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Review by ftolead 
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 6.9 years, 32 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Mesa,Maricopa,AZ
 Contract price not specified.
 "Upgraded speed for free"
 "Didn't notify us about updated speed"
 "Awesome speeds for the price"
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When we first moved into our new house in 1999 we signed up for Sprint Broadband Wireless, formerly Speedchoice Wireless here in the Phoenix Area. The technology at the time was as good as cable and better than dsl, with 2Mb down/256Kb up for $39.95 per month. Eventually Cox cable High Speed Internet became available, but we didn't want to go with them at the time because of a rumors of bad customer service. Just recently we started to notice that our Sprint Broadband was starting to seem to slow, compared to our connections at work. Also, our monthly bill had edged up to $44.95. I decided to research what Cox Cable had to offer and saw that for the same price as I was currently paying, I could have a faster connection, 7Mb down/512Kb up. The new connection incentive was nice too, the first 3 months would be $29.95. Once we were hooked up there was no looking back.
Since then we've only had a few interruptions due to area maintenance, and even then the maintenance was listed in a recording when calling about it. They have even sent emails letting us know ahead of time when they would be doing work.
Just tonight my wife was chatting on IRC with some friends, and started talking about bumping our plan up to the top tier, which when we first signed up was 12Mb down/1Mb up. for $59.95 per month. As I was looking at the Cox HSI plan page, I saw that our price Tier was now at 12Mb down/1Mb up. So I came here to test and lo and behold I got even better than that!
Who's ever heard of a corporation giving you more for nothing? It's awesome what they have done and will keep my eye on the order page in the future to see if they bump it up even more.
5+ Star review for Phoenix Cox Cable High Speed Internet
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 Review by Skeedatl
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 213 days, 350 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Laguna Hills,Orange,CA
$42 per month
 about 10 days
"Very reliable, fair pricing, I'm paying less now than I was 10 years ago"
"Occasional high latency"
"Over 10 years of reliable service, speedy and a good price"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings above consensus)
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Flashback 1997
Pre-Sales: (5) I'm a very early residential broadband user having gotten Cox@Home back in 1997 when Cox first deployed with CDLP Cybersurfr Wave modems in Nellie Gail Ranch, Laguna Hills. The concept of "fast" internet was a foreign one given that no one back then really offered residential broadband. But my dial up service (Netcom) was $20/mo and still snail slow on K56Flex or X2 so I figured I would give it a try. The price for Cox was $44.95; $29.95 for service plus $15 for the proprietary CDLP modem. They also offered a modem buy option for $400. Their pricing and speed information was accurate and they called to confirm the app't the day before and again the day of.
Install: (5) I already had CATV so the install went smoothly. It took them about an hour to pull cable and set the then @Home static IP. Because it was @Home, they also installed their logoed Netscape browser (another dead company) and set their proxy server. Their proxy server cached popular pages locally which sped things up a bit. The install was also very neatly done.
Connection Reliability: (5) It's been 10 years of trouble free service in terms of downtime.
Tech Support: (5) (UPDATE) I've only called once in 10 years over trouble and that was a recent call about some slow downs. They escalated the problem and discovered a "bad tap". It was fixed in 2 days and now I'm seeing 12000/5000 in speed tests thanks to Powerboost.
Services: (4) @Home was great with 3000/300 service and their novel local caching of popular pages accessed via a proxy server. Since the demise of @Home Cox and slowly brought speed up to the 7000/512 I have now and about 12Mb/5Mb if you consider Powerboost. But tier options are very limited compared to competitors.
Value: (4) While Cox has stated monthly caps, I've blown through them a few times without receiving a nastygram so apparently they aren't enforcing these caps. The only time I received a nastygram from Cox was back in the @Home days, nearly 10 years ago. But aside from Verizon FiOS, Cox's offerings are average in terms of speeds and price. I'm pretty content and see them as a fair value. In terms of real price, my costs have actually gone down. When I started 10 years ago I paid $45 and now pay $42 for 2X the speed (although I did buy a modem on sale for $40).
Cox overall is a reliable provider here and in Orange County I would recommend them (unless you can get FiOS). But like all providers, my experience won't necessarily be yours and you should always try to find a close neighbor who has the service and ask them how it is. Even on the next block, the user experience can vary greatly.
---Equipment
Modem started as a Motorola Cybersurfr, then when Cox went DOCSIS I stopped renting and went with a Best Data. My current modem is an owned Motorola SB5120. Service was static in 1997 and 1998 but has been DHCP ever since.
Ahhhh, the dawn of residential broadband and the titanic Cybersurfr.
