how-to block ads
|
next review in page
 Review by Taino 
member for 2.6 years, 984 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 24 days ago
 Bronx,Bronx,NY
 $106 per month about 10 days "Speed, Uptime of internet services" "HDTV freezes/stutters every now and again" "Good value for the money. I live in a FIOS area so I was able to go without a contract and reasonable prices for Boost"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
My only complaint has to do with the HDTV and not the internet service. There is a stutter on HD channels. A freeze of a second or so sometimes accompanied by pixelization. Rebooting the cable box fixes the issue but it will pop up again after 3 or 4 days. All the Optimum techs say is to reboot the box. I had a tech come and check the line and all signals are within (actually exceed) their operating standards.
As far as the internet goes I get 50/20 and have never had a problem with it. Using the service for 3 months now. I can play all of my online games with great ping times and no lag.
Comments:
 | | lol 20mb upload You wish your upload was 20. try again chap. | |
|
| |
 | next review in page (previous review)
 Review by StreetSpirit
member for 10.7 years, 5424 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 25 days ago
- Roslyn,Nassau,NY
- $115 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 7 days
- "Boost Plus over D3 is amazing! All tiers received a slight speed bump!"
- "Boost PLUS is expensive, $65 p/m. Standard OOL is a bit less at 50p/m considering you do not have any other Cablevision services"
- "YMMV - My area now utilizes all 8 downstream channels. Promo pricing is available if FIOS is nearby."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
* Note - This review is updated by top posting. Apologies but it's too late to reformat it.
April, 2013 - »[OOL] Received monthly price relief for aging Mom. Thanks OOL..
»/r0/download/2···5-12.png
A few weeks ago, my Mom needed to go to a hospital for a spell. She really enjoys her OOL/iO service, but of course paying and not using it can become an expensive proposition. She asked me to call CV on her behalf. thinking of suspending service for a few weeks until health had improved a bit.
I thought I might get a one time credit or perhaps a one time waiver of a few bucks, but was very surprised that the billing rep gave her a great deal - $29.99 OOL, 3 months free iO with $29.99 thereafter for two years! NICE! The rep did not make a big to-do about her being a customer for years, and not using oV [she has a lifeline and is on my cell plan with Virgin to keep in touch with siblings, children and nephews.]
So if you're having a hard time making ends meet, give CV a call. YMMV of course as with anything but in this case they did good and deserve some praise.
May 7th, 2011 - I was given an Arris modem as well, and returned my Motorola D3 (6120). There were firmware issues which stopped the ability to deliver the new tier, BOOST PLUS. Five minutes later, I ordered the tier. My modem reset, and that's all she wrote!
BOOST PLUS is advertised as up to 50mbps down, and 8mbps up. This is quite good and I have not seen it fluctuate during prime time. Not only that, they've began to quietly overprovision both the standard and the BOOST/BOOST+ tiers. For example, the standard tier is now provisioned at 22,000,000
I have long wanted to get more upstream bandwidth under BOOST, so this Boost Plus (the little brother of Ultra) is a God-send.
I'm paying exactly the same as with boost, $65 dollars. I'm using a netgear router which can keep up with the speeds.
You'll like this tier!
Dave
==============================================================
January 17th, 2011 - My Mom in Brooklyn began to experience severe prime time slow downs. A tech was sent out and installed an ARRIS TM802G DOCSIS 3 modems. Her speeds are 15.6mbit/sec down & 2.02 mbit/sec up , quite stable. She has Netflix and such built into her TV, and subscribes to Netflix and Hulu Plus and was experiencing constant re-buffering with her SBv5120. This has been solved with the ARRIS modem, even during prime time.
The ARRIS TM802G modem is provisioned as a DOCSIS 3 device, and has so far taken care of the problems.
If you're having speed issues with OOL and your line has been tested OK, ask the rep for a D3 modem - make sure to note it so the tech brings one.
-----------
July 24, 2010 - A DOCSIS 3.0 modem was installed at my home. I got the Motorola SBv6220. I have BOOST and am very happy with the results.
