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Review by milkman82 See Profile

  • Location: Lakewood, Cuyahoga, OH, USA
  • Cost: $24 per month
  • Install: about 14 days
Speed, Latency
Customer Service (Not Tech Support), lag time around peak hours
Got the package at a discount for one year. Once it is up, I will switch back to AT&T
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I ordered the service online on a Tuesday Morning. Told I would get three emails to confirm my order. I got my first email the next morning confirming my order was in. Said I should have the order completed no later then 72 hours. The next day went by and nothing. I called just to make sure everything was ok. They said I am the 4 in line and my order should be completed in an hour. I waited and nothing, the next day went by and still nothing. I called on a Monday only to find out they had closed before 5pm. Finally I called on following Tuesday and they had found my order. Said I was in the system but they were confused as to why no one had contacted me. All they needed was my Mac address and serial from the modem. After I gave the information they had a tech come out the following day to reconnect the line and I was up and going.

The next part that gets me is I ordered the service on a special for 24.99 for one year. My first bill is already here and my bill is $42.99. So once again I have to call and get that worked out. Once al the kinks get worked out, I am sure it will be a great value. I have just been baffled how a company a quarter the size of AT&T has given me so many more headaches.

Update

I ended up canceling Cox service once Uverse came into my home. Cox in this area has a huge problem with youtube. You have to sit their and wait for any video to buffer. I know its not Youtube. Because once I had both services. I sat two laptops side by side one with cable one with Uverse. The cable would always sit and buffer on the same videos the ones Uverse was playing with no problem. When I called to cancel my internet with them. The cancel depart was rude and the guy was borderline a idiot I would say. He was mocking UVerse saying "So you're canceling cable internet for old dsl huh? You do realize you offer a faster and superior product"

So my reply was "Well your upload speeds are actually slower than uverse and I don't know how it's superior if you have caps in place"

His reply was "woah, woah, I am just letting you know about our service."

The guy actually made me sick to talk to. He was heavy set as I could hear him breathing in the phone constantly and drinks to Cox kool aid. Thats the last mental picture I have of them and so happy I am no longer with them.

member for 17.7 years, 2111 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
updated 12.5 years ago

gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

the youtube issue

ahhh the youtube thing is just the dns servers on youtube's end .. the peering they have is not setup correctly ..switching to opendns would have made that u-verse seem slow on youtube...
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: the youtube issue

Well if you read my post I said. I ended up using one computer on the cox connection and the other on Uverse. I would browse the same videos on each connection. The Cox was always having to stop and buffer while the Uverse was streaming with no problem.

So your telling me if I would ditch Cox DNS servers and switch to a 3rd party DNS that would have solved my problem? Sounds to me it was a Cox problem then.
gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

i read your post, and yes ditching the cox dns servers would have solved your problem.

but no its not on cox's end .. its on youtube's end with the peering arrangement to cox. 2 minutes in the search bar and you would see what im talking about .. this isn't even isp specific ..it happens on multiple isp's across different regions.

We ended up talking to cox's engineers and they are to this day still waiting on google rectify the problem.
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: the youtube issue

said by gravesg See ProfileWe ended up talking to cox's engineers and they are to this day still waiting on google rectify the problem.
[/BQUOTE :

Yeah, I remember hearing the same thing back when I had Cox and that was almost a year ago. The problem had been going on longer then that. Maybe a clue that Google has told Cox the problem is on their end and really Cox is stuck on the blame game.

So then if it's a problem with youtube how come I don't see problem on Uverse? Or with my friends TW connection?

Just trying to figure out your logic here. I don't suffer the problem with AT&T. I did suffer the problem on Cox cable. However, the problem is not on Cox end. The problem is on Googles end. Yet, my AT&T connection magically fixes that problem. So, then I guess that only solidifies the fact that AT&T is a superior connection because they can resolve connection issues that Cox can't?

gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

Re: the youtube issue

its all just dns and routing schemes setup behind it ... its not the acutal connection themselves ..in that right cox is superior .. i suppose it could be a blame game ... but changing 4 numbers instantly solves the problem

and onece again it happens across MULTIPLE Isp's not just cox ...
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: the youtube issue

What way is Cox superior though? I see now you guys get disconnected if you go over the cap. At least we just have to pay extra. Why is Cox superior because I have to use a different dns server? Or is it all the ports they block? Or the known fact service does dramatically decrease during peak hours?

Also, what other ISP's suffer from this youtube issue? I believe you just unaware of any.

