The DirectTV guys are here and disconnected all television cable from TW Business Class and they encouraged me to test the connection and were sure I’d see a big speed increase. I pay for 7×1 speed (7Mbps download, 1Mbps upload) but have never gotten that speed steadily. The results are tragic.
The worst part of the speed tests was reviewing the Greensboro bandwidth availability compared to other cities in North Carolina. Click the pic to see how awful Greensboro compares to the rest of the state.
I was listening to Clark Howard yesterday and a caller was complaining that where she lived she only had a choice of dial-up or satellite (she didn’t say which company). She went with satellite because it was faster but was disappointed to find that they have something she described as “fair use” clause that throttles down your bandwidth to below dial-up speeds after a certain amount of data transfer.
I can understand your dissatisfaction with TWC, but you might want to make sure you read the fine print on a satellite service.
I guess I wasn’t clear. We ditched TW TV only. We kept TV Biz Class Internet. After they separated out the TV from the Internet, their guess was that the down/up speeds would be higher.
My bandwidth tests show that while they might have been higher than when the TV ran through the same wires, it’s still not at the level that they claim I’m supposed to get (7×1).
Like I said below. They didn’t understand the network technology. Your bandwidth won’t change. Cable networks are cable networks. Running television on the same lines as internet doesn’t even make that much of a dent since they’re rated for much higher data transfers.
Technically, they should be able to provide you with close to the speed. With what you pay for and the tests above, they should give you a discount since your down is around 5.4 or so consistently. If it was around 6.5, I’d say that you’d be screwed but it looks like there definitely is a cause there since there is definitely outside of standard deviation for business cable internet there.
I can’t vouche for their authority, but I found this:
http://www.high-speed-internet-access-guide.com/satellite/fair-access-policy.html
Satellite internet has about 350ms-500ms latency so the speeds will suck no matter what the bandwidth since you have to buffer up. I think the above however means that with television off of the cable, the DirectTV people thought that the cable internet would speed up. Which isn’t true, because the only speed television makes is the sharing within the house. Once the coax gets outside, it’s full-shared, which is based on how many users in your area on the same cable lines.
Unless you pull fiber directly to your house, or install like a full T3, it’s impossible to ever get your “full potential” speed in a crowded area on cable. DSL is limited by distance to CO.
Truthfully, the limitations to US broadband is just amusing. People think cable is fast, but when we won’t even upgrade to the current technology (DOCSIS 3.0) which would allow way higher speeds with only a modem change, that’s the sad part about it. On top of that, I have yet to see a clear HD signal consistently. Always particles or delays in the picture every so often. Definitely icky.
I just went to that site and tested mine. I’m paying for an advertised 5mps down/ 1mps up and it actually says my down is 6.9 and my up is .37, and that’s with the broadband phones plugged in and through my wireless…. I’ll admit, that’s one reason I’ve kept my cable internet… it’s never failed to deliver an over abundance of speed for me. Given the price though…. I’d consider an alternative if one of adequate capabilities ever came along.
Here’s the test link they provide for proof:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/643745544.png