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Time Warner Cable Confirms Powerboost Trials
Tested system this week in Syracuse, Binghamton NY markets
by Karl Bode Thursday 26-Jun-2008 tags: business · bandwidth · cable · RoadRunner Cable
Earlier this week a Time Warner Cable insider tipped me off to the fact that Time Warner Cable is testing Comcast's Powerboost technology in certain upstate New York markets. Powerboost delivers cable customers a little more than double their usual bandwidth during the first few minutes of an upload or download. While user speedtests nearing 20Mbps confirmed the insider's claims, I today also received official confirmation from Time Warner Cable.

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"I can confirm that we're testing Powerboost in upstate New York," Time Warner Cable spokesman Jeff Simmermon tells me. "It was tested on Turbo customers in Syracuse and Binghamton earlier in the week." The speed of their Turbo tier often ranges from 7Mbps to 15Mbps downstream and between 512kbps and 2Mbps upstream depending on how competitive the market is. Some of the trial participants previously only saw around 8Mbps.

While Jeff couldn't provide additional launch details yet, he did confirm a licensing relationship with Comcast. Comcast licenses the technology to both Cox and Canadian cable operator Shaw Communications, though some of Time Warner Cable's implementation will be home-cooked. "We licensed the name from Comcast, had some discussions with their engineers, but built most of it ourselves, internally, as an in-house hybrid."

I imagine that Time Warner Cable will offer some additional launch specifics later this year.

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Anonymous_
Anonymous
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join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1
kudos:2

2 edits

fake speed tests

now there will be an new wave of fake speedtests

i think they are doing this to trick people into thinking they are getting more then they pay for

Romney2012
Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe in
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join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4

Re: fake speed tests

said by Anonymous_:

now there will be an new wave of fake speedtests

i think they are doing this to trick people into thinking they are getting more then they pay for
No one is being tricked. They advertise the change extensively and they explain it is a SHORT boost. Most users are happy to get the speed for the small to midsize downloads and uploads they do.
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EPS

join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

Re: fake speed tests

I agree that this is useful for a lot of people- I wish FiOS had something like PowerBoost...

Phil
Rojo Sol
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Camarillo, CA
kudos:2

1 edit

Re: fake speed tests

I hope you're kidding around... FiOS doesn't need some feeble attempt to market themselves as something they are not...
EPS

join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

Re: fake speed tests

Hm? It'd be great to get occasional bursts of 100Mbps speeds for small files. (Of course, full 100 Mbps tiers would be the better option, but Verizon doesn't seem ready to do that just yet)

Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Camarillo, CA
kudos:2

Re: fake speed tests

And you assume that file server would even be capable of dishing out anywhere near 100Mbps. Another factor is that if the file is small the speed of the download doesn't matter as much.

Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Re: fake speed tests

I work from home on cloud based databases and would love to see my 50Mb FiOS powerboosted to synchronous 100Mb. Working from those files would be like running off a LAN.

Jafo232
You Can't Spell Democrat Without Rat.
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Boonville, NY

Re: fake speed tests

I will say this, it is nice to see an article where they use the proper definition of "upstate NY".. Most of the time you read these things, and upstate refers to Poughkeepsie or Nanuet..
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reelbigfish

join:2002-06-06
Boston, MA
Reviews:
·Comcast
·Comcast Digital ..
This really is a great little technology. It is like back in the old days when you had dedicated lines with burst rates and contracted rates. When I download the latest iTunes or some updates from Microsoft, it's great to get around 16Mbps, while my actual speed is more like 8Mbps for sustained downloads.

Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Camarillo, CA
kudos:2

Re: fake speed tests

This is fine, but I can see it being marketed as a 16Mbps connection with the an asterisk next to that number. The majority of people probably won't even realize this thinking there getting 16Mbps speeds the whole time. In my opinion this is just another means of the cable company attempting to compete with FTTH and saving a couple minutes here and there doesn't sell it to me.
attsbcisgay

join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
said by EPS:

I agree that this is useful for a lot of people- I wish FiOS had something like PowerBoost...
I wish att and verizon dsl would do this as well uncap all user at 8/1 for up to 5 min
the effects of cable boost is awesome
older dog
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join:2005-06-09
Norwich, NY
Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
I am in the service area for the Binghamton market.
Since DSL is still 3 megs and Road Runner is now cheaper than Frontier DSL this is just one more reason to make me switch.

While some of you may scoff, this is better than nothing and most importantly better than the competition.

Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

1 edit

Re: fake speed tests

It's certainly nothing to scoff at. For everything but large downloads, the powerboost gimmick is great.

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
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join:2005-06-29
kudos:1

intresting pic

look at the upload ouch.
Jonbo298

join:2004-01-12
Council Bluffs, IA

Re: intresting pic

I was gonna comment on that! heh. We'll give you up to 20meg down! [small print] and 512k upload [/small print]

kpfx

join:2005-10-28
San Antonio, TX

Re: intresting pic

Comcast was the same way too but I believe they now have some systems with PowerBoost(TM) applied on the upstream too.

I imagine it would eventually happen here too.
older dog
Premium
join:2005-06-09
Norwich, NY
Considering that much of this market has DSL with only 383 up 512 is a step up.

wow waa wee waah

cant wait to git me a Power Boost

now, if only the websites would load, i could have something to download...

AnonProxy
Premium
join:2001-05-12

Works good

Outside of Albany.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

Anyone know how Powerboost works?

Is it caching? Or simply providing more bandwidth then throttling back?

It does have the effect of inflating speedtest results.

MacLeech
The one and only
Premium
join:2001-07-14
SoCal
kudos:3

Re: Anyone know how Powerboost works?

It's providing more bandwidth then throttling back to configured speeds.

kingdome74
What Have You Done
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join:2002-03-27
Syracuse, NY
kudos:2
Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
·RoadRunner Cable

Syracuse has it

I live about 10 miles north of Syracuse and mine started when I upgraded to Turbo last week. I didn't think anything of it until I saw this thread. When I saw the burst (it will spike easily over 20 mb) my first thought was that it was qued like when it used to back on dial up. Must be I got the boost by coincidence the same day I upgraded to Turbo. Whatever it is I like it.
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