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I have large cable with the Ultra whole home DVR (2 media players) and 60mbps down 5mbps up (usually tests in the 70-85mbps range). We also have two DTAs (which I don't think I need because WOW!'s digital basic channels aren't encrypted but reps keep saying it will be so I will need them). Ordering was easy I actually did it by emailing a local representative and they helped me get everything set up and the set up appointment went really smooth (the tech actually showed up a little bit early) and so far I absolutely love WOW!. We did have our original Ultra gateway go bad after a month or two but the rep came and replaced it and since then haven't had any issues but I would like to note because the media gateway provides the internet too it meant no internet and lost all of our DVR recordings which was a little inconvenient. I would definitely recommend WOW! to anyone who is considering making the switch! Update: after my first one year contract was up I called in to see what offers were available to me, and after a short 18 minute phone call and another one year agreement I am only pay $4 more a month than on the previous contract. When I had Time Warner Cable getting a promo that close to your previous rate was unheard of! and considering the cost of content going up for cable companies like WOW! it seemed more than fair. Update 2: it turns out that while the customer retentions agent said that nothing would change, we actually lost HBO and WOW! won't honor what the original agent said and wants to charge us $20 for HBO. Currently looking into switching to Spectrum for a year, greatly disappointed. Update 3: I ended up upgrading to the 300/20 tier and getting rid of WOW!'s large cable with Ultra in favor of DirecTV Now. They're coming to take the Ultra equipment and get me switched to the 300/20 tier tomorrow. Update 4: They came and got everything switched over and I couldn't be happier, speed tests show I'm getting around 330/22 on my 300/20 plan! Update 5: After giving WOW! a call I was able to upgrade from 300/20 at $66 a month to the 500/50 tier at $59.99 a month with a two year agreement, after an initial issue with my upload speeds I now get roughly 550/50-60! I am a very happy WOW! customer! member for 7.1 years, 3032 visits, last login: a few hours ago updated 5.9 years ago
I tried WOW for the last 12 months at 30m down 10m up for only $24.99 per month. Very happy with speed and reliability. At end of the contract I extended 24 months at 100m down 20m up for $39.95 per month. Very good speeds. Upgraded while I was still on the phone. After a month I decided to go with 500m down and 50m up for $59.95. I'm getting up to 500m down and about 45m up on all new devices wired or WIFI. I have an old Windows 7 with a slow PCI bus that only can handle about 200m down and 40m up. My older Android phones using 802.11n are limited to 50m down and 40m up. Some older 802.11ac devices are limited to about 125m down and 30m up but my new 802.11ac Lenovo laptop gets 350-500m down and 40-45m up WIFI depending on location in my two story house with a LinkSys WRT3200ACM. Upgraded while I was still on the phone. (I had already installed a new modem, ARRIS SB6190.) Update: Just got a new refurbished Dell Optiplex 7010 running Windows 7 64-bit Professional and I'm getting consistent 500m down and 40m up. I love this computer and WOW Internet!!!!! The computer was only $329 from Amazon! member for 18.9 years, 96 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago updated 6 years ago
I originally kept the rental modem and later upgraded to the 8200. I found out that the signal levels were too low and I was experiencing packetloss. Got it fixed for free (I pay for the monthly service fee) but the node in my yard still needs to be repaired. Most of the issues I've had weren't caused by wow at all but other big isps cutting their fiber lines when installing and causing downtime for my city. Overall I've had a good experience but I wish the modem channel issues had been fixed on the initial install rather than almost a year later. member for 6.1 years, 42 visits, last login: 301 days ago lodged 6.1 years ago
Ordered one step below the fastest internet speed that is 500 down /50 up they had a deal going on. Install went down without any problems. Got a ARRIS Data Gateway DG3270. Wanted the fastest speed but i have a problem with only getting a speed upgrade on the download side. member for 6.2 years, 235 visits, last login: 16 days ago updated 6.1 years ago
