[XCSSA] Once again, cable vs DSL, and also Grande

Wed Mar 18 23:28:30 CDT 2009

I have TWC and WHEN the service works, it's great, ~25M/1.9M.  Problem is
everytime I really need it, it's out.  I use it to work from home, and
loosing a remote X session is hell, ssh with screen isn't too terribly bad,
but highly annoying.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/432540941.png

I've missed several hours of work waiting on their techs to come out and
tell me there's nothing wrong.  I call national help desk and they say I
have a problem with the modem "flapping", get transfered to local "modem
specialist" and they say nothings wrong, but my connection is up and down.
I even unplugged the cable from the modem and they guy told me there were no
problemd, I told him it was disconnected and he got very irritated and the
call was mysteriously dropped, should have followed the 1st rule and got his
ID#.. go figure...  That is the point where I called ATT and got DSL,
determined to ditch TWC, but the download speed was too much for me to give
up on.  I'm almost 100% certain that it's an issue with moisture in one of
their lines or amps.  It seems to go out when the sun is out and things
start to warm up.  Anyway they won't come check their lines, someone has to
be home and they have to see a problem while they are here which is like
taking your car to a mechanic for that weird noise, which never sounds when
the mechanic is around.

I have DSL as a backup, and it's always on and very reliable, but not too
fast, I got the $10/Mo. basic package, works for SSH, and I even watched a
netflix movie (The Worlds Fastest Indian - highly recommended) without any
issues.

I would love to get U-Verse, but there not in my hood yet, and I can't see
ATT pulling fiber to 100 year old houses anytime soon.  Grande isn't
available either... =(

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 12:17 AM, X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio <
xcssa at xcssa.org> wrote:

> My Time Warner Roadrunner cable modem service went out last weekend.
> It seems like it does that at least once a year about this time.  I
> called service on Sunday night.  Used to be they'd answer then, but
> now they just took message and I still haven't gotten a return call.
>
> Last time it went out, I said to myself if it went out again before
> too long, I'd switch to AT&T DSL.  OK, here I am making that decision
> now.
>
> AT&T Elite DSL claims to get 6mbps.  Is that true?  Price seems
> slightly cheaper than cable modem, but as usual I'll have to get the
> second bill to be sure of that.  It's close.  One friend of mine says
> "DSL is slow" but 6mbps is fine for me now.
>
> Non-turbo cable (what I have now) claims 7mbps and turbo cable claims
> to get 15mbps, but online reviewers are very critical of the claim
> for Turbo.
>
> The AT&T website says I can get AT&T Elite.  AT&T was out in my
> neighborhood last year for months rebuilding a shed that is basically
> next door to my house, so I think I can get all their latest stuff
> including U-Verse.
>
> I do not want U-Verse or any such package.  Just internet.  I get my
> TV from Dish satellite and will not change that until someone else
> has both FSTV and Link TV channels.  Cable has neither.  DirectTV has
> Link TV but not FSTV.
>
> I can also get Grande, they were out a couple of years ago setting up
> my neighborhood.  How is that?  They claim 8mbps for $39.95 and
> 12mbps for $49.95.  I know the neighborhood was hooked up with fiber
> but I don't know if they run fiber to each house.  I might get the
> 12mbps package if it actually delivers that, also gives twice the
> upload speed (useful for media sharing stuff like Orb and VNC, I'm
> not doing any hosting).
>
> Charles Peterson
>
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