 Review by benjamin 
UPDATED: 239 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 2515 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 New York,New York,NY
 $38 per month
 about 5 days
 "Great speeds, no configuration hassles & no software to install"
 "Not as widely available as Road Runner, price is higher without bundle, service technicians can be clueless"
 "RCN is an unbeatable value with much better pricing and speed than most of the competition"
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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02/10/2008 UPDATE:
My RCN service (both HSI and TV) remains excellent. Packages have changed quite a bit. I now have 10 Mbps service as part of my bundle. On the TV side, NYC went all-digital a while back and there has been a marked improvement in video quality since then. RCN also added a free HD tier, which includes HDNet, Discovery HD and about a dozen other channels (including HD versions of all the premium movie channels).
Internet service has been highly reliable and I almost never have to reboot my modem.
Updated 07/23/2004:
After 10 months of reliable service, connection remains reliable. While on Mach5, I experienced speeds over the 3 Mbps mark and usually around 4-5 Mbps. However, I decided to revert to "standard" service, which is now 3 Mbps!! (Free upgrade period ended and I decided not to pay $10 more per month for the 5 Mbps tier.) Good going RCN on the basic service speed upgrade. Uploads vary between 700 K and 800 K, far better than standard DSL service. The upload bandwidth allows my VoIP service to work without a hitch.
The installation was completely painless and my favorite feature of Cable Modem service (vs. DSL) is that no extra software (such as PPPoE or ISP-related software) is required. In Win XP, the connection is completely seamless and no configuration changes or tweaks were necessary to receive the best speeds. Tech support has been far from outstanding but this is hardly surprising. The reps' knowledge is about the same as with any other broadband service provider, so until you reach higher tiers, don't expect to find out anything you didn't already know.
Service has been consistent and reliable and there have not been any outages as of yet. Having used both "standard" 1.5 Mbps cable and DSL services (Comcast, Earthlink and Verizon) in the past and been perfectly satisfied, it is surprising how much difference 3Mbps service makes -- really worth trying.The 5 Mbps upgrade may be worthwhile for some but I didn't find it worth the extra fees, I am paying less than $40/mo. for my broadband connection, including 3 Mbps service.
A word of caution: despite reliable service, on the couple of occasions when I needed RCN techs to come out to the house, they were relatively inept and uninformed... but this is hardly unusual from my experience with other cable companies.
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RCN CABLE
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