dslreports logo

Review by ike See Profile

  • Location: Whitehall, Lehigh, PA, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month
Good speed for price
No discount for customer-owned modems...
Way better than what I came from...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

September 2015 update:
Since I'm in a household with growing data needs, we upgraded to the 50 Mbps plan in June... almost went to the 110 plan, but it requires a modem rental (despite me having a DOCSIS 3 modem...). If my job ends up having me work-from-home, I'll jump to the 110 Mbps (since the company will pay the rental fees...).

Speeds have been fine. No noticeable issues.

Was a bit miffed I couldn't get the "intro" rate for the first year, but I really couldn't threaten to leave (SECTV still sucks and Verizon cancelled plans for the FIOS build-out).

October 2012 update:
Came back to RCN for broadband in October 2012 after suffering for two years with Service Electric (still have CableTV with SECTV because they still support analog tuners but internet upload speeds there were so horrible that I had to swap my Vonage service for Verizon Wireless @ Home service]).

Glad I came back to RCN for internet. For less money, I more than doubled my download speeds and tripled my upload speeds (though we still use the Verizon phone service...).

Have yet to have any issues.

Sep 2010 update:
Switched all services to Service Electric Cable TV & Communications (SECTV) after they finished their high-speed build-out...

Aug 2008 update:
Getting quite angry about price and value... HD channels are starting to come in a bit faster now (naturally, noting I really want to watch--where's SciFi channel?!?).

Power/CI plan is now a whopping $182 after tax with two HD-DVRs. Breakdown of charges:

Internet:
- Mach-7: $37 ($40 less $3 for customer owned modem)

Cable:
- Limited Cable: $15
- Expanded Cable: $35.04 (up $3.04)
- New Digital Vision: $29.95 (up from $16.05)
- PowerDigital: $10
- HD-DVRs: $17.95 each (up from $12.95 each)
- HD-Tier: $7.95
- Taxes: $10.62 (up from $8.43)

Time to make another call... last time I called about the HD-Tier they basically said the HD-DVR savings was a wash... now, it is an extra $8 for nothing...

Might need to price modem-only and check out DirecTv...

Jan 2008 update:
Getting a bit concerned with price and value... HD channels are coming slowly (TNT and Nat Geo added recently), but lag behind local competition (and very far behind Dish and DirecTV).

Power/CI plan is $153 after tax with two HD-DVRs. Breakdown of charges:

Internet:
- Mach-7: $37 ($40 less $3 for customer owned modem)

Cable:
- Limited Cable: $15
- Expanded Cable: $32
- New Digital Vision: $16.05
- PowerDigital: $10
- HD-DVRs: $12.95 each
- HD-Tier: $7.95
- Taxes: $8.43

Recent posting in RCN forum indicate "HD Tier" should now be free, but an email to RCN indicates current plan can't have that.

Jan 2005 Update:
Cable Modem: Sevice has been awesome. Seven megabit right now, reliably (own my own Motorola SB5100--couldn't get above 5 with the Toshiba they loaned out).

TV: Took forever to get an HD-DVR from them (actually, wasn't until they came out of BK did it become available to me--must have been a pending credit issue with Motoroloa...). They are still behind the other local cable co. in regards to HD channel selections (still don't have UPN, TNT or Bravo after a year of "yea, we'll have them soon").

Phone: Since they provide a nice detailed "here's how much each part of your package is costing you" bill, I saw that for unlimited regional calling and 8-features, I was paying nearly $40/mo. Well, didn't take a rocket scientist to know that with 7-megabit (10 in a few weeks!), Vonage for $25/mo is a deal... Once RCN accepts my Local Number Portability (LNP) request to transfer my phone number to Vonage, I won't have the ResiLink package (dropping to Power CI)... That being said, it has been 6-weeks and a dozen calls now for something that should take no more than three weeks and zero calls (next call is to the state PUC to register a complaint....). This is may major complaint of late (that and their prices are going above the competition's, tempting me to leave completely)...

BTW--it took a notice to the PUC to get RCN's butt in gear. Been using Vonage ever since...

Origial review:

Bidirectional Cable (max 1.5m/700k [1.1m/500k actual])
$110/mo (no contract, no setup fees, part of TV, Phone, Internet package--est. $40/mo based on other service's fees)
Toshiba 2500 bi-directional cable modem w/USB and 10-Base-T
Dynamic IP address

Order taken by a "sales guy" for the complete package (details below). Internet, phone and cable were installed the same day by one technician. Took the guy about 5-hours to get everything setup, including running new R6 coax cable throughout the house and mount a "master" box outside.

They ran out of time to complete the update of my Outlook accounts to use RCN's SMTP server for outbound email for my non-RCN accounts (my wife had to leave and they got booted). Only took a moment to do that my self.

Package Details: Resilink Gold ($110/mo)
- Bidirectional cable internet (one dynamice IP address, 4 POP email accounts, 10 MB personal webspace)
- Full Basic TV plus 1-digial converter with 15 HBO/Cinimax channels and 45 digital music channels
- Phone (one line, unlimited local and regional calling [610, 484, 215, 267, 302], "Ultra Feature Package" [voicemail, deluxe caller id, deluxe call-waiting caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, unlimited *69 & *66], 9¢/min anytime long distance)

So far, so good. Took a bit to get my Linksys router working with the Toshiba cable modem, but after some tweaking (aka--turning off the modem for an hour), all was fine.

member for 23.4 years, 328 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
updated 8.4 years ago


anonymouse4
@capu.net

anonymouse4

Anon

lucky bastard

i know 4 people in mass who have rcn cable, never slow, 700k up, 5ms to CO. perfect for gaming & servers. all we got here is...nothin. 14.4

Zatara
@sfrn.ca.webcache.rcn

Zatara

Anon

Re: lucky bastard

I am an RCN usert from CA. If you want to host a game, just hope your friends aren't on RCN's network either. Their security features are on so tight you can't connect to any other RCN customers...people from other ISPs are OK to connect to. When I called for assistance, they said the TOS states that they don't support file sharing or game servers, making my issue not important...BOO RCN!!!

Pyrion
Liquid Metal Nanomorph
join:2001-12-01
Spirit Lake, ID

Pyrion

Member

May want to check Slashdot.

RCN just upgraded its customers to 3Mbit/sec downloads for free.

pswiss
No More Packet Loss
join:2001-08-10
Northampton, PA

pswiss

Member

Please post test results in the near future

I am a subscriber in Northampton. I've had 2-way for a couple of years now and generally speaking, the service has been good. Customer service has been horrible every time I've needed it (regardless if it is for cable, the cable modem, or the phone). Have had two incidences of extreme packet loss when they don't check on their equipment after signing up a host of new customers. Keep an eye on things and post some test results in the forums. Check out the RCN forum in here too!
kirk1701
join:2002-05-31
Bowling Green, KY

kirk1701

Member

To : blappin

It would take a dam californian to bitch about the service. I used to do tech support for RCN and the majority of the calls I got were great people, understanding and cooperitive. But leave it to an idiot from cal. to call and start complaining everytime. As for the techs, yea once in a great while you might get a new person only on the floor for a week and don't know as much and will do the sort of things you speak of. As for the majority of the tech's will be honest, straight forward, helpful and try to assist you even when it goes beyond the scope of support, but again leave it to a californian to call and start a argument, ask for a supervisor just to get credit for a day which might amount to $3.00 at most. I used to live in Cal and the people I met might as well been from another planet, clueless to the surondings and ignorant. Bottom line, if the service is all as bad as you say it is, there's no contract, why the hell you still have it?? Uhhhhhhhhhhh Get off your brick