To start this off, want to note this is overall a positive review. Wouldn't have said that at first, but a few months in things are finally where they should be. Anyway, when AT&T announced caps, I started shopping around. Put my address into WOWs website to see if service was available. Got a call from a sales rep Jesse and I placed an order for 15/1 internet only. Install was available quickly. Day of, installer never showed. Called Jesse - he forgot to put in the order. No problem, stuff happens. Next appointment, installer shows up REALLY early, I have to leave work early to get home. Installer refuses to move the coax line from going across the deck (previous owner) to either under the deck or thru the existing hole being used by UVerse (equipment for both are in my condo's yard, inches from the building). Sign off of on the install (what else can I do?) and call WOW right away, they send an employee out the next day instead of a contractor. He moves the line, takes the WOW box off the back (not sure why they installed it for the previous owner, the line was grounded inside the unit, even said so in the box). Things are finally working at this point. Last issue was that Jesse made it sound like a router was included in the $5/mo equipment fee. They gave me a $50 bill credit for the issues and to buy a router. Right off the bat I had connection issues. Would go down quite often, and pings/speeds would fluctuate quite badly. Turned out to be the crappy modem they gave me (Scientific Atlanta Webstar DPX100). If you ever get WOW installed, DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO INSTALL THIS MODEM! Ask instead for the Scientific Atlanta DPC2100R2. I had several months of connection problems and almost canceled and went to Insight over it. Now that things are going smoothly, I am very satisfied with WOW. Speeds delivered are consistent, and are exactly as advertised (15/1). Wish the install process would have gone better, and WOW hadn't given me a crappy modem that was stamped as manufactured in 2002. Update 7/15/14. Great reliability and speeds are consistent, even at peak times. No complaints. Was upgraded for free to 2mb upload instead of 1. Only one bill increase, I think 2 bucks a month. Update 9/23/15: Still getting great service from WOW. Speeds are consistent, no downtime. Last week, I activated a Docsis 3 modem and speeds were upgraded free to 30/5. So far those speeds have been consistently delivered. Received a letter indicating price would be increasing to $55 a month, called and complained and was offered a one year term of $30 a month. Works for me! Update 4/22/17: After the rate increasing and my first call to WOW not getting anywhere, my second call to the cancellations department lowered my rate from $57 to $30 for 30/5mbps if I did a 12 month contract. Service itself has been rock solid. Zero complaints! Update Jan 2018: still no issues. Rock solid connection. Completely satisfied with WOW. Expecting to have to call and get into another contract once ours is up in a few months. member for 21.1 years, 1858 visits, last login: a few hours ago updated 6.2 years ago
Just switched from Comcast to WOW. I have $40/mo package (24 mos) for 100/10 Internet. I have my own modem, SB6190, and it works fine. Firmware was updated to 9.1.93V as soon as I connected it to cable, even before provisioning. Install was free and only needed to run cable from box in yard to ground block on back of house, tech also installed a box (Comcast just had ground block exposed). Sales rep came to house after I requested info on website; install could have been next day but I delayed it to Saturday. He left business card; I've texted several questions and received replies. I did initial install with my own SB6141 and then, several days later, provisioned a SB6190 I bought and it went smoothly. Reliability seems fine so far; I'll update if any outages/slowdowns occur. This is speedtest right now: »wowway.speedtestcustom.c ··· 79e335e0 member for 19.2 years, 232 visits, last login: 305 days ago updated 6.3 years ago
I live in Downriver, Michigan. I chose the 600/50 package utilizing my own cable Modem. The price wasn't very competitive, by that I mean it was a no brain decision. Completely worth it. The install was painless/seamless, the tech was friendly, funny, outgoing. The reliability of connectivity is quite exceptional. Like most major ISPs when a connectivity issue occurs it can take a painfully long time to resolve the issue. Overall I'm happy with my choice. I don't regret a thing. member for 8 years, 287 visits, last login: 3.5 years ago lodged 6.4 years ago
We got a new contract with WOW recently that upgraded our cable and our internet. Our previous service was about $210 with 10/1 internet and small cable. They repackaged us in a new contract. We have had WOW for ~10-15 years and we have always gotten good techs (No subcontractors) and have gotten good customer service with a acceptable hold time. The service itself is good. Plenty of cable options. Phone is good quality. Internet is good quality with decent ping. The only problem I have with internet is that sometimes they will service the lines or something else and it will be down for an hour or 2 (Usually at night when I am active) This will happen about once every 2 weeks. Sometimes it happens less sometimes more. member for 6.6 years, 13 visits, last login: 4 years ago updated 6.5 years ago