The only pro's I can see with Cable is speed. However, what good is any higher then 12 or 24 if your just going to hit a cap that much faster? lol
gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

in my particular area even peak times feel like 3am ... the nodes aren't oversold here. i can pull 50Mbit at any given moment.

reliability and Speed are the only defining factors in determining who's internet is superior, which is why i say that. can u grab 50Mbit from at&t ??? i've only experienced matinece here no blackouts even in the hurricane

the caps thing is just for select areas only, in a market like mines verzion's fios is the competition, thus we dont have to worry about getting kicked. I did 419Gb of Xfer this month .. not a peep from them.

atleast i can do 400GB before anything at all happens .. how much would it cost you just to get to 400Gb lol ???

forget what it would cost you, it'd take you forever to get there lol.
gravesg

gravesg

Member

the ports they block dont bother me beacuse i run a server, and the dns is fine .. its just the routing to one site.

what other isp's are you kidding me ??? do you even read the forums here ????

»[DSL] Why is Youtube so slow?

and various comcast threads, and even some fiber comapny's have the issue ... like i said its across mutiple isp's ...

the issue bugged me as much as it did you, so i had to research it, thats why i know.
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: the youtube issue

Click for full size
What would it cost me to hit 400GB? Hmmm. Why nothing at all! I have attached what my current download and upload is for the month. Its clear what while your connection is faster. You can't manage to download more then me. Maybe it's all that latency and youtube buffering? Like I may be able to view three youtube videos before your one actually finishes. LOL

Why do you have a 50Mb connection if you don't even use it that much? I was on the 24Mb connection and ended up dropping down to 12 because I found it to be a bit over kill.

LOL! I read the forums everyday here. What you have showed me was not an everyday issue but a glitch that was resolved. I can understand a problem here and there. However, my issue was every freaking day no matter what time of day. All I ever kept hearing was the same BS from Cox how the problem was on Googles end and how they are working on it. Looks like still to this day it's a problem for Cox. I know I was not a rare case because I found a thread with people complaining how it was everyday for them too. Other sites would load ok for me and my latency was ok. Unless I was on during peak times. Then I was waiting and extra min. or two for the page to load. Which is why my connection is so nice now. I don't have the issue of peak hours any more as well.

A problem here and there is acceptable to me. Every day is not and like I said once I switched to DSL never saw the problem again. Actually my buffering on this connection I would consider excellent.

Please don't blame other ISP's for having the same issue if this is what you mean by that.

So yawn my friend yawn. I grow weary debating this. I think my point has been proven. Cox while yes may have more connections to offer. I would stick with my good ole DSL any day if it means less restrictions and headache for me. Which is why DSL is superior.

Hey I hear you guys even get throttled on torrent sites now! Oh yeah! defiantly a connection I want! LOL!

I think you just need to leave that old cable connection for Fios in your area. Stop kidding your self already.
gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

i need my connection because im a mix engineer ... lots of uncompressed audio to be downloaded on my end.

its not about how much, but how fast i can access my data, artist and labels love to put the deadlines and deduct pay if their not met. thats why i have the 50Mbit package.

i agree with you on whats acceptable to you .. that is the most important factor ... nothing can be really argued here because you set your standard, which is what most consumers should do.

torrent sites ??? LOL 10Gbit 20TB ftp ring is where its at .. topsites sir.

torrents are for newbs .. i can request a file from 2002 and have it on the ring within 2 hours.... and not have to worry about throttling since it isn't p2p or uploading back. granted their is a ratio system in place.... but enough about that.

Your happy with your service and thats what counts .. nothing else matters ... we done here ?
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: the youtube issue

This debate was over on my first reply to you my friend. lol

You had chosen to continue it.

Not quite sure of the ftp ring and bling. Just happy I am not throttled or blocked on my ISP. Although, I must admit the last time I downloaded a large program was on Pirate Bay and that was for Final Cut Studios almost a year ago.

Yes, you go flutter away now, let daddy use his superior connection.

I have emails to write and you have music to dj.

All best to you

gravesg
join:2006-12-21
San Antonio, TX

gravesg

Member

ahahahha well played sir well played.

been awhile since i enjoyed myself on the forums
whiteazn
join:2005-02-10
Henderson, NV

whiteazn

Member

Caps

you think U-Verse doesn't have caps? At least Cox's cap has for the most part been a soft cap (as far as I know, I have gone over the cap with no "overage" charges). U-Verse has a $10 per 50GB overage fee.

But shrug, I find Cox to be the "best of the worst", when you compare to the problems of other cable ISPs (comcast, etc). Sure, it has its problems, but it could be worse if there was another ISP in its place.