The speeds stay pinned at 33mbit/5mbit.
Atta OOL!
-------------------
March 10th, 2010
My Brooklyn 11224 "BOOST" speeds continued to under-perform to 1/3rd or so of their advertised speeds, and 1/5th during prime time. As I only subscribe to OOL internet service in Brooklyn-11224, I was paying $65, or $15 dollars extra for basically nothing.
I dropped BOOST from my account and now see such wonderful speeds as below, anytime when normal folks like to make use of their Internet, when the kids want to use their multiplayer games and so forth.
»www.speedtest.net/result/744427080.png
»www.speedtest.net/result/744428735.png
Here's another result, an FTP download from a fast, public site:
--22:09:38-- »ftp://ftp.ea.com/pub/easports/demos/ma···Demo.exe
=> `Madden2004_Demo.exe'
Resolving ftp.ea.com... 159.153.229.106, 159.153.229.107
Connecting to ftp.ea.com|159.153.229.106|:21... connected.
Logging in as anonymous ... Logged in!
==> SYST ... done. ==> PWD ... done.
==> TYPE I ... done. ==> CWD /pub/easports/demos/madden2004 ... done.
==> PASV ... done. ==> RETR Madden2004_Demo.exe ... done.
Length: 69,754,368 (67M) (unauthoritative)
5% [===> ] 3,946,380 110.57K/s ETA 10:16
As you can see, 110KB/s = 1100kilobits/second = 1,100,000bps = 1/15th of advertised speeds. Furthermore, my signal levels are fine, and many techs (both contractors and OOL techs) confirmed the same speeds outside at the node.
This is essentially "planned negligence" on the part of Cablevision. They know that they're basically the only game in town in many areas. You can bet you'd see more response if a FIOS equipped area was experiencing these types of degraded speeds.
(Personally, imo a few thousand D3 modems given to the people having most problems would go a FAR way, but those are just my outdated concepts of corporate loyalty and customer good will in this brave new world. )
=======================================
February 19, 2010
------------------------
I am still with Cablevision and still have OOL BOOST utilizing a Motorola SBv5121xm.
The forum has many people on 15/2 accounts posting of 1-2mbps (yes, 1/15th or less) downstream during prime time, starting to decline in noon and continuing to early afternoon and incrementally becoming worse, until the evening/early night is unbarably slow.
Others have been reporting that Cablevision OOL has began to install DOCSIS 3.0 Cisco DPC3000/Moto6120/6220 modems for severely congested users. What defines severely congested is anyone's guess, but one really has to get on them to receive a DOCSIS 3 modem without subscribing to ULTRA.
People report that as soon as their modem is provisioned for 3 downstream channels, their speed problems dissipate instantly.
People are also reporting that one can purchase a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, but the willingness of Cablevision OOL to provision them for a 3 channel profile is right now under question. Some people report no problems, others get a run-around. Not a safe option at this moment in time, perhaps very soon when the provisioning situation is fleshed out.
I now have 3 OOL accounts: 2 BOOST, 1 ULTRA & MEDICAL OFFICE my Wife practices out of.
Dave
Written on a brand new i7-920 OC @ 3.0 / 9 GB DDR3 1066MHZ / Nvidia SLI rig / SSD coming this week, running Virtual machines of UBUNTU 9.1 and XP SP3. God I LUV these beautiful rigs of 2010!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Sometime around December, again our speeds took a SEVERE dive.
July 24, 2009
------------------
OOL Boost has been performing well in my case, which caused a re-assessment of my review. Brooklyn has been doing well, and more importantly, the medical office in Roslyn Heights has not experienced any problems for a while now, maybe upwards of 8 months.
I currently have OOL BOOST in three locations, Brooklyn 11224, Roslyn [Nassau County] 11576 and a BOOL [ Business OOL ] in a medical office in the Roslyn Heights 11577 next door to my home.
This review previously focused on the poorest performing line, the one in Brooklyn, however, I decided to take into account all three accounts and recent developments of the new ULTRA tier, which literally is the fastest residential cable service in the country!
