Time Warner Cable Wideband Internet

[kdoggmdf]

For those waiting on the DOCSIS 3.0 roll out from Time Warner Cable in Columbus... wait no more...:ecstatic:

Information Release regarding DOCSIS 3.0 Release Date and Pricing
-

Customers / Services / Areas Impacted:
All high speed data customers in DOCSIS 3 serviceable areas of Northeast Ohio/Western Pennsylvania, Mid Ohio, Wisconsin and Kansas City/Lincoln.
This alert is that “Coming Soon” advertising will begin and Web assets will be posted on March 9. These services will be available in some areas as early as April.
Description of Issues:
Time Warner Cable is getting ready to launch the next generation of Internet service to customers across the Midwest Region. Using DOCSIS 3 equipment and our advanced fiber network we will be able to deliver an incredible online experience. There will be two new levels of service available:
Time Warner Cable Wideband Internet
TWC Wideband Internet is the ultimate high speed experience. Customers can upload photos while downloading files and streaming a TV show – all without missing a beat.
• 50 Mbps down X 5 Mbps up
• Download speeds 7X faster than Road Runner Standard
• Built in wireless service on 802.11 n router
• 30 mailboxes and up to 10 Gb of email storage
• $99.95 per month, savings available in select bundles
• Part of Signature Home package where available
Road Runner Broadband Extreme
Road Runner Extreme offers incredible speed at a price that makes it a great deal. The perfect next step for Turbo subscribers that want more.
• 30 Mbps down X 5 Mbps up
• 30 mailboxes with 10 Gb of email storage
• $19.95 on top of Road Runner Standard, or $10.00 to upgrade from Turbo
• Add Wireless for just $4.99 more per month
Business Class is working hand-in-hand with the residential side of the business to simultaneously launch Business Class Wideband.
Business Class Wideband
Business Class customers will have the choice of two new premium speed tiers:
• Up to 35 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream / 5 Mbps upstream
• Up to 50 Mbps downstream / 5 Mbps upstream
• 10 E-Mail boxes standard
Launch Timing:
These new high speed services will be rolled out by hubs beginning in the 2nd quarter. Similar to our roll out of Digital Phone we will launch with a group of hubs and add to our service area over time. Much more information about when and where will be coming soon. Starting March 9 each Division Website will have additional information as well as a sign up to get on the waiting list for when it is available in a specific area.
:cheers:

[bret3d]

Thanks for posting. I can't find anything up yet on Time Warner's web site. If you find a waiting list for Columbus please let us know.

Thanks.

-Bret

[kdoggmdf]

Here you go:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/MidOhio/learn/hso/wideband-internet/

[qbunnie]

Just saw the link today - sweet. Hopefully Insight will include it sooner rather than later as part of their Road Runner ISP.

[kdoggmdf]

Just saw the link today - sweet. Hopefully Insight will include it sooner rather than later as part of their Road Runner ISP.
That's up to Insight. Time Warner feeds their headend and NOC service, but plant-wise, it is up to Insight to add the additional bandwidth to support 4 downstream channels and 2-4 upstream channels to bond together. I believe Insight does have more than 1 downstream and upstream channel on their DOCSIS carrier; my DOCSIS 3.0 modem on Insight RR has changed its carrier lock for downstream and upstream in the past. Hopefully they do release D3 soon as I could really use the increased upstream speed.

[qbunnie]

That's up to Insight. Time Warner feeds their headend and NOC service, but plant-wise, it is up to Insight to add the additional bandwidth to support 4 downstream channels and 2-4 upstream channels to bond together. I believe Insight does have more than 1 downstream and upstream channel on their DOCSIS carrier; my DOCSIS 3.0 modem on Insight RR has changed its carrier lock for downstream and upstream in the past. Hopefully they do release D3 soon as I could really use the increased upstream speed.

Hmmm, not 100% sure if I'm following you. I figured it's up to Insight to actually make the speeds that Road Runner provides available to us consumers, but their service has reflected TWC's RR speeds in Columbus as long as I've been on it. As such, I was under the impression that Road Runner provides the backbone, and Insight manages the customers and billing and such.

But if I am reading you right, you're saying that Insight actually has their own DOCSIS hardware for their service area in Columbus. As such, it's up to Insight to upgrade their portion of the network to support DOCSIS 3.0. Does that mean that Insight could have done so already because TWC was just supplying Insight's head-end bandwidth? Since Insight's never improved on the horrid upload that RR was providing, I always assumed it was a TWC limitation.

I know Insight's ISP in Kentucky is already running DOCSIS 3.0. Between that and Insight quickly matching any speed changes in TWC RR Columbus services make me hopeful that RR Wideband will be available to Insight customers as soon as it is available to TWC RR customers.

[kdoggmdf]

You are correct and incorrect in certain regards. Time Warner can upgrade their cable plant outside for DOCSIS 3.0 (by adding more than 1 DOCSIS carrier) and upgrading the CMTS to be compatible with bonded channels; these upgrades would not affect Insight. Time Warner leases the Road Runner name and service to Insight and do provide the bandwidth, but it is up to Insight to distribute the service to their subscribers. Thus, if Time Warner is DOCSIS 3.0 with 4 Downstream frequencies and 2 Upstream in their plant, but Insight still only has 1 Downstream and 1 Upstream, Insight will not be able to have DOCSIS 3.0 while Time Warner does.

Hope this better explains it.

[qbunnie]

You are correct and incorrect in certain regards. Time Warner can upgrade their cable plant outside for DOCSIS 3.0 (by adding more than 1 DOCSIS carrier) and upgrading the CMTS to be compatible with bonded channels; these upgrades would not affect Insight. Time Warner leases the Road Runner name and service to Insight and do provide the bandwidth, but it is up to Insight to distribute the service to their subscribers. Thus, if Time Warner is DOCSIS 3.0 with 4 Downstream frequencies and 2 Upstream in their plant, but Insight still only has 1 Downstream and 1 Upstream, Insight will not be able to have DOCSIS 3.0 while Time Warner does.

