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Review by airshark See Profile

  • Location: Hollister, San Benito, CA, USA
  • Cost: $59 per month
  • Install: about 60 days
Only choice in town.
Terrible phone tech support. Neglectful of this area.OVERSOLD NETWORK!!!!
Using it because I don't have any other choice. Monopoly.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

It took me over two months to get an installation planned for my new home in Hollister, CA. After receiving no response to my requests for help I ended up flagging down a Charter tech off of the street one day. He was very helpful and polite and he installed my cable modem on the spot. Since then, I've had decent latency, a reliable connection, I'm topping out my advertised speed of 3mbps.

Problems: Charters DNS servers are absolutely terrible..plan on using third-party DNS. Everywhere in every other town in proximity of me is at a minimum of 6mbps (cable) and 3mbps (DSL). EVERY other company has been raising speed and lowering prices. Charter has been promising 5mbps for some time now...but it doesn't seem like it will ever really happen. Price has gone up for same service. It really feels like Charter could care less about what their customers want. I can get a different answer every time I call and speak to a different CSR.

On the BBR Forums...it always seems as if there is some anonymous poster telling all of us to "Shut Up" and stop complaining about Charter. I say that they may be company "Shills" sticking their noses where they probably shouldn't be.

It also seems as if the California (especially Northern CA) market is almost an afterthought to Charter. Middle-of-nowhere towns get speed upgrades and no one can give us any info about upgrades in the future. I wish they would just up and sell us to another Cable company already.

UPDATE: 7/18/06: Oregon and Southern/Central California have gotten speed upgrades. One hour south of Silicon Valley here and we're still stuck at 3/256. Ridiculous.

UPDATE: 4/17/07: Now on the 10/1 package for almost six months. Speed is AWESOME, price is NOT. $79.99 for 10/1 w/o cable service is just silly. Too bad I'm too much of a nerd to pass it up.

UPDATE: 5/22/07: Not receiving rated line speeds except for @2AM with same excellent modem levels. Used to be provisioned for 10+...called in to ask a question and got re-provisioned for 9+. They "Accidentally" re-provisioned my modem to 5Meg a few months ago, had to call in to get it changed back. Unrelated---Terrible slowdowns are now occurring. Repeated calls to India tech support and my frustration grows. No one(almost) knows what a ping is, all insist on "helping" me troubleshoot my computer instead of addressing a backbone issue. Promised calls back, none received. Refuse to offer me a service credit (except the one India tech support woman who "noted" it on my account.) My next call in could find no record of any such note. I have gone from a happy customer to a hateful one. *****CHARTER*****UPGRADE YOUR BACKBONE CAPACITY AND ROUTING IN CALIFORNIA! STOP BLAMING OUR PC's AND IGNORING US!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: 2/19/08: Charter finally re-routed our traffic in this area to bypass a congested router in Sacramento California. That helped with speeds for a week or so. Now, the most my 10/1 package maxes out at is 3/.7 from daylight hours until at least midnight, sometimes till 2-3AM. Pings and tracerts show regional area network congestion and Charter refuses to listen to my repeated phone calls for help. ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY the WORST ISP I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH. I drove to the Gilroy, CA office last week hoping to complain to someone in person..but GUESS WHAT???? THEIR OFFICE HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN! If I could give my review "star" rating below a 20% I would. I hope that somewhere down the line, Hollister, CA will have a comparable alternative for broadband internet.

UPDATE: 11/21/08: Charter seems to have fixed its routing problems only after we got some city officials involved with legal threats. The fact that they have been having so much maintenance at night and are somehow unable to notify us of the impending outage is beyond me. Those of us that reply on connectivity for part or all of our work tasks could use some advanced notice Charter! I had to threaten to cancel to get the new "regular" high-speed price when I was paying almost double. Phone support is still awful.

member for 20.8 years, 2656 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
updated 15.3 years ago


wookie geek
@dsl.stlsmo.sbcglobal

wookie geek

Anon

RE: dogmatic corporate zealots

Gee ya think? Some folks here are here to help, others to spout the company line. Kinda obvious whos who.