I love the BOOST perks, and have had good courteous people help me in time of need. As things were not always so smooth, this review had years of history. It's no longer accurate, and I decided that after 8 years, to wipe the slate clean and begin fresh from 2009.
It's by no means a perfect service. There are many problem areas, and it seems the way Cablevision reacts is to send the customer with the problem a string of cheap contractors, who'll try this, and that, and the other thing, usually by changing a splitter or clipping/replacing the heads of coax cables, or swapping your modem for the umpteenth time. The problem is, the previous contractor did all of that!
It takes a lot of energy and persistence to even get them to admit there's a problem.... This of course drives customers nuts and causes churn to FIOS.
Cablevision has to really look at this policy of sending inept people who do not wish to spend more than a couple of minutes at your home. But real techs cost $, heh.
Yes, I had long standing downstream problems on one of my accounts, and yes, I am not always the happiest camper, however, taking into account the free wi-fi access which to this customer is very handy (say I'm visiting relatives in Bklyn. Three city blocks from their home is the Coney Island boardwalk, and a hotspot _right there_. - ie, pick a bench or lay down a towel, and start surfing!
I used this when we went to the NYC Aquarium a few weeks ago. While the kids were oogling the fishies, I was googling the species and giving them interesting little facts about them on my wife's iPhone!
Now that's progress! The pace at which technology is moving these days is incredible. For example, ePaper fooled both me and my wife! And no tree huggers need suffer - no trees are hurt in the manufacture of ePaper!. 
I've had admirable downstream speeds, and the cable connection itself is as steady as a rock in all three places. The office connection has not gone down in over a year; my modems have uptime in the months!
Summer is here, and my signal levels did not creep upwards. Speeds like I said have been up to par, and generally I've been happy with the way it functioned since February.
The news however is not about BOOST.
Optimum Online introduced a DOCSIS 3.0 tier, the first one in our case. I uploaded some screen captures from various posted speeds on the Ultra plan.
The tier is residential, costs $99 dollars, uses 3 channels bonded together [609mhz, 615mhz, 621mhz IIRC (surprisingly, it shares one of the 6mhz wide channels with BOOST, 609mhz.).
The ULTRA tier has not yet introduced upstream bonding due to lack of certified equipment, however, I'm sure now that Verizon is running it's 50/20 tier at 50/35, we shall see some upstream improvement with time as hardware becomes less expensive and more sophisticated.
The ULTRA tier costs $99 dollars per month, however, there's a controversial 300 dollar "activation fee" on top of the 40 install fee. This is obviously to prevent month to month dabblers from month to month customers who just want to experience those speeds for a few months.
The ultra screen captures are _reproduced courtesy if people in the Optimum Online Forum.
Regards
Jan 19 2009
---------------
Packet loss rears it's ugly head. Not a single word from OOL or Cablevision, "All systems are GO!" on their never-changing network status screen, they have all our email, info, telephone numbers and can easily let us know at least when calling that a tech wouldn't help. Well here's the latest from the dysfunctional world of OOL where customers have to share tidbits of news with themselves just to figure out wtf is going on with their broken service:
»[OOL] Solution for slow OOL.
---
1/5/2009
OOL and BOOST and not performed very well since November, but that could just be holiday traffic... Many question whether full price for BOOST is still a worthy deal.
»[OOL] Atrocious peak time speeds continue. Nothing fixed in bkly
»Terrible Speeds, Brooklyn NY
»[OOL] Really Poor speeds in 11235 & Information about Nuvision
»Bronx Boost issues
»[OOL] Atrocious Speeds in 08901
And there's many more.
I'm fed up enough to consider leaving for inexpensive DSL. Why should I continue to pay premium price for this crap? 4mbit downstream?! OOL lost their marbles. I will give them a month or two to get their act together...
If you;re in Brooklyn and are thinking of getting OOL, or especially upgrading to BOOST, consider waiting until Cablevision gets it's act together.
