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Review by dcdavid 
member for 332 days, 173 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 8 days ago
 Washington,District Of Columbia,DC
 Contract price not specified.  "TiVo" "Customer service, existing customer pricing, customer loyalty, phone reps uninformed and give out inconsistent and wrong informa" "switched after 7 years -- they are not loyal to customers"
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You will never get a straight answer from RCN. I was told three different times when calling RCN that when I move to my new house I will qualify for the new customer rates. When I called to actually set it up, I cannot even begin to tell you what a nightmare. One lady said she would handle everything and call me back. She never did, but when I got home all my current services were disconnected. When I called, they said not only did she disconnect me, but my work order for my transfer of new service was cancelled. I called again the next day to start over and was told I could get the new customer rates again. The rep began the process and mid-way through the call we were disconnected. When I called back, the new rep said that the work done previously was also cancelled and that all prior reps were wrong -- I cannot get a new customer rate when transferring/moving. I spoke to a supervisor who was entirely unphased by this horrible experience. She was unapologetic and didn't even offer to correct the reps who had misinformed me. After 7 and 1/2 years with RCN, I'm moving to FIOS. Don't waste your time trying to figure out if you can lower your rate. No one there knows what they are doing.
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Review by Pacomartin
member for 20 days, 25 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 19 days ago
- Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
- $144 per month
 about 10 days- "Excellent Service, good value for money"
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RCN, was sold to the private equity firm ABRY Partners in March 2010. You should consider reviews older than that to be obsolete.
You should check the website periodically. Whenever, they are offering something new and different to new subscribers call them. They may not be able to give you the same deal, but they often find something to offer for you that will improve your service (they have upgraded my service about 8 times in the past 3 years).
Price: $144 (includes taxes and fees and $5 wire maintenance).
ServicesShowtime, Starz, The Movie Channel, Signature TV, Phone, 25 Mbs Internet.
Equipment: Tivo Quad with 500 Gb disk, one satellite Tivo box, ARRIS model TM602G/115, Linksys E1200 Wireless N-300 Router, Moca Bridge, and one Motorola standard definition setup box. The price was $10 cheaper until two months ago at anniversary.
The only other option for broadband was DSL, and it wasn't fast enough. We've had RCN since they bought C-tec in 1996.
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 Review by cchhat01
member for 11.9 years, 3113 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 21 days ago
- Elmhurst,Queens,NY
- $32 per month
- about 2 days
- "$35/mo (-$3 if you have your own modem), 50 down/6 up, tech support is USELESS"
- "price increases after 1 year, but you can cancel and have someone else in the household sign up"
- "They were a good service up until 2013, now speeds at night are about 10-20% of advertised speed"
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Been with RCN for a while now. We save on the monthly rental fee because we're stingy. We alternate the service every year when the price increases. The service is reliable (as in very few outages).
In my many years with them, I can say that they have had outages that I can count on the fingers on one hand. No problems during hurricane Sandy. The most I've seen them have problem with is a signal loss due to a fiber cut, for which I was credited my downtime.
We used to have the 25/2 service on a docsis 2 modem. This year we signed up for 50/6 on the docsis 3. Speeds go down during peak times 7pm-11:30pm (weekdays) to less than half of 50mbps (which is around 5-15mbps down). I've swapped out about 3 docsis 3 modems and they all exhibit the same slowdowns on RCN.
I would switch if FiOS played ball with a good deal (free dvr for life). I seriously hope they fix the speed problems.
chiggy
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 jades
join:2013-04-01
New York, NY | These issues could be resolved Give them a call, ask to speak with level 3 support
Explain them the situation. They may dispatch a tech - if they do, make sure that:
a. It's a level 3 tech
b. the tech only shows up during the issue
That will push them to do a node split and solve all the bandwidth issues
I deal with them on the business side
You just need to push for it and it can happen | |
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 Review by shawnyerkes
member for 2.4 years, 15 visits, last login: 7 days ago
updated 33 days ago
- Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
- $158 per month
- about 4 days
- "Digital TV bundle packages / Best Broadband during the day."