Hope this better explains it.

It does and doesn't, heh. If you don't mind a few more questions:
1) Say TWC RR does NOT upgrade to DOCSIS 3, could Insight provide DOCSIS 3 hardware and speeds to it's RR service area? I mean this purely from a technical standpoint, disregarding any business agreements between the 2 companies.

2) If they cannot from a technical standpoint - why is that? DOCSIS 2.0 as a technology can't provide the bandwidth the total Insight service area uses (only 30 Mbps max throughput). If the headend used DOCSIS 3.0 with many channels for the requisite total bandwidth, than Insight should have already been able to run DOCSIS 3.0 hardware to end-point consumers, right?

Thanks for your help.
QB

[kdoggmdf]

Yes, Insight could, theoretically, provide DOCSIS 3.0 services if Time Warner did not in a selected market. But, as you stated, we would have to ignore any contractual agreements in place.

Honestly, I don't know why Insight continues to lease Time Warner's Road Runner in Columbus anymore. They had begun using the Road Runner name way back when Road Runner was the only real name in Cable Broadband. An agreement was struck for Insight to resell their own HSD service under the name Road Runner. This is also another reason why Insight and Time Warner do not overbuild eachother, except in a few areas where the plant overlaps. Now, high speed is prevalent most everywhere and they don't have to rely on the name anymore. Plus, their own service in their main areas of Kentucky and Cincinnati are much faster than what they provide in Columbus.

[Shufflefield]

Ordered Signature Home this AM, they are going to swap out a few boxes next Saturday. They assured me up and down that the 50/5 was included in the Signature Home service and that as soon as it went live we would automatically get it. We cut a premium channel and the HD variety package and it's going to be about 50 bucks less, even after tax, than what we pay now, so that should be fairly awesome as long as the internet service lives up to my expectations.

[kdoggmdf]

Ordered Signature Home this AM, they are going to swap out a few boxes next Saturday. They assured me up and down that the 50/5 was included in the Signature Home service and that as soon as it went live we would automatically get it. We cut a premium channel and the HD variety package and it's going to be about 50 bucks less, even after tax, than what we pay now, so that should be fairly awesome as long as the internet service lives up to my expectations.
I think you will enjoy the services. The best part of SH is that the technicians are all hand selected to do these jobs. They are given all the time they need do unlike normal installs and trouble calls that may feel rushed, your install with SH will be a different experience.

As for the DOCSIS 3, its being activated in the next couple of weeks. Without it on you still should get around 30 Meg (not powerboost) done. The upload is still low though until the extra upstream channels are activated.

[Shufflefield]

I think you will enjoy the services. The best part of SH is that the technicians are all hand selected to do these jobs. They are given all the time they need do unlike normal installs and trouble calls that may feel rushed, your install with SH will be a different experience.

As for the DOCSIS 3, its being activated in the next couple of weeks. Without it on you still should get around 30 Meg (not powerboost) done. The upload is still low though until the extra upstream channels are activated.

So the 30 down is already live? I didn't know that. I thought I would just get 15 until everything was activated. That will be a very nice bonus.

[kdoggmdf]

So the 30 down is already live? I didn't know that. I thought I would just get 15 until everything was activated. That will be a very nice bonus.

It is not 'live' per se, as the modem is still receiving the Turbo bootfile until the launch, but with the addition of the 3 additional downstream channels, the modem is able to pull a much faster powerboost and sustain it for a much longer period before throttling back. I have seen consistent 20-30 meg downloads on many files. It tends to throttle back to around 15-20mbps after a few minutes.

[nedreck]

What's the make/model model of the DOCSIS 3.0 modem TW is using?

Also, how and when will wideband be available for TWCBC?

[Shufflefield]

What's the make/model model of the DOCSIS 3.0 modem TW is using?

Also, how and when will wideband be available for TWCBC?

I had a Cisco 2203c in place when he arrived, he left it there but it appears to only have the phone running through it now. He hooked up a Motorola SBG 6580 for the network connection. I just looked at the back and it appears to be a full blown wireless router as well, however I opted to keep my netgear wndr3700 up and running for my routing needs. Though I probably should try the motorola, anyone think it would be quicker?

As for when it will be available - "April" - I hope that is firm, but my installer offered no insight into when other than they are waiting for all areas in town to get upgraded before going live.

He said that most places in town are getting around 28mb down now though, but it just depends on where you are. I am only getting 18, but it is a solid constant 18, that has flirted with 20 at times. Speedtests previous to this were usually in the 13-14 range. So a minor improvement for now.

Modems should automatically be rebooted when the wideband becomes active, but he said they would email us (we never ever check our RR account though... should have asked him about that) and a manual reboot might be needed if it doesn't kick off right away.

All in all it was a pretty painless install, I really only got it because I wanted the speed of 50/5, but the whole house DVR has turned out to be pretty nice. I am not sure how big the DVR's are though. Our last box was a newer Cisco and had at least a 320gb drive in it. We now have 2 Samsung DVR's and one that is just an HD receiver (all 3 look identical, though I haven't looked extremely closely yet). It's pretty cool to be able to see everything on every box.

The most impressive thing about this install was that he actually climbed the pole to make everything was up to snuff. I have long wondered about the conditions out there, but no one (not that we ever had major problems or anything) ever really went out there before. He found some squirrel damage and got it taken care of.

I didn't talk to him too much, but he knew what he was doing.