===
BOOST DOWNSTREAM FIX STATUS: not yet repaired....  , not going to be repaired.
FIRST DATE OF PROBLEM AND REPORT TO ISP: 12/2007...
^
Too long of a story to bother with.... it's resolved as of now. ... Snipped
** NOTE - The below screen captures are only to demonstrate people's posted speeds on the ULTRA plan. I do no yet subscribe to Ultra. Three BOOST accounts is enough for now.
--
Thanks for reading my half-coherent ranting,
Dave
PS Below screenshot is of BOOST PLUS 5/2011
Attachments:
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by JoeSchmoe007
member for 10.3 years, 1932 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 26 days ago
- Brooklyn,Kings,NY
- $30 per month
- about 4 days
- "20/2 for $30 for 12 months - what's not to like?"
- "It would be great to have faster upload speed."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
4/28/2013 update
==============
I am still completely satisfied. Since hurricane Sandy I either work from home or remote into my home network from the office, so I use connection at least 8 hours a day and can give feedback about connection reliability because I immediately notice when it goes offline. I've lost connection 3-4 times but outage never lasted more than several minutes (except during the hurricane when electricity was out. Connection came back at about the same time when electricity was restored). One other time I received an email from OOL about outage that occurred late at night - I never noticed this one.
All my services that use OOL (VOIP and video streaming) are still working fine.
I recently upgraded to Boost and my actual speed are 57/8. This really makes no difference for my usage because none of the streaming services I use (Amazon, VUDU) can take advantage of that. Amazon HD maxes out @ 18 MBit/s (peak), VUDU HDX is about 8-10 MBit/sec (sustained). There is no perceptible difference in browsing either. I don't do any P2P or much downloading/uploading so I may just go back to 15/2 again.
OOL WiFi comes handy often.
9/17/2012 - one week review
========================
I switched from Verizon FIOS because after promo ended they wanted $70 for 15/5 internet only service.
I now have internet only service from Cablevision - 15/2 advertised, 20/2 actual speed. $30/month for one year, no contract.
I was able to order and pick my installation date online. Installer called that he was running 1 hour late but actually was on time at the end. Installer visit was required ($19.95) - I didn't have any present active service with Cablevision and installer had to connect me back to their distribution box even though I had service from them in the past and apartment was wired. After installation I received a call from CV customer service to confirm that everything went fine - nice touch.
I live in apartment building with a lot of neighbors using OOL but so far my speeds are consistent 20/2 (even though 15/2 is advertised) at any time I tested. Hint: on speedtest.net sometimes OOL server will not have fastest ping times. I usually get 11 ms ping times to TowerStream server in NYC.
I watched several HD movies via Amazon Prime and didn't have a single hiccup. I also switched my landline to VOIP provider and use it via this internet connection with zero problems (I didn't even bother setting up QOS yet).
The only thing I would like improved is to have higher upload speed in this speed tier. I would even be ok with giving up some download speed - 15/4 would be fine.
I contacted customer service via chat to find out my account number to register online and there was literally no wait and they were very useful.
A nice bonus is free WiFi access in a lot of Cablevision service area or in their partners area.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by tmm0804
member for 4.3 years, 169 visits, last login: 22 days ago
updated 31 days ago
- Haskell,Passaic,NJ
- $270 per month
- about 2 days
- "Widely available, bandwidth is good, service people are available and mostly knowledgeable. I think their field techs are great."
- "More upload bandwidth would be nice..."
- "Affordable bandwidth that is usually available. Field techs are great, never had a problem with any of them."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I am running a Boost Plus residential and business line into my home office. I'm also using Optimum cable and phones. Couldn't be happier.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by bronxlcsw
member for 7.6 years, 583 visits, last login: 66 days ago
updated 68 days ago
- Bronx,Bronx,NY
- $145 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 2 days
- "The second fastest and most reliable ISP period. End of story."