Of course, it is hard to be optimistic with any ISP when you see other countries ISP offerings.
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: Caps

said by whiteazn:

you think U-Verse doesn't have caps? At least Cox's cap has for the most part been a soft cap (as far as I know, I have gone over the cap with no "overage" charges). U-Verse has a $10 per 50GB overage fee.

Well here is my problem. Cox had the soft cap way before AT&T had any caps. Now, AT&T implements a cap and charge service.

Then guess what right behind them Cox does the same thing.

At this point I don't have a cap with AT&T. My bill still shows unlimited usage with a meter error. However, last two months my download intake has been a little above 500GB and upload around 30GB. Yet, I still have not gotten one letter or one complaint. In all honestly this has not been to pirating either. I bought a few of the internet tv set top boxes and everyone watches their own netflix movies though out the month and I have been uploading alot of all my computers stuff to online storage. I will admit I do pirate and it may be for a song here and their. Never, to movies and large programs.
whiteazn
join:2005-02-10
Henderson, NV

whiteazn

Member

Re: Caps

cox may have had a soft cap, but it was just that, a soft cap. mainly had a soft cap of 250GB and only went after the top users. at least here in NV, cox hasnt made any mentions to charging for going over the cap and, they just barely rolled out the meters a couple days ago. (as per cox Data Usage FAQ: Cox does not currently charge you an additional fee if you exceed your allowance. If you determine that your Internet data usage consistently increases, we recommend that you consider a Cox High Speed Internet package that more closely matches your use of the service.)

personally, the least evil of caps, i would consider the soft cap to be that. and cox is pretty generous (comcast has what, 100GB?)

and i didnt say it was piracy. Netflix can EASILY float your bandwidth usage up high. might as well take advantage of that unlimited use error !
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: Caps

I understand what your saying. Better to have a soft cap and them not really care. Then to have a crazy Nazi policed connection.

However, my problem is Cox was saying caps when at the time AT&T was saying unlimited.

What I have observed is communication companies will closely monitor that their competitors are doing. Then act twice as quickly on billing before they will act on structure enhancements. Which in all honestly I don't blame them one bit. They are a business and their only goal is really to make money.

My problem is when one company starts something others will follow or want to follow. First European internet providers started pulling this crap. Then US cable companies, then AT&T took it a step further and started charging. Now, they are all wanting to cap and charge.

I think if the cable internet providers would have never went down that path. We would have not seen the others follow so quickly.

Also, if you remember the cable internet companies were the first to block ports as well. That was another problem I had with Cox I forgot to mention. One that really got me at the time was them blocking port 25. I used a web host company at the time and that really caused some issues. Could not stand the response the tech gave me at the time too. "Well I don't see a problem. Just use our outbound smtp address and it will be fixed." I told the guy I am paying for a service with my hosting company that you are preventing me from using. With AT&T I would just send an email for the port 25 on the DSL and the block was removed.

Really if you look back just a year ago it was something like.

Cox:
Port Blocking
25 TCP SMTP
80 TCP HTTP I
135 UDP
136-139 UDP, TCP
445 TCP
1433 TCP
1434 UDP
1900 UDP
27374 TCP

Soft Caps

AT&T
No port blocking
Unlimited Usage

Clearly one service has been more restrictive over the other.

I know Cox has its good points. But this was an issue for me at the time.
JohnW3
join:2011-03-13

JohnW3

Member

don't go to a near outdated service..

I have read ur posts.. DSL becoming more extinct every day. I was a believer in DSL for years had it at two towns but cable internet is the future I was a tech rep for now-defunct SBC now AT&T and AT&T from what I hear worst overall. I had Verizon DSL even WORSE mainly because they outsource to India. I guess it depends on location for both services but Roanoke Virginia Cox cable tv and Internet can't be beat. the 200 Gig cap (not 250 unless u have Premier) is not bad at all for MY needs. I never go no where near beating the cap even though should be outlawed good thing u don't live in Canada lol. I understand why Cable in part does the cap it's a shared pipe so if my neighbor uses bittorrent a lot my bandwith will fall. It could be ur wiring in your home the issue for the issues. companies such as AT&T especially Verizon only care or upgrade to fiber now. prob is it's only avaliable to big cities and/or places where they know will be profitable. try to get help on your issues on here there's a Cox forum.
JohnW3

JohnW3

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

sorry I see you have U-verse.. I also hear and read it sucks. especially their TV part. Verizon Fios blows it all away if I can only get it
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

I don't know why you would about my having Uverse. I will take it any day over Cox. LOL! I see now you get banned if you go over your caps! At least all I have to do is pay extra!
milkman82

milkman82 to JohnW3

Member

to JohnW3
Also please oh please show my why I should switch to Cox?