Attached images and files
Followup comments:  lowpowers78
join:2008-01-26
Meriden, CT | Wowsers!!! That thing is older than me, that's something you can bring to one of your antique roadshow conventions.  | |
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cableguy82
@cox.net
| a response the (above) really makes me feel warm inside.. i too started with @home cruzin at around 512kbps/128 and can say that the dropping of @home was probably the greatest thing that ever happened to this company. because in my area it seemed that in the process of upgrading we were required to change the wonderful static ip settings almost monthy...
then cox enterprizes took full affect:
-no more: leasing IP addresses, no more static ips,
-full dhcp is awesome.
-I run at premiere and find myself cruzing the speakeasy speed test at 24-25mbps on average. but i have noticed a marked difference when i am on the phone since the phone line for COX Phone runs through my awesome little EMTA Modem with the rest of my home network.
-oh and its 5.50 to rent a reciever, Cox no longer rents modems because as you said they now only cost like 50 bux. so if you are renting... STOP!
-latency? i cant say that i've noticed any real problems. I host servers up to 16 players for halo all the time, no problems and my machines play wow beautifully. your latency most likely a result of carrier noise in the return loop. i suspect the neighborhood you live in is part of an older system or at least you may be farther away from the SDC (or where eevr you Main tele. center is) than other people. if the problem gets worse call them. these problems can abound from ingress/egress, in an older and weathered drop to the house or perhaps a failing or backed up node for your neighborhood.
-The TV is great: full 1080 hd channels that actually have HD on all the time instead of during peak hours like satellite: only thing is lock up your DVR because aparently Motorolla cannot keep up with the demand for boxes and the service centers have them on backorder ;(
-our main competition in this area is verizon but i really dont know how they intend to stay with it being that we are adding like 15 new HD channels this spring and they cant afford to put their fiber in the gound much less train their people on how to do it without cutting under ground Cox lines (gooooooo verizon....) im reading that they are selling off a lot of their North east systems to put some money in the bank.
... who knows what the future holds... | |
| dirtwarrior
join:2008-03-21
moderated:
May 21st, @03:18PM
| VZ is way better then cox fiber destroys cox all day every day buddy, and you should pray for it ... instead of comparing it to garbage. LIKE COX | |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Atlanta, GA |  Re: VZ is way better then cox
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Review by xipxero
UPDATED: a few hours ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this week
Pawtucket,Providence,RI
$41 per month
"Speed/Value"
"Rare intermittent connectivity"
"Best choice for home ISP in RI"
| Pre Sales information:
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Cox has been my ISP since I changed from dialup to broadband several years ago. I started with a 2Mbps connection. Constant speed increases are given by this ISP at no extra charge at regular intervals (yearly speed increases) and I am currently at what I suspect is a 30Mbps/5Mbps connection
Speed tests vary by time of day, I was never told what the cap is, though it's never an issue. My home connection has pretty much reached the current threshold for what's the most you could get out of a home internet connection, since most servers do not serve content fast enough to be able to take advantage of a faster connection. I can download things at 2.5MB/s or faster on good servers, while still only downloading 100-300KB/s for most due to the servers lacking the upload speeds.
Rhode Island is a very competitive area business wise. Every time an opposing ISP (in this case, Verizon is the DSL and FiOS rival of Cox cable for broadband) offers new features or upgrades, Cox is quick to respond. For example, Verizon FiOS is spreading around this state offering speeds slightly higher than what Cox was offering at the time, for about the same price. Immediately, Cox started offering faster upload and download speeds at no extra charge. This single decision on Cox's end has retained me as a customer unless Verizon or another ISP tries to outwit Cox again.
This state is one of the fastest average statewide connectivity state, being #4 for average download speeds, and #2 for average upload speeds for the U.S., Cox being the main factor. And on top of that, the price is excellent compared to the rest of the nation: $42/mo for 30Mbps connection ~ When I tell people that who don't live in my area, they never believe me until I show them a speed test and copy of my bill.
Customer Service is excellent~ Each time I have an issue or concern, there is hardly any wait time when calling, and they really do try to fix any problems you may have, rather than trying to get you off the phone as soon as possible, as with other ISP's.
The only bad thing I would have to say about Cox HSI's telephone customer service line is the overuse of automation. Their system tries to help troubleshoot your internet connection for you, rather than a person. Often times, this just checks your connection status, and if any problems are present, guides you through resetting your modem, router, and computer--and if the problem persists, it then transfers you to a rep. Though this can entirely be avoided by pressing 0 until you reach a rep directly (a handy tip, since I only call when I have an issue that a simple reset of the home network won't work.)