- "Are you kidding. Samsung Boxes are real bad"
- "This would be my second option after FIOS but it has its pluses as does FIOS"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
March 17th 2013
After moving around like a gypsy the last 10 years i have settled down to live at the Throggs Neck Country Club area of the Bronx. The ordering was real easy online but i was not happy that even after i completed my order only and got a tel number assigned along with an install appointment i got a call from cablevision sales . They said i had to finalize the order with them but i was assigned another telephone number with different area code. I want happy. I also asked for 3 cable cards for my 3 tivi boxes. Thats becuase the samsung boxes take forever to change channel and they freeze alot. . You cant attach external hard drives and the list goes on.... After an adventure getting the right tivo cards installed i have the right cards and am generally satisfied with the television service. However, its the internet that really shines. I have the boost plus service and i get 60mbs down wich is more than the 50mbs promised.I also like the fact that OOL has all those hot spots all over the city. It allows me to connect my tablet when i am in range. Sure wish they had more of these. Phone service also good.
May 6th 2009
Well Verizon fios became available and for economic reasons i made the switch to FIOS. However, i dont retract anything i previously wrote about OOL. They are still in my opinion the best and fastest internet available. This is even more true because they have started to offer 102MBS download. I will miss the high speeds and reliability.
July 4th 2008
Well I actually am in my 8th year with OOL and its been there 99.99 percent of the time. Even when i experimented with Directv and Dish Network i still remained loyal to OOL and Optimum Voice. There is nothing better period. End of story. Its simply the best. When other ISP providers are actively testing new bandwidth limits OOL keeps its promise of truly unlimited service. I will remain a loyal OOL customer even if FIOS comes to my block.
5/25/07 Well I moved and in order to get the triple play discount again my wife used her name for opening an account. As a result we have phone, internet and OOL internet. The boost service is what we have and its very very fast. 30mbs down and 5mbs up. On all the tests i get about 95% of advertised speed. Its amazing. I do alot of legal music downloading from yahoo music and can download say 100 songs in 10 minutes or less. The only issue i have is that the boost service comes with webhosting. The tools they give though are not to user friendly to computer novices.
Well after i posted the below review OOL decided to Boost speeds to compete with verizons upcoming FIOS service. I personally think they are overreacting because in NYC area where most residents live in apartment buildings Verizon has yet to come up with a viable plan to offer FIOS to MDUs. OOL has boost 30mbs down and 2mbs up. Its very reliable but due to recent upgrades there were outages that lasted several days. This was unfortunate but this has only happened once in 5 years. Speeds are close to advertised. Customer service is great if you know who to talk to. I usually ask a VIP for assistance on disconnects and he has been a blessing. I only wish the offerings from there video unit and VOIP was as good. I would sign up.
I had the service years ago when they started in yonkers. It was rock solid then and i actually thought speeds would decrease over time. They have not. What you see is what you get. close to adverstised speeds on a wireless g router nontheless.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by DarkAssassin
member for 5.6 years, 598 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 71 days ago
- Brooklyn,Kings,NY
- $49 per month
- about 5 days
- "Great Speed"
- "N/A"
- "Great ISP with Excellent Speeds"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
UPDATE 3/14/13
It's been 3 years since I've last updated but I'm still using Optimum Online. Speeds were at one point peaking at 22Mbps but now, I still get a healthy 15-20Mbps usually including during peak hours and upload has always been at 2Mbps no matter what throughout the years. For a 15/2 connection, this service has been worth every penny and more.
UPDATE 1/16/10
It's been a while since I updated but service is still pretty good. The unfortunate part is that the node may have been oversold since sometimes at night and on the weekend, the speed drops to 2Mbps which is ridiculous. Otherwise, internet service during other times is as great as it gets . BTW, Verizon FiOS is now available here in 11229 and in the entire area of Southern Brooklyn.