On a side note, my IP is now 75.x.x.x. I believe the range they used before was 64.x.x.x. I noticed some of my users in Galloway getting an IP from this 75.x.x.x range a few months ago and thought that it might pop up for Signature Home users. It may not be important now, but if anyone else out there gets this and starts having problems with certain sites don't blame TW, your service is fine.

That range didn't get passed out until last September. It is one of the last ranges of IP4 address space available. It was assigned to Time Warner. Any sites (in my instance it was my work, users with that ip range couldn't VPN to us at all anymore) you have problems with would need to update there DNS records. For us it was in the black list as a dead zone. Since there isn't really any sort of official notification process (even if there is it is cumbersome I believe, I am not the network guy at work) this range may be in the blacklist for a lot of ISP's, workplaces, hosting services, etc.

That was a fun one to troubleshoot, and one of the guys was dead set on cancelling Time Warner until I figured it out. So the moral of the story is, belive it or not, it isn't their fault. =)

[kdoggmdf]

What's the make/model model of the DOCSIS 3.0 modem TW is using?

Also, how and when will wideband be available for TWCBC?

Motorola SBG6580. Business class will be released at the same time as residential and the same speeds.

[nedreck]

Motorola SBG6580. Business class will be released at the same time as residential and the same speeds.Excellent, thank you for the reply.

Will TWCBC use a different modem than the SBG6580?

[kdoggmdf]

Excellent, thank you for the reply.

Will TWCBC use a different modem than the SBG6580?

They may. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for that question. Generally, business class does use different modems and gateways for their installations. The only time they use residential equipment for TWCBC is when the installation is in a residential address.

[qbunnie]

I opted to keep my netgear wndr3700 up and running for my routing needs. Though I probably should try the motorola, anyone think it would be quicker?

I can't speak for the Motorola, but hardware wise, the WNDR-3700 has a very fast CPU and a load of RAM - many would consider overkill for a router. I think it's highly unlikely that the SBG6580 will be able to handle data routing as fast as your Netgear.

[charpman]

Hello,

Does anyone know what areas of Columbus/suburbs are getting signature home, and more importantly the DOCSIS3 net connections?

[lazer310]

I called TWC Saturday about when Wideband would be deployed in Columbus. The guy told me they had just come from a meeting, and he was told it was being pushed back to May.
Just posting what I was told. Hopefully he is wrong.

[nicholc2]

I called TWC Saturday about when Wideband would be deployed in Columbus. The guy told me they had just come from a meeting, and he was told it was being pushed back to May.
Just posting what I was told. Hopefully he is wrong.

I would say that person was mis-informed as I just called and got signed up. I'll test it out when I get home. I have an older modem, so I may have to have them give me a new one before it fully works. Either way, I'm pretty stoked!

[Shufflefield]

I would say that person was mis-informed as I just called and got signed up. I'll test it out when I get home. I have an older modem, so I may have to have them give me a new one before it fully works. Either way, I'm pretty stoked!

Did they tell you it is live now for Grove City? I am down the road from you and it still isn't on. Users on DSLreports are saying Euclid and a few other areas (not really sure where that is, but it's in a Mid Ohio thread) are live now. Which is pretty lame.

My connection hasn't hit 15 mb in two weeks and constantly drops out lately. Getting a little upset but I have been too busy to call and complain. I was hoping it would clear up if this went live, but lately I am losing my patience with waiting on the new shiny.

[nicholc2]

Did they tell you it is live now for Grove City? I am down the road from you and it still isn't on. Users on DSLreports are saying Euclid and a few other areas (not really sure where that is, but it's in a Mid Ohio thread) are live now. Which is pretty lame.

My connection hasn't hit 15 mb in two weeks and constantly drops out lately. Getting a little upset but I have been too busy to call and complain. I was hoping it would clear up if this went live, but lately I am losing my patience with waiting on the new shiny.

I'm in GC and mine activated just fine. I will say that I'm going to run over to the customer center today to swap modems as I still had a DOCSIS 2.0 modem. I am getting the 30mb down no prob, but only 3mb up, so I'm thinking that may have something to do with it. Either way, it only took me a power cycle of my modem for their config changes to take affect.

I wouldn't hesitate to call them if you're having issues. A few years back, I was having issues and called them and they came out and found that my neighbor was using my connection in the junction box. Once that was fixed, I haven't had any issues since.

[qbunnie]

Did they tell you it is live now for Grove City? I am down the road from you and it still isn't on. Users on DSLreports are saying Euclid and a few other areas (not really sure where that is, but it's in a Mid Ohio thread) are live now. Which is pretty lame.

The only place I see Euclid mentioned is the NEO thread - which is where Euclid is, it's a little NE of Cleveland.

If its on in GC though, that's a good sign. I have a funny feeling that the official availability delay has something to do with Insight's RR offering - maybe Insight is obligated to match TWC's RR speeds, and their hardware isn't fully upgraded yet. That's purely speculation though. Wouldn't keep TWC from unofficially offering it, though.

More speculation:
Planned maintenance in New Albany on 4-21 and Greater Columbus on 4-27
http://help.rr.com/HMSLogic/network_status.aspx
Possibly DOCSIS 3 stuff?

[nicholc2]

One thing to keep in mind if you upgrade and don't already have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, which I did not. I was told by CS that all I had to do was go and pick up a 3.0 modem from the CS center and take it home and have it turned on. However, I found last night that was incorrect. When tech tried to enable it, he found that my home hadn't been made ready for 3.0 yet and a technician will be coming out today to make it ready (whatever that means).

Interestingly enough, with my DOCSIS 2.0 modem, they were able to enable extreme and I was getting 30/3 (instead of 30/5), which is why I decided to go the upgrade route. With the 3.0 modem installed, but my home not fully ready, they couldn't enable the 30/5 and took me back to RR turbo until the technician comes out to do his thing.

