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story category Charter Launching Powerboost October 15
Also boosting upstream speed for 5 and 10 Mbps tiers
04:42PM Tuesday Sep 15 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · bandwidth · cable · Charter Pipeline
Tipped by zed260 See Profile
According to Charter reps on Twitter and the company's website, bankrupt-cable operator Charter plans to launch Powerboost technology on October 15. Powerboost, first copyrighted and offered by Comcast back in 2006, gives users a sometime double digit speed boost during the first few moments of a large download (or upload, if your carrier has deployed it on the upstream side).

Click for full size
While some call the technology a gimmick that helps cable operators look good via speed tests, our regular users have traditionally liked the technology. Since Comcast's original launch, Powerboost has become a cable industry mainstay, offered by such companies as Cox, Shaw, Time Warner Cable and Mediacom.

According to Charter, the company is also boosting upstream user speeds, starting today. The company says their 5 Mbps High Speed Internet and 10 Mbps High Speed Internet Plus packages have been doubled to 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps upstream, respectively. "At this time there are no plans to increase upload speeds for the 20/2 HSI Max plan," the carrier tells us.

Related:
  1. Charter Announces 60Mbps Internet Service
  2. Verizon Laughs Off DOCSIS 3.0
  3. Exclusive: Charter Implementing New Caps
  4. Charter Confirms New Caps
  5. What Went Wrong At Charter?
  6. Charter Expands 20Mbps Availability
  7. Getting Your Cable Carrier To Go That Extra Mile
  8. Charter Offers 60 Mbps In California
Forums » Charter Launching Powerboost October 15
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Phatty

join:2000-05-10
Valley Park, MO
·Vonage
·Charter Pipeline

Good stuff

Good to see a bankrupt company can continue to improve services. To bad I have a business modem account so I am sure I won't see this feature enabled for me.

Now if Charter could take the time to upgrade their HD lineup the same way they have been their HSI services I would be a happy man.

NickD
Premium
join:2000-11-17
Princeton Junction, NJ
clubs:

Wonder if some people will enjoy Perma-boost

Some Comcast users have been getting powerboost speeds for hours

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

Re: Wonder if some people will enjoy Perma-boost

said by NickD See Profile :

Some Comcast users have been getting powerboost speeds for hours
thats known as "permaboost"
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee

morbo
Complete Your Transaction

join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:

2 Mbps upstream?

Glad to hear Charter is upping upload speeds and implementing powerboost. I wonder if the recent changes are to blame for my vonage voice issues the last two days...

snailspace

join:2000-11-27
Montevallo, AL

Re: 2 Mbps upstream?

Charter plans to launch Powerboost technology on October 15.
Are you 30 days ahead of us?

morbo
Complete Your Transaction

join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southwest

Re: 2 Mbps upstream?

>According to Charter, the company is also boosting upstream user speeds, starting today. The company says their 5 Mbps High Speed Internet and 10 Mbps High Speed Internet Plus packages have been doubled to 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps upstream, respectively.


TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day

join:2006-07-30
Ocean Gate, NJ

Powerboost!

When my internets connect, and I'm powerboosed, I want a voice to cry out through my speakers: "POWERBOOST", ala Unreal Tournament's "multikill" or "dominating". Is that possible?

N O Y B
St. John 3.16

join:2005-12-15
Forest Grove, OR

PowerBoost... ha, ha, he, he


We have PowerConstantly here. It is better known as FiOS.

Poetique

join:2007-08-05
Birmingham, AL


1 edit

Re: PowerBoost... ha, ha, he, he

Meh, kinda sad I can't see full speeds (especially considering my signal) but 10/1.5 works out nicely for me. I'm hosting every game i play now lol.

For that matter I'm kinda curious why I don't see full speeds...

Getting my full 10M down, but im missing about 25% of my upstream speed i suppose... with a near 40 dB upstream signal.

Oh well... least my connection is finally just about worth the cost
KoRnGtL15
Premium
join:2007-01-04
Grants Pass, OR

Powerboost makes me happy.....

Nice little feature to finally have. What is not making me happy though. Charter ignoring the 20mb/2mb customers like myself and not giving us a 1mb upload increase as well.
Poetique

join:2007-08-05
Birmingham, AL

Re: Powerboost makes me happy.....

I don't think they're really ignoring you... but 20/2 and 10/2 are pretty standard now... 5/1 should be a big seller for them. 5 usually comes with no more than 768k
KoRnGtL15
Premium
join:2007-01-04
Grants Pass, OR

Re: Powerboost makes me happy.....

