users.

Guess I'll have to call Charter and find out why you're 30% faster than I am -- and I promise not to use any names!
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

1 edit

rradina

Member

Re: Downstream should be faster than 100 in STL market...

Are you using the Charter-supplied router? If not, that might be why. Just guessing.

The speeds you quote across from the museum (~114) sound similar to what I used to have before they bumped it another 20Mbps last year. I forget when. I read about it from other folks here @ DLSR. I unplugged the power the modem and when it finished booting/connecting, it was 20Mbps faster.

Once they upgraded from 30 to 100 a couple years ago, I've never benched ~100. It's always been about 10% more than what the plan claims it is.

Long ago when I owned my own Surfboard modem, I used to be able to get into the modem and see the configuration. The Charter-supplied Cisco router doesn't provide much except down/upstream channels, signal strength (dbmv) and s/n ratio. It might show the channel frequency too, I forget.

jopfef
Home of The Rat Patrol
MVM
join:2001-03-31
Saint Louis, MO

jopfef

MVM

Re: Downstream should be faster than 100 in STL market...

Yes, I'm using the Charter-supplied Cisco modem, but my own Cisco Linksys router. I was very annoyed when I discovered I couldn't access the settings in the modem. I went to an AC router when I moved here, since there are so many people here; the tighter my security is, the happier I am. I did unplug the modem and restart it, and didn't have any change in my speed, but it's not really a big deal for me; I'm happy with my 100 megs. The router does have accessible settings, so I got into it and did some re-configuring, but the speeds still haven't increased from the 100 megs. I have a feeling that living in Webster will hold me to those speeds. Like I said, it's not a big issue for me.