So for future folks that are in my scenario and will be upgrading from a DOCSIS 2.0 modem to a 3.0 modem, don't bother trying to do it yourself. Just schedule TW to come out and do it all in one trip. I wish I had known that and I would have saved myself the hassle of going to the CS center and wasting my time. Oh well, live and learn. :-)

[nicholc2]

Well it's working now. Full 30/5. The CS center gave me the wrong modem. The tech guy said that CS doesn't know the difference yet. With the right modem, I was up and runnning in 5 min. Very happy!!!

[Shufflefield]

It's on in my area after all. I called about the drops (still happening, but I am waiting a few days to see if it smooths out). They saw my area was prepped and turned it on. Plugged in I get 50+/5+. On my wireless I had some issues though but seem to have it wavering in the low to high 40's with the upload around 4.9 consistently. Time to see if this improves my kill/death ratio...
it won't, I suck. =)

[Augustus]

I saw on the Time Warner site that Signature Home is 179.99.

That doesnt include the Wideband i dont think, and wouldn't come with HBO... is that right?

Does anyone know how many satellite boxes that would include? I know it says "whole home DVR", but what if my home had 20 rooms? (it currently has 3 with TVs, and in about 10 years... it's possible to have 6 rooms w/ tvs...)

My current cable bill is 114, and i have HBO, 1 DVR, and i think the 7mbps internet. I could add a second HD DVR for my bedroom for another 18 or so bucks... still nowhere near the 179, and i have HBO!


I was talking about it w/ some people at work... i don't know wtf i would do w/ 30 or 50mbps download... at 7, i get great quality netflix, great quality online gaming, etc... I mean maybe if i had those 6 rooms w/ tvs, 3 or 4 kids all w/ laptops goin crazy every day... but as a married couple w/ no kids, i can't imagine Signature Home or this newfangled SUPERinternet being worth it at this point. Thoughts?

[qbunnie]

I saw on the Time Warner site that Signature Home is 179.99.

That doesnt include the Wideband i dont think, and wouldn't come with HBO... is that right?

Does anyone know how many satellite boxes that would include? I know it says "whole home DVR", but what if my home had 20 rooms? (it currently has 3 with TVs, and in about 10 years... it's possible to have 6 rooms w/ tvs...)

My current cable bill is 114, and i have HBO, 1 DVR, and i think the 7mbps internet. I could add a second HD DVR for my bedroom for another 18 or so bucks... still nowhere near the 179, and i have HBO!


I was talking about it w/ some people at work... i don't know wtf i would do w/ 30 or 50mbps download... at 7, i get great quality netflix, great quality online gaming, etc... I mean maybe if i had those 6 rooms w/ tvs, 3 or 4 kids all w/ laptops goin crazy every day... but as a married couple w/ no kids, i can't imagine Signature Home or this newfangled SUPERinternet being worth it at this point. Thoughts?

Download - probably not useful. 15 mb/s is fine for me and my 2 roommates, and we all game and are heavy internet users. The upload is why I'll be upgrading to RR Extreme, whenever it becomes available on Insight. We are at 0.768 mb/s now, that is upgraded to 5 mb/s, finally a decent upload speed. It is very easy for us to saturate the upload on our current connection. A lot of online features need both upload and download bandwidth: gaming, uploading photos and videos, VOIP/Skype, etc. In your case, you probably do not need the upgrade, since you likely are not hosting online games, and have only 1-2 users at a time.
As for signature home, I'm not sure what exactly is offered with it, but it is just an offer - no one is saying you need to get it. If you're satisfied with you current service, there really isn't a reason to change it.
The RR Extreme service will cost $20 more per month and you have a 30/5 down/up connection. You may notice a slight improvement in some games, definite improvement if you ever try to host games locally. If you use Skype or other VOIP services, the voice and video quality will be improved on the other person's end. If you upload a lot of pictures to facebook or flickr, this will also happen much faster.
Other than that, you probably will not notice much of a difference. Is that cost worth it for you? Up to you...

[trekkeriii]

I tried to talk to Time Warner about Wideband. They said that it was only available as part of the Signature Home (meaning I would have to bundle). Seriously? Or was the TW representative incorrect.

[qbunnie]

I tried to talk to Time Warner about Wideband. They said that it was only available as part of the Signature Home (meaning I would have to bundle). Seriously? Or was the TW representative incorrect.

You were probably misinformed. The service is new and I doubt CS has had their training yet - not like it has helped a whole lot in the past.

No official information for Mid Ohio is out yet, but in other areas, Wideband has typically been around $100/month, and RR Extreme has been $10 more than RR Turbo. Signature Home was not required. Of course, they may be offering it to SH subscribers first, I have no idea.

[trekkeriii]

You were probably misinformed. The service is new and I doubt CS has had their training yet - not like it has helped a whole lot in the past.

No official information for Mid Ohio is out yet, but in other areas, Wideband has typically been around $100/month, and RR Extreme has been $10 more than RR Turbo. Signature Home was not required. Of course, they may be offering it to SH subscribers first, I have no idea.

I was thinking that was the case. I am going to just get the Extreme package (30 down/5 up). I only need 15 Mbps download anyways, I just want the upload at 5 Mbps for my RDS (MSTSC) server.

[nicholc2]

I was thinking that was the case. I am going to just get the Extreme package (30 down/5 up). I only need 15 Mbps download anyways, I just want the upload at 5 Mbps for my RDS (MSTSC) server.

They were definitely misinformed. I got Extreme activated and do not have Signature Home. You do want to have it installed by a tech, though, as it's the Sig Home techs that do the install since the same modem is used for it.

