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 Review by shadyman777 
member for 4.2 years, 2013 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 329 days ago
 Allentown,Lehigh,PA
 $134 per month "Awesome Internet Service and TiVo Service" "None, Honestly." "Great Value, Great Service."
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Seriously, get the TiVo. It makes everything so much better with cable service. Much better interface and more responsive than the RCN DVR.
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Review by dplantz
member for 12.8 years, 4901 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 339 days ago
- Roslindale,Suffolk,MA
- $89 per month
 about 5 days- "Quick Install"
- "Tech Support could be a little more knowlegeable"
- "Great Value for the Money"
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RCN has been great to me over the last few months. I have had RCN cable modem in Roslindale and in the Allston sections of Boston. Both times RCN has given me a great connection and I have had few problems. The problems I have had came from my router malfunctioning, not RCN. They have expanded the service area in the Boston Area.
The speeds I get are great 25+mbs down and 2mbs+ upload. I I only wish that I had access the the internal web page of the emta to check signal. I have added a docis 3.0 Motorola 6120 modem. I can check levels fine with that modem. The emta works fine for a voice line.I wish that they did not charge 1 dollar for an online credit card or debit card payment. I like that they don't have data caps. I will miss there rock solid service once I relocate to Denver, CO. I will then have to use Comcast, at that point I will get Business Class service.
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Review by dslrep0990
member for 4.2 years, 1 visits, last login: 354 days ago
updated 354 days ago
- Brighton,Suffolk,MA
- $53 per month
- (month by month)
- about 30 days
- "Month-to-month service contract"
- "Lousy help desk, connectivity problems, RCN does not deliver what it sells"
- "RCN has cleaned their act"
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UPDATE, JUNE 2012
RCN service had improved somewhat after I wrote this review so when I moved recently and discovered that they now charge a more reasonable $29/month for Internet access, I decided to give them another chance.
What a change!! This is a 180...
RCN is definitely providing a much improved service. I subscribe to the theoretical 20 Mbps. Connections are stable, speed is still not great but acceptable and much more steady. The service is up most of the time save for occasional outages but I have not had one that exceeded a few minutes yet. Even their customer service is better!
Just one thing that still sucks: monthly charges are supposed to increase for years 2 and 3. There is no good reason for that and it places a penalty on long-term customers. Why?? Go figure!!!
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Service ordered: high-speed (10 Mbps) Internet cable access only (no TV or telephony).
RCN charges too much for a service that does not deliver what they promise (I bought 10 Mbps service, but I never get more than 5 Mbps download and 368 Kbps upload).
Appalling customer "service", nobody mans the help desk & when you finally get someone (after many many minutes waiting on hold), they are inept and clueless...
Erratic connectivity. Occasional disconnections that can last hours, sometimes days. No information is ever provided to users before or after.
Bottom line: RCN service is a rip-off. Run in the other direction!
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 | | Rating Don't forget to adjust your ratings as well. | |
| tvdrew
join:2008-08-20
Washington, DC Reviews:
 ·RCN CABLE
| Pricing years 2 and 3. Every company raises rates for current customers. They figure that once you're set up you're less likely to switch to another company than if you're choosing at the outset.
It is a hassle to switch. At a minimum you have to wait half-day for the service guy to show up for the install. Then there's returning equipment and for some people changing email addresses (although anyone who uses an ISP email address deserves the hassle).
That said, RCN's prices kept going up for me so I did switch. | |
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 Review by muyg
member for 13.4 years, 6267 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 355 days ago
- Brighton,Suffolk,MA
- $51 per month
- (month by month)
- "Same day order/install."
- "None yet"
- "More bang for the buck"
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Considered pricing, bandwidth, and monthly usage (I use a lot of bandwidth and have to manage my monthly usage which gets annoying). Previous ISP (Comcast) was on a 15/2 data package (no TV service) for ~$63 a month with fees.
Ordered the RCN double play 50Mb/6Mb + Limited Digital TV plan. The monthly pricing for year one is $49.99 (including equipment sans taxes) for year one, then jumps to $54.99 and $59.99 subsequently for years two and three. Still better and cheaper than what Comcast was offering.
The install process was painless (at least for me), installers had to deal with some real life angry birds that made their nest in the breakout box for our complex.
Equipment supplied was a cable box (Motorola DCH3416) and a cable modem (Cisco DPC3010). Modem is DOCSIS 3 compatible.
