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Review by wingman41 
member for 10.4 years, 13 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
lodged 1.2 years ago
 Danville,Montour,PA
 $40 per month- (month by month)
 about 5 days "None" "Only game in town except for Verizon" "No real choice besides them"
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Have had Prolog for many years. Just received my second notice that I am using too much bandwidth. Looked at my papers from the install, says nothing about usage caps. Anyway, my youngest son just hooked up an XBox (the 2nd one in the house) at Christmas and it is pushing us over what they say is the download limit of 30 GB (during peak times of 5 pm to 1 am).
But, here is the kicker - I just checked the stats they provide and they are not correct. Last weekend I downloaded 932 MB a website backup at 12:32 pm and it shows up as 6 pm on their log. So, I just sent an email to customer support to see what they have to say about it.
Has anyone else had this issue?
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 Review by pende_tim
member for 9.3 years, 5210 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1.4 years ago
- Andover,Sussex,NJ
- $58 per month
- about 50 days
- "Speed"
- "Bit Expensive if don't have cable TV also, Unrealistic caps on Downloads"
- "Satisfied"
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Update 29 Nov 2011
Just received notice that speeds will be increased on my tier from 12x2 to 15x2 next year, I guess this is to make me feel good that they are also raising the rates by $2.00/month.
I am in the Andover NJ market.
Update 17 Oct 2011
Still using ProLog (resold through Service Electric of Sparta NJ )here. Speeds have been increased to 12 x2 as of Feb 2010 and for the most part I see these speeds. Caps are rather low but since I don't Hulu or Netflix, not really a problem.
Service is stable with no outages- except after Irene we were out for 3 days. The whole area was without power for almost as long so loosing internet was the least of my worries.
I dropped the TV service Jan 2011 in favor of DirecTV and Internet costs me an extra $15. month. Now the 12x2 service is $58/month.
Update 2/25/2009
I have had their service for about 3 1/2 years now ( boy time flies).
I am still impressed with ProLog. Connection is stable with no loss of sync for the past 6 months. Speed has been bumped to 10x1 for free but see some speeds below that during peak times.
System is now DOCSIS 3.0 and they are offering a 30 x 2 package for $80/mo.
Over all Prolog internet delivered by Service Electric is a good service.
Original Review:
Cable Provider is Service Electric Cable of NJ.
Install was a major project as it required an 800' underground run for which I was quoted $2,400. I dug the trench myself and cost was $99.
I ordered the 8.0 connection speed. Initially had troubles with speeds "after the school bus" in afternoons and evenings. However for the past couple of weeks much better; Just tested 7456 x 477 at 9:00 PM tonight, so thay have made some changes.
Last Result:
Download Speed: 7456 kbps (932 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 477 kbps (59.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Pings a bit slower than DSl to first hop 8ms DSL VS 12ms on average but seeing spikes up to 120ms. Same story on gateway server, 24.229.33.97 , typical is 16 but spikes to 95 at times. I am using PingPlotter to gather this data.
They have a 10GB/mo download cap for usenet and 20GB overall DL. All that speed and nowhere to go.
Price is $57.00 /mo if you do not have cable TV.
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Review by oldtechie
member for 6.4 years, 16 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
updated 1.8 years ago
- Etters,York,PA
- $40 per month
- (12 month contract)
- "Okay speeds and service until receiving warning out of blue"
- "Nondisclosed download and upload caps, too many companies to talk to"
- "Monopoly that must be stopped!"
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I am writing to tell you that PenTeleData/Prolog is a very bad choice, You should opt for other cable companies to move into your area and break the monopoly that PenTeleData holds on Pennsylvania, I urge you to write your congress representatives and senators. Something must be done to depose this company and put to rest their unscrupulous and dishonest business practices.
Here's a little background as to why:
I just received the attached letter from PenTeleData, the internet provider that is the sister company of Blue Ridge Cable.
