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Review by jdidier 
Posted: 161 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 9 visits, last login: 161 days ago
 New York,New York,NY
 Contract price not specified.
 about 15 days
 "Speed (20mb down / 2 mb up) reliability"
 "Price creep, torrent download issues"
 "good service, good price point but will switch to FIOS whenever it's available"
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I got my RCN cable setup about 2 years ago when moving in a new apartment.
1) pre-sales information: a-ok, good website describing all options, i opted for a $120/package at the time which included hdtv + premium channels + HD DVR + Internet
at 20/2. Great deal!
2) Install: the cable guy showed as planned on appointment and ran new cables through the apartment for both the TV and the Cable Modem. the cable modem I have is a router/modem combo, which is nice, except for the fact that it's slowly getting obsolete as a router and i can't hack it !
3) The connection has gone down very few times in the past couple of years and the speed has been very reliable, however there are a few annoying quirks which i am not sure come from the connection or the router: downloading a torrent kills browsing speed, there are a few 'blackholes', ie websites that simply won't load and the connection is a bit laggy at times as compared to my previous Time warner cable access.
4) Tech support: only had to call once to try to get my free software (Mc Afee is supposed to be free)... no help from them.
5) Services: I am generally satisfied.
6) Value for money: was great at first, but there have been unannounced increases every 6 months and my package is now at $150/month, which is a bit annoying, and very much the same price as TimeWarner.
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Review by puck0114
UPDATED: 172 days ago
member for 3.9 years, 800 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Washington,District Of Columbia,DC
$120 per month
about 2 days
"No contract, cost, high speeds, very professional sales rep, small installation window, no crappy bundled software"
"$7 price hike for TV, no remote DVR scheduling"
"Good deal on services for cost..."
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Update: 6/14/2009: Speed appears to have stabilized somewhat. They jacked my price for the TV package up $7/month, though, which seems pretty excessive to me.
Update 3/06/2009: Alright, after the rock steady speeds and connection of DSL, the intermittent connectivity issues and speeds all over the charts with RCN are disappointing. I'm dinging them more on connectivity for this.
Update 2/20/2009: I had some problems streaming NetFlix a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't been a problem lately, so I'll give RCN the benefit of the doubt that they're not throttling NetFlix traffic.
I had DSL before this and while my speed was lower than what I'm getting with RCN, it was rock steady and very consistent. The speed with RCN ranges anywhere from about 6M to 9.5M during the day. While I'm not complaining about the speeds, I am going to ding them a bit on connection reliability for this.
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I'm one of the lucky few people who actually has two cable providers serving my area (RCN and Comcast) and, of course, the phone company (Verizon). I had Verizon's DSL at my temporary apartment, but their pricing simply couldn't match what RCN was offering. I've heard so many horror stories about Comcast that I didn't really seriously consider them. RCN was recommended by the home sellers, so I decided to give them a try.
My package includes 10 Mbps internet (I have my own wireless gateway cable modem), Signature TV (about 200 channels) with an HD DVR box, and phone service with unlimited local/LD, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, etc. The price (before taxes and fees) is just under 100 bucks a month. And, best of all, NO CONTRACT! So if I end up disliking their services, I don't pay any penalties to switch to Verizon/DirecTV.
After checking the pricing on the Internet, I called a sales rep who took my order and actually gave me better pricing than what was on their site (I got pricing of 120 bucks/month there before taxes and fees). He offered installation the following day, but I wasn't available so it was scheduled for two days later. I was given a three hour window (2-5) for the installer to arrive (why can't other service providers do a small window like this instead of the 8 hour window bs?), and he arrived right about 3. The install was painless. He was there less than an hour, got everything hooked up - including the Motorola SBG900 wireless gateway that I provided and the Motorola HD DVR box and another box for a second TV which were provided by RCN - tested it out and stuck around while I tested my internet speeds to make sure everything was checking out OK (it did!). I also appreciate that there was no crappy bundled software to uninstall!
I received my first bill the other day. It was easy to follow and the pricing was exactly what the rep told me it would be. Of course, there were the usual taxes and fees tacked on, amounting to about 20 bucks and bringing my total to right around 120 dollars. All in all, though, this feels like a good deal.