UPDATE 4/12/08
Optimum Online is still working great as I get up to 14Mbps consistently. Only issue is that at nights, my speed will drop to as low as 7Mbps but only during peak hours so I can deal with it. Verizon FiOS is being deployed in my neighborhood as both the Ave. R and Ave. Y COs in the area are getting FiOS installed so hopefully, there'll be more options in the future.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I started off using AOL Dial-Up and decided to switch to broadband. Tried to order Verizon DSL but it was unavailable to me even though I was a couple blocks away from the CO. Decided to get Optimum Online instead and ordered the regular 15/2 package online. The installer came on time and installed all the wiring and the SBV5120 Modem correctly and neatly. I usually get speeds of 10-13.5 Mbps but during peak hours, my speed will sometimes drop to 8-9 Mbps but I can live with it.
Comments:
jades
join:2013-04-01
New York, NY | I think it's time for a modem upgrade Get them to switch you to a docsis 3.0 modem. Currently they're deploying arris modems to do the job. Basically just call and say your only getting 2 Mbps and issue occurs even when a pc is directly connected
You'll need to really connect a pc so they can see in your connection history that your modem was rebooted and equipment was switched. That will speed the process for them to send you a tech without making excuses
Been a customer for over a decade and Internet is rock solid. The moment I saw a decrease in speeds during congested hours, a tech switched us to a docsis 3.0 modem and the issue has been permanently solved | |
| | | | Re: I think it's time for a modem upgrade If you read the review, I had that problem 3 years ago... I don't have any issues nowadays. | |
| | | jades
join:2013-04-01
New York, NY | Re: I think it's time for a modem upgrade Wow! Came up at the top of my page. Oops | |
|
| |
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by OnHEL
member for 12.7 years, 2580 visits, last login: 3 days ago
updated 74 days ago
- Valley Stream,Nassau,NY
- $45 per month
- about 2 days
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Moved out of their service area several years ago so cant comment on their current service.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Viet Vet
member for 7.4 years, 6919 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 75 days ago
- Oceanside,Nassau,NY
- $148 per month
- about 3 days
- "Speed has been consistently 17-19MBS in off peak and 9-11 MPS in Peak times."
- " Level one support is poor!"
- "The monthly cost mitigates, the hassle of switching to FIOS."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
I am an ex employee with a less than stellar view on OOL management and the way they treat there employees. I left of my own accord after over four years of service. The only thing management cares for is it`s self and getting the the sub of the phone and taking the next call. There HD service is improving.
Feb.2013, I really have nothing bad to say about Optimum, for the time I have had it it was very reliable. We lost service like every one else for two week do LIPA power issues. But all good things will come to an end; I am going to FIOS on March 1st. Three tel lines, 5 boxes (2 are DVR`s). $89.00 + tax for two years. My monthly for OOL was almost $200.
Good by CV Hello FIOS
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by antde2001
member for 75 days, 3 visits, last login: 62 days ago
updated 75 days ago
- Bronx,Bronx,NY
- Contract price not specified.
- "Speeds are often reliable and beat the competition on price per bit."
- "When speeds are compromised, they suffer a extraordinary decrease in rate which is quite noticeable when viewing multimedia."
- "With a price that still bests the competition and an exceptional customer service department, OOL is worth adopting for now."
| Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I've been an optimum online customer since 2003, so with exactly a decade of experience I believe this is the best time to review the service in the mist of newly emerging fiber optics networks in many major metropolitan areas.
Out of the box:
When you first sign up with Optimum - unless you immediately opt for a speed upgrade - you will be treated to the basic 15/2 plan. This translates to 15Mb down/ 2Mb up, which at optimum conditions will provide a regular user with a reasonable amount of bandwidth to operate their home office needs with enough room to accommodate for additional devices depending on their data needs. Yet users may not be aware of the limitations of their network which originate from the infrastructure Cablevision uses. Cablevision's "last-mile" infrastructure is entirely composed of copper wiring. Copper is one of the oldest materials in use to exchange data and is severely limited in its ability to expand bandwidth as opposed to networks utilizing fiber optic cables. To Cablevision's credit they've been doing quite an exceptional job expanding their network and consistently offering higher data speeds to compete, but they face quite a difficult uphill battle as the limitations of copper become more apparent.