Here's what it stated:
Dear Valued Customer,
Please read this important system message from PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications regarding the bandwidth usage statistics recorded for your ProLog Express cable modem Internet service last month. Committed to constantly improving the quality of our services and support, BRC and PenTeleData have started working together on a service enhancement project to identify which of our customers utilize the most bandwidth, and to work with those customers toward reducing that usage to improve the overall performance of our Internet services for all PenTeleData/BRC
customers.
After careful analysis of recent usage data, it has been determined that your cable Internet account consumes bandwidth in excess of what is considered normal for the modem package that you are paying for. The usage recorded for your account during the month of November indicates activity that is not in accordance with the guidelines of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) located at »www.ptd.net. Please review your computer system(s) and your usage patterns immediately for any activity you think might cause your account to exceed the usage totals reported by 99% of our cable Internet customers.
Blue Ridge Communications and PenTeleData will compare utilization statistics for this month against past usage statistics for your account to reach a conclusion on a course of action to be taken. If you receive a second notice of excessive bandwidth usage, you will be asked to either upgrade to a higher speed residential package or a PenTeleData commercial service account. If you do not choose one of these options, your account may be suspended.
For information on upgrading your account to a higher speed residential package, please contact Blue Ridge Communications at 1-800-cable77. If you are interested in more information on a PenTeleData commercial cable modem account, please call 800-281-3564, ext. 7715. To view a few tips that could help decrease bandwidth usage for your ProLog Express cable Internet account, please click here: www.penteledata.net/bwdecrease:
If you have any questions related to this important system message, please contact PenTeleData at 800-804-5783, ext. 7710.
Thank you for your business and continued support.
PenTeleData/Blue Ridge Communications
540 Delaware Avenue PO Box 197 Patmerton, PA 18071
1.800.281.3564 www.penteledata.net 1.800.804.5783 www.ptd.net
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Nowhere on their website or their service agreements did it state anywhere that they have a download/upload cap of 50gigs down/25 gigs up a month and if one runs over that cap, then customers get sent a letter. I called ProLog about this issue who all of sudden had knowledge of this policy, yet nowhere on our agreement does it even mention this cap. Oh and here's another interesting thing, the cap changes! Yes, you heard me, what is 50 gigs today can change to 40, 30, 20 gigs without them telling us! The lady I spoke with last night informed me that she doesn't even know what the cap is unless Blue Ridge tells them just that it has to do with the population increases in certain areas. I questioned her further and she informed me that this means as more people signup, the quota goes down! She then told me that I would have to talk with someone at Blue Ridge in reference to my particular cap. Yet when talking with Blue Ridge Cable the next day about this policy, they pushed the decision off onto PenTeleData. Ridiculous! In speaking with more representatives at PenTeleData, they denied this claim and said that they would be "checking into this" claim, yet they still parroted the policy of the 50/25 gig cap.
She then calmly told me that I could sign up for more quota if I buy one of their other services, which are of course was more money, yet when I went to both PenTeleData's and Blue Ridge cable's site to see the difference in the quotas, you guessed it! It said absolutely nothing about the quota, only that their accounts allowed unlimited access. What they don't tell you is that the "unlimited access" does not mean unlimited downloading and uploading access, it means unlimited access to the internet.
In referring to the letters, they work on a four strike system as follows:
1st letter - Initial warning.
2nd letter - Second warning.
3rd letter - Temporary suspension of service. You must speak with a rep in order for the suspension to be removed.
4th letter - Permanent disconnection. Will not allow service to customer again, period.
And on top of this they start charging $1 per gig over the imaginary quota on some people's accounts! This is sheer madness!
But wait, there's more, if you go to www.ptd.net and sign in with your account, you are supposed to be able to view online time here:
( hxxps://portal-web.ptd.net/AccountManagement/login.jsp ) Account Management -> Online Time
to see how much bandwidth and amount of download and upload you have done so far according to a report, yet everytime I click to view the report to even see how much has been used I cannot, it simply states "information is not available"!
