Road Runner Speed Increase

[steve1]

Hi Aaron.
I know you are pretty excited about the improvements time warner cable is making, and it sounds like you know your tech specs. What I am concerned about is affordable public access for all and reliability of service.
I think Black Sands Beach is still on dial-up and will probably stay that way until Hawaiian tel brings them DSL. Seems like TWC really doesn't care about getting the less affluent subdivisions hooked up and that's fine if you are privileged enough to get their service and wealthy enough to afford their more expensive rates.
As far as DSL goes, I have it plugged into an Apple Airport Base station and it just works. Wireless streams to 2 computers and also streams Netflix to a 1080p TV wirelessly. We use both computers while watching HDTV so there's no reason for us to pay more for more speed. I understand that some people truly need more bandwidth for their jobs but I also think that's a pretty small pool of people.
Better technology can benefit us all, but better access for all of us is probably more important, at least on this island.

[PaulW]

Aaron - thank you very much for the information and the technical details. I'm glad that those who have TWC and want faster internet now have more choices.

Steve - I agree with you, TWC has a monopoly here and in return for that they should be compelled to provide access to everyone (within reason). At the moment I believe you need 25 houses per mile; that limit should be lowered and it should apply to even the most remote town. The Big Island is big but it's not *that* big.

[Aaron S]

Oceanic Time Warner Cable upgraded the download speeds (upload speed for the Turbo tier) for the Turbo, Extreme and Ultimate tiers today. I called up customer service yesterday and was told it will happen on October 23rd. A Turbo tier subscriber, who lives in Hilo, was upgraded this morning. However, I haven't been upgraded yet after repeated attempts to reboot my cable modem

[Aaron S]

My modem didn't receive the new config file, so I had to jump through hoops to get my modem reprovisioned for the higher speeds this evening.

Oceanic also rolled out new Road Runner speeds today.

15Mbps/1Mbps
30Mbps/5Mbps
50Mbps/5Mbps
75Mbps/5Mbps
100Mbps/5Mbps

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Aaron -I upgraded my modem from a DOCSIS 2.0 to an 8 stream DOCSIS 3.0. It makes a huge difference with Nexflix and Hulu+. The programs load much faster, the movies start in less than 1/2 the time, and the quality is consistently high throughout a film. I live near the end of the line for Oceanic service, so this has solved a problem I've had with only getting the remnants of whatever bandwidth is left over during the high use hours in the late afternoon & evening. Thanks!

[Aaron S]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy my suggestion helped improve your
service. The DOCSIS 3.0 modems are huge upgrade over the DOCSIS 2.0 and 1.1 modems.

[rbakker]

Aloha Aaron / PrimalEdge / Anyone else

I'm about to get Oceanic Time Warner installed, thanks for all the great information.
Do you have a recommendation for a particular modem? The ones listed on the TWC website all seem to be DOCSIS 3.0 (so far).
http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/reside...modem.html

I suppose it's best if I get one that does wi-fi as well instead of getting a separate box for that.

For anyone else thinking of getting cable (where available!), please note that if you don't like the options shown online then try calling them. It seems you can get basic TV for less than the advertised $50 a month.

mahalo

[rocketman]

I got a Motorola sbg 6580 a few months ago, works fine. Around $120 on Amazon.

Ed

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I bought a Docsis 3.0 Motorola SB6141 a few months a go as well. I think it was $80something on Amazon. The first few weeks the speeds were far faster than my old Docsis 2.0 modem. Then, it seemed to taper off, but all in all on average it is still faster than the old modem.

My suggestion would be to get a Docsis 3.0 especially for Netflix, Hulu+, MUBI, etc. Or if you regularly download large files or programs. Otherwise if you just need a basic internet and email conection, you can find Docsis 2.0 modems on eBay for $15. In fact I have one available, modem only no wifi, slightly used but in good shape, $15 and no shipping charges if we meet somewhere.

[rbakker]

Thanks rocketman, I'm probably going to go order that one then.

Thanks for the offer PrimalEdge. Normally I'd take you up on it but I don't want to risk TWC having problems with a non-approved modem.
Also, maybe I will get into the movie streaming one day!