Is it all the port blocks?

Is it the faulty DNS servers?

Or is it that oh so great connection that runs like crap soon as those peak hours hit?

Please tell me what would be the advantage?
JohnW3
join:2011-03-13

2 edits

JohnW3

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

I must be one of the lucky ones lol my service from Cox NEVER slows down can do speedtests all day from DC servers. and I live in an area of my city where it's highly populated and only choice. I don't run servers or spamming mail so no worries on port blocks, I use OpenDNS for DNS resolution. And I have no worries going over the "cap" of 200Gig which technically is a soft cap no illegal movie downloads off bittorrent most crap quality anyway though occasionally download CD's off it. I was a DSL tech for SBC before AT&T took over I know a thing or to about how stable internet works It really boils down to ur location Cox might suck at your location AT&T might be better there.
BTW I pay 110.00 a month for full TV (not counting pay TV i.e. HBO) tons of HD and HD on demand and 15+M/1Up internet most of the time it's well above 20M down. Great deal I think
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

Yeah, it may come down to who is a better provider in the area. However, I must say my issues went beyond just the service it was the customer service as well. The fat guy breathing in the phone wanting to argue internet connection. I never got that from AT&T when I canceled them for Cox. I believe your cap went or is going from soft to hard. With the three strike warning and then disconnect service. Which if I had to choose pay extra on AT&T or be disconnected by Cox. I would rather choose the pay extra.

The other thing that bothers me about Cox is the upload speeds they offered. The ratio was really low. Even compared to DSL standards. Such as your connection with the 15/1. At least with my 12 down I have the 1.5 up and when I had the 24 down I had the 3 up. Anymore, upload speeds are becoming very important as well. Even with Cox on the 50 down and only 5 up. That is a pretty sad ratio. This is the only area I think Verizon really shines past all the competition and AT&T shows second.

However, I was near 780GB on my connection and still not head anything from AT&T. SO at least from this point I still have unlimited and still states unlimited on my meter.

It sounds like ports are not a issue for you. However, I found it to be a headache for me when Cox had those ports blocked. I like the fact AT&T does not deny you server use on your TOS for Uverse.

I don't pay for tv service. I refuse to pay $60 a month to have a ton of channels. On top of being forced to watch commercials. I found Netflix and youtube has fed my tv desires in that area. I pay $45 for something I really enjoy.

On another note, it's a sad... sad day to hear Steve Jobs has left us.
JohnW3
join:2011-03-13

JohnW3

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

yes it is sad such a great innovator Steve Jobs left us too soon I really think he left as Apple CEO back in august (I believe) for a reason he was prob told by docs he was not going to live much longer from Pancreatic cancer. He was so low key thats what I always liked about him on your note on TV I guess I'm still old school lol u must be younger than I am I still prefer wired TV service than streaming such as from Youtube and Netflix. I even dropped down to DVD only Netflix service recently due to the rate hike as I don't have the proper equip at this time to stream to my TV I still like the idea just turning on the tv cable box from the remote plus I can get plenty of free with my Cox service HD on demand for my needs. If I had a say bluray player maybe I would stream TV more.
milkman82
join:2006-06-19
Cleveland, OH

milkman82

Member

Re: don't go to a near outdated service..

said by JohnW3:

yes it is sad such a great innovator Steve Jobs left us too soon I really think he left as Apple CEO back in august (I believe) for a reason he was prob told by docs he was not going to live much longer from Pancreatic cancer.

Yeah, you are probably right. I remember watching him on the last keynote he did thinking wow is stick thin. Then I thought well I have seen other cancer patents look the same and recover healthy lives. Then I open up the browser on around 8:30pm on the 6th. I saw his picture on MSN news and thought... oh they must have made another huge announcement. Then I read and see dead. I remember just looking at the for a second then feeling a lump in my throat thinking no wonder Tim Cook seemed so side tracked.

I am 29, unsure if it's an age thing. Or just getting sick of paying for so much extra stuff that's really not needed. Just remember sitting there one day watching a show on history channel. Then I thought screw this. Cable company is getting a lot of money for ads then turns around and charges me too. Waste who knows how much of my life paying to watch ads. Plus, thinking I watch maybe 5 stations. It's not worth it so I called and canceled the next day. Honestly, I would be happy paying netflix $20 a month to stream all they offer. I get my news from online and is more up to date then cable news.

Was even thinking you know, if I stop paying $120 a month for the cell and drop down to basic. Then I could grab a iPad from the quick savings and be happy with saving money on the phone bill and pickup a iPad as well.