Try it, I guarantee you won't be able to! So, how can one see how much usage that they have and watch their bandwidth if they cannot see this information?
Now I know that some of you out there will challenge me with the TOS agreement, so I took the opportunity of pasting it below:
Broadband Bandwidth: PenTeleData and your broadband service provider offer multiple tiers of high speed Internet access with different speeds and bandwidth usage limitations (not all packages are available in all areas). Customer acknowledges that any quoted bandwidth rating/transfer rate for broadband Internet Service is a maximum rate and are not guaranteed. PenTeleData and your broadband Internet provider reserve the right to manage its networks to provide for maximum efficiency. As a user, you must ensure that your activities do not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user’s use of the service or PenTeleData’s ability to deliver and monitor the service, or our network resources and do not represent (in the sole judgment of PenTeleData) an unusually large burden on the network itself. Users found to be (in PenTeleData’s sole judgment) in violation of this policy may have their accounts terminated, suspended, or upgraded to a higher level of service, subject to the appropriate fees. PenTeleData will use reasonable efforts to notify a customer prior to service termination for excessive bandwidth use.
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I have a few qualms with this legalise:
1. Nowhere does it state above that the "excessive bandwidth" is capped at 50gigs download/25 gigs upload for the G-3 account (the account most end users have), for more money you can get "more" G-7 plan: 65gb/35up, and even more money gets you the G-10 plan: 80gb/45gb, but yet the only way you will get this information is by speaking directly with a PenTeleData representative.
2. Instead of hiding this information and only communicating this information verbally after one has exceeded the limit and then trying to sell customers a higher priced account or a much higher priced commercial account, they should be upfront with all customers BEFORE making the decision to purchase their service.
In this day and age, this cap is ridiculous and they are going to have more and more unhappy customers, I for one am moving away from my area just because they are the only provider in my area! Talk about a monopoly, the rural areas of Pennsylvania are getting the royal shaft with these guys, so I urge everyone to take to the streets and fight the power!
The relationship between the cable provider and PenTeleData is mindlessly confusing for customers, god forbid that you have a problem with your service, you will bounce back and forth with each entity placing blame on each other. And who loses in the end, you guessed it! The end user!
Comments:
 | | I feel your pain! I understand your frustration. Moved in 2009 and had to switch to Blue Ridge/PTD. Recently went to Comcast's website and was excited that it showed our area was serviceable. After speaking to a live person at Comcast, that turned out to be false. Still only Blue Ridge/PTD and the Comcast rep told me only one cable company can cover an area because there is only one wire (apparently they don't share it like electric). Here is my reply to another post:
Sorry folks, they do state the cap on Blue Ridge's website. Can't find it on PTD's and they are not really upfront with it, but what company is?
Current monthly bandwidth limits:
Web Surfer: 150 GB combined total of download and upload per month
G5: 250 GB combined total of download and upload per month
G10: 250 GB combined total of download and upload per month
G15: 250 GB combined total of download and upload per month
Unlike Comcast, who is the cable company and the ISP, Blue Ridge partners with PTD to bring us internet. The cable company delivers it so I assume they get to set the limits and speed based on their equipment and capabilities.
I contacted Blue Ridge a few months ago concerning what DOCSIS they were running. I was told they are using DOCSIS 1.x and have no plans to upgrade. Inferior service, out dated technology, slower speeds, and more expensive than Comcast. And the only cable choice we have. | |
| | | | Re: I feel your pain! said by GadgetGuru:I contacted Blue Ridge a few months ago concerning what DOCSIS they were running. I was told they are using DOCSIS 1.x and have no plans to upgrade. Inferior service, out dated technology, slower speeds, and more expensive than Comcast. And the only cable choice we have.
DOCSIS 1.x??? Are you serious?
OMG. What a joke this company is.
Of course they have no plans to upgrade- they don't have to. There is NO competition. There are no other cable companies, and their only competitor is Verizon DSL, with their *blazing* fast 3 Mbps offering...