Varlik
Without Honor You Will Never Be Free
Premium Member
join:2002-01-06
Anderson, SC

1 edit

Varlik

Premium Member

Charter does care about it customers.

Overall Charter does care about it's customers just like a majority of companies. Unfortunately for Charter they're hampered by Massive debt and have very little liquid funds.

Top it off with the fact that most of their equity has been used up. And you have Charters current situation, stagnant at best verging on a steady downward spiral. But I agree it blows for those of us who are Charters customers. Especially those who see faster and Cheaper speeds surrounding them.

FievelMousey
Premium Member
join:2005-11-17
Ronda, NC

FievelMousey

Premium Member

Re: Charter does care about it customers.

The comment about call in they say one thing and another when call back is 100% true they all say different crap.

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark to Varlik

Premium Member

to Varlik
said by Varlik:

Overall Charter does care about it's customers just like a majority of companies. Unfortunately for Charter they're hampered by Massive debt and have very little liquid funds.
Well put. I'd also like them to offer HD here one day....but I guess that's "dangerous" thinking on my part

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

$54 just for HSI?

Must be because you're out in ritsy CA., that it cost $54. As of this month, mine cost $42.99. Going up $1 next month. Guess I'm glad I live in low life MI.!!

The explanation a couple posts up is very reasonable, if not very sad.

dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA

dodgetech2

Member

Re: $54 just for HSI?

I feel for you.... A friend of mine has Charter and HATES it.....My company rocks...I pay $51.95 for a 10/1 connection.......Its a solid 10/1 also, never a drop in speed and never any downtime:)

crazynex
@dhcp.bycy.mi.charter

crazynex to cork1958

Anon

to cork1958
Woah, seriously?? I pay $55 for my charter HSI in MI! (Then again, I'm not a cable TV subscriber)

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark to cork1958

Premium Member

to cork1958
That's right....rub it in!
stridr69
join:2003-05-19
San Luis Obispo, CA

1 edit

stridr69

Member

$54 for HSI??!!

Dang! Thats way over priced. Even if you don't subscribe to Charter's TV offerings, thats STILL too much money for 3/256 a month.
Can you get DSL?
Do you have Charter Cable TV? You get a break w/HSI even if you have basic cable thru Charter.
5/512 we'll NEVER see where I live(San Luis Obispo, CA).
That's okay though, in 6 months I'll have better options.
Hopefully you will too, airshark.

VF51Dart
@dhcp.mdfd.or.charter

VF51Dart

Anon

Re: $54 for HSI??!!

Have Charter HSI here in Medford OR and it blows!! I've had many other broadband vendors before in old places I've lived and they've all been better. Charter has been the monopoly around here for some time, but things are changing. They still charge too much for too little when compared to EVERYONE else! 42.99/month here for 3/256. The D/L speed is fine, it's the snails pace U/L that kills ya, especially if you enjoy any online gaming!

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark to stridr69

Premium Member

to stridr69
No Cable TV (Satellite). I would switch to Charter if they would get off their collective a$$e$ and supply an HD feed here! I could get DSL (Slowest Plan), but my working for another telecom company has me left with a ton of negative opinions about SBC. I have Vonage and absolutley ZERO SBC services or cables running into my home.
FFTL
join:2004-04-15
Hollister, CA

FFTL

Member

Re: $54 for HSI??!!

Hey I live in Hollister and for $40/m im getting 4mb/2mb from PCWI (Its a WISP) It is pretty reliable you should check it out.

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark

Premium Member

Re: $54 for HSI??!!

What kind of latency do you get? This is an issue for me since I use VOIP exclusively as well as the fact that I frequently stream media from home to work.
FFTL
join:2004-04-15
Hollister, CA

