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General Category >> The Cafe >> Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad news
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Message started by Oldfeller on 05/28/17 at 17:03:27

Title: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad news
Post by Oldfeller on 05/28/17 at 17:03:27

They call themselves Spectrum now-a-days because they are built up out of a rainbow (spectrum) of smaller old ex-competitors.

What actually changed is all your old cheapie competitive deals suddenly went away and suddenly Cable based Internet costs $50 a month with no deals at all going on at all any more. Same or slightly better speed/coverage, yes, but they got their hands down your pants big time for getting more of your $$$$.

Point is that unless you got a household full of teenagers, you don't need even the current MINIMUM data speeds that cable offers now a days. Think back, you can get what you used to get (5-10 megabits per second) now from phone line VDSL modems. Yep, the phone company can give you what you need, easily, through the same phone lines that went in when your house was built.

You old person you, it crept up on you while your back was turned -- you are paying a lot of money each month for speed that you don't need.

This sucks -- prompted my household to switch over to Centurylink "Basic" phone based service for a year just to see what a cheapie $24.95 a month at the old 10 megabit download speed can REALLY actually really handle.

A $45 one gen back used ActionTec C1000A Centurylink modem/router bought used from Amazon met the Centurylink requirement of "if it is our box we can hook it up for you". I got the equipment in and got the service hooked up turned on in just 2 days, which is quicker than Time Warner can do it by a good bit.

=====================================

What can it handle, based on the most modern VDSL phone internet technology? (not very modern tech, over 10 years old, actually)

I got a Roku TV box which runs all day long, two computers, three cell phones and two Apple i-Pads and all of them suck wifi (except my Dell big box Linux computer that is). I figured I would hook them all up and just see which ones faulted out first.

Centurylink forums say the ActionTec C1000A box likes to get overheated and cooks out eventually, so I put a pair of pencils under the plastic box to jack it up off the desktop surface to mebbe allow a little more cool convection air to move up through the air slots.

So far so good ..... and at a $25 per month savings compared to Time Warner / Spectrum. No, it isn't nearly as fast or as good as the top end stuff, but I find my wife really doesn't use a lot of bandwidth watching Downton Abby and her other Brit shows.

Fun will really start on Tuesday when we call Time Warner / Spectrum to shut off the old cable service. If the Time Warner people are still running the show, I bet the big "keep your old customer" discounts magically appear again and the begging phone calls about "you are a valued customer" bullshite starts all over again.

::)

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by jcstokes on 05/28/17 at 17:31:48

Sounds like JAC, Just Another Corporate.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 05/29/17 at 06:58:27

Key knowledge is that when Spectrum shoves the broken beer bottle up your posterior sideways you really do have a functionable alternative to discuss with them.

Remind them they still have to compete for your business .... they are NOT a monopoly although they seem to think they are.

Day three, all is well -- we have not noted any lacks on any of our 8 devices so far.

OOKLA Speed Test says that the download speed is being throttled to exactly 10mbps, but for just a moment it is showing over 20mbps when it first starts up. This really fast throughput also shows up on the upload portion of the test as the start up fast blip moves the vast majority of the upload test data instantly, then the rest of the test data runs out and it shows no activity for the rest of the test.

This is yielding a throttled (cut off) 1mbps on the download side. ::) which is what they said it would be

So, for a year at $24.95 (half cost) I get good enough service, about like what you used to get 5 years ago on the very top end of things.

Likely this service will get offered "replacement upgrades" from Centurylink that by the end of the contract year might be very tasty indeed. The equipment can handle 20mbps right now as it does that until the throttling kicks in.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by ohiomoto on 05/30/17 at 09:20:33

Well, your bad news is my good news. I am saving $55 month on my internet and cable over what TWC was charging me. On top of that, my data is more than 4 times faster with Spectrum (65 mbps vs 15 with TWC). Customer service is 10000 times better as well, you are never put on hold listening to music. You get a person on the other end of the line every time.

I get that their product offering doesn't meet your needs, but the merger had been better for me and my needs so far.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 05/30/17 at 09:28:26

Sounds like you needed a Whole Big BUNCH of throughput.

Or else the good Spectrum deals just haven't been announced in my area yet.

Tell you what --- get your bill out and just list the things you are buying from Spectrum and what they are charging you.

I suspect we really do about the same things, but I bet I pay a lot less than you do to get there (not all from Spectrum, either).

And flip side might be true, some items you might have a better cost and that would be good for me to know just so I could see about it.

And if Spectrum is showing better prices in your area, then I can ask that they match those prices for me.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/30/17 at 10:52:41

Massive Throughput,, the electronic equivalent of diarrhea..

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 05/30/17 at 11:00:06

Now Justin, some people REALLY NEED 60+mbps service to support their conjoined on-line gaming team efforts -- really, they do.

Can't let the team down, you know .....

::)

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by ohiomoto on 05/30/17 at 19:48:55

That electronic diarrhea pays my bills. I do a little more with that bandwidth than post opinions on this Forum. I'm a software developer with a wife and two teenage boys. They boys play games and watch videos of course and my wife has to do work from home occasionally. Getting more bandwidth for less money has been great for our family.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/30/17 at 20:12:22

May you all forever have maximum throughput with minimum discomfort.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 05/31/17 at 03:29:24

I done told you he has a reason for what he needs ;)

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Steve H on 05/31/17 at 05:02:37

Only thing I've seen from the merger so far is a $5 increase in the internet bill. Everything else has remained the same including the horrendous latency.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 06/02/17 at 08:52:18

Ok, I have had the Centurylink for a week now and have no issue to report except they haven't buried my cable yet.

So, I really am saving as much money as it costs to do it, which is a rare treat these days.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by Oldfeller on 06/03/17 at 14:26:10

My Cable got buried this morning. All is still good.

Title: Re: Time Warner and Charter Cable merger -- bad ne
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/03/17 at 15:53:38

All is still good.

A very stoic position.
Sorry for your loss.
I didn't even know it was sick..