Spectrum Internet Rate Increase

[AaronS]

Spectrum has increased the cost of all their speed tiers by $5.00 a month. I made some phone calls to Spectrum and was able to get mini rate reduction on both of our Internet accounts. The promotional rate reduction is only good for one year, but at least I was able to reduce the monthly rate to 69.99 and 64.99 for the foreseeable future. Spectrum's Reddit page is good place to get ideas what to say to the CSR.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Spectrum sent me an email & letter that they were increasing my internet speed from 60 Mbps to 300 Mbps “at no extra cost” but also that my monthly payment will increase by $3.00. 
?

I called and asked whether they have a lower speed tier that would match Hawaiian Tel’s introductory offer, $39.95 for a year.

They gave me 100 Mbps for two years at  $29.99 a month.
877-515-8752

[BlackAkita]

That's the package we will probably get in Pahoa. On Oahu, I am so paranoid that I use both Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom. Why is a father so paranoid? Number one son could have his service hacked by Ddos'ers. He gets Spectrum (220 Mbps) and I get HT fiberoptic (with test speeds of 900 Mbps). The Nokia modem from HT is more reliable when HECO power is behaving like a yoyo. HECO has damaged a Bose speaker system, a Panasonic plasma tv, numerous battery chargers, Netgear router, a GE refrigerator, etc. Probably over 10 appliances or computers. Truly third world power.

[leilanidude]

BlackAkita - you need to have true UPS for your routers, etc. Then get a backup hotspot that you can deploy if service is going to be down a while. Work from home folks need to be prepared for anything.

[terracore]

If you ever see pure sine wave UPS units at Costco, buy as many as you think you'll need plus one for good measure. They almost never have real sine wave inverters in the warehouse and they don't ship them to addresses in Hawaii any more. Getting anybody to ship a UPS unit to Hawaii is almost impossible.

A UPS unit gets bonus points if it has AVR: "... uses Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) to correct minor power fluctuations without switching to battery power, which extends battery life. AVR is essential in areas where power fluctuations occur frequently." I got almost 6 years out of the batteries in two units I purchased from costco in 2018 which is about twice as long as usual and I'm assuming it's the AVR. I recently replaced the batteries using two 18AH batteries per unit (twice the size). They don't fit in the case but don't need to in my application and they cost half as much as ones that do.

[BlackAkita]

This is the sine-wave Cyberpower unit which is available at Best Buy (Honolulu). They seem to have a lifespan of only 2 - 4 years.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpower-...Id=6408459

I wish there were an intermediary who could ship it by container from Oahu to Hilo. Even simple items like lithium camera batteries are probably difficult to get to the Big Island.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

intermediary who could ship

Check with the cargo only air freight companies, Aloha Air, Trans Air. Not sure of current regulations, but they can ship some items that can’t go on passenger planes.

[terracore]

This is the sine-wave Cyberpower unit which is available at Best Buy (Honolulu). They seem to have a lifespan of only 2 - 4 years.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpower-...Id=6408459

I wish there were an intermediary who could ship it by container from Oahu to Hilo. Even simple items like lithium camera batteries are probably difficult to get to the Big Island.

All things wear out eventually, but I'm not aware of any lifespan specific to the UPS units.  The batteries have a fairly short lifespan because they are still using AGM (lead acid) but the batteries can be replaced.

Unfortunately getting replacement batteries shipped to Hawaii will often times cost more than getting a brand new UPS unit, which is why I chose to get my batteries directly from a USA manufacturer who uses flat rate boxes and can extend their free shipping anywhere the USPS sends flat rate boxes, including Hawaii.  As previously mentioned they don't fit in the case so aren't a drop-in replacement, but on the other hand they have twice the run time.  And they aren't made in China.

[knieft]

Spectrum sent me an email & letter that they were increasing my internet speed from 60 Mbps to 300 Mbps “at no extra cost” but also that my monthly payment will increase by $3.00. 
?

I called and asked whether they have a lower speed tier that would match Hawaiian Tel’s introductory offer, $39.95 for a year.

They gave me 100 Mbps for two years at  $29.99 a month.
877-515-8752

Good on you. After an hour plus on the phone, they offered $62 only. After I shut down all conversation about bundles. Guess we’ll be switching to HawaiiaTel soon for service in Ainaloa…

Cheers,
Kirt