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story category Cox Speed Hike Misses Some
'Middle-America' subscribers angry
(old news - 05:12PM Wednesday Aug 11 2004)
tags: bandwidth · cable
Cox subscribers in middle America make up the company's largest division, yet they've been left in the cold the last three times the company has offered faster speeds (this week's upgrades adding insult to injury). The customers, who affectionately refer to themselves as the "MAC clique" in our forums, have long bonded over a shared sense of neglect. "We do have some high level folks watching this thread and your comments," notes one Cox employee in this latest thread. "I understand the frustration right now". Neither the company's press release nor their recently launched "fast is beautiful" website explains why the middle-portion of the country was left behind, or when they can expect to see the speed increases.

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Forums » Cox Speed Hike Misses Some
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Post a:

MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
·Cox HSI
·AT&T FTTP
·AT&T DSL Service

Wow

The MAC guys over in the Cox forum will be happy to see more press on the website about it. Several users in our forum have contacted local news stations about it. I would encourage all the Cox MAC people to do this if you want to have your voice heard. Not until the COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE puts pressure on Cox will they treat the MAC areas like the rest of the areas.

I'm NOT in Cox MAC. I got my speed. I just truly think it's CRAP how they are getting the shaft...and they're forced to bundle cable just to HAVE the Internet service.
--
HyperJoe 2004

eric89074

@cox.net

Don't forget about Vegas or Florida

We aren't getting the upgrades either. In Vegas we pay more than the majority of other Cox markets too.

dg2
Premium
join:2004-01-22
Lowell, AR
·Cox HSI


edit:
August 11th, @04:22PM

3 in a row

Missing one upgrade wouldn't be such a big deal.

We've missed 3 in a row.

1M down - 2M down
2M down - 3M down
3M down - 4.5M down

After a while it begins to look like a pattern.

BTW - M.A.C. is Cox's largest division. »Article on MAC's new chief

mig
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-26
Anytown, USA
clubs:

Re: 3 in a row

Well I don't have Cox Internet & haven't since SBC DSL became available in our area about 4 years ago. All I can say is from a bystanders view is that the MAC people not only don't seem to enjoy the benefits of the increased speeds, they don't even warrant an official explanation from the company as to why they pay the same but receive less service. Bad customer relations IMHO!

Of course DSL has its limitations (distance mostly), but I would search hard for another provider if my current one made me pay the same yet receive less service. That's Just plain wrong. 2 of my kids are saddled with Cox here in East Texas and no speed increases for them. How sad.
--
I'm dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean.
par38lamp

join:2004-10-22
College Station, TX

Re: 3 in a row

You know, I just saw a COX billboard in Bryan/College Station, Texas that said "Speeds up to 4Mbps!" Hmmm....I just found that my area is part of the MAC (middle area customers).

Why would they advertise that? I think a trip to the Cox office is in order...

Rdax
Premium
join:2001-05-18
El Dorado, AR

I am not unhappy

But 5 years of price increases and not 1 speed increase is crappy.
--
"Hang 'em first, try 'em later" Judge Roy Bean.

Rally1

join:2000-06-12
Irvine, CA

MAC

Is a "MAC clique" like a "NIC card"?

salterbomb

join:2003-10-18
League City, TX

Re: MAC

holy crap

finally some pub on how *****y cox is to us in the MAC.

fuffer
RF is Good For You
Premium
join:2001-06-21
Mukwonago, WI
clubs:
·Vonage
·CenturyTel Inc.
·RoadRunner Cable

said by Rally1 See Profile:
Is a "MAC clique" like a "NIC card"?

Nope!

NIC Card = Network Interface Card Card
MAC Clique = Middle America Cox Clique


--
The goal of the broadcast engineer is to get all the meters on the transmitter to go as far to the right as possible!!
Rob850

join:2003-04-11
Mary Esther, FL

Re: MAC

I hope the DSL companies look into this and decide to offer DSL service in Cox MAC Areas

Rob

»www.robfwb.com

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
·DSL EXTREME
·DSL EXTREME

Re: MAC

To all the LECs/CLECs, and those who want to run WISP. I think you may have guaranteed customers.

A satellite/dsl combo in many cases is also cheaper than Cable!!!

I had TimeWarner (decent cable! - 2mbps/384kbps + digital) - ran close to $100/month.

I'm now on SBC and DirecTv, 49.99 + 26.95 + taxes + $2 FUSF= $85/month
dunnyrummy

join:2004-04-01
Omaha, NE

cox deceives users

got this in my inbox: "...Cox is increasing the speed of your Premier Package High Speed Internet service. Now you can download at up to 5Mbps and upload at up to 768Kbps" B.S.! I cant even get 2.5MB down! The tech is comming over thursday to look at m line. If he cant make it go faster (at least 4MB) I'm pulling the plug on Premier Package and demanding my money back I plunked into COX's HSI!! LIES LIES LIES!!
untamedlizar

join:2002-09-27
Plainview, TX

Re: cox deceives users

I just upgraded to premier. 5M down and 768 up for 55 a month. Its about time cox fixed the prices. I feel bad for those that they skipped again but they have done great in my area. They even gave me a free modem when lightning struck the one i bought from them.

atuarre
Here come the drums
Premium
join:2004-02-14
Lake Charles, LA
clubs:

Middle America Cox

First, I would like to say thanks, on behalf of all the Middle America Cox members on the board, for Broadband Reports covering the continuing "saga" of our plight with Cox Communications. It is my wish that more will open their eyes, and realize that we are generating lots of revenue for Cox, but at little benefit to us.