I was with comcast for 3 years. I started on a small bundle..then kept upgrading all the way to a monthly bill of 210 a month! They couldnt help me lower my bill, so I switched to WOW. I was pleasantly surprised that the price the sales person said on the phone was the real price of my monthly bill (125)! No hidden fee BS like comcast does for HD or DVR service. The price was guaranteed until Jan 2015. I dont know what happens after that date and how much $$ the price will increase if any???? I have the UltraTV and its been great. I would recommend getting it. The UI feels almost as good as TiVo and you get 2 boxes where you can watch recorded shows ! Comcast would charge a arm and a leg for that member for 19 years, 68 visits, last login: 6.6 years ago updated 6.6 years ago
How to review an ISP? This is tough because the competition is terrible in the USA. Do I compare the offerings I have available to me, or do I rate based on the combined experiences of myself, friends and families in other parts of the country who have different offerings? Here's my best effort: I have been a cable subscriber for a few decades now, going back before the industry was deregulated by President Bill Clinton. Unfortunately, President Clinton's deregulation measures have resulted in exorbitant pricing, a lack of innovation (look at the "dark ages" cable boxes we all are still forced to use), and a lack of competition in the marketplace. It is simply outrageous that the coax/fiber line coming to my residence cannot be used by whatever ISP I choose. The government needs to add some regulation to this industry to bring sense to the waste that is going on. The customer should have ONE line and that one line should be serviceable by WHATEVER ISP the customer chooses. It is just inefficient, wasteful, more expensive, more time consuming, and wrong to have each ISP run its own line to my residence. Despite bad conditions in the marketplace, I am lucky to have the option of 3 different ISP providers. This is much better than most people have. Honestly, it is ridiculous that having 3 options is considered good, but that's the state of things unfortunately. My 3 options are WOW, Comcast, and AT&T (stated in order of preference). And I have at one time or another had service from all 3, so I am in a good position to share my experiences. First option: AT&T. ATT is simply an evil company. I say this based on their behavior in the marketplace. They have been shown to care nothing for the U.S. Constitution nor the privacy and security of the American people's communications and data. ATT's practices in general in the marketplace are offensive to freedom loving people and because of their conduct I wish them the worst. As for their service offerings, they are seriously over-priced, do not offer performance advantages over competitors and in fact tend to be slower than other offerings. ATT subscribers should pretty much expect to be spied on by ATT and the U.S. government and to experience the worst practices like made-up fees, unwanted advertisements, the selling/trading of personal information, etc. ATT is simply not interested in its customers. It is interested in making profit and that's it. Second option: Comcast. Comcast is America's most hated company. They impose usage caps, add made-up fees, use promotion periods (like ATT) to jack up the cost and force you to spend hours on the phone every so often to get your billing consistent. I found Comcast's service to offer fast speeds (as dictated by the "slow" American marketplace), but Comcast's reliability was not anything stellar. There were downtimes, there were dropouts. Also, Comcast does not (where I am located at least) allow HBOGO. And (when I had them) the Netflix performance was terrible because Comcast would not allow Netflix to set their equipment inside Comcast's network to make the Netflix experience better for Comcast customers. This is all conduct that proves Comcast does not care about the experience of its customers. It is a terrible company and if you have the ability, you should avoid Comcast (like you should avoid ATT). Third (newest) option: WOW. For those who want to stop reading (i.e., get an answer), WOW is definitely the best choice of the three options--by far. Now for my experience with WOW. I think it is a fair statement to say that WOW cares a lot more for its customers and the experience its customers have than Comcast and ATT do. As I write this, Netflix equipment is now inside Comcast's network--vastly improving the Netflix experience for Comcast customers, but this happened only AFTER Netflix started paying Comcast for the "privilege." No such payments have ever been made to WOW. WOW let Netflix into its network without demanding payment because WOW saw that doing so dramatically improved the experience of its customers. This is an ISP looking out for its customers! Also, WOW allows HBOGO (whereas Comcast does not). WOW's