US Cable Support > Mediacom > [IA] Switch to Mediacom in Ankeny?

[IA] Switch to Mediacom in Ankeny?

I live in Ankeny on Mediacom Service and i almost always get 10/.9 service from speed test sites. i'm paying for 12/1 so on shared media like cable internet 10/.9 is pretty good. i've only had 1 major problem with speed issues in the 2 yrs i've been in Ankeny. And that ended up just being a bad drop that was replaced.

reply to alankeny
Weird. Why should just a change of owners affect the speed you get? Unless they changed how their traffic goes out of your area and now it is running into congestion roadblocks upstream of Ankeny that weren't there before, or they suddenly sold a whole mess of new connections with a promotion price, I don't see why Ankeny should suddenly be oversold when it wasn't the day before. Especially so since changes traditionally move very slow in the wired telephone industry. Why can't new owners leave well enough alone when they come on board?

Indeed. That is almost exactly what happened to me over in the Cedar Rapids area (Mount Vernon, about 10 miles east). After consistent 6.1/750k service for a couple of years, it became very variable as of this summer. I never asked why it had become so bad, and they never ventured any information. I finally found out that they planned to put in no further DSLAMs out this way and we had been using four about 50,000 feet away. I'm waiting for the MediaCom guy now. Cross your fingers

reply to k9iua6
I think CenturyLink has been promoting 1.5 Mbps service for either 14.95 or 19.95 per month on a five year contract. According to some posts in the CenturyLink forum, this is a common problem when they come into a new service area. They quickly add a large number of locked-in customers, but they don't add the infrastructure required to support them.

Speed is important to me, but reliability and consistency are even more important. I'll probably give Mediacom a try, but I won't sign up for anything long-term. I'm just trying to find out what I'm in for.

reply to k9iua6
Same thing happened when Windstream took over Iowa Telecom, Everything used to be routed in Iowa and speeds (albeit slow for the time ex. 768k in 2006) Reliability was always O.K and speed was constant. Now, Everything goes through Nebraska and then on to Arkansas then back through Reliability has lately been a small issue (DNS Issue, Fibe rcut, Email Issue's (Mediacom and Windstream seems like lately I can flip a coin on who is worse)

reply to alankeny
In theory, DSL should be the more consistent architecture, as the speed between you and a given DSLAM is based on the physical distance. So unless they've moved your line to a different DSLAM that is further, you are probably getting the same 5 Mbps speed to the DSLAM, but you are now running into congestion immediately above, as they probably have too many DSLAMS now feeding into the same routers. So like the famous "up to" clause by Mediacom, CenturyLink can probably claim you are getting the same 5 Mbps contracted rate to the DSLAM. But clearly what is happening in the system above the DSLAM is the problem, and they are probably resisting the addition of more routers and larger pipes above and are just adding more customer DSLAMS to the same circuits.

Cable is kinda the same, in that all the cable modems are configured to transmit at the same data rate on a particular set of channel frequencies. But it is very different in that each cable modem has to compete for time on the shared pipe that extends all the way to your house. When we have congestion, it is because of too many competing modems on the same channel frequencies (each of which is limited to only 30-something Mbps of capacity) and no one is getting enough attention. Cable companies have no way to even guarantee a certain throughput speed or amount of time on the pipe unless they load a channel so low that economically it can't compete as the cost per customer is too high. So similar to the telephone company, while you may luck out in getting a good connection to start with, you have no certainty that it will continue, as they can add more customers to the same channels. Even D3 modems, which are receiving data over multiple channels at once, can still get oversold on their usage, though there is a bit more leeway in which contiguous channels they can shift customers to, and D3 CMTSs are generally faster in processing requests, although they are feeding ultimately into the same upstream routers.

Either technology is going to have limitations, especially in how many high-speed pipes a provider chooses to connect to the outer world through. Cable technology just happens to extend the limitation closer to the customer in having one more directly compete with their neighbor for bandwidth.

>Cable companies have no way to even guarantee a certain throughput speed or amount of time on the pipe unless they load a channel so low that economically it can't compete as the cost per customer is too high.

Complete rubbish. With QoS they could very easily guarantee you a certain amount of bandwidth. This is what Mediacom does for corporate accounts. You are guaranteed a certain bandwidth, and if the channel is busy you will take bandwidth from other users. I have seen this in action because I have a client who has a mchsi residential modem and a mchsi business modem connected in the same property. After 5pm the residential modem starts to slow but the business modem stays rock solid.

I understand the technology. I do networking for a living. The problems and the solutions don't seem to be technical. They seem to be profit/greed driven. CenturyLink appears to be doing what it's doing, simply because they can get away with it.

Neither CenturyLink or Mediacom guarantee service levels on residential connections. I haven't found anything that says Mediacom does on a business connection, but I haven't looked very hard yet. That leaves me basing my decision on reputation and other people's experiences.

My experience with Qwest seems to be irrelevant now, due to CenturyLink's recent "race to the bottom" marketing campaign. That leaves me asking about Mediacom.

I guess I should also ask if extra cost for business level service with Mediacom is worth it, given that reliability and consistent speeds are important to me. Is there a service level guarantee? Is the difference in the evenings noticeable?

reply to OldCableGuy

reply to alankeny
The difference really depends on how saturated your node is. If you talk to others in our neighborhood you'll get a better idea of how bad it'll be. You can always get residential service and give it a shot to see on your own. Mediacom tries harder for business customers but can still fail, just like any service. My service is good right now but I have to admit, their dispatch teams are TERRIBLE when it comes to residential people. They schedule things but can't keep to the appointed times. You might want to take how they treat "regular" customers into account before paying out so much plus a contract.

reply to alankeny
I am an Ankeny resident and agree whole-heartedly. I had no speed problems with Qwest until the last few months (when they started this Century Link name change business)

A recent mailing from Mediacom advertising 12Mb/s for $19.99 per month with no VOIP or cable subscription required was enough to get me to call them. Friday January 13, I am scheduled for installation of 20Mb/s for $29.99 per month (for the first year).

Now I just need to buy a cable modem so I'm not leasing theirs. Any model recommendations would be appreciated.

Get a DOCSIS 3 modem like Motorola Surfboard 6121

»www.amazon.com/Motorola-SB6121-S···7&sr=8-1

Or a 6120

»www.amazon.com/Motorola-SB6120-S···d_cp_e_1
--
I speak for myself, not my employer.

reply to alankeny
SW Ankeny was total crap for speed the last nine months of 2011. They were supposed to upgrade the hardware at the end of the year. They may have done that. I haven't checked with them yet. If they did upgrade, I'm still not getting anywhere near 12 down like I'm supposed to. I was getting 1.2 down during peak times in 2011, now I'm getting 5 down during that same time.

reply to alankeny
deleted

reply to unruly1
Ouch that's horrible,
The CMTS is in Marshalltown for me, but, Mediacom is pretty good around here, Although I did have one problem with lag awhile back it seems to be fixed.
BTW, The "Des Moines" server is bad,

vs

reply to alankeny
Make sure you buy a DOCSIS 3 modem like Surfboard 6120 or 6121. Also make sure you tell them you will provide your own modem and they need to remove the $5 modem fee.
--
I speak for myself, not my employer.

reply to alankeny
If you have any additional questions about our service, feel free to IM your phone number and service address so me. I can have a rep in our business support group give you a call.

reply to alankeny
Alankeny,

We would like for you to contact us regarding this situation. Please email talktous@centurylink.com with the account number, service address and a contact number.

Thanks
Patti
Centurylink Help