Cox cable (HD service) on the other hand, is good but too overpriced; But that's another story.
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Review by diener
UPDATED: 3 days ago
member for 7.2 years, 625 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Scottsdale,Maricopa,AZ
$75 per month
about 7 days
"good connection reliability"
"email downtime and forced password length"
"average isp"
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changing modems with cox hsi is not an easy process; speed has been upped over the years, now consistently at 27000; very little down time over the past 15 months. Cox HSI has usually been responsive when there are problems -- just lucky i guess. My vonage phone service has been readily available during this period.
Until four days ago I had been using a netgear fvx538 dual wan router load balancing the cox hsi and qwest dsl/video cable at 3/1 mbs; that flaked out and i have put a linksys wrt600n in service while i look for a good (make that great) gigabit wireless a/g/n dual wan router. (do they make such an animal?) Cox still runs me about 70 per month and the qwest dsl / video cable is another 50.
qwest dsl is very consistent speed wise and very reliable; cox hsi depends on the time of day (usually not less than 10mb down and 1.5 up.
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 Review by skinsfanusa
Posted: 4 days ago
member for 7.3 years, 1359 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Bonita,San Diego,CA
$40 per month (month by month)
about 7 days
"Speed!"
"The provided router keep dieing"
"Great speed"
| Pre Sales information:
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Good service, Never lags.
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 Review by tubbynet
UPDATED: 6 days ago
member for 192 days, 272 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mesa,Maricopa,AZ
$45 per month
about 14 days
"Mostly reliable, good solid upload speed, downlink speed generally works well"
"Often oversold nodes, resulting in bandwidth below what is promised, though isn't too big of an issue w/ support"
"Speed (9m/512k) is great for price, as long as you can accept a little downtime or slower speeds"
| Pre Sales information:
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[UPDATE 7/2008]
I have been playing for a few months with the upgraded package with the bundle. After complaining a bit to the local COX techs on the board, my numbers have fallen in line with where they should be. I have since removed my ScientificAtlanta WEBstar in lieu of a Motorola SB5120. I have seen more stability and the Motorola seems to handle unfavorable signal levels a little better.
Since my last update, COX has also bumped up the tiers offered with 12/1 now becoming 15/1.5 with PowerBoost on both upload and download. While my download is consistently around 15 (only drops to 12 during peak hours), my PowerBoost on the downstream doesn't kick as hard as it used to. However, this is just because of an overcrowded node and its not affecting my internet service much (PowerBoost only works for a few megabytes worth of transfer then cuts down to normal speeds and most of my UL/DL are 10+ megs. Overall, I have been happy with COX, though I will be moving to a new residence in a week and a half and will be curious to see how well the transfer of services goes.
============================================================
[UPDATE 2/2008]:
Its the 17th of the month, and I have just rechecked my speed using several online speedtest tools. I have now officially been upgraded to the 12/1 package. While the upload has seemed very steady and a welcome upgrade, I have yet to see more than 12meg from my line down (where my 9/512k package was delivering over 12 most of the day).
My packet loss is very little (if at all) and all of my original services seem to be holding up. I will report later when I know a little more about what Cox has promised me.
============================================================
In my area, only Cox and Qwest were available in terms of HSI providers. Have had (and implemented) DSL in the past and have never been a fan, plus not a big fan of Qwest. Preferred tier (currently subscribed) exceeded the most expensive tier from Qwest and was ~50% behind in terms of upload speed. Cost effective choice was Cox.
I am part of the bundle package (connection 60 phone, HD DVR, and preferred tier) through Cox. While I pay ~$140/month (slated for a $10 increase next month with a bump up to the premier tier [12+m/1m] as well), the service delivers. I purchased the ScientificAtlanta WebStar modem through Cox. Pretty standard fare, but being a Cisco-fanboy (I deploy $2 million+ in Cisco gear a year) I figured it was OK. The my professional installation was free, though I had to wait ~2 weeks or so for the actual installer to show at the scheduled time. Had it not been free, I would have been more than capable to install it myself, I just like "plausible deniability". My tech was very helpful and was prompt and courteous. He gave me his cell phone number and hours of work if I had any questions or problems.
After the installation of the cable services and verification of function, I put in my Cisco 871w and everything was up and running.
I host several services (FTP, VPN) out of my house, as well as having between 5 and 10 computers running off the same connection (depending on what I have to do for work) and I have been happy with performance. There are times of slowdowns and in the year and a half of service I have had two outages of about 4 hours each, but the service works as promised around 85% of the time and slower than promised about 14% (the leftover 1% is the downtime).
