| WOW could use some faster speeds - PC MAG WOW was one of the faster companies many years ago, but others seem to be upgrading faster.
»www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410327,00.asp |
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Reviews:
 ·WOW Internet and..
| in all seriousness, what do the faster speeds give?
As has been pointed out numerous times, the size of YOUR pipe is meaningless if the sender is dribbling things out to you.
It's also meaningless if the quality of the video you're streaming is already adequate.
This sounds like the typical American mania for "MOAR IS BETTER!" No, it's not. More is only more. Only better is better.
I strongly prefer a *solid* infrastructure, one that's well managed, over one that's not well managed but which oversells/overprices itself based on marketing buzzwords.
A balanced system is way, way, WAY better than an unbalanced system that's overselling itself.
Convincing a cableco that it must "go faster!" even when that's meaningless does nothing more than convince the cableco to stretch its resources and raise its prices.
I say, let the Crapcasts and TWs of the world chase after all that. Let WOW be the solid provider of serious value. That means reliably giving us what we need (not what marketeers are telling us what we should think we need) at a fair price.
This is not unlike the argument going around right now about cell phones and unlimited minutes/data. Figure it out--you don't need that at all.
And think ahead: when you demand that Netflix stream 1080p to your fancy new TV simply because you bought the sucker story and are paying for that 300 megabit service, Netflix also has to upgrade its systems to accommodate that. That doesn't come free; you will pay for that as well. Say bye-bye to the $8/month streaming.
And you'll probably screw everyone out of that eight buck/month price, too. Even those of us happy with what we're getting today will end up paying for those who demand their fancy new 8000K screens be filled with holodeck-quality entertainment.
So, back to the question: so what if everyone else is upgrading faster? Upgrading to what? And by that, I mean upgrading to what *experience*?
Just because all your friends thought it was a good idea to go jump off a cliff, doesn't mean it was a good idea to go jump off a cliff.
PCMag is completely wrong. |
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mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI | said by adam1991:in all seriousness, what do the faster speeds give?
As has been pointed out numerous times, the size of YOUR pipe is meaningless if the sender is dribbling things out to you.
It's also meaningless if the quality of the video you're streaming is already adequate.
This sounds like the typical American mania for "MOAR IS BETTER!" No, it's not. More is only more. Only better is better.
I strongly prefer a *solid* infrastructure, one that's well managed, over one that's not well managed but which oversells/overprices itself based on marketing buzzwords.
A balanced system is way, way, WAY better than an unbalanced system that's overselling itself.
Convincing a cableco that it must "go faster!" even when that's meaningless does nothing more than convince the cableco to stretch its resources and raise its prices.
I say, let the Crapcasts and TWs of the world chase after all that. Let WOW be the solid provider of serious value. That means reliably giving us what we need (not what marketeers are telling us what we should think we need) at a fair price.
This is not unlike the argument going around right now about cell phones and unlimited minutes/data. Figure it out--you don't need that at all.
And think ahead: when you demand that Netflix stream 1080p to your fancy new TV simply because you bought the sucker story and are paying for that 300 megabit service, Netflix also has to upgrade its systems to accommodate that. That doesn't come free; you will pay for that as well. Say bye-bye to the $8/month streaming.
And you'll probably screw everyone out of that eight buck/month price, too. Even those of us happy with what we're getting today will end up paying for those who demand their fancy new 8000K screens be filled with holodeck-quality entertainment.
So, back to the question: so what if everyone else is upgrading faster? Upgrading to what? And by that, I mean upgrading to what *experience*?
Just because all your friends thought it was a good idea to go jump off a cliff, doesn't mean it was a good idea to go jump off a cliff.
PCMag is completely wrong.
If we followed your line of reasoning, we'd all still be on 1.5/512 dsl. Faster speeds allows multiple users with little or no slowdowns. When I signed on with WOW!, I had the 8/1 internet tier. I now have the 15/1 tier and it gets used. The 8/1 speed wasn't fast enough for Vudu HDX to stream 1080p. Now someone can watch a 1080p movie while someone else can do some other activity without any slowdowns for either user. If 15/1 was 20/4+ (like most other cabelcos have at the same pricepoint), there would be even less problems.
