My first post from home with my new Cable Modem! (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

Ah yeah, this is the life!
Shortly after getting back from work (new job), the cable guy showed up and hooked up both the cable service and Road-Runner. A few minutes working at it, and all is functional!
Now to go get a Router/Switch and get my roommate online.

 

[Rob Speicher]

If you need suggestions on a good router, I'm bias towards Netgear, ever since the Linksys router I bought crapped out after 2 days. The Netgear RO318 hasn't missed a step.
Enjoy the broadband life

 

[John_Berger]

My Linksys has been running for well over a year with no glitches.
It doesn't really matter which one you use as long as you're using a good hardware router.
Broadband rules, but I'll take my DSL over cable modem any day. I'm not sure what Road Runner's policies are, but it's clear that a lot of cable modem providers are becoming very draconian as to what you can and cannot access as well as how much data you can transfer, so always be on the lookout for changes in Road Runner's policies.

 

[DaveF]

I just grabbed a LinkSys 4-Port Router/Switch BestBuy had on sale. I chose RR because Frontier had significantly poorer customer service when I was just trying to get info!

 

[Andre F]

It's very true what John says about Cable companies and what you can and can't do. The biggest scare for me is the tired pricing I hear so much about.

Anyway, I've had the Linksys Cable/DSL router for about 1 1/2 years with no problems. Also, I've had a cable modem for about three years. Once you start using one you will never want to go back.

 

[John_Berger]

The biggest scare for me is the tired pricing I hear so much about.

The tiered pricing actually is not different than DSL when it comes to speed; but when they start throwing excuses about "you're using up bandwidth" I *really* start to get pissed, primarily when they do not differentiate when you're using bandwidth! If you're downloading like crazy at 3 AM, you are not impacting your local node since just about everyone else is asleep, yet cable companies look only at total bandwidth used, not aggregated usage.
Oh, don't get me started... I'm a UNIX and NT systems and network administrator, so I know that the cable companies are doing nothing but feeding their customers a load of sh*t just because they underestimated the demand and did not provide a proper infrastructure. So it's all the customer's fault for daring to want service. Cable company morons.
Okay, okay. I'm getting off my soap box.

 

[Andre F]

Here is what I have heard about upcoming plans. Mind you this is all off the top of my head and is probably inaccurate.

1. $35 a month: 450 kps
2. $50 a month: 750 kps
3. $80 a month: 1550 kps

Again, not accurate but you get the point. So the more you want the more you pay. I'm used to the standard 1.5mps per second for $45 a month and I would like to keep it that way...

 

[Carlo_M]

Andre, I think your estimates are off (but again, I'm also working from memory and may very well be wrong).
I thought that the 1.5Mbps was going to remain about $50 a month like we're paying. I think the $70-$80 one was going to be like a SuperMegaBit pipeline, like double the 1.5 speed or maybe even up to 10Mbps (not guaranteed, just max speed). Again, I could totally be wrong, but I do remember reading the tiered proposal and not being too terribly upset at it.

 

[John_Berger]

Chances are the $80 version will be for 4.5 Mbps. That is the speed that is getting commonly thrown around for that price.

 

[MikeyWeitz]

Not all cable is bad. Altho their TV is horrible ( I use DISH instead), Cablevision's OOL is second to none. I have a 5+Mb down/ 1Mb up connection and I pay $39.99 month. Would be 10 cheaper if I had their crappy cable TV pack as well. I still have at least another yr on my contract pricing to boot

 

[John_Berger]

I have a 5+Mb down/ 1Mb up connection and I pay $39.99 month.

**whistling** Now, THAT'S a sweet deal! Being the system administrative geek that I am, I would not be able to deal with the port blocking and other service restrictions that most (if not all) cable companies inflict on their customers. Most don't give a rat's rear end. Unfortunately, I do. C'est la vie.

 

[MikeyWeitz]

I pretty much cant host my own mail server. Thats about it. Not too to many restrictions on my end.