 Review by TuPaK 
Posted: 298 days ago
member for 6 years, 346 visits, last login: 2 days ago
 Chandler,Maricopa,AZ
 $60 per month
 about 5 days
 "Fast connection - Uptime is good - Newsgroup servers are awesome!"
 "Customer service takes a while to reach (automated first) - Some techs are uninformed - Slightly pricey for the 12mbps/1mbps"
 "Good service - Much faster than Qwest - Just works as it should!"
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(ratings match consensus)
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Here in Chandler, AZ (about 20 minutes south of Phoenix, AZ) I basically had the choice of Qwest or Cox for my ISP. Qwest is notorious when it comes to poor connection speeds and customer service so right away I chose Cox.
The house I moved in was built in 2004 (I moved in late 2004) so the coaxial run through the house was well done. However, at the cable box outside the splitter branched out 4 connections to the various rooms in the house. I only needed two connections (one for the cable modem and one for a room with basic CTV). I already have Dish.
So when the tech came to install I requested the new splitter because I knew this would improve the connection. Whether you live in an old house or a new house, always check your modem signals while the tech is still at your place and don't let them leave unless they fix it or promise to within the next day or so. A good signal is the first step to an enjoyable cable internet connection!  For acceptable signal levels checkout the forum.
Initially I had the 5mbps/512kbps but about a year ago Cox introduced the 9mbps/1mbps. I was one of the first to use this speed package and I liked it very much. The speeds did fluctuate at times but I was able to get ~1100 Kb/sec stable. The upload was also very good at 110 Kb/sec stable.
Cox then introduced 12mbps/1mbps and I did notice a jump in the downstream speed to about ~1420 Kb/sec and upload remained the same.
Cox newsgroups servers are very good. I have been able to get files at 60 day retention but there are a maximum of 4 connections so my speed (and yours) will max out at about 225 Kb/sec...well below the 1420 Kb/sec max. If you want more speed you will need more connections and most likely a paid news server. For me though, it's better than nothing and I dropped my paid news server once I found out Cox had 60 day retention :P
So overall I think Cox is a good ISP. I wish Qwest would give them more competition so we can see a little price reduction. And we can never get enough speed, especially on the upload side. Hope this review helped some.
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