So far my experience with RCN has blown away the other providers I've used (AT&T/Dish and Verizon/DirecTV). My internet speeds hover right around 9 Mbps, I've had no issues with the phone service, and I have enough TV channels to satisfy my tastes (good picture quality, too). I've only had their service for a couple of weeks and haven't had any tech support issues, so I gave them a middling score until I actually have something to rate them on. If anything changes, I'll update this, but so far, they've been a top notch provider.
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 Review by benjamin
UPDATED: 173 days ago
member for 8.9 years, 2908 visits, last login: a few hours ago
New York,New York,NY
$48 per month
about 5 days
"Good speeds, no configuration hassles & no software to install, good reliability"
"Prices have gone up, tech support is almost always clueless"
"RCN is a good value with better pricing and speed than the traditional cable competition; it is no match for FiOS, however"
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6/14/2009 UPDATE
Although reliability has been good, for the most part, bundled pricing for RCN Internet and TV service has gone way up over the past 6-7 months. When changing bundles, I was also forced to downgrade from my legacy 7 Mbps tier to the current standard 5 Mbps "Mach 5."
Technical support has also become horrible. I have no issue with overseas call centers if the technicians are knowledgeable but RCN agents consistently read from a script and make you jump through hoops that have nothing to do with your actual problem.
For areas where FiOS is available, RCN will surely be loosing a bunch of customers. However, if the only competition is a major cable provider, RCN is still the best bet.
11/05/2008 UPDATE
Not much to say except that the reliability of my RCN connection remains excellent. This is the ISP with which I have had the least problems (and I've had quite a few ISPs over the years). One disappointment was that when I tried to downgrade back to "Mach 7" when my free trial of "Mach 10" was over, I was told this would not be a problem but I ended up being downgraded to "Mach 5" because the 7Mbps tier no longer exists. Next time I'll refuse the free trial upgrade...
02/10/2008 UPDATE:
My RCN service (both HSI and TV) remains excellent. Packages have changed quite a bit. I now have 10 Mbps service as part of my bundle. On the TV side, NYC went all-digital a while back and there has been a marked improvement in video quality since then. RCN also added a free HD tier, which includes HDNet, Discovery HD and about a dozen other channels (including HD versions of all the premium movie channels).
Internet service has been highly reliable and I almost never have to reboot my modem.
Updated 07/23/2004:
After 10 months of reliable service, connection remains reliable. While on Mach5, I experienced speeds over the 3 Mbps mark and usually around 4-5 Mbps. However, I decided to revert to "standard" service, which is now 3 Mbps!! (Free upgrade period ended and I decided not to pay $10 more per month for the 5 Mbps tier.) Good going RCN on the basic service speed upgrade. Uploads vary between 700 K and 800 K, far better than standard DSL service. The upload bandwidth allows my VoIP service to work without a hitch.
The installation was completely painless and my favorite feature of Cable Modem service (vs. DSL) is that no extra software (such as PPPoE or ISP-related software) is required. In Win XP, the connection is completely seamless and no configuration changes or tweaks were necessary to receive the best speeds. Tech support has been far from outstanding but this is hardly surprising. The reps' knowledge is about the same as with any other broadband service provider, so until you reach higher tiers, don't expect to find out anything you didn't already know.
Service has been consistent and reliable and there have not been any outages as of yet. Having used both "standard" 1.5 Mbps cable and DSL services (Comcast, Earthlink and Verizon) in the past and been perfectly satisfied, it is surprising how much difference 3Mbps service makes -- really worth trying.The 5 Mbps upgrade may be worthwhile for some but I didn't find it worth the extra fees, I am paying less than $40/mo. for my broadband connection, including 3 Mbps service.
A word of caution: despite reliable service, on the couple of occasions when I needed RCN techs to come out to the house, they were relatively inept and uninformed... but this is hardly unusual from my experience with other cable companies.
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Review by MareMare
UPDATED: 185 days ago
member for 2.3 years, 276 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Gaithersburg,Montgomery,MD
$130 per month (12 month contract)
about 36 days
"They tell you the truth"
"They cost too much (I couldn't afford it)"
"They still have my respect, and are probably the best choice, but it is pricey, after the incentives evaporate."
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I've read alot of negative about RCN - Fact is, they're WRONG!!
The speed is terrific -
The package I'm gloating over is high speed internet (20Mbps) with Wireless that extends over the whole yard!. (router, switch, cable & wireless modem were included*), 2 IP addresses (only 1 static, whatever that means, but thats all that we needed - I didn't inquire into whether there'd be a charge for more) with 5 email accounts.