Hey, I have no problems with my WOW! service. But they do need to be more competitive with internet speeds and pricing. |
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| "If we followed your line of reasoning, we'd all still be on 1.5/512 dsl. "
Bingo! Nobody needed color tv, but some found it more enjoyable than blank & white. Nobody really needs a cell phone, but they tend to be more useful than land lines. Thankfully most people like innovation. |
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| reply to mogamer
Well if you have no problem with WOW then why are you complaing about their prices and speeds? If you think you need faster HSI and better pricing, I'm sure ATT, Comcast and others will be happy to take your business, but don't expect to get any help from them when you need it. |
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| reply to clocks11
I bet WOWs 2meg tier are hurting their averages. I bet the lowest tier is usually higher with other companies. |
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| 2mb is pointless nowadays. they should have kept the 8/1 instead as the lowest, 15/2 instead of 15/1, bump the 30/3 to 30/5 and the 50/5 to 50/10 at least. adding a higher 75 or 100/25 would be nice for some but unneeded by most. the big issue is the low upload speeds.
being forced to use (or lose support) their router for the ultra tv is also a downfall. my dir-655 gave me much better signal. with the utv router i barely reach outside my house, my 655 i would pick up signal half a block down the street |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| Absolutely, WOW has bigger fish to fry than speeds. They need to fix the Arris Gateway problems NOW.
In the meantime, I will happily evangelize for the direct competition to their Ultra TV: the Ceton Q/Echo.
No silly Arris Gateway required, and bring your own router just like normal. |
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 mix
join:2002-03-19
Utica, MI | reply to clocks11
2 Mbps is pointless? It's 2 Mbps faster than no internet... |
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| said by mix:2 Mbps is pointless? It's 2 Mbps faster than no internet...
I think the point he was making is 2meg is barely broadband, and even outclassed by many DSL connections. Personally, I think WOW should bump it to 6 or 8meg. |
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| reply to clocks11
What's the point here? I don't understand why anyone is comparing the 'average' speeds of companies, when they all offer better services. Yeah, no S* FiOS has the highest score, because their LOWEST service is 15/5. If you want 50mb internet service, you can call WOW or Comcast, but you've got to pay. Their average isn't that fast, but I don't buy 'average' internet service from my ISP, I order a specific tier of service. I don't care that someone the next house over is paying for 2mb service and lowering the block's average, because I'm getting my 15mb just fine. |
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mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI | reply to hottboiinnc
said by hottboiinnc:Well if you have no problem with WOW then why are you complaing about their prices and speeds? If you think you need faster HSI and better pricing, I'm sure ATT, Comcast and others will be happy to take your business, but don't expect to get any help from them when you need it.
Have you ever heard of constructive critizism?
If I was the type of person who jumped at promo pricing, I would jump. But, I'm happy with WOW!'s customer service and haven't had any reliablity problems. I've dealt with both ATT and Comcast customer service and they are a nightmare. The money saved isn't worth it. |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| said by mogamer:I've dealt with both ATT and Comcast customer service and they are a nightmare. The money saved isn't worth it.
that's what I meant when I said WOW is a huge value. Value is not price alone. Value involves a price component, but it's not defined by price--never mind what the marketers want you to think by calling their cheapest crap "value priced". |
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| said by adam1991:that's what I meant when I said WOW is a huge value. Value is not price alone. Value involves a price component, but it's not defined by price--never mind what the marketers want you to think by calling their cheapest crap "value priced".