- "Broadband comes to a stop afterhours, Proprietary Tivos, just buy from Tivo directly"
- "Better than most broadband carriers, but expect growing pains."
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Cable Internet Package - $119.98
Basic Cable Service, Digital Converter Rental, Docsis
Cable Modem Rental, Docsis Modem Service 75Mb/10Mb,
Signature Cable Service
1 x Cable Card $2.00
1 x Cable Card $2.00
1 x HBO $14.95
1 x Premiere Total Pack $11.00
Taxes & Fees ~$7-9
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Review by jhasbro
member for 34 days, 2 visits, last login: 33 days ago
lodged 34 days ago
- Chicago,Cook,IL
- $181 per month
- "Reliability"
- "Cost"
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I have had RCN for 10 plus years for cable and internet. During that time I have had almost no trouble with the service. Any problems were addressed quickly.
The recent price increase has pushed me over the edge though. The monthly price of $181.33 is for 25Mb internet and cable. The cable does not include any HD, DVR or HBO. Showtime was included at N/C as a "preview" but not sure for how long. Also included was a $20 charge for the "premiere" package which included Sundance, a few of the Discovery channels and some others.
Their rates for a new customer for the Signature+25Mb package for the first year is $84.99. This includes 25Mb internet, 212 channels including 62 HD and Tivo HD DRV. Second year rate is $94.99 and third year rate is $104.99.
So I called to see what could be done about my rate and service to be told the only thing they could do is drop the $20 package of channels. I understand introductory rates to attract new customers and I didn't expect that rate and package but I also didn't expect that they would do nothing.
I just don't understand why the huge difference in price and service for new and existing customers. I would have been ecstatic with the third year rate for the Signature+25Mb package at $104.99. It is almost like they wanted me drop them as a provider.
So I did. I dropped the cable service and returned the equipment but for now have kept the internet service, but I guess I will drop that once I decide what to do next.
Bottom line, I was happy with connectivity and service but found the price to be very high for what they were providing.
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 Review by Asterix
member for 10.5 years, 3418 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 46 days ago
- Nazareth,Northampton,PA
- $50 per month
- about 5 days
- "High Speeds"
- "High latency at times"
- "Better than local cable company or Verizon"
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Was stuck with Service Electric with their 15/1 Mbps package. Service sucked with down times and slow speeds.
Reached out to RCN but they were not servicing my house. RCN was across the street but not in my community. Since I was on the HOA Board for my community and with a simple phone conversation was forwarded to the area deployment manager. He setup an expectation to lay the infrastructure in my community by 2012-end or early 2013. At the end of the year I reached out to him again as I did not see any progress, only to find that the plans are still under budgetary process. Since my yard had a pole and close to the RCN pole from across the street, he made an exception and ordered his team to lay the cables from across the street to the pole in and across the yard into my house. I was up and running with RCN 50/6Mbps in less than a week. Kudos to the local area deployment manager.
Speeds have been decent but I haven't seen the full 50Mbps yet. At least once I day I see my firewall struggling to keep up with the latency which is temporary and lasts anytime between 10-45 mins. Rest of the times it works just fine. I researched and found its just not me but other local RCN customers are facing similar high latency issues.
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Review by jlgalley
member for 9.4 years, 26 visits, last login: 56 days ago
updated 56 days ago
- Wakefield,Middlesex,MA
- $97 per month
- "Many years of reliable service"
- "Long hold times on ISP tech support line; billing system unreliable"
- "Can't find a reason to change"
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I've used RCN's basic cable TV service and basic 25/2 internet service since 2006 at this location. There is very little to complain about.
Generally I can't say that I get the full speed that is advertised. I often get better than 5Mbps downloads, but just as often get less. It doesn't bother me unless it is less than 1.5Mbps or so, which happens occasionally.
I've twice had TV technicians come to visit. They were pleasant to deal with and efficiently located the problem (in both cases, it was inside my home). I have a TiVo of my own, not provided by RCN. The technicians are competent with a setup involving non-RCN PVR gear.