Nice to pay top dollar for ten year old technology that will never, ever be upgraded.
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
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Review by Zarggg
member for 8.6 years, 43 visits, last login: 110 days ago
updated 1.8 years ago
- Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
- $132 per month
- (12 month contract)
- "Easy setup"
- "Horrible policies and speeds"
- "Only choice for my location"
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The service itself works, however I honestly cannot recommend this service to anyone.
A year ago, I moved from Easton to Bethlehem. At my old house, I had a 10Mbps/1Mmbps connection with RCN (with the option of upgrading to 20/2) that worked beautifully. However, in my new apartment complex, phone/cable/internet is only handled by Service Electric (internet service offered via PenTeleData/ProLog). I started with a 5Mbps/800kbps connection.
The setup went beautifully, and everything works fine except for the occasional outages when service is scheduled. I soon upgraded to a 10Mbps downstream connection. Unfortunately, this is the highest grade connection they offer, and do not offer upstream rates beyond 800kbps.
In addition to that, they have exceedingly low bandwidth caps. Any usage beyond 250GB in one month (combined upstream and downstream) is considered "excessive use" and they charge $1 per GB beyond that limit.
I would love the opportunity to switch back to RCN, but I don't even have the option. I am forced to use this provider or have no service at all because of my location.
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Review by XDerkaX8
member for 6.4 years, 2 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
lodged 1.8 years ago
- Jim Thorpe,Carbon,PA
- $42 per month
- (24 month contract)
- "Amazing uptime"
- ""Peak time caps", slow speeds"
- "If you can live with the peak time caps, you'll get amazing service overall."
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They are behind the times in terms of speed, they haven't been updated in 4 years now. And these peak time bandwidth caps are a bit absurd. For the month, you can only download 50 GB from 5pm-1am. The PEAK TIME when everyone is home from work and school and really going to town on their connection, and you are limited to 50GB.
They will send you letters telling you you went over, and the one I recieved said they would upgrade my account to the next available speed package WITHOUT consulting with me first, and CHARGE me for it. This is ridiculous.
On the upside, they have a very solid network, and I can't say I've ever had any significant downtime for the past 6 years I've had them as my ISP.
Bottom line, if can live with the caps and the outdated speeds, definitely go with them.
Comments:
| | Upgraded caps? You might want to take a look at this:
»www.brctv.com/internet/internetpolicy
You're in Jim Thorpe, not sure if you're BRCTV or Service Electric, the policy is probably the same...
I don't know when this went into effect, but BRC is now listing the cap as 250 GB's per month.
That's up from the ridiculous 50 GB's it previously was. And it's certainly news to me... good news... 250 is definitely a lot more reasonable.
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
| | | | Re: Upgraded caps? I believe there are two different caps now. One for "peak" hours and one for total. The 250GB is for total "any time" hours where the 30-50 GB is for "peak" 5pm-1am hours. They did not have a cap for "non-peak" hours before. | |
| | | | | Re: Upgraded caps? said by punkinduster:I believe there are two different caps now. One for "peak" hours and one for total. The 250GB is for total "any time" hours where the 30-50 GB is for "peak" 5pm-1am hours. They did not have a cap for "non-peak" hours before.
You are probably right, but from the wording on the BRC you simply can't tell. The policy is as clear as mud.
It's nice to have 250 GB's, but it would be nicer to have them during peak hours...
Oh well, no Netflix for me any time soon....
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
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 Review by dodgetech2
member for 11.4 years, 2440 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 2.1 years ago
- Gouldsboro,Wayne,PA
- $51 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 3 days
- "its reliable,"
- "its expensive for what you get"
- "They are behind the times ...2 year ago this speed was aceptable, but now its just plain too slow for what they charge"
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03/31/2011
.....its not too bad, but its over priced for what it offers...I have a place in NJ that has a FIOS 35/35 connection for about the same cost...you cant really compare the 2 services.....anyone who has fiber knows that its hard to beat
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05/06/2009
I'm now using the 15/2 plan which was a free upgrade for the 10000/800 user's
so far its been very good .
there were some issues when it was first rolled out last year, but those seem to have been resolved and I get consistent speed test's and get my advertised speed at all times.