We do not see the speed increases, we are not offered the same competetive pricing, and we definitely do feel deceived when the company continues to tell us that speed increases are on the way.

Furthermore, I am shocked to find out that Middle America Cox, which I have dubbed "The MAC Clique" is the largest division of Cox Communications, but that we continue to receive this outrageous pricing, and these very old products and services.

With a subscriber base of over 6 million, I cannot fathom why Cox Communications cannot afford to offer these small towns (like Lake Charles, with a population of just over 170,000) the cable television and internet services that the other, much larger areas have. You cannot say it costs more to build out in a smaller town then it does in a big, major metropolitan area, because that excuse is no longer valid. Cox has received more than enough to cover their return on investment from the MAC areas overpayments over the years.

We just want Cox to acknowledge the GAP, fix the pricing, the products, and services to put us inline with the rest of the subscribers.

I do not believe that is asking too much of any company.

digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana

Give me back the 3000/256

The only thing the speed upgrade did to this area was create more problems. Pings are all over the place. Packet loss is still here also. The only problem I had before was the packet loss, now I've got two problems. You can forget using the Cox connection for anything except for web browsing. I'd probably get better service with BellSouth's tier of 256/128...that's if I could get DSL.

Put us back to 3000/256!
--
Also find me at: Techware Labs & Sveasoft Forums

MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:

Re: Give me back the 3000/256

Have you called the office to report the problem? Things are great here.
--
HyperJoe 2004

monophaze

join:2001-09-06
Baton Rouge, LA
Things are running great here in NOLA on the new 4000/512 system. Lake Charles is part of the MAC clique? haha oh well.. we aren't over here...

baaahahahah

@cox.net

speeds for cox in Oklahoma

I live in Enid, OK population of about 45,000 and we get the full cox speeds.

conrarn

join:2001-02-02
Tucson, AZ

Re: speeds for cox in Oklahoma

Tucson, 4000 down, 512 up, $50.00 per month.
DAldredge

join:2003-11-11
Gladewater, TX

Re: speeds for cox in Oklahoma

Tyler/Gladewater/Henderson Texas = 39.95 per month + 16.60 basic cable = $56.55 per month before taxes.

That is for 1024/128.

salterbomb

join:2003-10-18
League City, TX

Re: speeds for cox in Oklahoma

^same here but i already pay for everything cox has to offer.

my bill is around $110 per month

atuarre
Here come the drums
Premium
join:2004-02-14
Lake Charles, LA
clubs:

Re: speeds for cox in Oklahoma

I made Cox their payment today, for 198 bucks.

MisterMarcus

join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA
·RoadRunner Cable

Well...

I'm in Escondido CA, and I got upgraded to 4000/512, and here's what I notice right from the jump.

1 - download speed is fragile. I'm using a wireless router that's configured to send up to 11Mbps. My card may be bad, because before 8PM, my speed will never exceed 2Mbps, including the upgrade. After 8PM, I'm pushing over 500KBs/sec download speeds. It's a beautiful thing. I don't know if it's my hardware or the connection; as far as I know, everyone else around me is too poor to afford HSI, so I don't think the node is overloaded, though it's a distinct possibility I suppose.

2 - upload speed is clearly underused. I can see very easily that the upload is frequently at ~500Kbps, and that it has the capacity to go so much faster. However, this speed is more than sufficient since I don't do too much active uploading.

3 - ping times are about the same as before. I've never had pings all that high.

4 - latency seems to be okay based on the tests I'm running, but the connection seems sluggish. Fast, but sluggish. Like a Ferrari in stop-and-go traffic.

5 - No throttling has occured. I hear people talking about caps, but I frequently download very high size (~200MB each, in batches of about 30-40) files, and I've never seen a hitch. This is a daily occurence.

Bottom line:

I think the increase in upload speed is great. Not because I run servers or FTP, but because it makes the surfing experience that much better. Pages respond better when you're requesting them faster. I'm able to run multiple page requests at once without unnecessary delays, and I can download files and surf at the same time without seeing that big of a difference. Cox HSI was great before for me, now it's better, and I still pay only $29.99 a month.
I still think that Cox should create a smaller tier for the grandmas and non-geeks of the world. To see something as simple as a 512/256 for $19.99/month marketed to replace dialup as most people's primary connection would be great. Dialup won't ever go away, especially not with fax servers and such, but it shouldn't be a primary connection for anyone (IMO)
tobbe1

join:2003-07-01

Its available in Tulsa

The speed upgrades are available in Tulsa, OK.
Forums » Cox Speed Hike Misses Some


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