All in all, while I feel the prices could be a little better...everything has worked as promised.
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Review by AricBrown
UPDATED: 10 days ago
member for 5.6 years, 1121 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Amarillo,Potter,TX
$39 per month (month by month)
about 4 days
"Good Service...."
"No use of servers"
| Pre Sales information:
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Good service... just wished I could host a private server for myself
---------------
Update-- Since suddenlink took over it became crap. After I called tech support about packet loss (I waited 2 months for them to fix it) I dumped them for AT&T and I have never looked back.
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 Review by Bolt Backer
UPDATED: 10 days ago
member for 7.4 years, 3556 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Escondido,San Diego,CA
$31 per month
about 2 days
"Great Speeds and Reliability"
"Data Caps"
"Beats the hell out of DSL"
| Pre Sales information:
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Somehow when we placed our order online the Fast Connect Kit did not get shipped to us. We then called Cox a few days after our kit was to arrive and they said the kit would be here in a few days, but again the kit never arrived. So to make a long story short the kit finally arrives almost two weeks late.
I have only been using COX HSI since July 06, and so far I'm very satisfied with the service, the connection has been rock solid and with the upgrades we have been getting lately it's all that much better.
We had just migrated over from DSL, and with the distance from the CO., our fragile copper lines that could barley hold a 1.5/384 sync, I could not be any happier with Cox cable.
As for the service, we are on the preferred package 9/768 and are getting slightly above our advertised speeds.
:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::
Download Connection is:: 11735 Kbps about 11.74 Mbps (tested with 12288 kB)
Download Speed is:: 1432 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 1351 Kbps about 1.4 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 165 kB/s
Tested From:: »testmy.net (Main)
Test Time:: 2008/07/16 - 11:10am
D-Validation Link:: »testmy.net/stats/id-985QPW4AD
U-Validation Link:: »testmy.net/stats/id-7092FGTXL
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.16) Gecko/20080702 Firefox/2.0.0.16 [!]
***************************** UPDATE July 16 2008 ************************************
We have had our service for 2 years now and couldn't be happier with the overall service. The speeds have been rock solid and the connection has been very reliable.
Attached images and files
Followup comments: sphinxguy18
Premium
join:2008-01-13
Cleveland, OH
| my reponse to the Cox HSI in Cleveland, OH I agree, I live like 3mins from the CO and I have the PREMIRE WWW so I get 12 / 1 and I usually get almost 15 down and about 1.5 or so up, depending on the time of the day. It's great if you're doing a lot of downloading / uploading. I'm not a big gamer, but I would have to say that the latency would be extremely low. | |
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Review by rob27
UPDATED: 10 days ago
member for 11 days, 15 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mary Esther,Okaloosa,FL
$59 per month
about 1 days
"Speeds are getting much better"
"Expensive as hell, could be cheaper"
"in the middle of nowhere, cox is the best choice."
| Pre Sales information:
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This is an update to my older nick which will be the death of, what I thought is becoming an annoying nick
(the reason for 1 in the "Days from order" was this was a transfer from our apartment in Fort Walton Beach to the house)
As of yesterday, service was straight 15/1
Today, we got a surprise! A user in the forums said that Pensacola got an increase.
Sure enough, after rebooting my modem, there it was!! I uploaded a show in record time.
Service has been excellent, though, price increase for Internet takes effect on August ($5.00)
Am impressed with the assistance with the Cox reps on here. Thanks, guys.
My only beef is they block the modem's local page so I can't send them the mac address without looking it up.
This is possibly the biggest surprise we have ever gotten from them.
Still, users in the Gainesville, FL sector of AT.cox.net are still waiting for it.
(hang on guys)
-Rob
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 Review by CCTVTech
UPDATED: 13 days ago
member for 5.2 years, 2018 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Phoenix,Maricopa,AZ
$140 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"FAST, very fast"
"Not Fastest, ie: Fiber"
"Great service and speed"
| Pre Sales information:
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Just got hooked up yesterday as we were moving into the new house.
I used to have Qwest DSL and the best I could get was:
Down: 6218 kb/s Up: 754 kb/s
Now that I have Cox Premier package I get:
Down: 25295 kb/s Up: 3544 kb/s
w/ Speedboost Up & Down
The techs that came out to get me activated were only there for about 10min. and I was up and running (TV/Internet/Phone)
Though I did have most of it hooked up when they got there 
So far getting good steady speeds on some test downloads and I see a big difference in load times.
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