Contacted the territory manager to inquire about availability of RCN services as the complex was originally all Comcast. Upon their assurance I placed my order with them. The installation happened on the same day as the order, which is mind blowing. Was up and running within two hours. Canceled Comcast the very next day.
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Review by tvdrew
member for 4.7 years, 617 visits, last login: 24 days ago
updated 363 days ago
- Washington,District Of Columbia,DC
- $120 per month
- about 3 days
- "Reliable internet (few outages in 12 years); good channel selection; increased HD options"
- "Tech/customer support a total mixed bag; site visits a pain; billing a crapshoot. Price increases of late"
- "Better than the alternatives"
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I've had RCN since it was Starpower (approx. 12 years). During that time I've had extremely few service outages, typically weather related (one recent one from an RCN central switch failure that pretty much everyone suffered). Internet speeds are close to advertised, but not quite. Television service is pretty good, although they've moved channels to higher-priced tiers and now require a cable box. I realize the tradeoff is more HD channels, but I did like having a set anywhere without a cable box.
Installation was extremely quick, but not completed. Fortunately it didn't matter, since the house was still under construction. Subsequent cable card installation was also quick, although it didn't work fully until several calls to tech support.
Tech support is their weakest link. They seem (judging by accents) to have outsourced to folks overseas who really don't know what they're doing. They're nice, but don't solve the problem In fact, they rarely can even identify the problem. It took ten calls for them to tell me that the reason I was not receiving a certain channel was because it was not in my package, despite what the channel guide showed.
And that misleading information carried over to price. They offered a promotional price that was quite good. What they didn't say was that there were two promotions. One for a low price, a second for a 6-month discount that expired. Just recently I had another price increase at the end of some promotional period. Layered on top of other price increases and promotion ends I seem to be paying about $35 more than I started at 2 years ago (50% price increase) for the same (or lesser internet speed) service.
Update: Billing may be their weakest link, or at least where I've had the most trouble. A combination of expiring promotions, new promotions, and unrelated rate hikes has led to some eye-popping recent bills that seem to take multiple calls to straighten out. Service remains reliable, and the HD upgrade has been a great benefit with lots more HD channels.
Final update: After 12 years I switched to Verizon FiOS. I continued to be happy with RCN as described above, but the regular increases in prices had become too much. I asked if there were any promotions available to reduce the latest price increase and was given a flat no, nor even a "sweetener" as they have in the past, such as increased internet speeds. Having gone through these negotiations enough I didn't push it and made the switch. I would be happy with RCN's service if the pricing were somewhat lower, so for those eligible for promotions give them consideration.
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 Review by Eldon
member for 12.1 years, 4478 visits, last login: 44 days ago
updated 1.1 years ago
- Chicago,Cook,IL
- $60 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 3 days
 AT&T- "Speeds are consistent, service is reliable."
- "It is difficult to get past level 1 tech support on complex issues"
- "Great value, I am extremely happy with my service"
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Overall the service is good. I have had a few outages over the past couple of years, but they are typically short. Tier 1 support is typically not helpful. If you use your own modem and router, they blame those components first, even when it's clearly a network issue.
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Review by Certifried
member for 1.2 years, 35 visits, last login: 289 days ago
updated 1.1 years ago
- Bethesda,Montgomery,MD
- $135 per month
- about 2 days
- "Phone support for cable and internet is always A+"
- "Lack of NFL all-games package"
- "Great value, incredible support"
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When I moved in to my apartment, I had a choice of having my DirecTV moved to my new apt, get Comcast, or try RCN. I wanted a bundle package with internet+cable, so DirecTV was out (and they're expensive anyways), and my previous dealings with Comcast have soured me for life towards them. I'd never heard of RCN, so thought I'd give them a shot. I've been VERY happy. The channel selection is great (I have the "total premier package), the internet is super fast (I have the 15Mbps package, but always get 25MPbs), and any issues I've had are handled quickly. Their customer support is just simply amazing. I'm always able to get in fast, get help fast, and they come out fast. They're SO nice too, completely the opposite from other companies I've dealt with in the past
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 Review by HarryTorres
member for 11.5 years, 1528 visits, last login: 11 days ago
updated 1.2 years ago
- Allentown,Lehigh,PA
- Contract price not specified.
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I currently have 75/10 service from RCN, with a Cisco DPC3010 modem.
