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audia5
join:2012-01-02
united state

audia5

Member

Do you regret switching to Time Warner Internet?

I currently have Verizon Dsl 3.0 Mbps and its just way too slow and goes down sporadically. I ordered time warner standard internet 15 mbps to be installed tomorrow. I'm having second thoughts, do you guys regret switching? I'm in California
dw3bb10
join:2008-11-01

dw3bb10

Member

Time Warner will definitely be better than your old DSL line. And if you're in So Cal, theres no better option any way. At least if you're not in a Fios market.
BJR
join:2012-10-04
Dallas, TX

BJR to audia5

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in my area we only have ATT or TWC to pick from. lets go back many many years, I initially went with ATT because it was cheaper and speeds weren't all that different between both companies. everything was fine until they started to introduce Uverse. After they rolled out Uverse in my area, my connection became so unreliable that we would blame everything from the wind to talking too loud for our connection dropping. I lived with it for about a year after the problems started which included a dozen techs, hundreds spent on rewiring the home, hours spent on the phone, and a countless other things.

I finally gave up and went with TWC. It has been a dream since then when compared to the nightmare I went through with ATT. I have had a few bumps along the way but they were all resolved by either a tech or throwing money at the problem. Either of which never worked with ATT.

It all depends on the area for the most part. I have heard the same story but flipped around.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

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I've had TWC internet services since 1998.

Aside from a very painful 9 months in 2008/2009, it has been a great and reliable service for me.

And since 2011, I've had the performance reports to back it up, thanks to SamKnows.
Fleeced
join:2012-10-06

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I've had TWC internet since 2000. I've rarely had any issues until I moved to an end of line node. They finally got that fixed. Other than the crappy/low uploads, I've never had any real issues with TWC.

LadyL
Premium Member
join:2002-09-18
Lorain, OH

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My original HSI was Adelphia from 2000...then TWC bought it and have been with them since the take-over. The basic speed is good enough for me and very seldom have any problems...webmail being the only problem actually, although that is a minor problem. Price increases are normal, of course.

zoom314
join:2005-11-21
Yermo, CA

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I just this month switched from DSL(Extreme) to TWC, it is a dream, it works, at least once TWC and I got past My SB5101 Modems crappy printing of the Mac address that is(sometimes what looks like an 8 is not a 3 under magnification and is an 8, go figure), I still have to send a DSL modem back to DSL Extreme, but I can do that around the 1st when I get My next check.... Plus I'll have saved money by going from DSL(3M/768K) to TWC(3M/1M), $12.84 a month in fact(to Me that's a lot), eventually I'll go to 15/1, but for the moment I'm happy.

signmastr
join:2004-06-21
Fallbrook, CA

signmastr

Member

I too started with ATT, but jumped to TWC after Uverse was launched and caps were added. Std with a SB6121 modem works well for me. Still cheaper and better than the ATT Elite service I had. No regrets...

LadyL
Premium Member
join:2002-09-18
Lorain, OH

LadyL

Premium Member

Forgot to add that I have the SB5101 modem from whenever TWC did the take-over.
gia
join:2008-01-30
Mcallen, TX

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I first got it in 2002 in addition to my biz DSL, cancelled a year later to save money. Got it back in 2006 and dropped AT&T's DSL and POTS due to many problems (too far from CO at 8000+ feet) never looked back.

Last March I upgraded to extreme 50/5 works great with only one outage due to maintenance. My only option is AT&T 3Mbps uverse I think this is a no brainer. Expensive? Yes I can always downgrade to 30/5 or less.
raventx
join:2012-02-27

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I had it years ago and then switched to go with AT&T DSL, and then Uverse (which was hell). I went back to TWC internet last fall and it has been a headache of connection drops ever since. Not sure what the heck happened.
Radisc359
join:2010-10-02
Fremont, NE

Radisc359

Member

Just this month, I helped a friend switch to Time Warner Cable Standard Internet(15mbps) from CenturyLink UP TO 7Mbps adsl, which was having all kinds of loading issues and I even got 1.45mbps down on a speedtest while I was there. That friend is now very happy to have internet through TWC and this was a person who I thought would never switch to TWC! In short you should be amazed with TWC's service.

Jabbu
Premium Member
join:2002-03-06

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I've never heard one person complain coming from DSL.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

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I haven't had problems with TWC, just this awful SBG6580.

