Time Warner Cable

[o0n8]

TWC has been sending me a bunch of deals trying to get me to switch, It's comparable to what I have now with AT&T but for a lot less. $90 for 12 months, $110 for the next 12.

 

CR, give me your horror stories and reasons why I shouldn't switch to TWC

[ShowHBK]

It is a well known fact that TWC throttles your connection and will charge you for things that you did not do or should not be charged for. you are welcome to go on Youtube and watch plenty of videos documenting horror stories of people working with TWC and their support.

 

They also have been voted "worst company in america" by a few internet voting polls.

 

If you have the option, I would go with WoW! or get a very fast AT&T connection, because I can speak from experience by saying that the low end AT&T Uverse package is a complete joke. Since everything is run from the same box (TV, phone, and internet) it lags your gaming or Netflix every time you switch to an HD channel. I tested this several times and even found that when you receive a phone call the internet speed would dip for a while. I hated AT&T and switch to WOW! and I am 100% happy with them.

[LJ]

I've been ok with Time Warner. We tried to swtich to WOW and we went back to Time Warner after 4 days. They couldnt get the signal right and it kept chopping up and going out. They came to bury the new line and the guy cut it when he was burying it. They refused to come out and fix it for a few days. So we went back.

[airwg2189]

I live in Lewis Center now. Internet is nowhere near as fast as advertised (Extreme, 30 MBPS, and we struggle streaming Netflix on 2 devices), and EXTREMELY laggy, like good pings for me nowadays are 200ms, but I regularly see over 500ms. TWC is the worst decision you could ever make if you game online. TWC's modem/router device is garbage with more than 4 devices connected at once, too.

 

Go with WOW! if it's in your area. I had it when I lived downtown and it was everything they advertised and more.

[RyM3rC]

I've had TWC off and on for about 5 years. From northwest and westish side homes I see pings around 30ms to most places. I have their superpoverty 2Mbps for $15/month, always tests between 2-2.5/1Mbps. Service goes out every month or two but comes back up quickly.

[ShowHBK]

I've had TWC off and on for about 5 years. From northwest and westish side homes I see pings around 30ms to most places. I have their superpoverty 2Mbps for $15/month, always tests between 2-2.5/1Mbps. Service goes out every month or two but comes back up quickly.

 

2Mbps? i'm so sorry

[sol740]

Like all things network/TV/Internet related the experiences are going to vary greatly, and almost solely dependant on your specific place in the network related to congestion/facilities/components/inside-wiring/ect. I would imagine you are far better off talking to your neighbors, finding out what they're doing and seeing if they're pleased with services, billing, so on.

 

For the record I have TWC, without any real choice beyond the local small Telco, whose network is relatively behind the majors (no fiber deployment). I had absolutely atrocious service despite paying for "Turbo" internet and digital cable with multiple DVRs. My throughout tests were half of advertised, and the HDTV service was super spotty, with annoying signal drops, and artifacting. After a solid years worth of complaining, and several tech-visits, they replaced my drop line and suddenly everything was as advertised.

 

It's been two years and everything seems ok, I'm at 80% or higher of advertised speeds, and the HDTV channels rarely if ever have the same issues. Billing-wise I have to play the "call and get a new promo" game every year or so. Caveat Emptor.

[jeffro]

Hint: They all suck and they will all take you around the block. Ive had both Time Warner and ATT. Actual service with both have been decent (we pay for 18/2 with att but see 30 regularly) but the customer service is bad for both. Bills always creep and have "misc" fees that were not there the previous month.

 

just my .02

[Supplicium]

TWC is the worst. Bills are never the same, when you call and ask about it you will get a different answer from each person. I have ATT and would gladly pay double to stay with them then to pay TWC.

[Fiji ST]

I've had Time Warner for about 6 years now. It's been good service overall. I haven't had too many problems with their CS. The guys I had who rerouted our cable lines when we did our patio were terrific though. They spent two days getting it situated which was a total shock.

 

They are raising my rates again and it's annoying to have to call in every year to negotiate it down. I don't know how long it will last (4th time I'll have to). Other than that, they're as good as you can get. I will say this though: Once the merger happens with Comcast, I am out. Fuck Comcast.

[unfunnyryan]

It is a well known fact that TWC throttles your connection

 

They don't.

 

The 2007 Comcast vs. FCC kind of made that illegal.

 

and then courts redacted that in 2010 but was shortly replaced with the FCC's 2010 Open Internet Rules making it illegal again but fuck it the 2007 case was better

Edited February 6, 2015 by unfunnyryan

[Sully]

I just have internet through TWC. I haven't had any issues with service for the past 7 years at my current place. I just noticed my bill jumped last month, so I called to see if I can get it lower again. She said that she couldn't lower it, so I asked what my current speed is so that I can start looking to switch. It was 15/1. She tells me to hang tight for a min to see if there's anything she can do. She says that she can't lower my bill, but can *upgrade* me to 20/2 and keep my bill the same price. I agreed to do that for now, but told her that I'd still be looking around at other services. The problem is, my only other option is AT&T. I'll be watching the mail for their offers. If I can get something comparable for a lesser price, I'll switch to try it out. I feel like TWC price gouges me because they know I don't have many options.