If they are not ignoring us. It would be nice if they could let us know some thing is in the pipe line for 20mb/2mb users. For they do not feel left out with these upgrades.
Poetique

join:2007-08-05
Birmingham, AL

Re: Powerboost makes me happy.....

I wouldn't count on it... like I said, 20/2 is very standard, and 20/3 would essentially be "giving" users of the service something for what, business-wise, would be no reason.

10/2 is necessary from a competitive standpoint, and 5/1 will be very attractive for ALOT of people (especially gamers I suspect).

20/3 is neither necessary for a competition sake, nor would it be that attractive for many people because the service is expensive and not tremendously popular anyway.

Not to mention a bunch of 20/3 users would probably put a significant strain on existing servicing hardware.

Hey maybe you won't have to worry about speeds dropping during peak hours or something (if you even have that issue now, I personally don't... a speed drop for me is dropping to 10/1 MB even whereas I usually get 10.2/1.25 (or well... 10.2/1.7 now)

BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

Re: Powerboost makes me happy.....

said by Poetique See Profile :

I wouldn't count on it... like I said, 20/2 is very standard, and 20/3 would essentially be "giving" users of the service something for what, business-wise, would be no reason.

10/2 is necessary from a competitive standpoint, and 5/1 will be very attractive for ALOT of people (especially gamers I suspect).

20/3 is neither necessary for a competition sake, nor would it be that attractive for many people because the service is expensive and not tremendously popular anyway.

Not to mention a bunch of 20/3 users would probably put a significant strain on existing servicing hardware.
I really don't care about more upload on the 20 meg tier, BUT since the difference between it and the 10 Meg ter is now a bit less then Charter nees to make the price difference less.
BoMarty

join:2001-02-01
Ballwin, MO

Powerboost

What to expect?

"double digit speed boost during the first few moments"

So if I am getting 20meg download I would expect 30meg speed for 5-10 seconds? Then it maintains the 20 meg ?

Same for upload, 2 meg upload would get a boost of 3meg up for 5-10 secs?

Any Comcast users report their experience? Is the above what I should expect?
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
·Comcast
·Qwest.net
·magicjack.com
·BeeCreek Communica..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..

Cool...

So is Charter enabling upload PB as well, or just download? Unless they're running DOCSIS 1.1, upload PB would seem to me to be more useful.

Nice job on 10/2 though. Better than pre-D3 Comcast, though that's not really a valid comparison anymore.

dslhater
Premium
join:2001-09-24
Chicopee, MA
clubs:

Hmm

The internet went out here on Sunday night and today. I restarted the modem and I'm getting speeds of 10583kbps down and only 1459kbps up consistently. I hope that upload goes up a little more.
--
dream your dreams with open eyes and make them come true...
njeske

join:2002-02-16
Reno, NV

Upstream increase looks good in Reno, NV

Last Result:
Download Speed: 10660 kbps (1332.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1851 kbps (231.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Taken from Speakeasy.net speed test page from Reno, NV to the test server in San Francisco, CA. That's just a hair under double what my upstream speeds were a few weeks ago. Finally Charter is giving us better speeds like everyone else!
nocannothave

join:2006-10-14
Kennewick, WA

Re: Upstream increase looks good in Reno, NV

Cool.

BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

Powerboost is for suckers

Just a way for ISPs to make speedtest results SEEM like they are providing advertised speeds. Sorry 30 seconds of powerboosting isn't going to do shit.
BlakePaulson

join:2008-08-06
Alexandria, MN
·AT&T Wireless Broa..
·Charter Pipeline

Another Charter Joke!

Bullshit that I pay the most for my charter service out of all the tiers and they conveniently don't give a damn...

Why not give us at least more download speed?

Perfect example of why I got rid of Charter TV and went to DirecTV and am now incredibly happy with my TV service.

perki

join:2008-12-01
Santa Maria, CA

Hey Comcast Customers

Another case of "It Could Be Worse"
mystikmedia
Premium
join:2004-06-17
Hampstead, NC

Re: Hey Comcast Customers

I'm actually happy with my Charter service lately. For a while there I was having a lot of problems with downtime, but now the service seems to be reliable again, and the speed is good:

Download Speed: 20643 kbps (2580.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 2035 kbps (254.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
gopnick

join:2005-01-07
Benton, AR

Re: Hey Comcast Customers

Same here... things have changed a lot for my market as well. I'm very happy with my 20/2 service.

cork1958
Cork

join:2000-02-26
Fruitport, MI
·Verizon Online DSL
·Charter Pipeline


1 edit

powerboost is a joke!

Always thought that powerboost stuff was a joke. If you can give me that speed for a minute, give it to me all the time!! Not to mention that it makes it feel like dial up. You start out fast but then slowly watch it go down hill!!