[trekkeriii]

They were definitely misinformed. I got Extreme activated and do not have Signature Home. You do want to have it installed by a tech, though, as it's the Sig Home techs that do the install since the same modem is used for it.

Who do you think would be more informed the sales people or the tech support people. I know from experience of being a former Help Desk tech myself (Columbus Schools), the customer support people are the last to know anything.


Edit: Yup, I can get Extreme, $10 more, which is fair for more than 5x the upload speed and twice the download.

Edit2: Just got off with TW, they are coming out next Sat. to do the upgrade! Exciting.

Edit3: Now hearing rumors of usage caps for Time Warner customers.

[kdoggmdf]

Who do you think would be more informed the sales people or the tech support people. I know from experience of being a former Help Desk tech myself (Columbus Schools), the customer support people are the last to know anything.


Edit: Yup, I can get Extreme, $10 more, which is fair for more than 5x the upload speed and twice the download.

Edit2: Just got off with TW, they are coming out next Sat. to do the upgrade! Exciting.

Edit3: Now hearing rumors of usage caps for Time Warner customers.

Time Warner Cable doesn't have any usage caps implemented. I know they did trials in Beaumont, TX a year or two back, but cancelled them due to the backlash by customers. ATT has now implemented caps, though. Hopefully TWC doesn't follow.

[trekkeriii]

Time Warner Cable doesn't have any usage caps implemented. I know they did trials in Beaumont, TX a year or two back, but cancelled them due to the backlash by customers. ATT has now implemented caps, though. Hopefully TWC doesn't follow.

Yes, I even mentioned that to my co-worker. My co-worker says that his contact at Time Warner has been having meetings again about implementing a usage system like AT&T. The thing that has me fearful is that if Time Warner wasn't going to do it, they would be advertizing like crazy that they have no usage caps like AT&T does.

On another topic, the rep said they could offer me a bundle that could save me money. I dumped my cable TV all because of Netflix/Hulu Plus/Amazon VOD. I pay $16 a month for Netflix and Hulu, plus buy shows on Amazon VOD ($40 a season). Time Warner just can't beat that.

[The_Flyguy]

I live in Hilliard. I had a SH tech come out for an install around four or five weeks ago. My experience with the install was good. The tech I got knew what he was doing, unlike some of the TW guys who visited before who struggled to even spell "TCP/IP". He changed the ends and connections on everything while he was there. Probably overkill, but I'm not complaining. I got all new (really new -- still had factory stickers) hardware. He swapped out the cable modem, phone box, and DVRs. The install took a while, despite no new cable pulls, etc. I think he was at the house for around three and a half hours.

DVRs The Good. I have two Cisco DVR's now which appear to have a much, much higher storage capacity than the Scientific Atlanta Explorer boxes which were replaced. The video quality is great. No complaints. A fellow asked in a previous post how many "satellite boxes" he could have. The SH tech told me twelve. However, they come with a charge. He said around $5/mo /box for the rest of your life, which is a lot of money. I do not have any so I can't comment on them.

DVRs The Bad. I experienced a glitch at the daylight savings time change. I cannot say with certainty the change caused the problem. Some scheduled recordings were missed. Also, communication between the two DVRs stopped. So, I could not play a program in one room that was recorded in another. A reboot of both DVRs solved the problem. No recordings have been missed since, and I can play recorded TV across the DVR network.

The software on the Cisco boxes is almost exactly like the software on the Scientific Atlanta boxes, with the exception that some weird button changes were made. A bother, not a real complaint. Programs are not organized in folders, and with high storage capacity that means you'll have a lot of them when the wife figures out she can record every single soap broadcast while she's at work. There's a lot of paging through "One Life to Live" to find last night's "SportsCenter" recording. What SUPER-SUCKS about the software is programs can only be deleted on the box on which they were recorded. So if you watch something on one DVR which was recorded on another, you can't immediately delete it. You must go back to the room in which it was recorded and delete it there. Which means you have to remember what you have and have not watched. This MUST BE CORRECTED in the future. It simply sucks.

Wideband. I noticed last night (4/21/2011) I am getting the improved upload speeds advertised for wideband. I did a number of tests which ranged from 4.2 Mb/s up to 4.7 Mb/s up. YEA!!! Finally some upload speed which is not completely embarrassing at least. (I'm always amused by commercials telling me I'm going to be better at online gaming because my download speed is faster than my competitors. Hmmm... Wonder how the other guy is getting my data since I can only send it to him at 375Kb?? ;)) I'm not seeing the 50Mb/s download speed promised just yet. I tested between 17Mb/s and 22Mb/s. I do not know how much of this was "speedboost" which would drop off after a few megabytes anyway. I have not rebooted the modem yet. Hopefully I will start getting the full speed soon. I have a Linksys v.1 WRT54GS sitting behind the cable modem. I believe it can only route WAN to LAN at around 30Mb/s, so I've got a bottleneck I'll have to handle. It will be a nice problem to have...

[qbunnie]

So it looks like the Hilliard and Grove City areas have DOCSIS 3 up and running. Anyone else?

Anyone hear anything from Insight?

As for usage caps - if they implement them, I'd like to see 2 things: speed throttling rather than overage charges, and guaranteed minimum speeds. I know that it won't happen, but my reasoning is if they don't give any confidence on the speeds you buy because of network load - if they are eliminating the largest loads, they should be able to give me some confidence that I'll get the speeds I'm paying for. As for the throttling vs overage charges - the network load isn't necessarily reduced with overages, which was the whole points. It just seems like a way for them to nickel and dime (and $100 dollar bill) us. If the load really is struggling, throttling offending clients to like 10% of bandwidth is totally fine with me.

