Review by KidPanama 
UPDATED: 125 days ago
member for 6.6 years, 31 visits, last login: 111 days ago
 Rego Park,Queens,NY
 Contract price not specified.
 "It's a convienient alternative to Verizon DSL and other private ISPs."
 "Frequent service drops, slow speeds, and poor upload speeds."
 "It's"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
First things first, I have lived in 4 of the 5 boroughs of NYC, meaning that I have dealt with Time Warner in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and now Queens. Based on my experiences of dealing with the company in the past, I can honestly say that customer service isn't their strong point. I have lived in the Rego Park area for just over a year, and like I had before, I opted for Time Warner's Triple Play package that includes Cable, Phone, and Road Runner internet services. The prices were a bit higher than what I paid for Cablevision's package in the Bronx, but you really have no choice if you live in an area that is only serviced by Time Warner's services.
As far as Road Runner is concerned, I think I speak for the vast majority of Road Runner users when I say that you will never achieve the advertised speeds of 10000 Kbps down/ 512Kbps up for Road Runner standard or 15000 Kbps/ 768 Kbps for Road Runner Turbo. To be fair, it's nearly impossible to achieve exact advertised speeds with any ISP, but the problem with Road Runner is that they overload their nodes frequently, meaning that they oversell their service and that you will average 25%-30% of the speed that you are paying for. This is an everyday occurrence, which is a serious issue. When using their service during peak times I average anywhere from 1500Kbps to 3500 Kbps, this is unacceptable. Time Warner now offers Boost which is supposed to boost your connection speeds when the extra bandwidth is available, meaning it only works late at night or early in the morning when people are either sleeping or working. This is a serious problem for me, as I use a wifi router to browse the net with my computer and play online on Xbox Live (usually not at the same time), and Road Runner's poor latency affects online gaming in a big way.
To remedy the aforementioned problems, I upgraded to Road Runner Turbo two weeks ago, and guess what? It makes absolutely no difference. Sure I can get good download speeds off peak (upload speeds are generally unaffected), but I could do the same with Road Runner standard. When I check my speeds during peak hours like between the hours of 5pm-10pm, I usually average between 2500-4000Kbps, which is FAR below the 15000Kbps that I pay for. This is a problem that Time Warner needs to remedy, but they're in no rush since they have effectively monopolized Manhattan, Queens, and half of Brooklyn. Hopefully the eventual competition of FiOS will help them get their act together, but I won't hold my breath. Time Warner is renowned for playing this game of placing blame on their customers, instead of admitting that their services have plenty of room for improvement, meaning that you're wasting your time by complaining to customer service. The fact of the matter, is that you don't get what you pay for, and it's an issue that should really be addressed and taken into consideration.
Next of my gripes, is the FREQUENT disconnects in service. As if the inconsistencies in download speeds weren't bad enough, Time Warner has the dubious honor of being the most unreliable ISP in the Tri-state area. No exaggeration, I usually experience 1-3 disconnects a day, and they range in duration anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes. What am I paying all this money for again (over $250 a month for the triple play package)? I usually refrain from comparing providers, but when Cablevision was my service provider in the Bronx from 2004-2008, the service was exceptional. They offered everything that Time Warner offers and them some, at better prices. When I used Cablevision's Optimum Online service, the speeds were always blazing fast with low latency and no disconnects. The same was true even during peak hours. Oh, and let's not forget that Optimum Online's standard service is 15000Kbps down/ 2000 Kbps up, which is much faster than even Road Runner Turbo that I have now. During peak hours, with Optimum Online, I used to average somewhere in the 10000Kbps range. In my 4 years as a Cablevision subscriber, I must have experienced a disconnect maybe 2 or 3 times, as opposed to the 2-3 disconnects daily that I have to endure on Road Runner.Unfortunately for all of us, Cablevision does not service Manhattan or Queens, so it is Time Warner or bust.
The bottom line is that Road Runner is good when it works, but the frequent disconnects and inconsistent speeds are a cause for concerns for people who play games online and download large files. If Time Warner is your provider, go for it, because there are no other options. As for me, I hear RCN is also available in my area, and once I find out if the internet connections are more reliable and consistent, I may consider switching. For now, I will stay with Time Warner and Road Runner while I patiently await the arrival of Verizon FiOS in Rego Park. I just thought that I would give everyone else a heads up.
As if things couldn't get worse, somehow they did, which is to be expected from a company like Time Warner. I have "upgraded" to their Turbo service a month ago, and not only did it make no difference in speed whatsoever, but the speeds have now been more inconsistent than ever. I know I am not alone, but that's not the point. My advice to everyone is to avoid Time Warner and their shoddy Road Runner service like the plague if you can. I will be calling RCN tomorrow to see if they can service my area, so that I can drop Time Warner like a bad habit. For reference, I pay for speeds of 15000Kbps down and 768 up from their Road Runner Turbo service, yet this is the type of speed I get from their service recently:
[URL=http://www.speedtest.net][IMG]»www.speedtest.net/result/5260125···G][/URL]
Skip it at all costs, or you're throwing money down the drain.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of RoadRunner Cable |
|
RoadRunner Cable
(99)
(78)
![www.speedtest.net/result/5260125···G][/URL]](http://www.speedtest.net/result/526012521.png[/IMG][/URL]){kind=link}