Users with both Optimum's basic package and users utilizing Boost will often witness data speeds drop severely during high use hours. I currently take advantage of Optimum's fastest Boost package of 50/8, though on occasion I will find my speeds being almost halved (reduced to the low teens for download). To those of you who may believe this is the result of being throttled due to heavy network use on my end, I'll remind you that Optimum Boost customers are not throttled (to my knowledge according to the ToS). Users with the basic package of 15/2 may see speeds reduced to the low single digits if the network is being taxed. Though network speed variation is to be expected with any network, you may face speeds that are unacceptable for the current state of the internet and what speeds content providers are expecting users to have access to. In 2002 it was acceptable to be forced to wait for a video to complete buffering before watching, but in 2013 it's a relic of a past age best left buried and forgotten. I'd like to add that this minor gripe is far more the exception than the rule with this service, but we will get to why it may be a considerable fault in the future.
Customer Service:
The customer service provided by Cablevision for their online service is exceptionally helpful and outshines all of the competition. Prior to joining Cablevision for internet connectivity, I was a Verizon customer with their DSL package. I'll avoid commenting on the details of their services as I feel it wouldn't be fair to compare a service from ten years prior with a modern one, but we'll use this to establish that I've been exposed to the competition. The techs are great here. They understand that the world is actually full of people who are technically savvy and understand their way around a network configuration, and because of this very rarely will you feel you're getting canned responses from individuals reading a script. If you're stuck, they'll work with you to help unravel the causes and won't ask you repeatedly "have you tried turning the modem and/or router off and back on?" One technician even knew his way around DD-WRT which is a very popular 3rd party firmware for routers - almost entirely unknown to regular users. You'll be able to call their service number with confidence that you'll get the best assistance possible.
Future Implications:
So what does this mean for the future of Optimum online? Will Cablevision be able to consistently provide consumers with speeds that are on par with steadily advancing technologies as time goes on? The answer to this question for the short-term is a yes with an asterisk. Optimum's network flexibility is tethered to the limitations of copper, and as time progresses we will see exactly how they affect Cablevision's ability to compete in the market. If the listed speeds users in Kansas City are getting with Google's "Google Fiber" network appear enticing to you (1Gb up and down which is 20x faster than optimum's current Boost speeds) just be mindful that copper will never provide speeds this fast. As other providers begin to feel the squeeze from companies willing to upgrade their fiber to provide these speeds at similar prices, Cablevision will be forced to either switch to fiber or drop out of internet connectivity. Keep an eye on market conditions to guide your long term decisions on which provider to settle on in your area.
Comments:
| next page (previous review)
 Review by jaa
member for 12.9 years, 6108 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 82 days ago
- New Canaan,Fairfield,CT
- $45 per month
- about 2 days
- "Unmatched speed, great price, great support"
- "Best value anywhere"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
These guys are the best. Caps are 10megabits down, and 1megabit up. I've never had speed slowdowns - consistent 9500/950 speeds. They do put some limits on you if you upload huge amounts - does not affect me.
Had the service for over 7 years, no significant problems or downtime.
Update: They raised the caps to 15/2!! No increase in price. I get consistent 13.5/1.8 speeds.
Update: They eliminated "capping" where they used to limit your upload speed to 150kbps if you uploaded a lot.
Update: Still working great!! No issues.
Update May, 2009: Been about 9 years. Not had any problems - consistent speeds, rare outages.
Update November, 2009: Still going strong. Moved to a new address, transfer went fine.
Update September, 2010: 10 years and still rock solid.
Update November, 2011: Speeds are still "advertised" 15/2, but I get consistent 20/2 speeds with Docsis 3 and 5 bonded download channels on base tier.
Update August, 2012: Consistent 20/2 speeds. Service is awesome! Also taking advantage of the wifi hotspots - now I'm never at the limit of my smartphone data plan.
Update March, 2013: Great speeds. Lowered my cell data plan since I am using less and less since I connect to wifi hotspots a lot.
Comments:
|
|
·
·
·
