 Review by Stacy 
UPDATED: 270 days ago
member for 7 years, 3140 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 New York,New York,NY
 $102 per month
 about 11 days
 "Fast and Cheap"
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(ratings match consensus)
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After almost 10 years with Speakeasy I decided it was time for a change. It had been far too long since Speakeasy delivered the speed they promise and I wanted the option of streaming video and downloading movie rentals. Fios wasn't available in my building and, from what I've seen, involves a lot of equipment. Cable seemed like the cheapest and most seamless alternative to DSL. I had hoped I could get an installation that would overlap and avoid any downtime Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Signed up for Double Play package - Standard Cable TV (300+ channels) and basic Road Runner, online via the Time Warner website February 25th. I took the first date that was available for an appointment -- Tuesday March 3rd. Time Warner sent email confirmation and telephoned me twice, the evening before as well as the morning of, to confirm the appointment.
The technician was scheduled to arrive between 10 am and two pm, but didn't get here until about 3:30pm. Unfortunately it had rained, briefly, around 1pm so, when the first technician decided the existing line was too old to support digital cable and internet, he said he'd have to schedule another appointment, when they could access the roof. Apparently they don't like to work outdoors if there been any inclement weather in the past few hours.
This was sort of a drag because I had already cancelled my DSL service presuming I'd have cable and I missed some primary coverage but I didn't seem to have much choice but to wait until Friday. I could understand if this was a single or two family house, but in fact it's a six story tenement building with a regular staircase leading to the flat roof. But I guess it isn't for me to determine what's safe for Time Warner technicians.
Friday, March 7th, a different technician arrived on time and felt the existing line was perfectly adequate. He installed a Samsung SMT-H3050 HDTV tuner and wired modem line over a doorway and around the baseboard to the computer. The RCA Digital Broadband modem is considerably smaller than I had expected.
Initial speed test looks promising.
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DAY TWO - I realized that the tv was mono only when Cable is selected although it normally has stereo and simulated surround sound. Apparently the technician used coaxial cable to connect the Samsung SMT-H3050 to the tv rather than composite video and stereo cables, which is the recommended configuration on the Time Warner website. Not only did I not receive this cable, but I didn't receive the manual or the box for the Samsung SMT-H3050.
DAY THREE - While trying to set up my email and newsgroups I began to realize that the only information I was given was my username and password which was printed on the receipt. There was no information about setting up webmail, newsgroup settings, website, or even the url where this kind of information might be available. Fortunately it is available on DSLReports forums.
While updating this review my connection suddenly dropped out. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend.
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