network practices (which are available for viewing at WOW's website) clearly describe a company that is friendly with peering, makes decisions based on how a customer's experience would be impacted and not just in the interests of greedy profits (Comcast and ATT care only for greedy profit). Companies like Comcast and ATT care little for their customer's experiences. Comcast still does not allow HBOGO. Comcast wouldn't let Netflix in until they received payments. ATT will sell your personal information or charge you more to prevent it. ATT will facilitate government mass surveillance, installing spyware without a warrant to surveil huge pipes of the internet, allowing the government to unconstitutionally spy on all your personal information which the 4th amendment clearly prohibits. Between these 3 copanies, WOW has demonstrated (with its conduct) that it is a much better choice. WOW has also stated it will not sell customer browsing history. Good luck keeping your browsing history private if you are using ATT. Where I live, WOW has a nice tier of speeds and pricing, giving customers some choice in how much they spend. I have found the reliability of WOW's network to be better than Comcasts. WOW has no usage caps. And their pricing is at or below Comcasts (for me it is below Comcast's). WOW allows customers to use their own cable modem (although they do have a preference for Arris gear for their highest speed tiers), and their marketing of their packages and speed tiers are understandable and easily findable on their website. They openly display what you will pay for a package (displaying both a promotional and non-promotional price), which I appreciate. All this said, WOW is not perfect. Sonic is an ISP that is at the pinnacle of the U.S.A. marketplace. So I will compare WOW to Sonic to identify WOW's weaknesses. WOW's weaknesses (as compared to Sonic) boil down to slow speeds, high prices, promotional pricing shenanigans, and a dearth of services. For example, for $30/month, Sonic gives its subscribers 1Gbps symmetric download and upload speeds. Also, included in this price, its customers get VPN service and VoIP phone service. Granted, Sonic is a fiber setup (enabling faster upload speeds). But if I could get Sonic, I would. So it deserves to be compared. Also, Sonic gives its customers straight pricing without all that promotion crap. WOW has started doing promotion periods (like Comcast and ATT). I hate promotion periods. WOW didn't used to do this. But they now do. Promotion pricing requires customers to have to constantly monitor their bill for changes. And then you have to get on the phone with the ISP and straighten things out, which literally has taken hours out of my day when doing this with ATT and Comcast. Since WOW has just recently started this, I don't know how the experience will shape up but I expect it to be very much the same. At one point I was placed into a promotion period, even though I explicitly requested the non-promotion price. This was certainly disconcerting. Also, WOW gave me a hard time about bumping up my speed tier. They created a faster tier and said it was only available for new customers. I pushed the issue and eventually got on the faster tier, but it was a fight and it shouldn't have been. WOW's telephone support doesn't always give accurate information. Also, there have been a couple times now where I was told I would receive a callback and I never did. Another disappointing thing is that I cannot get the Outdoor Channel in HD, and to even get the channel (in SD) it costs extra, which is not the case with Comcast. But despite these handful of things, I am still much happier with WOW than I ever was with Comcast. And ATT was the worst. WOW's overall network practices and customer-experience-focus win me over. So how do I score WOW? It is clearly (without a doubt) the best option available to me. But it is far behind the best option that exists in the USA. If I scored WOW against Comcast and ATT, it would do very well. If I score WOW against Sonic, it looks much worse off. So in the grand scheme of things, WOW sits in the middle of the scoring/ranking spectrum. But if I rate WOW in the middle, doesn't it unfairly represent the much better experience WOW delivers over Comcast and ATT, especially for the person who just looks at the scores and doesn't bother reading (understandbly) long reviews like this one? So because WOW clearly cares more for its customers than Comcast and ATT, and because WOW has better network practices than Comcast and ATT, I am going to overlook the disappointments I have with WOW and rate them strong to combat the powerful and evil influence of Comcast and ATT. But I urge readers to consider (and understand) that WOW is not the best and if it wants to be the best, it needs to get on Sonic's level. member for 7.1 years, 183 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago updated 6.6 years ago
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