 Review by tcp1 
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 8.4 years, 412 visits, last login: 27 days ago
 Herndon,Fairfax,VA
 $59 per month
 about 2 days
 "FAST. Automated tech support can actually solve problems."
 "Hard to get a live person somtimes, when you do, not always a help. Network monitoring is lousy."
 "Fastest broadband I've used."
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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UPDATE - 9/17/06:
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When Cox works, it works great. When it doesn't, it's a problem.
Cox seems to still have problems monitoring their network - they don't seem to notice problems until dozens of people have called in, and then, it takes about two weeks for them to get their stuff together and get things fixed. This is especially true with problems that only affect a part of their userbase.. (That is, anything but TOTAL widespread network failure.)
Slow speeds are a sticking point - the techs seem to have been told that this is generally a computer configuration issure, or due to an errant customer router. It's very difficult to convince them that the problem's on their network. Have them ping your modem, and log it in their account. Offer to send a traceroute to keep on record in your account notes.
Once they notice the problem, they generally fix it quickly, and fix it well.
Tip: ALWAYS CALL IN and schedule a tech visit when there's a problem, even if you have no intents of keeping the tech appointment or don't feel like calling in. THIS IS HOW THEY NOTICE AND REACT TO NETWORK PROBLEMS!
Tier 1 support is generally polite and willing to listen, but only helpful about 30% of the time. There are some good Tier 1 reps out there with Cox, but the majority go by the script.
Tip: Always be firm, but POLITE. This should go without saying. If you know you're on line with a useless tech, tell them to log the problem in your account, politely end the call, and call back in about an hour and get someone else. Sometimes this will take 2-3 tries until you get a competent tech, but generally, you will.
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Just recently upgraded to the Premier tier here in Herndon, VA - 15mbps down, 2 mbps up. This was from my previous "standard" 4/768, which I believe has now been upgraded to 5/2. I had to buy a new Motorola SurfBoard, which I did at Best Buy, and they were able to get it registered before I even got home from the store -- a simple call with the MAC address and I was done.
Granted, the cost for premier is pretty steep at $59, but for what I do, it's well worth it. The speed is unbelievable; using ReGet early in the morning on weekdays, I've seen 21mbps.
It does go out and have problems from time to time; only once in the past 2 years have I had any problem that lasted more than a day. Cox's new automated tech support can seemingly solve some of the simplest problems - modem refreshes, problems with head-end registration, etc. Sometimes it's hard to get through to a tech, and when you do, they seem awfully insistent on rolling trucks or going through the basic ipconfig / reboot the modem stuff.. However, if you let them know straight up that you know what's going on, they usually listen, and you usually get good results.
Cox has had their problems - such as the Toshiba PCX1100 firmware upgrade fiasco, but they made good on that, by offering everyone new modems the next day. That's light years better than the problems I had previously with Comcast.
I do wish Cox would roll this out in other areas, as I'm planning to move in 6 months -- and it should serve as an example to other cable ISPs that holding back speeds is nothing but a rip off and juicing us for all we can get... (One of the towns I was looking at moving to still had 1.5/256.. That's ONE TENTH what I get now!)
Cox is also a bit confusing with their crazy bundling and multiple fees, along with yearly price hikes -- but at least they seem to be listening to their customers and putting money back into the product.
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