Along with that, I got their full package of Digital HD Cable** with 26 or 28 $ channels, more Music than I'll ever need, AND Phone service (local and U.S.A / Canada / Puerto Rico, etc Long Dist. included no xtra charge) -- for a little bit of nothing as far as price (Bottom Line - $130 includes all fees and charges, etc), They even threw in a couple HDMI cables and about $150 worth of "not included" parts when installing (courtesy of the best cable guy/salesman and local installer combo I've ever dealt with)
OK its also "billed" as 20Mbps, which might be exaggerated a bit or at least might be "at peak efficiency". Whatever. I got consistently high speed (amazingly consistent and amazingly high speed) results for the duration...
By the way, I wouldn't have phone service with Verizon again on a bet - And I digress... (as usual, ADD ya know?)
And Comcast? (Yes their sales pitches and advertising got me to switch, much to my embarassment) Well, They don't even compare. More money for completely unreliable service that's not even ... OK - back to RCN
I wasn't really excited when the bill went from about $130.00 a month to more than $290 with NO warning (and no service changes) - but that was the end of the "promotional" rates and the kicking in of their "normal" rates. I was not aware that they'd do that and withdraw (auto pay) the cash from my bank without even a note, but even so, I might forgive that, as they were helpful when I called, and they worked with me to cure the discrepancies (their time table of when the promo ended was a year from the date I ORDERED the service, mine was a year from when they installed it, and i could use it - about a month and a week difference) Still, they never made it out to be cheap service, just a reliable, consistent service - with good, solid, friendly, and useful customer service - and I admire that. (as opposed to comcrap)
RCN is the solid, reliable, and honest company that you would enjoy doing business with! I couldn't afford their regular rates for all the services so I opted to switch, but I referred them to replace a satelite based provider in another spot (commercial/high vis) - I talked it up as a purely Happy and Satisfied customer. (Yes, They've impresses me that much) and I find, now, that the grass is NOT greener across the street (in fact, with comcast, the grass died a long time ago, and they're just spray painting a green hue on that dead grass to trick us unsuspecting... OK you get the picture, I hope.
The bottom line is, if you have RCN and you get a thought about switching, DON'T DO IT !! And if you've got comcrap ("Business Week said comcrap..." per a post in the forums!) or another of the ' We only advertise good service, we don't really provide it ' companies... Well, my advice is go check out RCN. They're really honest, and they do what they say, just as they should! (and you won't have all the hassles, or the disrespectful treatment, or any of the misrepresentations & lies that you get with the competition)
They might be a little pricey - at least for me, they were+ - but they're worth it, you can believe that.
*:Linksys gate and wireless router/modem
** Started with 2 Motorola HD boxes, their new type, and 1 dct700 for 3 sets (all with U62 CDR remotes that don't fly or shoot lazers, but work just fine) - Then, after a problem with a mal=functioning box that was supposed to be "swapped out", but was instead traded for a non-HD unit, they gave us 2 Motorola HD DVRs, dual tuners, and only charged us for 1. The setup was terrific! - only needed customer service or tech support twice in 1year, (one was billing) and it was an issue with their infrastructure not the equipment.... Fixed immediately!
+ after spoiling me with the "promotions" and "incentives" for the first year (all the pay channels, free - 20 Meg Internet for the price of 768kb DSL - unlimited local & domestic long distance phone service, almost free with the package )
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Review by RSFallstich
UPDATED: 195 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 36 visits, last login: 63 days ago
Bethlehem,Northampton,PA
$56 per month (12 month contract)
about 6 days
"Faster than previously subscribed Verizon DSL"
"Really low amplitude at the modem, -11dB"
"Friendly customer service set me up, and knowledgable tech connected. Reccommended."
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RCN called me, saying they have upgraded my local area to serve 2 way cable internet. I signed up with a rep immediately, and was quoted 56.94 for digital cable with 6 months of the extended package, 3 months of HBO, and I have a bunch of other movie channels, the only ones I don't get are cinemax or starz, although I'm only paying for basic cable and 2 way internet.
Install went smoothly, although the apartment building's wiring is making me lose quite a bit of signal from the box to the wall jack, which I might end up either paying to rewire or rewiring myself. I'm getting -11dB at the modem, which is more than enough (according to the tech) to run the internet. So far, it's been working perfectly fine. I was quoted at 1.5M by 368k, and I'm getting pretty close to that.