[lazer310]

Well, after not getting any emails from TWC after I requested them to let me know when wideband went live, I will have it tomorrow.
Called up, said I wanted RR Extreme, the lady was excited about it (!), and set me up for an appointment tomorrow!
I'll post back with speed tests this weekend.

[managerman]

Up and running in Hilliard...Initiated a web chat with sales rep and asked if RR extreme was available last Tuesday, he said it was available in my area. Installed on Thursday morning...I think it is great!!...Bye Bye Uverse...

Was also told that Wideband speeds 50/5 was not ready in my area yet. Going to call again next week and find out.

-M

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1265978901.png

UPDATE!!! Called TW tonight, asked for the upgrade to Wideband.....done in seconds....

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1266035872.png

[lazer310]

Up and running in Upper Arlington!

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1267134341.png

Guy was super nice, and above all, actually knew what he was talking about! Installed in about 20 minutes. Possibly the best experience I've ever had with TWC!

[qbunnie]

Well, after not getting any emails from TWC after I requested them to let me know when wideband went live, I will have it tomorrow.
Called up, said I wanted RR Extreme, the lady was excited about it (!), and set me up for an appointment tomorrow!
I'll post back with speed tests this weekend.

Yeah, looks like it's a soft launch - it is only available if you call and ask for it, but no advertising and probably limited availability. The reps do know about it, however, so you shouldn't have too much trouble ordering it.

Unfortunately for me, looks like Insight isn't offering the same soft launch for RR DOCSIS 3. Insight CSR's have no clue that TWC RR is even offering it. Hopefully once the hard launch goes live, Insight RR will offer it as well, or at least work towards making it available.

[mdpeterman]

Confirmation it is available in Westerville. Just ordered Wideband (50/5) today. Install set for Wednesday morning.

[The_Flyguy]

I'm not seeing the 50Mb/s download speed promised just yet. I tested between 17Mb/s and 22Mb/s. I do not know how much of this was "speedboost" which would drop off after a few megabytes anyway. I have not rebooted the modem yet. Hopefully I will start getting the full speed soon. I have a Linksys v.1 WRT54GS sitting behind the cable modem. I believe it can only route WAN to LAN at around 30Mb/s, so I've got a bottleneck I'll have to handle. It will be a nice problem to have...

I called the TW help line tonight to investigate the speed problem. The tech tried a few things but couldn't get me above 20Mb/s. He scheduled an appointment for tomorrow. After we ended the call, I bypassed my WRT54GS v1 router and sure enough, 50Mb/s down. I knew my router would likely have to be replaced, but the throughput listed on SmallNetBuilder is apparently incorrect. What a goofy mistake. I should have bypassed it first.

So, I'm getting the 50Mb/s down and 5Mb/s up as promised for SH.

[nicholc2]

I called the TW help line tonight to investigate the speed problem. The tech tried a few things but couldn't get me above 20Mb/s. He scheduled an appointment for tomorrow. After we ended the call, I bypassed my WRT54GS v1 router and sure enough, 50Mb/s down. I knew my router would likely have to be replaced, but the throughput listed on SmallNetBuilder is apparently incorrect. What a goofy mistake. I should have bypassed it first.

So, I'm getting the 50Mb/s down and 5Mb/s up as promised for SH.

I recommend the E series from Linksys. Phenomenal routers. I have the E2000 myself (upgraded from WRT54G). It fixed all of the issues I had previously with my 54G. QOS works perfectly as does UPnP. No more port forwarding for my 360. It just works. Wireless N is very fast on this one too. Can't recommend it enough. :D Of course the modem they give you has a built-in router with wireless, so that may work just fine as well. I haven't tested that honestly as I already had my E2000 and wanted to keep that part the same.

[zelig2]

I called to get the 30/5 service at my place in Gahanna and they asked me to call back on Thursday/Friday to place the order because for some reason it wasn't in the system yet for Gahanna. I'll try again later in the week.

[stevec999]

Available in London. Installed yesterday and seeing the 30/5 with no issues. The new modem has a router in it that caused some issues. Couldn't get to things in the house. Called support and they moved my internal router to the DMZ .

Anyone know the username and password for the modem?

[buckeye3d]

Anyone been able to get wideband on a business class account yet? My rep seems to know nothing.

[Augustus]

Available in London. Installed yesterday and seeing the 30/5 with no issues. The new modem has a router in it that caused some issues. Couldn't get to things in the house. Called support and they moved my internal router to the DMZ .

Anyone know the username and password for the modem?

Do you have to use the built in router?
Am i right in believing you would have to call them for everything? Forwarding ports? Changing your wifi password? etc? That seems like a step backwards in my opinion...

[stevec999]

Do you have to use the built in router?
Am i right in believing you would have to call them for everything? Forwarding ports? Changing your wifi password? etc? That seems like a step backwards in my opinion...

You can actually configure it yourself. Has a GUI to set everything up. I called because I wasn't going to be home until this evening and wanted to be able to get to my stuff at the house before then.

What you end up needing to do is set a reservation for your router and put it into the DMZ .

[nicholc2]

You can actually configure it yourself. Has a GUI to set everything up. I called because I wasn't going to be home until this evening and wanted to be able to get to my stuff at the house before then.

What you end up needing to do is set a reservation for your router and put it into the DMZ .

Yep. You can use it if you want, not if you don't. I have mine turned off since I already had a configured wireless router. Username is admin Password is motorola

Pretty secure. LOL If you're gonna enable the wireless for your home, I'd suggest changing that password to something a bit more secure.