IMO,
This is not an improvement. More like a scam!!

Still being glad I switched to Verizon!!
Cheaper and faster!!
--
The Firefox alternative.
»www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/
i2Fuzzy

join:2009-02-25
Keller, TX

Meh

The only reason *real* I've kept at the 20/2 tier was because of the 2Mbps upload speed. Maybe now I'll drop to the 10/2
--
Ali Fazel
i2Telecom Representative
Darkk

join:2003-10-03
Almont, MI

Re: Meh

Yes, especially since I never got anywhere near 20 megs on the download side anyway. 10/2 is all the 20 meg plan ever used to deliver reliably anyway.

What's a boost above a 20 meg speed I can never get going to do for me anyway?
i2Fuzzy

join:2009-02-25
Keller, TX

Re: Meh

I've been getting the whole 20, I just don't use it all that much very often.
--
Ali Fazel
i2Telecom Representative
Chuck_IV

join:2003-11-18
New Milford, CT

said by Darkk See Profile :

Yes, especially since I never got anywhere near 20 megs on the download side anyway. 10/2 is all the 20 meg plan ever used to deliver reliably anyway.

What's a boost above a 20 meg speed I can never get going to do for me anyway?
So true. I've had the same results over the last 6 months or so. I'm guessing they have finally oversold my area because my speeds nothing like they used to be.

When I first got the 20mbps service, I got that or very close to it. Nowadays, I barely get 12mbps at time with an "occassional" sniff at 16+mbps. I've talked with the guy in the Direct forum and short of having someone come out and check my line, he had no answers. I know it's not my line because I was tested about 3 months ago when they installed the phone service.

Anyway, this "boost" if you will is nice, but personally I'd rather see them put that money to better use... like building out the system so I actually GET the 20mbps service I pay for.
nocannothave

join:2006-10-14
Kennewick, WA

Looks good for me

»www.speedtest.net/result/566798910.png

Before the modem reboot, I was just above 1.00 megabits.
Umatter2Chtr
Premium
join:2009-01-29
Chesterfield, MO

Continued Improvements

We are continuously enhancing our HSI services. We launched 60 Mbps earlier this year, we increased our Max speed from 16 to 20 for free, and now we have plans to double the upstream speed on our 5 and 10 Mbps services. And we are launching Powerboost. There will be more enhancements to our HSI service. I don't have specifics or timing yet, but you have more to look forward to from Charter.
geonap
lolatidiots

join:2005-12-14
Glendale, CA
·AT&T U-Verse

Re: Continued Improvements

what does this mean??????? why do you talk about increasing speed when your infrastructure can't support what you offer? are you serious ? do you know how many times i've had to call in in the past to make your people try to understand what you offer isn't what you deliver?
guitar94

join:2009-10-09
Mount Pleasant, TN

Re: Continued Improvements

Cant support? I have the 5/1 but i get speed test results of almost 6/1.5. I think it can!
geonap
lolatidiots

join:2005-12-14
Glendale, CA
·AT&T U-Verse

Re: Continued Improvements

you're a clown, why dont you pay for 20 megs and see how often you actually get it?

just cause you get 5 megs doesn't mean their network can handle the tiers they flaunt on tv commercials saying "we have the highest speeds available" and our "fiber optic network"... yea and my veins my body are fiber optic too.
bandit8623

join:2004-09-08
Elk River, MN

ping

good to hear. my service has been great so far. but the only thing i have issues with is how my routing to game servers isnt that great. chicago is good, but to east coast locations im barely under 100 ms. on my old dsl i was under 70 anywhere in the country. 50 ms to ny. 40 dallas. 75 portland. now im at 60 dallas. 80 ny 100 portland. anyway you guys can do a better job of routing?
geonap
lolatidiots

join:2005-12-14
Glendale, CA
·AT&T U-Verse

that's just great, now fix your network to support it

all that's left is to actually deliver 20 megs! for about 6 months ot of the year, the speeds are terrible, night.. day.. and you can always trace something to a qwest problem in burbank, congestion.. hasn't happened in a while but it was probably being throttled, they rarely deliver the 20 megs, even from local sites, their offer is ok, 20 megs down, 2 megs up.. but if your network can't handle it, then dont offer it, i was fine with 10 megs -- the network didn't blow then.

stillwaiting



Where's the difference?

I have Charter HSI 5MB service in Massachusetts. I rebooted my modem this morning and did a quick speed check. I'm still at 512Kbps upstream. Although this is an improvement over the previously anemic 256Kbps from the last time I checked in the spring.

The ping times have always been an issue for me - once you go outside the Charter infrastructure that is.
Forums » Charter Launching Powerboost October 15page: 1 · 2


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