FFTL

Member

While playing MMORPGS I average 15-30ms.
Billion3
join:2006-02-19
Hollister, CA

1 edit

Billion3

Member

Charter in Hollister

I can't agree with you more. I also live in Hollister. Charter's monopoly makes us put up with horrible service. Have you noticed your connection speed for the last month. Mine dipped to 4x dial-up last night.
htc1596
join:2006-04-16
Morgan Hill, CA

htc1596

Member

Charter in Morgan Hill

I've also had problems with my charter broadband service. I have the 3/256 service at $50 per month. I frequently get slow connection speeds (e.g., 400 mbps). I've called charter several times for service and they still haven't figured it out. Latest diagnosis is excessive noise on my lines. I didn't know about Charter's financial problems. That's interesting. I'm jealous of my sister in Redwood City who pays around $40 for 4 mbps ...
htc1596

htc1596

Member

Re: Charter in Morgan Hill

During the past month charter's service in morgan hill has improved significantly. I don't appear to be getting the bandwidth slow downs that i was experiencing before. Also, my ping rate has consistently been excellent. Not sure what charter has been doing but i hope they keep it up!

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark

Premium Member

Speeds?

Anyone hearing ANYTHING at all about Northern California Speed Upgrades?
squirrel6
join:2006-06-18
Redding, CA

squirrel6

Member

Re: Speeds?

I work on the utility poles for Charter and heard 7mb & 10mb by next 2007.
Rooke
join:2004-10-27
Redding, CA

Rooke to airshark

Member

to airshark
I live up near Redding in Shasta Co., and Charter has been advertising 10Mbs. I've currently got the minimum 384/128Kbs which for my needs is OK, and the thruput/service is decent, but I'm hoping if they open up 10Mbs then maybe 3Mbs will become the new minimum. ( But I ain't gonna count on it. )
plattypus1
join:2005-04-08
Riverside, CA

plattypus1

Member

Talk to a tech/local office.

Hey, I'm a charter tech in socal. Our CSR's may just be doing their job, but they don't know a backbone from a hole in the ground. Go to your local office, bring some printouts and ask to speak to a technical supervisor. It might take a while but you'll get results.

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark

Premium Member

Re: Talk to a tech/local office.

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to try that sometime. Again, thanks for the helpful response.

Carlos
@charter.com

Carlos

Anon

I don't understand

I don't get why all the negative comments. I get consistent 10/1 at anytime of the day in Turlock, CA. I guess it could be there is plenty of competition from ATT. Their customer service is iffy but I hate ATT with a passion so I will more than gladly pay the $59.99 for Charter 10/1

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark

Premium Member

Re: I don't understand

Just because you have had a great experience where you live does not mean that Charter has it's game together where I live. For 79.99 I expect at least marginally acceptable service and support.

AdamC831
@charter.com

AdamC831

Anon

thank you

I live in hollister also. i give this review an A+ for accuracy.

IWLoneWolf
join:2005-12-09
Dallas, OR

IWLoneWolf

Member

review

Yep and just cause you have a bad connection or bad experience does not mean every Charter customer every where does ether .There can be ISP that do great where you are at that are no good where some one else is.There really is no 100% great ISP every where

airshark
--... ...-- -.. . -. -.... .-.. -.--
Premium Member
join:2003-05-20
Hollister, CA

airshark

Premium Member

Re: review

Posted rebuttal on your review at: »Review of Charter by IWLoneWolf

IWLoneWolf
join:2005-12-09
Dallas, OR

4 edits

IWLoneWolf

Member

Re: review

Yes and the rest of my point is my review will mostly apply to people near me as yours to people near you ,Yes should have made that more clear and I did not mean to say your review or opinion was wrong .Sorry if I gave that impression. The fact is that because there is some compation hear is why ISP are working to make there service better.Charter has been coming out of a bad financial problems and they do have new leadership. They have started to do upgrades in many areas and in time may fix the problem areas as well.The reason my service is so good is every thing locally that has to do with Internet service is pretty much new.Like one Charter user said that they might go to another ISP like DSL service and if in the future charter or another cable company offered an improved service they would give them a try.I really hope we all see greater improvements in the hole infrastructure of the internet because every time you connect to different sites for downloads ,browsing or to perhaps a game server if one does on line gaming .The routing may take you through other ISP nodes that do a very poor job.I hope you have a better experience in the future weather with a different ISP or Charter for I went though a lot of trouble with my old ISP before Charter offered Internet service here.I remember just a few years ago I do not believe I could find any positive reviews on Charter and now there is at least some ,I look forward to seeing if you ether find improvements in your service or end up with an new ISP that works better for you there.