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Review by plee
member for 1.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
lodged 1.2 years ago
- undisclosed location
- $75 per month
- about 1 days
- "Good value and reliable"
- "Upload speed could be better"
- "Good value for basic services"
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I have the older 10mbps and tv plan for about 6 months now, and I am very happy so far. I switched from verzion fios, don't get me wrong, fios was great and super fast, but they were charging me $140 a month and now I'm paying half price for almost as good service.
The RCN internet so far has been more than adequate for me, and I haven't had any downtime yet for 6 months. I never had downtime with fios either, I think most ISPs has gotten pretty reliable. The advertised down speed is 10mbps, but I usually get more than that, usually around 10-15mbps. The up speed is only 2mbps, which is the only thing I would complain about, it is a bit slowing uploading large files now, but at half price of fios, I will gladly wait an extra few seconds every now and then.
The TV service is good so far too, I gotten most of my favorite channels. A channels I like were missing, like NAT GEO, but I really don't watch too much tv anyways. There is also a half second delay when switching channels, it might be annoying if you like to channel surf, but I prefer to just use the tv guide.
Overall, I think RCN provides good value for the services. Once my "intro" rate expires though, hopefully I could switch to whatever new bundle they have and get a new intro rate, otherwise, I will still jump ship. 
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 Review by clock
member for 6 years, 588 visits, last login: 54 days ago
updated 1.2 years ago
- Roslindale,Suffolk,MA
- $160 per month
- about 3 days
- "Fast 75/6 Internet, 100+ HD Channels, Excellent DVR"
- "On Demand still needs some work, missing a few HD Channels"
- "Delivers on all services, worth a shot if they're in your area"
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Update: 2/22/12
I recently updated my package and I have been upgraded to 75/6 Internet, a TiVo Quad Tuner DVR along with a TiVo Premiere and 2 Previews. Since my last review, RCN has added about 30 more HD channels. They are still missing some big ones that the competition does have (BBC America HD, MSNBC HD, CBS College Sports HD) to name a few. The TiVo DVR is among the best DVRs in the industry. The Q records up to 4 shows at once and can stream them to any other TiVo in the house. The internet speeds have tripled to 75/6 thanks to DOCSIS 3, and remain rock solid. I have at least 95% of the bandwidth available to me at all points of the day. Slow downs are very rare. I can count on 1 hand how many outages I've had since updating my review almost 3 years ago. The bottomline for many comes down to price. I pay for 5 boxes (2 DVR/3 HD Receivers) Showtime & Starz, 75/6 Internet and unlimited local and long distance. The total comes out to about $160 with taxes. With Comcast that would cost me well north of $200/mo. That coupled with the great support here in the forums is enough to keep me with RCN for a long time.
Update: 1/20/09
RCN has just crushed all of the analog channels in my area. While the HD channel selection has improved greatly, it means that every TV has to have a cable box hooked up to get any sort of programming aside from the local SD channels available on ClearQAM. There are now around 80 HD channels and the quality is superb. Looking forward them to add more in the future. Internet and phone remain rock solid.
Update: 5/27/08
*RCN now offers almost 40 HD channels and an upgraded Aptiv guide with their cable service. This has improved the TV viewing experience significantly. The are preparing to launch HD VOD as well.RCN sales called a couple of days ago and offered to drop my package from $179 to $129 ($140 including all boxes). I had to sign a 2 year contract to do so, but i've been satisfied with the service, so why not? I don't see FiOS happening in my neck of the woods for sometime, and that's all I would switch to.*
RCN has been an excellent company to work with since day 1. I went from Verizon DSL, which was inconsistent to Comcast, which worked but was never close to the speeds that they advertised. I paid for the "performance" tier and that didn't make much of a difference.
I found out that RCN had just ran lines on my street from a neighbor, so I called RCN, and scheduled an install and 3 days later they were at my door on time. The installation was done properly with minimal wire showing. I ordered the Mach 20 cable modem service with 2 digital cable boxes, digital vision plus, and HBO. With the phone service it comes to about $179/mo with taxes. It beats the $220 I was paying for Comcrap.
The speeds have been very consistent, above and beyond what comcast was giving me. It never dips below about 16mbps during prime time. Cable is fine, but On Demand can be improved. It takes between 2-5 minutes to load and the selection isnt as good as Comcast. I don't consider it to big a big issue since i do not use on demand too often. I'm happy i got to kick Comcast to the curb, and it was worth it.
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RCN Sucks