[unfunnyryan]

I just have internet through TWC. I haven't had any issues with service for the past 7 years at my current place. I just noticed my bill jumped last month, so I called to see if I can get it lower again. She said that she couldn't lower it, so I asked what my current speed is so that I can start looking to switch. It was 15/1. She tells me to hang tight for a min to see if there's anything she can do. She says that she can't lower my bill, but can *upgrade* me to 20/2 and keep my bill the same price. I agreed to do that for now, but told her that I'd still be looking around at other services. The problem is, my only other option is AT&T. I'll be watching the mail for their offers. If I can get something comparable for a lesser price, I'll switch to try it out. I feel like TWC price gouges me because they know I don't have many options.

 

They just raised their modem rental rates.

 

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS/dp/B00AJHDZSI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423164712&sr=1-2&keywords=cable+modem

 

That'll pay off in less than a year and will support fastest speeds + future speeds.

[Sully]

They just raised their modem rental rates.

 

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS/dp/B00AJHDZSI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423164712&sr=1-2&keywords=cable+modem

 

That'll pay off in less than a year and will support fastest speeds + future speeds.

 

Thoughts on this one since it has built-in wifi...

 

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-DOCSIS-Router-C3000/dp/B00IF0JAIU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423165172&sr=1-1&keywords=cable+modem+wifi

[87GT]

I've had Insight/TWC. They are expensive but my internet speeds are consistent. I tried WOW internet once. Worst idea I ever made. It was the same speeds at half of the cost as TWC. Sounded like a great deal. Every night after 7PM-12AM my speeds were 1-2Mb/s. Any other time of the day it was 20-30Mb/s. Customer service was kind of bad. All they did was read a script and if that didn't fix it lets send out a tech. The techs were nice people. I had the same one come out 2 out of the 4 times I complained. The 2nd time he gave me a brand new modem. He also rewired my connection from the pole to my house. He even replaced the wiring inside my house. It didn't fix the problem though. My guess is there are too many people around my house with WOW and it can not handle the load during peak hours. So I canceled and they didn't even try to get me to stay. "Oh I see we came out 4 times already and you still have issues... okay I will cancel you right now." Never had that ever happen when canceling anything.

 

TWC is fine now. I rather pay double for consistent speeds. Moral of the story if it works don't switch companies.

[2 Sweet]

TWC is the worst. Bills are never the same, when you call and ask about it you will get a different answer from each person. I have ATT and would gladly pay double to stay with them then to pay TWC.

 

This.

 

I've had WOW for the past year and a half, my gf has AT&T at her apartment, and both are 100000x better than Time Warner in every way shape and form. I play on xbox live and stream a shit ton of Netflix, etc and never have an issue. The program guide/menus on WOW look straight out of 1992, but that doesn't bother me.

 

Customer service for any cable company leaves a lot to be desired, but Time Warner is by fucking far the worst customer service in the history of cable.

[LJ]

I've had Insight/TWC. They are expensive but my internet speeds are consistent. I tried WOW internet once. Worst idea I ever made. It was the same speeds at half of the cost as TWC. Sounded like a great deal. Every night after 7PM-12AM my speeds were 1-2Mb/s. Any other time of the day it was 20-30Mb/s. Customer service was kind of bad. All they did was read a script and if that didn't fix it lets send out a tech. The techs were nice people. I had the same one come out 2 out of the 4 times I complained. The 2nd time he gave me a brand new modem. He also rewired my connection from the pole to my house. He even replaced the wiring inside my house. It didn't fix the problem though. My guess is there are too many people around my house with WOW and it can not handle the load during peak hours. So I canceled and they didn't even try to get me to stay. "Oh I see we came out 4 times already and you still have issues... okay I will cancel you right now." Never had that ever happen when canceling anything.

 

TWC is fine now. I rather pay double for consistent speeds. Moral of the story if it works don't switch companies.

 

Same thing happened when I canceled WOW. "Oh our guy cut your line and we can't fix it for a few days? Yeah we can go ahead and cancel your service".

 

Shitty thing is they have a pedalstal right in my backyard and there are always techs back there working. I should have known from how often I see them that the service would suck.

[87GT]

Same thing happened when I canceled WOW. "Oh our guy cut your line and we can't fix it for a few days? Yeah we can go ahead and cancel your service".

 

Shitty thing is they have a pedalstal right in my backyard and there are always techs back there working. I should have known from how often I see them that the service would suck.

 

I know a few coworkers that said nothing but good things about WOW. It must be better in certain parts of the city.

