Mediacom → Mediacom or Q West Internet for Carroll Iowa

Hi guys,

I'm moving to Carrol Iowa shortly and I have the option of going with media on or Q West for my internet provider. I want the Internet for video streaming and gaming but I am from Michigan so I don't quite know much about either provider. Any suggestions?

I don't like that I get a promo from Mediacom for 12 months but I have to sign a 24 month contract.

Quest was bought out by »www.centurylink.com/ a few years ago.

Get Mediacom ONLY if you have no other choices. Read the reviews on this board and the yearly Consumer Reports ratings for ISPs. Mediacom has been constantly rated as the worst of the worst ISPs for years. I believe that consumers (like me) only continue with Mediacom because they have no other reasonable High Speed Internet choices.

If you do have to get Mediacom, prepare yourself for many frustrations and bookmark this forum. It is one of the few ways to actually get help from Mediacom "frustrations"..

Hello Feel,

I would be happy to assist you with any questions you have about Mediacom service. If you'd like you can send me a private message on here or an email at socialmediateam@mediacomcc.com with any concerns you may have and I can look things over with you.

I have been real happy with Mediacom's speeds. The only time I ever had a issue it was my modem that was the issue. Since I own my own modem it was up to me to change it and since I had a different brand as a backup if needed it was put to work. My speeds have been consistent with what I have been provisioned for. Sure more reliable than the land line phone company I also have which has been a pain in the backside. I would check with some of the people in Carroll and see what they have had good luck with. Not all areas are having issues. But again, check with the good people of Carroll before making a decision on which to get. In my case the DSL is part of the landline the wife and I had to put in since we work from home part time and the clients require landline phones. If I had a choice the DSL would be gone as it doesn't work most of the time anyway.

You may have a third option. Trying looking into Western Iowa Networks:

»www.westianet.com/conten ··· /carroll

They are a local fiber to the home provider and claim to offer 1 Gbps access in Carroll (a bit pricey though at $250.99.) They also offer several other speeds, such as 100 Mbps for $60.99. I can't find any information on caps but both Mediacom and Centurylink have caps. They seem to offer Phone and TV as well if you are interested. I personally don't have any experience with the company or know of anyone who does, but they sound promising. Both Mediacom and Centurylink tend to be on the lower end of the scale when it comes to customer satisfaction.

According to Connect Iowa, the city itself seems to be pretty much covered with Fiber to the Home, presumably from Western Iowa Networks.

»www.connectiowa.org/conn ··· roll.pdf

Good Luck!

DSL speeds (CenturyLink) are all about distance from equipment, which in turn determines the maximum provisioned speed. The further you are from the pedestal (or central office) where the DSLAM is located, the slower the speed. It is very important that you talk to a next-door neighbor who has DSL to find out exactly what speed they are provisioned for. Hopefully Carroll is small enough that you will get good speeds. In general, I suspect you will find speeds to be higher with cable, but more consistent throughout the day with DSL. I suggest that you actually get moved first before making a commitment either way so that you have an opportunity to get information from neighbors who have actual experience. The results for someone in another part of Carroll (or even in the next block) might not tell you what you need to know to decide, as results can vary by that much in some communities depending on the age of equipment and quality of installation.

ADDED: And with Mediacom (cable) you will have data caps to worry about. You will need to keep that in mind, especially if your gaming and video streaming results is lots of data being transferred (both up and down). This in turn will help determine the speed level you need to subscribe to.

If you can get CenturyLink VDSL then you should go that route. If you can get 40 or 20 Mbps download then you will have a soft data cap that likely won't be enforced.