I'm not a huge TWC fan either.. I have them... but for internet only.. I live in Charlotte, NC.. I dumped their cable TV server because they refused
to carry certain channels.. I now use DirecTV where I can get EVERYTHING...
But... internet wise:
TWC ***NEVER*** ... and I mean NEVER guarantees bandwidth!!! Even an AT&T DSL or U-VERSE has to enter into a frame relay cloud.. and even THAT can get
oversold and slow down during peak times (rare but it happens)...
Cable modems all hook into a local "node" (for DSL this would be a DSLAM .. or UVERSE a VRAD) which usually services a housing subdivision.. and
sometimes businesses close to it.. a certain number of nodes hook into an AMP... each node has a total, maximum bandwidth... and each amp does as
well... so when you get to peak time.. EVERYONE begins to slow down...
Want a EASY way around it? it's EASY.. but you have to PAY for it.. BUSINESS CLASS... business class has TOP priority over residential users... so if
u slap a business grade cable modem in your house.. chances are you will share your local node with ZERO businesses... during peak times, you stay at
FULL speed and slow others down on your node...
When I mean top priority, then use QoS at the DOCIS layer level.. not TCP/IP level... this way all forms up higher level data gets priority.. and it's
tied to your cable modem mac address
On that big amp.. that could very well have many businesses on it.. but it also has all those residential.. and guess who takes the speed hit:
RESIDENTIAL
Here is the rough cost for a 36x5 business cable mode: 250$/month and 350$/month for a 56x5... that's what I have.. I happen to be very well off and I
can afford it..
I NEVER.. and I mean NEVER slow down unless there's something wrong with TWCs network... I do get random outages.. but once I installed a business
phone from TWC, that ended that.. about 60$/month and it's on it's own "cable modem" so it doesn't impact your bandwidth....
When you have a business phone AND internet from twc, they pretty much guarantee you little to no latency within their network.. and if something goes
down, they MUST send a tech out same day... in the case of my contract it's 1 hour... Ive had them pull techs of residential work to fix my
setup...
But.. if you have a residential cable modem with ANY cable company... your speed will almost always slow down multiple times per day and a lot of
weekends.. if the nodes and amps are oversold (which they usually are because they bet that not everyone goes full out all the time)...
I once thought DSL was better because you don't share...well.. with anything you EVENTUALLY share... DSLs Uverse.. etc use DSLAMS and VRADS and don't
go right into the backbone.. so they can be oversold.. but it's rare... my 8x1.5 ATT DLS went to 0.25 Mbps/sec DL every night .. after many calls with
ATT they said the DSLAM was oversold and they needed to run more OC3 lines to it.. and asked if I'd wait 6 months.. I got TWC business class and
DUMPED them...
EVEN a dedicated T3 (about 56 Mbps/sec up and down).. had to go into a cloud someplace which can then be oversold.. but usually expensive things like
that comes with a guarantee that they wont be oversold.. hence why you pay so much...
BOTTOM LINE:
If you buy residential internet service, you will ALWAYS be subject to slowdowns and bandwidth sharing... business class all but eliminates this
(unless too many businesses get on your nodes/amps - which is rare in a residential area)....
sad that I have to pay 350$ a month for a 55x5 (I usually actually pull 57x6..).. and a residential for the same speed is only like 100-125... BUT I
don't slow down.. where they do.. and I get priority support...
plus if there's an outage, natural disaster, etc... business acct get a MUCH higher priority to being brought back online first.
I guess other perks of business twc cable:
1) no youtube (or any media throttling)
2) no port blocking
3) all restrictions on running servers (web, email, etc) are removed
4) can can do anything with it with in reason as long as it's not illegal
Note: all bandwidth I talk about is in MEGA BITS PER SEC.. as in a byte is 8 bits.. and My definition of a byte is 1024 bits.. I don't use this new
marketing crap of a byte being 1000 bits
56 Mbit/sec = 7 MBit/sec (usually a lower case b means bits and upper means Bytes)... so my internet connection is exactky 1000X faster than a dial up
56 Kbit/sec modem... a 56 modem (if it actually gets a full, clean connections at 56, can DL 7 KB/sec)
edit on 26-8-2013 by dduttonnc because:
(no reason given)
edit on 26-8-2013 by dduttonnc because: (no reason given)
edit on 26-8-2013 by dduttonnc because:
(no reason given)