The firmware update a few months back fixed some things, but it still intermittently "blacks out" - Internet stops. Can't contact modem's web interface either hard-wired or by its built-in wifi for 30 secs-minute. Seems to have one of these fits once a week or so. Same thing happens whether it's in bridge mode or in router mode. Sync is kept the whole time - nothing new is logged when access comes back.

Jabbu
Premium Member
join:2002-03-06

Jabbu

Premium Member

Highly recommend anyone having issues with a combo modem to buy a Motorola SB6141 and any router that is highly recommended on amazon.

christianjun to audia5

Anon

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Problem in my area is no competition.

Time Warner/Road Runner leave much to be desired.

A real problem is sthe absence of competition.

j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

j1349705 to djrobx

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said by djrobx:

I haven't had problems with TWC, just this awful SBG6580.

The firmware update a few months back fixed some things, but it still intermittently "blacks out" - Internet stops. Can't contact modem's web interface either hard-wired or by its built-in wifi for 30 secs-minute. Seems to have one of these fits once a week or so. Same thing happens whether it's in bridge mode or in router mode. Sync is kept the whole time - nothing new is logged when access comes back.

A few options for dealing with SBG6580 headaches (same applies to other router/modem combos):

Cheapest: Disable IP Flood Detection and see if that helps

Better: Put it into bridge mode and use your own router

Best: Forget about it and buy a plain old cable modem and separate router. Recommend getting a DOCSIS 3 8x4 modem such as the Motorola SB6141. You can buy one, or stop by your TWC office and see if they have a plain modem without router/wireless that you can rent (but don't be surprised if they say no).

Interesting thing with the SBG6580 and other similar gateway modems... TWC uses these for business class customers with static IP addresses. They configure them as a plain router - no firewall, no wireless, and (most importantly) no NAT. They assign the customers static IP block to the modem's LAN interface, and then the customer can take over from there. They work perfectly fine in this configuration.

To answer the original poster's question, most people will not regret switching from 3 Mbps DSL to Time Warner Cable. TWC has come a long way in recent years on the Internet side. Although they could still be more aggressive on speeds (especially upload), they have become much more consistent. There aren't near as many complaints about night time congestion as there used to be. DOCSIS 3 has helped with this, along with other network upgrades. On the other hand, there seem to be more and more complaints from people who have old, slow DSL connections... including oversold networks which the phone companies used to claim never happened with DSL.

My view is this: If 3 (or even 6 for that matter) Mbps DSL is the best your phone company can do, they probably aren't investing in your area. Chances are, things will continue to get worse. Some telcos seem like they would rather have customers in un-upgraded areas just go away and stop bothering them. So, why stick with DSL in this situation unless cable is unavailable or even worse in reliability?

The worst part of TWC by far is the TV service. The software on their digital cable boxes still has a long way to go to catch up with where it should have been several years ago.

Tech support could use some improvement as well, but the same applies to virtually all major residential (and many small business) ISPs.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

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I had TWC from January 2004 to August 2006. Though I didn't go from DSL to cable (Mine was from dial up to cable) like you. I didn't regret it for a single moment. I went from 3/384 to 8/512 before Comcast took over my area's TWC.

Like others have said, don't go for a combo unit, get yourself a Motorola SB6141 and a separate router. You'll be much happier with that setup.
scooper
join:2000-07-11
Kansas City, KS
·Google Fiber

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I was the 3rd person in my DSL DSLAM for what was then Sprint, then Embarq, then Centurylink. Speeds kept increasing . until I was at 3M down 640K up.

In a money saving move, the wife and I decided to try TWC Internet and Voip with Callcentric. I've been satisfied with my choices to date.

The one downside to using Voip - how do you call your ISP when it's down when cell service at your house is crap ?....

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

Been with TWC for about a year, been very pleased with them. I have their premium Signature Home Service which is very nice. Much better than the uVerse mess that I had before.

