Review by reelbigfish 
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 6.1 years, 1544 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Meriden,New Haven,CT
 $27 per month
 about 4 days
 "Fast speeds, good service and install"
 "price, slows down occasionally in the evening, download caps"
 "a solid service that is worth the money"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Original review~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So far my experience with Cox has been good. I chose them because SBC doesn't offer unlimited calling for $39.99 in CT, so I went with Cox and Vonage. I have been able to play games pretty well, though it does seem to be a little bit more sluggish than the SBC DSL that I used to have. There are some issues in the evening. My speeds drop to 3Mbps/2Mbps from the promised 5Mbps/2Mbps. We have the higher speeds here in CT because Cox competes with Verizon FiOS in Rhode Island and RI and CT are on the same Cox system. So far the connection has been good enough to work with my Vonage. Overall it's been a good experience and I will update as I get more time with the service.
~~~~~~~~~~~Update 12/13/2005~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So far things have been good. Games are pretty good, though I do get lag more often that I did with SBC DSL. I am paying less money now since I have Cox and Vonage. My VoIP has worked great. I though that since this was cable internet and shared it might be bad for VoIP, but so far things have worked very well.
~~~~~~~~~~~Update 3/28/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, things have been pretty smooth with Cox HSI. I have been consistently getting my speeds and not noticing any packet loss or disconnects. I have not had any problems gaming, surfing the web or downloading large files. I don't use the e-mail address so I can't comment. Over all I haven't had to deal with tech support other than once after setting it up. The cable modem they gave me is working quite well. I see no reason to switch. I don't plan on getting their VoIP as I have vonage. It has been working well also. I have not had any problems related to the cable modem service. I would recommend it to anyone not wanting a land line, otherwise it is probably cheaper to get DSL. I still feel the service should be about $5-10 less expensive which is why I give a 4 for value.
~~~~~~~~~~Update 7/20/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, things have been quite good with Cox. For a while there I had to down grade to the 768Kbps/256kbps tier, which wasn't bad. I did go back after a while to the 5Mbps/2Mbps tier because I download large files. Stabiliy has been great and I have yet to call tech support more than a couple of times. Even when there were problems they were taken care of quickly and easily. Highly recommended. Price could be $5 less and it would make it an excellent deal.
~~~~~~~~~~~Update 8/01/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After trying to get a landline from either AT&T or Cox, it turns out they are too expensive. If you don't want a landline and have cable service, Cox is the way to go. If you have sattelite, Cox may still be the way to go, as dry dsl runs about $50 from AT&T so why not get the better speeds from Cox. Typically I get the full 5Mbps down and up I typically get 1.5Mbps. These are sustained transfer rates to servers that can handle them (ie. downloading from fileplanet or uploading pictures to wallgreens). The best part is there is no taxes or fees on cable internet. It's $39.95 (actual cost with the most basic cable is about $52 depending on area) and I don't have to pay into the waste of money they call the Universal Service Fund, which is a 1.06% tax on DSL lines plus the others added to your required land line. By far this is the easiest way to go. I highly recommend Cox in CT.
~~~~~~~~~~Update 08/10/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things are starting to get a bit slow with Cox. My vonage phone still works fine, and I'm still able to play games and download/upload files. The issue is that slowly the speeds have been getting worse in the evening. I am now getting about 2.5Mbps instead of the 5Mbps I am paying for. Upload is still around 1Mpbs-1.6Mbps which is pretty darn good. Also, I'm getting stalls of 1+ seconds according to the tweak test, which may explain why I am not connecting to or losing connection with servers when playing Battlefield 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004. I will look into this to determine whether it is a problem on my end or on Cox's end, but for now the value and reliablility are not as good as they used to be. Still better than DSL when accounting for the taxes and fees associated with a landline and the price of the dsl.
~~~~~~~~~Update 8/23/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, things have been getting steadily worse with Cox. It's getting so I can't play games reliably. I can't play west cost servers or I get disconnected, I can only play on the east cost. Also, speeds are going down in the evenings. Getting about 3-4meg down and only 512kbps-1meg up on a 5Mbps/2Mbps plan. I hate not getting the speeds I am paying for. I have to say I am starting to shop around. Cable networks can be very good when well maintained, however this one isn't that great. If you only surf and don't do anything that needs low pings however, it will be fine. Casual web users will like this service. For my needs it just isn't working as well as it did when I first got it.
~~~~~~~Update 8/27/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, it seems as though things have stabilized. I am getting better pings, though my download speeds to most sites is 4500Kbps max and upload is never greater than 1200kbps. I know I'm capped at the advertised 5Mbps/2Mbps, but somewhere there is a bottleneck. I don't know where it is, but my guess is the download is not limited by Cox, but my upload might be due to heavy use on my node. Overall a pretty good service. It's been up consistently and I rarely lose cable or internet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~9/13/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, Cox is no longer in my home. The erratic pings and shoddy network finally forced me to canel and go with AT&T for phone and DSL. I get unlimited calling and 3Meg DSL for less than a 500min Vonage pland and cable internet. For normal surfing this service is ok, but I still like DSL better for it's stability, ping, and AT&T backbone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10/09/2006~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I am back with Cox. Turns out it's not always greener on the other side. The speeds at Cox in CT are far better than AT&T in my area. I can't get the 6Mbps/768Kbps DSL, so it's worth it to get the 5Mbps/2Mbps from Cox. The latency issues with the network aren't that big of a deal. I'm pinging well to the servers I normally play on for games. Usually around 30ms to the east coast and still around 90-100ms to the west coast. It is playable and I'm happy about that. The upload is what really got me to switch back. I can now upload photos easily and not have to leave on the computer for 4 hours to upload the pictures from my latest trip. Definitely a recommended service. AT&T needs to really do some catching up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~06/11/2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, so far things have been great with Cox. I've been using the internet less, so I downgraded to the 768/256kbps package. Last month or so, Cox upgraded the speeds and I now get 1.5Mbps/256kbps for $26.99. This I feel is a great deal. If you need the speed, the 5Mbps/2Mbps is amazing. Much better than most other companies. Overall, I highly recommend them. I get the promised speeds and I have had my connection up for over 45 days. If you are looking for internet, Cox is the way to go if it is available in your area in CT.
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