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Oceanic upgraded Oahu Road Runner standard tier subscribers to 15Mbps a few months ago. They completed the network upgrades there first. These upgrades entailed upgrading the CMTS and reallocating analog spectrum bandwidth. The reallocation of this spectrum increased the amount of downstream channels from four to six.
Oceanic is slated to complete this reallocation around May 15th, 2013 on the Big Island. Then they'll increase the standard tier to 15Mbps after a 1-2 week testing period.
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Any word on when they'll upgrade their customer service? I'd rather take the download speed I'm presently getting, but be able to talk to someone who understands what's wrong when there's a problem. In my experience, their first response is that the trouble is always with the customer's equipment. Even when you tell them you've checked everything before you've called (in an attempt to avoid calling them), they still make you unplug, reset, rewire, run hard cables between wireless connections... (yes, did that already, that too, you really want me to do it all of it again?)
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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They have been raising the main speed but not raising the extra speed you can pay for. If the standard is going to 15Mbps (used to be 5) then it no longer makes sense to pay $30 extra for 30Mps now as you were paying for 25Mpbs bump but now, its only 15. That package should now be at a higher rate for the extra $30.00.
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I quit Road Runner after they lost all my emails during a move then ranted about an upcoming speed increase to 10 MB/S but it was really only for Oahu. Combined with numerous service dropouts and apathetic customer service, I decided to take my business elsewhere.
Guess I will believe it if people are cheer-leading after the change-over rather than before anything really happens. Bear in mind that advertising is trying to get people to buy something they don't need and previously didn't even know existed.
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Welcome to fast internet, circa 2004.
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You should check what the actual speed is. FWIW, I just moved to Oahu, and the speed of standard here is 20 Mbps rather than 15 as stated. Not to be too ungrateful for the extra speed (I don't really need it), but this kind of thing kind of pisses me off - because it means that someone who goes through their website will be ripped off for $70/mo for "turbo" if they think they need 20Mbps, when it seems to be what you get with the standard speed at their "special rate" for $30.
Whatevas on cable MR ... Inquiring minds want to know why you moved : )
aloha,
pog
P.S. Glad you still 'here' though.
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How do you know its 20Mbps, not 15Mbps? Did you do a speedtest? Their website says the standard tier is 15Mbps (10Mbps on the neighbor islands). The 20Mbps/2Mbps tier costs 20.00 more a month.
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You can find out your speed by going to
http://speedtest.oceanic.com/ Sadly though, that only gives you the speed from your computer to their router not out to the internet everywhere else. For instance you can check your speed there, mine is currently showing 30Mbps, then go to
http://www.dslreports.com/tools (I use the java option as its more accurate) and I end up with about 9Mbps. Don't be sucked in by the scam, the only reason I pay for the extra is not for the speed as you wont get much, but my pipe is bigger so I can be on my computer while 2 others are watching streaming TV from the internet and I see no difference on my computer connection. With the standard, if they are watching streaming TV and I go to play an online game its lag hell. Its really not about the speed anymore just the size of the pipe coming in. Remember its the speed you CAN receive at, not the speed every one is SENDING at.
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I tested it at
http://www.speedtest.net, but it came out the same at the Oceanic site that ourdoc linked to. I tried several of the others at the dslreports site*, and most were slower, but that's because you're connecting to places through a maze of connections and whatever choke point you pass through is what slows you down. I still hit 20Mbps connecting to one in Chicago:
http://chicago.il.speedtest.frontier.com
As for why I moved, same as before - job ran out, the one I got was over here. Unfortunately, while I've lived on the Big Island for a total of more than 10 years over the past 20, it's never been for more than 4 years at a stretch
And strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to Punaweb over here. You'd think that with this many people and complicated issues and politics there would be multiple forums, including for the different areas, but I can't seem to find any (except for a few that have almost all new arrivals, like city-data.com).
*FWIW, most browsers warn that the Java plugin used for the test mentioned (which is not the same as Javascript used in most sites) should be disabled because of the potential for exploits.