Day or night, its rock solid.
01/25/2009
I have the 10000/800 service from Pro-log, It is by far the most stable connection I have ever had from an ISP....
I had a few issues when I was first connected, but they worked those out quickly and professionally.
I consistently place in the top spot on the speed test in my area with over 9000 down and 740 ish up...
I am a heavy gamer and my ping times are unreal..I can ping a server in Texas and in game ping is never over 20ms.... one in California is about 25ms.....
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03/25/2006
The last few weeks there have been some speed issues..it seems to be fixed now...time will tell
Comments:
| | Speeds depend on your cable co Speeds really depend on which Service Electric you are with, There have been some changes.
Ed Walson now only has Sparta NJ which is Service Electric Broadband Cable. He sold the other two to his siblings. Our system here has been upgraded and they now have higher speed tiers effective this year. We now have 50 and 100Mbps available. Price I am not sure about but 100Mbps is the only one I know of that costs more than $100. Speeds have been bumped up all around as well for the other packages. You can get 1.5/256k, 7/1, 12/2, 35/3 and also 50/5 and 100/10 Mbps now.
Caps aren't really an issue anymore. They've been upped and are now only metered from 5PM to 1AM. All other times it's truly unlimited.
But like I said, this division is run differently. Prolog/PenTeleData has little to do with it. I am thinking I should ask BBR to break up the reviews among the different cable companies because PenTeleData doesn't sell you access, the individual cable companies do and they are all different with different speed and policies. | |
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 Review by antiphishing
member for 8.9 years, 879 visits, last login: 181 days ago
updated 2.4 years ago
- Wilkes Barre,Luzerne,PA
- $20 per month
- about 2 days
- "Connection Reliability is very good, tech support is excellant"
- "No support for IPV6 , No port 443 (SSL)for email clients"
- "4 Tiers of broadband service to choose from."
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I am using Prolog (PenTeleData) network through my television cable provider (Service Electric) . They use Motorola cable modems to provide their service.
Service Electronic provides four tiers of service 1 meg (basic),6 megs(standard), 10 megs(premium) and 30 megs(wide-band). The 30 megs broadband is rather pricey but I am sure it's well worth the asking price. I am using the 1.5 meg(basic) and find it highly reliability and haven't had any major issues or service outages.
»www.secable.com/wilkes-barre/pac···net.html
Comments:
| | Two more tiers coming in jan Here there will be two more tiers added soon, 50 and 100mbps. Everyone else is getting a speed boost. Not sure about sectv in pa though. | |
| | | | Re: Two more tiers coming in jan said by fifty nine:Here there will be two more tiers added soon, 50 and 100mbps. Everyone else is getting a speed boost. Not sure about sectv in pa though.
That would be good news if they didn't have such low caps...
All it means is you pay more money, and hit your cap faster. Big deal.
The cost of providing broadband is going down, speeds are going up, and all it means to the American consumer is that the corporations get to squeeze more money out of you.
You can get a symmetrical 100 Mbps connection with no caps for around $30 a month in countries like S. Korea. Compare that with what we get here.
I don't really see anything to get excited about... but maybe I'm just cynical. | |
| | | | | Re: Two more tiers coming in jan Usually when they increase speeds, the caps go up too. | |
| | | | | | Re: Two more tiers coming in jan said by fifty nine:Usually when they increase speeds, the caps go up too.
And caps go down too.
I've had a 15/2 connection for the past 3 years. My cap *used* to be 80 gigs a month. Big whoop.
But now they've lowered it to 50... that's ridiculous.
There's no competition, that's why they get away with it. | |
| | | | | | | Re: Two more tiers coming in jan It depends on which service electric or other cable system you're on. Our caps go up when speeds go up.