All in all, pretty smooth transition and I got to deal with very competent people, "Nancy" from customer care and "Eric" the installation guy were very helpful, and went the extra distance to make sure I'm getting the best service that I can. So far I'm pleased.
I was originally an RCN customer with 1 way cable internet which was ATROCIOUS, so if that's all that is available to you, stay away. Otherwise, I certainly suggest going to the 2 way cable service.
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Review by Suz
UPDATED: 197 days ago
member for 198 days, 0 visits, last login: 198 days ago
Allentown,Lehigh,PA
$123 per month
"Got RCN cable, internet & phone in 2002 with no outages in last 2 years!"
"Seems more expensive than other provider's advertisements."
"Reliability of service has greatly improved in the last couple years."
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Initially, when I got my first computer in 2001, I had AOL and dialup service (which came with the computer and I knew no better at the time.) Cable TV service was with Service Electric, then RCN. When I heard high-speed was in my neighborhood, I got RCN high-speed around 2003. For the first few years there were a lot of "outages" and I couldn't connect to the internet for sometimes 8 to 10 hrs each time it happened. At the time it was the only internet provider as far as I knew. Verizon finally came around but at the time their prices were about the same, so I stuck with RCN, hoping it would get better, and it did! Mine is called MEGAMODEM MACH 7 for $39.99 a month with modem rental @ $3.00 a month. (Then bundled with phone and TV cable, it all adds up, with taxes, fees and surcharges, to be $123.04 per month.)
(Back in 1998 when my cable TV was first hooked up they only allowed ONE TV for the price, so I had to go get a splitter and add my bedroom TV myself...illegal, I'm sure!) A few years ago, however, when I moved, RCN wired up every room for the same price. (At least I didn't have to "steal" cable service to my other TVs anymore LOL.)
Tech support was always helpful when sometimes the outage was due to something PC related. They would walk me through it patiently. I was a newbie, what can I say!
Bottom line - I'm happy with RCN's cable, TV and phone service these days.
Followup comments:  VStarMan
join:2001-12-01
Nazareth, PA
1 edit | Odd... I don't know why ANYONE would call this stealing cable when you're already paying for it and it's in your own home. | |
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 Review by hndrcks
UPDATED: 216 days ago
member for 10 years, 978 visits, last login: 10 days ago
Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
$130 per month (24 month contract)
about 15 days
"Fast Internet, cable picture quality very good after crush"
"Problematic tech support"
"In a neighborhood with 4 options, you'd think competition would mean better service!"
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Montgomery County, MD used to be a monopoly market with just CTVM providing cable TV and one-way cable modem service. Then, Comcast and @Home came to town - part of the deal included competition from a relatively new upstart service called StarPower (a partnership between RCN and our local electric company). My neighboorhood didn't get set up for StarPower until later - so I was a victim of the @Home wars until Comcast did me in with its customer DIS-service.
I ordered Starpower on a Thursday afternoon in March, was up and working on that Friday morning. From order to service = about 18 hours. The installers ran all new cable from the street - it's the nice fat RG-6 stuff, not the wimpy RG-59U cable. On a side note, I have never had the picture quality I get now on my cable TV!
The cable line averages 1100/300 down/up. Port 80 inbound is blocked. The DHCP lease is set to renew every 30 minutes, I think - my gateway server / router logs are filled with lease renewals. I wish the DHCP lease was a little longer - maybe 1 week. It seems like a stupid waste of bandwidth.
Pricing is on a par with what Comcast and the various DSLs have to offer. The real deal is when one bundles phone, TV and internet service together in one of the 'ResiLink' packages. The pricing is very agressive on those packages.
The best part, for me, was being able to give the jerks at Comcast a deadline to fix the service - and promptly cancelling when they didn't meet the deadline. I don't think the servicebot on the line could believe I would actually cancel. Competition is wonderful!
UPDATE 04/01/2003: Now using my own DOCSIS modem and saving 5 bucks a month. They insisted on charging $50 bucks for a truck roll to phone the MAC address in - but then came around with a new bundle (Essentials) that added a phone line and actually DROPPED my total monthly bill - so while the tech was installing phone line I had him call in MAC address and take the old Starpower RCA modem back to office. My total bill is now about $2.50 less than it was with cable and internet alone - and for the first 3 months it is 1/2 price! Go figure.
UPDATE 12/28/2005: Still going strong! We have had regular speed upgrades with no increase in monthly fee - now up to either 7 or 10 Mbps, not sure which as I don't 'power download'. I can get a full CD .iso off the company server in 20 minutes; it's fast enough. I still have the same IP address, 3 years now and counting!