I tend to agree with Adam on this point. WOW's value in the marketplace is not that they are a bleeding edge high-speed internet provider, it's that they provide a good service at a reasonable price. Let other other companies lead the "speed" race. I understand the argument that if we as consumers don't push technology then we are stifling innovation, but that's not WOW's chosen place in the market. If Netflix were to start 1080p streaming that necessitated a 30 Mbps connection - and as a result demand for higher speeds increased and demand for 2 Mbps connections dropped - then I'm guessing WOW would react to this demand and reconfigure its offerings. Same idea with upload speeds. Most consumers don't care... 1 Mbps upload is fine for uploading pics to Facebook and online gaming. I'm sure people who use something like SlingBox a lot would appreciate higher upload speeds, but what % of consumers are avid SlingBox users? WOW's objective isn't to cater to the fringe users. If you are that person, you have the option to upgrade to one of WOW's higher priced offerings or go elsewhere if it better suits your needs.
And yes, please fix Ultra TV. It's been so long since the last update. Shaw Cable customers in Canada are getting more frequent updates to the firmware/software to their equivalent Arris WHDVR. Where is the "2.0" upgrade that Arris announced back in May? (Shaw doesn't have that update yet either, FTR.) |
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| even that 3 up can be a bottleneck when you have multiple users in the house. i have more than 1 game system along with other users going regularly and can easily see a difference when im online by myself vs online with more users. with 1mb, more than 1 ps3 going was crap. 3mb is better, but i would still prefer at least 5 for some extra cushion. would i enjoy the 50/5? yes. but is it worth it to me to pay an extra $20/month when i dont need the extra down speed? no. |
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 smunro622Premium
join:2006-02-15
Madison Heights, MI | reply to clocks11
everyone has valid points here, i can live with the 30 mb its the slow upload that is killing me... i do have to say that i work from home and use a ton of data on why i stick with wow.
I do agree the arris modem is a huge issue i got rid of ultra due to this being ajoke.. .i do stream hulu and apple tv. As for the price value i do have to question recent events i.e. outages across the whole state and for multiple hours. If they do have the cheaper product but cant deliver a reliable consistent connection i see no value in this product. Also they need to start adopting ipv6 very quickly, and fix the ultra tv issue... i would go back if i could DMZ or get a ethernet handoff for my router... also at the 50 mb speed you should get a sttic ip address and dont give me the BS there are a very valuable resource... i am sure wow is sitting on a ton of them just like oother isp's they want a premium for something they really doesnt cost them a thing.. |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
·Time Warner Cable
| reply to clocks11
said by clocks11:"If we followed your line of reasoning, we'd all still be on 1.5/512 dsl. "
Bingo! Nobody needed color tv, but some found it more enjoyable than blank & white. Nobody really needs a cell phone, but they tend to be more useful than land lines. Thankfully most people like innovation.
That's debatable. Yea, cell phones can be used wherever you happen to go to, but they sound worse than landlines, drop calls, don't always work (or don't have nearly the "uptime" that landlines do), and you have to remember to keep a cell phone charged. And the internet service on cell phones is outrageously expensive and limited compared to DSL. |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
·Time Warner Cable
| reply to clocks11
IMHO, 15/2 is adequate for most folks unless there are multiple people in the household using the connection at the same time (e.g, the kid is playing a game online on their Xbox360, mom is watching Netflix and dad is surfing the web on his PC, all at the same time).
Do a lot of sites throttle their download speed to about 10 Mbps or so?
I really wish WOW would have left the 8/1 and offer the 2/1 for $20 standalone to steal folks away from at&t DSL. |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
| said by slyphoxj:IMHO, 15/2 is adequate for most folks unless there are multiple people in the household using the connection at the same time (e.g, the kid is playing a game online on their Xbox360, mom is watching Netflix and dad is surfing the web on his PC, all at the same time).
ummm, for the record, 15/2 is adequate for exactly what you describe.
I can testify to that. |
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| said by adam1991:said by slyphoxj:IMHO, 15/2 is adequate for most folks unless there are multiple people in the household using the connection at the same time (e.g, the kid is playing a game online on their Xbox360, mom is watching Netflix and dad is surfing the web on his PC, all at the same time).
ummm, for the record, 15/2 is adequate for exactly what you describe. I can testify to that. This is true. Netflix doesn't use more than 4mbps or so. Online gaming uses almost nothing and neither does web surfing.
The only reason to have more than that is if you have multiple users streaming Netflix or other media services simultaneously and people downloading lots of large files. |
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