Since your speed is 15/2 you don't appear to be on the same service electric system. | |
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| | Where is their Bandwidth Cap Listed? I have ptd.net as my provider through Service Electric in NJ.. A few years ago, I was "warned" when I hit 30 Gig/month and they included a "check your bandwidth use" link, but no where since they have they indicated if bandwidth cap stayed static or was increased...
How did you find out what the BW Cap is? Is it tied to to your plan?
Thanks, Penguina
(Service Electric subscriber in Sparta/Newton, NJ area) | |
| | | | Re: Where is their Bandwidth Cap Listed? They had the caps listed on the paperwork that came with the installer. But if you're unsure of what they are give them a call and ask during business hours. 1 800 992 0132. | |
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Review by nospeed411
member for 7.3 years, 30 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
lodged 2.5 years ago
- Etters,York,PA
- $59 per month
- "Good uptime, good price"
- "Latency is horrible"
- "It's my only option and wish we could have fios"
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Purchased through Blue Ridge Cable. It is unfortunately my only option as far as internet is concerned. We do have DSL avail from frontier but lousy speed and high price. The BRC installers are inept at best and do not call them for cable signal issue which we have tons of. It's like the Larry, Daryl and Daryl show when these clowns come to visit. Your better off fixing ti your self and calling PTD for a modem reset when done.
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 Review by cypherstream
member for 8.4 years, 3731 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 2.5 years ago
- Reading,Berks,PA
- $79 per month
- about 7 days
- "Stable, low latency, trouble free connection"
- "Low caps, Service Electric's all day installation windows, upstream speeds"
- "Quickest brodband provider for the buck in my neighborhood. Concerned with low caps..."
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So I used to have blazing fast Comcast with 50meg down by 10meg up using an Arris DOCSIS 3.0 eMTA. Sadly I moved outside of their service area and my only option for real highspeed was ProLog (ptd.net) which is the ISP that runs over Service Electric Cablevision's HFC network out of their headend office in Birdsboro PA.
I placed an order for Service Electric's double play (their website is »www.secv.com ). This includes unlimited calling and 10mbps down by 1mbps up Internet service. After the taxes it comes to about $79 a month. They don't have next day, or same week or even weekend install windows like Comcast, so I had to wait a full week for the install. Also they could only offer an ENTIRE DAY window (8 AM to 5 PM). Wow thanks a lot SECV! I work about 25 minutes away and luckily my boss was nice enough for me to make up my time later and take and extended lunch to go home and meet the installer. The install only took about 45 minutes and the tech (a contractor from LGI if I remember correctly) was very nice, professional and quick. He installed a filter in the box outside to trap out TV service, put new connectors on my wires, installed a new 2-way splitter and called in to activate the equipment. He also had a nice meter (I think it was a JDSU DSAM-6000 or similar) and verified the signal levels. I purchased my own Motorola SB6120 modem from Newegg for approx $84 to get around SECV's $5 a month modem rental. Over time it will pay for itself. SECV uses seperate eMTA's for voice service, so even if you rented their modem, they would still install 2 devices. I think it's a waste of signal to split the line to 2 separate modems when obviously the eMTA's can handle both phone and internet just fine (as I've experienced with Comcast), but hey, that's just how they run their system. The line comes in and goes into my furnace room where is is split into an Arris eMTA for voice, and my SB6120 for data. The Motorola modem connects to a Linksys 320n router running dd-wrt firmware, and also a 16 port Linksys switch, which is plugged into a patch panel. I ran Cat5e through the walls so I have the whole home networked, both wired and wireless.