The customer service center is 100% American operated. It can take a while to get through to discuss billing questions or internet technical support. But the staff are friendly and knowledgeable.
There have been a few service disruptions over the years, but they are generally brief.
I have never tried RCN phone service.
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 Review by teohk
member for 8.5 years, 466 visits, last login: 25 days ago
updated 68 days ago
- Astoria,Queens,NY
- $59 per month
- about 10 days
- "Crazy promo deals, if you can get them"
- "Immensly unreliable (get provisioned for N mbps, get 0.1*N mbps at night), no good rates when switching after 30 days"
- "It's cheap, but cheap in the sense that it's unreliable, and prepare to be on hold for a VERY long time."
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Over-provisioned and the sense of being understaffed.
I feel bad for those people who have to work as RCN reps because they must constantly get yelled at. But, can we help it? I'm sorry, you advertise 50mbit cable, but your SLA is 60%?! So really, what you meant to say was you're selling 30mbit cable?
The worst part about RCN -- the WORST, is that they don't pick up the phone, and it feels like they're very much understaffed. In the three times that I have called them, I have been on hold for a total of an hour. At least with Time Warner, they pick up within a minute or two.
Reliability and staffing -- that's where those extra $$$ are going to with TWC. Maybe I'll consider switching back once my rate goes through the roof (which it will -- says $59/mo, but it goes up to $99 next year).
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 Review by Ryno
member for 12 years, 4361 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 73 days ago
- Danielsville,Northampton,PA
- $35 per month
- about 2 days
- "Fast, way faster than DSL"
- "Nothing so far"
- "Dropped Verizon DSL for RCN cable."
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Verizon DSL just wasn't getting it done any more. Connecting at 2.8 MB in today's world doesn't cut it. There are too many toys connected at once.
I switched to RCN once they finally upgraded my lines after living here 15 years. Took them long enough. I got the 25/2 plan and so far it has not tested out less than 26/2.4 for me. Was down for a couple hours one day but they tell me they were still upgrading some of the system and that it was scheduled.
The price is supposed to be $39.99 mo but I got my ow modem so it's $5 less... Same as Verizon was charging me. I know in year 2 and 3 it goes up $5 per month more but it's worth it to get speeds that are 9 times faster in the real world. Also if I want to I could upgrade to 50 MB or75 MB. I figure I have no need for that now since this seems blazing fast compared to DSL.
I can now watch HD videos, use my slingbox HD, and not wait forever to download stuff. Overall, I can't complain as of now. Hopefully they continue to be reliable in the future.
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| | RCN > Verizon Me too! I did the same thing. I had Verizon business dsl for 30$/month was promises 5Mbps upload and 2Mbps download. It was so slow, couldn't watch Youtube at 360p. I upgraded to RCN 25/2 plan and I never get less than 25.5Mbps download and 2.2Mbps upload. Now I can load 4+ youtube videos at 1080p without problems. I also had outages my first month. Onetime it was because someone disconnected the cable, don't know who but I managed to find the problem. But month 2 and 3 not one outage. I rate RCN 5/5! | |
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 Review by TweakFreak88
member for 9.5 years, 161 visits, last login: 91 days ago
updated 91 days ago
- Chicago,Cook,IL
- $50 per month
- about 5 days
- "No official data cap, quick latency"
- "Not getting full speeds"
- "Decent speed for the money"
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The install tech was professional. He even gave me his email address if I were to have problems in the future.
I'm using a BYOM Cisco DPC3008 to terminate my RCN connection. According to RCN's diagnostic page, my signal is well within their specifications and my throughput cap is 53Mbps and 6.3Mbps. The modem is 8x4 channel capable, but it's RCN is only using 4x1.
I've yet to see more than 45Mbps downstream and 4.5 upstream regardless of what test servers I use, even RCN's own servers. The latency has been pretty good, it takes about 10-12 ms to leave the RCN network to the general Interwebs.
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