 Review by supergirl 
UPDATED: 11 days ago
member for 1.3 years, 598 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Pensacola,Escambia,FL
 $136 per month
 about 1 days
 "Powerboost and Digital Voice is Awesome"
 "Use Gmail Instead"
 "15/1 Now...I see up to 50 down late night...Wow!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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****Update 7-8-2008****
They did the 15/1 upgrade. I get way over that in the usual 20-25 range even during peak times. Hit 50 down just a minute ago.
****Update 04-20-2008****
I still see consistent 20/1 speeds and sometimes pops into the 40-45 down range. The Digital Phone Service is still excellent. Call quality is superior to anything I've used on any of the Bells. Love the website for neat call management.
****Update 03-06-2008****
Cox HSI gives consistent 20/1 speeds and up to 45 down. Digital Phone is rock solid.
****Update 1-18-2008****
Cox continues to make friends envious of Cox Digital Phone. People that use it say, "Gee, what a difference." The modem, both phone and HSI, is also a router sorta so is a natural firewall. I didn't know that.The ARIS modem.
***Update 11-14-2007
Cox Digital Phone is 4 times better sound-wise. Cox HSI Premier is about 5 times faster than DSL 3.0. I get 14-17/1 speeds on HSI (sometimes 24 down).
Phone Tools are Nice:
-Download Voicemails to WMA files.
-All calls displayed.
-7-digit dialing in local long distance area.
-$10 off Cox Cable and $10 off Digital Phone with Triple Play.
Cox has router for wireless for $65 and includes tech support. Not any better than store bought though. D-Link sucks.
Update 10-10-2007
Cox installed the Digital Cox Phone service today. Free Arris Telephony modem that has 4 hour battery backup and supplies the HSI connection as well. Didn't even have to use my phone jacks (there was a short in line to the NID so wouldn't work anyway; no wonder my phone service sucked and DSL had high latency (40-50ms for Cox and 100-150ms for T DSL). Cox phone service is what clearer and louder than T's phone service. I actually had to turn down the cordless phone's volume. Not T's fault but the internal wiring in the apt. complex sucks. It is nice the Cox box is right outside my front door.
Premier Cox HSI (12/1 service). Popped to the 24 down range on one speed test. Half off phone and HSI for two months.
Telco charged me about $50 including tax for Caller ID and Unlimited LD. Cox is the same for everything including voice mail plus you get $10 off HSI and $15 off Cable with triple play (how they give the discounts). Total is $138 with tax after the two month promo, which is about $25 less than Telco plus just Cox Cable. Cox phone by itself is $60+ tax.
Porting is a pain with AT&T: Had to wait from 9-29 to 10-10-07 to get Cox Digital Voice. So, I called T and asked if they had disconnected my no longer working phone service (no number, duh!) since it ported today. Guess what, THEY DIDN'T KNOW! The department that handles it DIDN'T KNOW! Are you frickin' kidding? If T charges me past today, PSC complaint will follow. They also said they didn't know if the DSL would auto-disconnect but thought so. Have to call T DSL billing to make sure tomorrow.
Cox will allow you to login and see all phone numbers dialed including local online. Kinda neat. You can even check voicemails online.
Did try my dialup backup just for fun. Connected at 52.6k. Most I could do on T was 40k.
Update 9-29-07
Ordered Cox HSI and Digital Phone for the 1/2 off for two months special. Even after the special total cable, HSI, and full digital phone is only $136 total with tax. Their 8/512 HSI pops to 12/500 all the time. Way faster than Fast Access. I'll update once they install the phone service.
The $136 price includes HSI, Digital Phone, and Cable.
Added 7/12/2007****
Called today and added COX HSI Preferred (7/512) for $41.95. I was paying $37.95 for DSL 3.0 Fast Access with BellSouth. So, for $4 more I lose the static IP, causing problems using Fast Access Services, and speed test shows 12/500 speeds with powerboost. Websurfing is way faster! Their upgrades apparently have all been resolved. Installation happened in less than 5 minutes since I already had a modem. And, the first month is free!
Update***05.06.07
In the last week, surfing has slowed. When going to website to website, it takes a few seconds to load. They've also added a Cox page when a URL doesn't resolve fast enough. So, I opened two IE browsers independent of each other. One side would load this site and the other would give me a Cox page. The NY Times takes forever to click over. They also really raised my price $2 and I actually pay $56.95 not $49.95. I'd rather have smooth surfing like it used to be rather than slow page loads at times. I don't go to weird sites so sure their "upgrade" has messed things up. DSL 6.0 is finally available so switching since I have a ton of DSL modems. I don't download a lot so powerboost isn't that important. I do think they throttle YouTube. I think they did something weird to their DNS servers causing the slow surfing. The Page Not Found thingie has something to do with their upgrade. Their COX page that shows up when that happens is terrible.