Because I have DirecTV for television, the cable from Service Electric is only split twice. I get pretty much textbook perfect levels on the SB6120:
Channel ID 4 1 2 3
Frequency 627000000 Hz 609000000 Hz 615000000 Hz 621000000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio 38 dB 37 dB 37 dB 37 dB
Downstream Modulation QAM256 QAM256 QAM256 QAM256
Power Level 0 dBmV 0 dBmV 1 dBmV 1 dBmV
Upstream Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID 2
Frequency 22000000 Hz
Ranging Service ID 3373
Symbol Rate 2.560 Msym/sec
Power Level 38 dBmV
Upstream Modulation [3] QPSK
[5] 16QAM
As you can see they are running a DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS, which is great because there's plenty of headroom. With only 10mbps provisioned to the modem, and 4 downstream channels, there is never an issue with slowdown during peak times. This has me wondering why in the world do they have caps if there's plenty of bandwidth? An insider also said they had recently upgraded the entire system and they push the fiber deeper than most other cable plants. SECV may run as low as 125 homes passed per node, whereas Comcast may run around 500 homes passed per node. Also they used a mix-mash of 1 GHz and 870 MHz CCOR / Motorola equipment, whereas the Comcast plant nearby was only built to 750 MHz. Anyway all of this techno mumbo-jumbo means their system is setup for great signals, speeds along with plenty of headroom for growth. I would really like to see them turn up 64QAM on the upstream and offer more balanced speed tiers, such as 20mbps by 10mbps up. Their system is using pretty good gear, like CCor Optimax 3100 and 4100 nodes, as well as Motorola SG2000's. With deep fiber penetration, segmentable nodes I don't see what the problem would be in offering higher speed tiers.
Anyway, the service they provide is exactly as advertised. I pay for 10/1 and that's what I get. I get an A for the line ping test and I don't have any issues with downloads. I download VOD from networked DirecTV HR24-200 receiver and it arrives pretty quickly. The only other highspeed option is Verizon DSL which tops off at 3mbps down by 768k up. NO THANKS Verizon! I don't even qualify that for High Speed. My definition of High Speed is 6/1 or faster. Verizon is pathetic with their DSL speeds, and were all begging them to run FIOS, but they dropped those plans when the economy took a down turn. The closest FIOS system is about 25 minutes away to the eastern edge of Berks and Montgomery counties. Union township is the only area in Berks county that I'm aware of with FIOS availability.
So the internet is what it is. You get newsgroup access, which is rare nowadays, but they do throttle it to 2mbps download regardless of your speed tier. They also limit you to 10GB a month for the newsgroups. I never use them so what do I care. I'm not 100% sure what the caps are, but I've heard anywhere from as low as 40GB a month to 60GB a month. The thing is they are pretty low and there is no real definitive answer as to what the caps are. Some people get letters every month and ignore them, some people get disconnected for 6 months after their second warning, and some never get a warning. There doesn't seem to be any type of bandwidth gauge on PTD's account management page, so it's best to get a router with an internal traffic counter built in, or flash the router with DD-WRT (if yours is compatible) as that contains a really nice monthly bandwidth chart.
So the service works, it could be better, and if they eliminated the CAPS, or at least raised them to a reasonable 250GB like Comcast, I would give them 5 stars. This is 2010, not 1999. There should be no need for these strict caps. Also the CMTS is running with DOCSIS 3.0, and all they can do is 10meg? Come on. If you have Cable TV with SECV, you are provisioned at 15meg. Still, the upload is where it matters, and as long as they run on one 16QAM channel they will be bandwidth constrained. Clear just became available in the area, but nothing beats the stability of a hardwired connection. Not to say that I won't keep my nose to the ground for future 4G / LTE services.... but they usually have even more ridiculous caps.
Comments:
| | There is a bandwidth meter... »www.ptd.net/tiki-index.php?page=···et_Cable
If you look halfway down the page, and click on "Residential Cable Modem Bandwidth Usage System" it will give you your usage stats for the current month, and the previous 5 months. Have patience, though- I've seen this page take up to 4 minutes to fully load.
But I agree with you about the caps. I have the 15 Mbps tier, and my cap used to be 80 gigs. Then they went to the "peak usage" and I'm hearing it's 50 GB's peak now. That is a generous amount- for 1995- *not* 2010.