UPDATE 11/22/2008: I moved to a new package about a year ago, with the Mach 20 Internet package. This is really fast in off hours, but suffers during peak times - often speeds drop to 3.5 M down during early evenings. If you move to a cable service with speeds over 5 Meg, make sure your modem is of recent vintage - my old Linksys that I have had for 6 years (and was on the supported list) would only support up to about 4.8 Meg.
No problems with the phone service; the cable picture quality improved after the analog crush - but the requirement for a cable box for even the basic cable channels is kind of a drag.
LAST UPDATE, 5/02/2009: The cable boxes have behaved erratically ever since the crush. One day one box says it can't get a channel, then it can the next. The "send a hit" mechanism really didn't help either. So after being in the doghouse when the wife couldn't watch Carolina beat some other team senseless in March, I opted to move to FIOS. Verizon install was completed yesterday.
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Review by syborg1404
UPDATED: 220 days ago
member for 8.8 years, 891 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Easton,Northampton,PA
$160 per month
about 3 days
"Fast, mostly reliable, and packages make service more affordable"
"Expensive without a package - Packages don't insulate you from big price increases"
"For internet and phone: outstanding. TV: HD outlook is poor with no improvement in sight"
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Switched over 10 years ago from local provider dialup to RCN's 1 way service. Now using Mach 20 - extremely fast with downloads in real world approaching 75% of rated bandwidth. One issue required replacement of modem and router and rewiring - tech was prompt, professional and courteous.
Significant problems with HD and HDDVR that took 5 weeks to resolve...broken boxes, missed techs (who came at 1:15 instead of 5- 8). Issues with billing last year were finally straightened out and I am satisfied with the package - HDTV quality is good, but selection of channels is poor.
I am strongly considering satellite TV even though I have to pay a bit more money. RCN raised rates and dropped included services from my "package" of features starting with May 2009 billing. Bottom line was my bill went up $20 a month and it will go up another $80 when my package expires. I'm tired of having to renegotiate every year. DirecTV offers almost 3 times more HD channels than RCN in the Lehigh Valley and there's no likelihood that will change for a year.
Followup comments: 
furlonium
Computer Over? Virus equals Very Yes?
join:2002-05-08
Bethlehem, PA | Speed issues Maybe it's the site where you're testing speeds? I find the best way for me to test my speeds, if I need to, is to do so through Newsgroups. I've never not hit my full 20mbps through there, so if it's ever lower, I know something will be up. | |
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Grumble
@rcn.com
| Cable Service I agree with you Syborg. I've been an RCN customer for years and am getting really disgusted. I've had no problems with my phone or internet service, but is seems like the price keeps going up and the cable channel options and customer service keep going down (unless, of course, you want to upgrade and pay even more). At this point, I am seriously considering Service Electric...I never thought I would utter those words! Very disappointing! | |
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Review by johnp292
UPDATED: 226 days ago
member for 268 days, 53 visits, last login: 192 days ago
Easton,Northampton,PA
$40 per month
about 3 days
"Quick installation, pleasant reps, internet service best I've ever used"
"Poor selection of HD channels, expensive, very limited VOD offering in the Lehigh Valley"
"If you are in the Lehigh Valley PA area consider other options if you can"
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RCN apparently is neglecting its customers in the Lehigh Valley area. Very limited selection of HD channels, the Video on Demand is very very limited. They are also expensive especially considering how little they offer. We're so disappointed with the TV service we are switching to satellite. However the Internet service has been very good, totally reliable and fast. We plan to keep RCN for Internet only.
UPDATE: Switched to DirecTV, kept RCN for Internet. Still happy with the Internet service, and don't miss their TV service one bit.
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Review by fgoldstein
Posted: 233 days ago
member for 6.8 years, 114 visits, last login: 123 days ago
Newtonville,Middlesex,MA
 Business customer
$100 per month
about 5 days
"Reliable, good price"
"Now a viable contender"
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I've used the post-bankruptcy RCN at my business location for over three years now, for phone and ISP. It has been very reliable. Nothing flashy, and I don't bother with their servers, but the connection is solid. They wired up office buildings when Comcast was only doing residential, getting a head start in this niche. It used to be a 1.5 Mbps bottom-tier ($40) service but they raised it to 5 Mbps last year.
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