[ShowHBK]

I've had Insight/TWC. They are expensive but my internet speeds are consistent. I tried WOW internet once. Worst idea I ever made. It was the same speeds at half of the cost as TWC. Sounded like a great deal. Every night after 7PM-12AM my speeds were 1-2Mb/s. Any other time of the day it was 20-30Mb/s. Customer service was kind of bad. All they did was read a script and if that didn't fix it lets send out a tech. The techs were nice people. I had the same one come out 2 out of the 4 times I complained. The 2nd time he gave me a brand new modem. He also rewired my connection from the pole to my house. He even replaced the wiring inside my house. It didn't fix the problem though. My guess is there are too many people around my house with WOW and it can not handle the load during peak hours. So I canceled and they didn't even try to get me to stay. "Oh I see we came out 4 times already and you still have issues... okay I will cancel you right now." Never had that ever happen when canceling anything.

 

TWC is fine now. I rather pay double for consistent speeds. Moral of the story if it works don't switch companies.

 

 

I am honestly surprised by this story. We had WOW cable for 6+ years at 10/1 speed and had AT&T come along and offer us a lower price with the same speed so we switched to Uverse and were happy until we started gaming and watching TV all at once. We would change HD channels every 10 seconds and watch our ping spike when the channel changed then it would go back down to normal after a few seconds. Every phone call we got would lag our system as well. It was god awful and then for no reason AT&T jacked up our bill and said tough cookies. We were fed up so we went back to wow and their customer support has always been great for us and now gives us some sweet speeds at 15/4 right now for our old price.

 

Also... WOW! does maintenance during the night 10:00 PM -12:00 AM. I found this out because I am a night owl and frequently go to be around 1:00 AM and every now and then my modem does drop connection (once or twice a month) for a few minutes and then come right back up in 5 min. I called them on it and they said that in the Columbus area that's when they do maintenance.

 

Sorry about your experience though.

[vonrottes]

I've had ATT,TWC and wow over the years

 

ATT unless you have Uverse in your area.... Don't bother with their DSL

 

wow.... not much better than TWC in the fact that over the course of ONE year in galloway the internet went out once a month and they had to replace the modem 3 times with constant hiccups and random outages...

 

TWC... I've had 3 times of the last few years at various locations.

First time in the hilltop they were... OK speeds were great but reliability was meh. again with random outages and during "peak" hours the speed dropped A LOT

 

In Urbana, same thing...only they decided to randomly shut off my internet after 2 weeks until I went to Dayton and verified I was who I said I was with ID,SSC and a recent bill they took all my info and I got a call telling me I was supposed to pay off my mothers bill because I made a "fraudulent" account.

 

And now at the edge of columbus/galloway I've not had a single problem from them other than the UBEE modem I got from them is absolutely terrible.

[87GT]

I am honestly surprised by this story. We had WOW cable for 6+ years at 10/1 speed and had AT&T come along and offer us a lower price with the same speed so we switched to Uverse and were happy until we started gaming and watching TV all at once. We would change HD channels every 10 seconds and watch our ping spike when the channel changed then it would go back down to normal after a few seconds. Every phone call we got would lag our system as well. It was god awful and then for no reason AT&T jacked up our bill and said tough cookies. We were fed up so we went back to wow and their customer support has always been great for us and now gives us some sweet speeds at 15/4 right now for our old price.

 

Also... WOW! does maintenance during the night 10:00 PM -12:00 AM. I found this out because I am a night owl and frequently go to be around 1:00 AM and every now and then my modem does drop connection (once or twice a month) for a few minutes and then come right back up in 5 min. I called them on it and they said that in the Columbus area that's when they do maintenance.

 

Sorry about your experience though.

 

http://www.wowway.com/network-management/north

 

No one at customer service could explain II. NETWORK PRACTICES under A. Congestion Management: to me. I asked the techs that came out if they are truly throttling connections and they said no. I don't know what the truth is. I can tell you my house pulls more data than average users. We haven't had cable for 6+ years. When we are awake there is at least 2 devices streaming netflix/hulu/youtube. I checked my monthly data with TWC online account page. We use 400-500GB a month. I thought about trying UVERSE but they say they only allow 250GB a month then you get charged per 10GB of traffic. No one I know of that uses UVERSE ever comes close to this. I don't want to try it though. They charge a $150? one time setup fee.

[SRTurbo04]

Dvr boxes are dirt slow!!

[Stretch]

I had AT&T internet for 2 years and switched to TWC about a year ago. All bills have been just as promised, moving next week and had 0 issues with transferring service, connection speeds have been almost spot on with what I've been promise. Never had a single outage.

 

Very happy so far. AT&T was a nightmare for me.

[unfunnyryan]

Thoughts on this one since it has built-in wifi...

 

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-DOCSIS-Router-C3000/dp/B00IF0JAIU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423165172&sr=1-1&keywords=cable+modem+wifi

 

I would never go with a combination modem/router.

[Jackson1647545504]

I have uverses DSL and I'm at the max of their range, distance-wise

 

I like the TV software better than TWC/insight/wow.

 

I hardly ever call customer service so I could care less and the bill seems consistent.