I actually think they lowered speeds so people will think Powerboost is kicking in. It used to be a solid 12/1 connection. Now it is more a 9/1 connection with powerboost that goes to 16 down sometimes.
Update*** 04.21.2007
Cox moved Fiber closer for better service. Gee, I can tell. I see upwards of 3000 kpbs on downloads at times. The tech said they are working on more bandwidth for HD and HSI. I download a Gig in about 15 minutes. On multiple downloads, I am doubling my 12 down speeds easy.
At »www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/, I get:
Last Result:
Download Speed: 11936 kbps (1492 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1074 kbps (134.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Not bad from Pensacola, FL all the way to Washington, D.C. Hate to say it, but the speed tests on this site kinda sucks, except the NJ one.
I'm on the 12/1 plan for $54.95 and they lowered it recently to $49.95. Probably because of the digital cable deal.
I picked up a free modem (the Terayon) from them and was up the same day (already had cable). I also have a D-Link for wireless. I've been with them about 2 years.
One call to tech support on set-up since I really hate installing crappy software from an ISP. The new desktop didn't even need configuring. Tech support I had was in the USA so nice.
I've been using Gmail since beta so never really did much with their email. I open the account just to delete the spam. I never turned on the spam filters.
I'm not a heavy user but like the Net to be just like TV.
I heard their digital phone is good but storms keep me with Bell. If not for hurricanes, I'd switch.
I have a static IP pretty much. It never really changes. They did raise cable rates but not HSI. DSL is too far away and 6 down is kinda slow to 12 down.
When I download a big file, it takes just a few minutes. Surfing the net is just like changing channels.
I downloaded a 1 gig file, a legal movie file from Amazon, just to see how fast. It took about 20-25 minutes. I don't know if they have powerboost or not but sometimes I get way over 12 down when downloading. I've seen up to 30 down.
I did hear they are going to launch a 15/2 tier sometime this summer to replace this one.
Even though the modem is free, they said if it ever went bad to just bring it in and they would give me another for free.
A side note: I did try Vongo and it was a total pain. Most good titles are PPV.
My system: HP, Intel 2.8 ghrz dual, 2 gigs Ram, 256 meg ATI Video (you can hook up to cable), DVD-RW/CD-RW, 250 gig HD, and lots of room for extra HDs. I have a couple 250 gig HDs for storage. XP Pro with Media Center. I hate Vista so I bought a new one in Dec. 2006.
Attached images and files
Followup comments:  | | |  | robertfl
Premium
join:2005-10-10
Mary Esther, FL | Re: New Us here in PN.AT.Cox.net land got it a few weeks ago. I wonder what the next upgrade will be? More upspeed (yea..right)
-Rob | |
| epluribus
Premium
join:2000-11-29
Phoenix, AZ
| PowerFloosie  Big variations here with Powerboost. Yes, up to nominl 13MB at some times (low use by others); elsewise trough sucking, even with small packets when there's load. And yes, it probably does help to have ACTUAL fibre closer. Thanks, God of Cox, for clueing us in on that tidbit.  | |
| robertfl
Premium
join:2005-10-10
Mary Esther, FL | Getting Better Slow improvement:
If your still experiencing problems, notify level 2 on the forum. I suspect he is on holiday so give him a few days.
Rob | |
| | | | | surfmw
join:2007-07-14
Oklahoma City, OK | Re: Speed Test just this minute I live in Oklahoma City and use Cox HSI - I pay 41.95/mo for their Preferred tier w/ power boost (7/512).
I average 15mbps-23mbps on download and 500kbps-900kbps up to Dallas, TX.
I'm very satisfied with my service. | |
| | robertfl
Premium
join:2005-10-10
Mary Esther, FL | Good luck on that. Were in Embarq territory (/me shrugs)
I guess Oaklossia County isn't lucky enough to get ATnT.
-Rob | |
| | | | MaiShiranui74
join:2004-02-03 | Who cares about speed if you get in between packet loss.
All the speed you have but if you get packet loss your speed means nothing. | |
| | | 
NetAdmin
join:2008-05-22
| They did the 15/1 upgrade. I get way over that in the usual 20-25 range even during peak times. Hit 50 down just a minute ago. You must have had a botched speed test to get 50Mbps on Cox because DOCSIS 1.1, what Cox has deployed right now, can't deliver 50Mbps.
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Over ten plus years of carrying The Clue Bat... | |
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