I really only have two major providers in my area; TWC and AT&T uVerse. I've heard that WOW in my area but I think they ride on the same cables that TWC runs on so I don't want that.
RangoJackson
join:2010-09-22
El Centro, CA

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I don't regret switching to TWC. My internet connection is rock solid.
Only problem is that in my area DOCSIS 3 is not even available yet.
I am also on Turbo 20/2
Still waiting for them to upgrade to DOCSIS 3 so I can get Extreme or Ultimate.
andy4theherd
join:2012-12-02
Ashland, KY

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I had Windstream DSL (12Mbps/0.65up) for 4 years. My service (other than the terrible upload speed) was flawless until this past Summer. We had horrible storms all over the region that did a number on all of the utilities. After that my speeds started getting bad. From 6pm until 11pm almost every night my speeds dropped to around 2Mbps. It eventually got to the point that I couldn't watch a Youtube or Amazon Prime video due to constant buffering. I had TWC installed this morning. So far it has been significantly better than my DSL was (even before the storms). I'm paying for 15/1 and consistently getting 20+/1, and I got a $100 Visa gift card for switching. My bill is also $5 cheaper a month. I'm hoping this maintains throughout the night when everybody gets on.

/fingers crossed
bidger
join:2009-12-23
Elmira, NY

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Switched two years ago from Verizon DSL that was 1/2 the speed the OP mentioned. Can't imagine going back to DSL. Thinking about upgrading from Turbo to Extreme actually.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

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I was forced to switch because Adelphia died when TWC took over. :P Also, I have no other cheap broadband services where I live (no DSL (e.g., 20K ft.) and FIOS in both the Verizon areas).

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY

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I have no regret at all. From using Optimum Online, to Verizon DSL - TWC has been great, ever since they did Node Splits and going to Docsis 3.0
georgeglass5
join:2010-06-07
New York, NY

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I made the call today as well. I've been using verizon dsl for 13 years 3/768 & damn if I ever got less than 2.8 / 740 3 times in all of those years. My building just got cable like 4 months ago, been waiting for 25 years / hence the 30 some odd direct tv dishes on the roof. But 3 megs doesn't cut it for netflix / gaming & VoIP calls just don't get thru, etc... Just ordered the 30/5 Extreme, I hope its all its cracked up to be. I'm in north brooklyn / Williamsburg, there's some fios around just not on my block. Looking forward to the extra bandwidth & cutting my direct tv bill from ultimate 149$+ to basic & using netflix more often

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

1 edit

Selenia

Premium Member

Voice over IP calls not getting through is more likelya firewall or port blocking problem. Both are fixable. VoIP does not use much bandwidth. Near max is PCMU with a 64 kilobit per second bidirectional stream bitrate. Add a little for overhead and loss(depending on line quality). When my old Verizon DSL line wasn't jittery or dropping packets like flies(got rarer and rarer), VoIP worked fine. Even when it was, more fault tolerant codecs still sounded ok much of the time. I had less than 1mbps down for actual speed, most of the time. Even if your line is jittery, calls should still connect. They just might sound like crap and be unusable. That being said, I like my TWC service. None of the above issues.

Oh and voice over IP worked just fine way back when Time Warner Cable had 3 megabits down and 384 kilobits up. Never had an issue because the line quality was very good

Elyria
join:2011-10-12
Elyria, OH

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Wondering exactly what percentage of the U.S. population, has a choice of multiple ISP's ?
[dis-counting any twisted copper nonsense]

Just a wild azz guess......but i'd say 5% at best

ds5v50
join:2003-01-22
Fremont, OH

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I don't regret switching, But my mom and Aunt sure do. They have only been hooked up since October of 2012, they have received no paper bills, they have been disconnected once. They have to keep calling the office to get there balance to pay there bill. And to this day, they still have not got anything straightened out. Even a new account was created with the correct address. They were even billed for the non-return of the equipment. Even though they were using the equipment on the new account #.

All this is due to an error when there account was set up. the CS rep put the wrong address down on the account # and the work order. I spent an hour an a half "02/19/2013" on the phone with " Julio" trying to give them some assistance. So yes they regret switching to TWC.
georgeglass5
join:2010-06-07
New York, NY

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I agree the v dsl did get more solid with time, there are 2 settings on the vonage control panel 64kb & 96kb I believe, but regardless the line was always saturated when someone in the house was watching netflix / youtube, calls didn't get thru & online gaming latency, horrific and unplayable. But all is well now, getting 30/5 down consistently, its a heck of a lot more than I'll need for the next few years, but its better to have extra and not need than to need and not have, well, at least for me.