[The_Flyguy]

I recommend the E series from Linksys. Phenomenal routers. I have the E2000 myself (upgraded from WRT54G). It fixed all of the issues I had previously with my 54G. QOS works perfectly as does UPnP. No more port forwarding for my 360. It just works. Wireless N is very fast on this one too. Can't recommend it enough. :D Of course the modem they give you has a built-in router with wireless, so that may work just fine as well. I haven't tested that honestly as I already had my E2000 and wanted to keep that part the same.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm up and running with an E1000. Flashed it to DD-WRT and it's working great. Supposed to route WAN to LAN at 90 Mb/s, so I guess it'll be a while before I have a bottleneck again.

I had the same problem as a couple of other folks regarding passing traffic to an internal router. Turning the Motorola firewall off is not enough. You must put the internal router in the DMZ on the Motorola box. Also must assign a static address for the router in the Motorola software or when it reboots it might get a different address. Loving "wideband" so far.

[trekkeriii]

Got upgraded finally. Appointment was between 8-12, tech arrived at 5. Was annoyed a bit about that one. As for the upgrade itself (I got the 30/5, I have no use for any higher, as I would have been happy with 15/5). I need the upload since I have a private cloud setup (Remote Desktop Services/Terminal Services) at home that I can access anywhere with internet.

Edit: Just sent positive feedback to TW. Let them know I was glad that they currently didn't impose a usage cap while I was at it.

[qbunnie]

Looks like it's up on their website for everyone to see. No email for availability notification anymore.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/MidOhio/learn/hso/

Now just waiting on Insight RR to start offering it. I wonder if the fact that they are calling it specifically "Time Warner Cable Wideband" rather than Road Runner means that Insight won't/can't match the service. Which would suck.

[qbunnie]

Quick clarification:

While the 50/5 option is called "Time Warner Cable" Wideband and is officially launched, the 30/5 option has been called "Road Runner" Extreme in other markets and is still under a soft launch. If Insight is required to duplicate all "Road Runner" speed tiers, hopefully this speed will be available through Insight once RR Extreme hard launches.

Anyone have any information regarding speed boosts for Insight RR?

[nedreck]

Now just waiting on Insight RR to start offering it. I wonder if the fact that they are calling it specifically "Time Warner Cable Wideband" rather than Road Runner means that Insight won't/can't match the service. Which would suck.Well that's not encouraging.

[Gaurhoth]

Was visiting the TW website to see something on my bill and stumbled across the advertising for the wideband 50/5 plan. Was not really ready to jump on $100/mo. internet plan, but was curious if it was available in my area (Delaware,oh).

Was surprised to learn it was and even more pleasantly surprised that they also had a 30/5 plan. Immediately signed up and tech is scheduled for Saturday. Going to be a long week :)

The 50/5 is overkill - I am really interested in the additional upload speed ( finally time to consider buying a slingbox? ). Most sites can't feed data to you at 50mbps anyway unless you are running multiple download threads.

Considering I only get about 0.6Mbps on my 1mbps upload plan now, I am not expecting more than about 3mbps upload, but that will still be a HUGE improvement.

Bill

[Gaurhoth]

Installer came out and hooked up the new modem. He didn't have a clue how to set the modem into 'bridged' mode (so that I can get the public IP address on my own router), but I was able to figure that out after he left (disable NAPT on the motorola modem).

27mbps / 4.76mbps -- very happy.

[Kenjifujima]

Nice article, thanks for sharing this information.

[cbltk]

The headend changes for the D3 transition are happening now. Downstream channels are being moved about to make room for the 4 docsis channels. Not sure on timeline, but I'd guess weeks.

[qbunnie]

The headend changes for the D3 transition are happening now. Downstream channels are being moved about to make room for the 4 docsis channels. Not sure on timeline, but I'd guess weeks.

I've waited for years, I can wait a few weeks. Or even months if it comes to that. As long as it happens.
Next step: ESPN3 for Columbus insight and RR customers....

[nedreck]

The headend changes for the D3 transition are happening now. Downstream channels are being moved about to make room for the 4 docsis channels. Not sure on timeline, but I'd guess weeks.Awesome.

I called up Insight just to hear if their local CSR's new about the D3 upgrade, and the one I talked to was well aware. She estimated it would be available "before the summer is out.":ecstatic:

[luluxiu]

Although the 50 / 5 option is called "Time Warner Cable" broadband, and officially launched, 30 / 5 option has been called the "Road Runner" extreme in other markets, is still in soft start. If the Insight is the need to repeat all the "runners" speed level, hope this speed will be through the perspective of one of the RR Extreme hard disk.

[qbunnie]

Quick clarification:

While the 50/5 option is called "Time Warner Cable" Wideband and is officially launched, the 30/5 option has been called "Road Runner" Extreme in other markets and is still under a soft launch. If Insight is required to duplicate all "Road Runner" speed tiers, hopefully this speed will be available through Insight once RR Extreme hard launches.

Anyone have any information regarding speed boosts for Insight RR?

Although the 50 / 5 option is called "Time Warner Cable" broadband, and officially launched, 30 / 5 option has been called the "Road Runner" extreme in other markets, is still in soft start. If the Insight is the need to repeat all the "runners" speed level, hope this speed will be through the perspective of one of the RR Extreme hard disk.

Lol, confused.

Heard "Road Runner" Extreme advertised today on the radio (97.1FM the Fan) at 30 down, 5 up. Hope this means hard launch and Insight upgrades come soon?


Awesome.

I called up Insight just to hear if their local CSR's new about the D3 upgrade, and the one I talked to was well aware. She estimated it would be available "before the summer is out.":ecstatic:
Any updates to Insight D3 availability?

[kdoggmdf]

Lol, confused.

Heard "Road Runner" Extreme advertised today on the radio (97.1FM the Fan) at 30 down, 5 up. Hope this means hard launch and Insight upgrades come soon?



Any updates to Insight D3 availability?