Allegedly they don't bother you for your off peak usage, but I'm not sure about that. | |
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1 edit | Re: There is a bandwidth meter... Hey thanks for that link! It does work, and seems more accurate than the Comcast meter.
I'm not sure what my cap is, maybe it's 50GB because that's what yours is. I don't see why there is even a need for caps when there are 4 downstream channels on the node. That's an aggregate bandwidth of 155.2 Mbps, and yet were still only provisioned on the same speeds when they only ran one channel of 38.8Mbps bandwidth to the node.
Even if you don't have a D3 modem, the CMTS can load balance users on one of the four available channels. It can run an algorithm and send a DCC command to modems to equalize the load across all four channels. With all of this great technology in place, why such low caps? | |
| | | | | Re: There is a bandwidth meter... "With all of this great technology in place, why such low caps?"
You're missing the big picture.
People get broadband this fast for one reason- video. Whether it's downloads, or streaming, they want to watch something.
Cable tv has outlived it's usefulness. It's overpriced for what you get. Prices go up every year. Stations get cut and prices still rise. You pay for a boatland of channels you don't want, but have no choice about. People are getting fed up with it.
You can watch pretty much everything shown on basic cable online. You can also get a sweet deal like the one from Netflix- $9 a month for all the movies you can stream to your tv. Compare that to cable's overpriced video on demand at $4-5 a movie.
So in an effort to stop people from using Netflix online, they've instituted these draconian caps because streaming video is eating into their profits. People want to watch movies in the evening, having this "peak" BS effectively curtails that option.
There is no competition, and they know it. You can't watch Netflix on a 3 Mbps DSL stream, and Verizon has no interest in improving the infrastructure here to provide faster speeds. And the devil will be lacing up his ice skates before you ever see FIOS here. So they do what they want, just because they can get away with it. Where are people going to go when there's no competition?
If Prolog had any sense, they would see that the handwriting is on the wall as far as cable tv. People want bandwidth to do what they want with. Streaming video is now a force to be reckoned with. Prolog should just accept this fact, and provide the fast dumb unlimited pipe that people are asking for, instead of standing there trying to hold back the flood like the little boy with his finger in the dike. | |
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Review by Acidbaby
member for 8.9 years, 1788 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
lodged 2.6 years ago
- Shamokin,Northumberland,PA
- Contract price not specified.
- "Quick, available speed packages"
- "Bandwidth is limited during peak hours, terrible customer service."
- "Its the fastest available but is it worth it?"
| Pre Sales information:
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First I received a letter about illegally sharing a song on a Gnutella client. Sorry ptd I solely use newsgroups. Then I get a letter about using too much bandwidth. TOS states nothing about limited bandwidth during peak hours, but they claim it is 50GB a month. 50GB? Are you serious?
Called about a dozen times in 2 years to get a username setup so I can use their email and other offerings. Still done have one.
The service itself is fine. Price is a little high for comarable 15Mbps cable. Latency sucks if youre a gamer. But their customer support is THE WORST I have ever experienced. Lots of threatening letters. They just laid fiber in my area this summer, so definately looking forward to FIOS in the near future.
Comments:
| | 50 gigs? I have the 15/2 service, and I thought the cap was 80 gigs at that level. 50 gigs is the limit for the 10/2 level. But who knows, they might have lowered it, while still raising prices.
80 gigs is ridiculous, 50 is beyond ridiculous for the kind of money they charge. I can do that easily just by listening to internet radio. At least companies like Comcast set a reasonable limit- 250 gigs. That I could live with. The service isn't bad, and pretty fast *if* you download before 4 pm. After 4 pm my speed drops by 75% or more.
It's nice that you'll eventually have FIOS available. We'll never see it here in Monroe county. I would drop Prolog and BRC in a heartbeat if I could get FIOS.
Unfortunately, they have little to no competition in this area, so they can do what they like. It's either suck it up and pay or go with Verizon's uselessly sloooooooooooow and outdated DSL.... | |
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