Insight's DOCSIS 3.0 plans have been scrapped in Columbus as Insight was purchased by Time Warner Cable. For Columbus, this means that when the conversion begins in Q1 or Q2 2012, Time Warner Cable's DOCSIS 3.0 services will begin to be available in the former Insight markets. Until that time, there will be no upgrades in speed as far as I can tell (in Insight areas).

[rockyp]

My TWC promotional rates have ended and I am now considering the Signature Home bundle.

I have some concerns about switching to the new wideband modem (w. built-in router) and would appreciate some input from other SH subscribers (mid-Ohio):

1. Which modem did you get? Motorola SBG6580?

2. As I plan to continue using my own router, I'd like put the modem in bridge mode. Does TWC still allow me to reconfigure the modem (192.168.0.1) myself without having to call them?

3. Which DVRs did you get? Samsung or Cisco?

4. Overall, are you happy with Signature Home?

Thanks for your help.

[kdoggmdf]

My TWC promotional rates have ended and I am now considering the Signature Home bundle.

I have some concerns about switching to the new wideband modem (w. built-in router) and would appreciate some input from other SH subscribers (mid-Ohio):

1. Which modem did you get? Motorola SBG6580?

2. As I plan to continue using my own router, I'd like put the modem in bridge mode. Does TWC still allow me to reconfigure the modem (192.168.0.1) myself without having to call them?

3. Which DVRs did you get? Samsung or Cisco?

4. Overall, are you happy with Signature Home?

Thanks for your help.

The Motorola SBG6580 is the only residential DOCSIS 3.0 modem Time Warner uses right now. As for configuration, yes, you can do what you want with it. And yes, you can put it into bridge mode.

Its really dependent on what the tech has in regards to Cisco or Samsung equipment. Some tips though regarding each:

They both have the same 500gb hard drive in them. The Samsung boxes do have faster processors and more memory and, as such, MDN tends to run much more smoothly than on the Ciscos. With that in mind, the Ciscos tend to have better compatibility when it comes to HDMI hookups (ie: HDMI out of the box to a receiver then to a TV; this tends to cause Samsung boxes to display the E007 HDCP error). Cisco boxes do have issues with Sony XBR TVs via HDMI, though. It doesn't appear that issue has ever been patched. Neither of the boxes have the eSATA ports enabled; Firewire is enabled, but as far as I know drivers are not available for the boxes.

I can't comment on happiness either way as it would be biased. Hope this helps. :hdlove:

[rockyp]

The Motorola SBG6580 is the only residential DOCSIS 3.0 modem Time Warner uses right now. As for configuration, yes, you can do what you want with it. And yes, you can put it into bridge mode.

Its really dependent on what the tech has in regards to Cisco or Samsung equipment. Some tips though regarding each:

They both have the same 500gb hard drive in them. The Samsung boxes do have faster processors and more memory and, as such, MDN tends to run much more smoothly than on the Ciscos. With that in mind, the Ciscos tend to have better compatibility when it comes to HDMI hookups (ie: HDMI out of the box to a receiver then to a TV; this tends to cause Samsung boxes to display the E007 HDCP error). Cisco boxes do have issues with Sony XBR TVs via HDMI, though. It doesn't appear that issue has ever been patched. Neither of the boxes have the eSATA ports enabled; Firewire is enabled, but as far as I know drivers are not available for the boxes.

I can't comment on happiness either way as it would be biased. Hope this helps. :hdlove:

Thank you! This really helps. :)

I will go ahead and try the Signature Home bundle as it's about the same price as my current non-promotional rate. If the price increases by a lot after 12 months, I assume I can downgrade to my current set-up.

[zelig2]

I dropped U-Verse internet for Time Warner. Couldn't be happier with the uploads. Finally 5MBps.

http://speedtest.net/result/1494973153.png

[rockyp]

I dropped U-Verse internet for Time Warner. Couldn't be happier with the uploads. Finally 5MBps.

http://speedtest.net/result/1494973153.png

I assume you're getting RR Extreme (30/5) and not Sig Home (50/5). I just called Time Warmer and they agreed to roll me back to the old rate for another year (without contract). I gather that the speed difference for Netflix streaming is negligible, so I may be better off just going with adding RR Extreme for now.

Does RR Extreme require a DOCSIS3 modem, or can I continue to use my SBV5220?

[zelig2]

Yeah, I went with RR Extreme since it was only $50 when ordered through the website. That was just $5 more than AT&T Uverse for me. I don't notice any improvements in Netflix but my usenet downloads fill the pipe nicely.

I'm pretty sure you have to get the new modem as the 5Mbps upload requires DOCSIS3.

[bspvette86]

That beats my 14.83 download, .98 upload and 15ms ping time that I get with rr standard. :snicker:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1505638986.png

[nedreck]

Insight's DOCSIS 3.0 plans have been scrapped in Columbus as Insight was purchased by Time Warner Cable. For Columbus, this means that when the conversion begins in Q1 or Q2 2012, Time Warner Cable's DOCSIS 3.0 services will begin to be available in the former Insight markets. Until that time, there will be no upgrades in speed as far as I can tell (in Insight areas).This squares with the info I received after the acquisition was announced. Sorry I didn't get back sooner.

Insight had already completed much of the backend transition for D3. I have a hunch TW will roll out its D3 service in conjunction with its "introduction" to former Insight subscribers.

[hazard]

Does anyone know if Earthlink is allowing this?

Are there any usage caps at all? I do a lot of streaming (MLB.TV for example) and wouldn't want to get stuck with an unreasonable cap.

Thanks!

[HDJunky]

As an Insight customer, I'm glad I will eventually get DOCSIS 3.0, but I HATE TWC with a passion. I was with TWC for 9 years and was very happy to have moved into an Insight area.

Does TWC let you use your own modem? I already have a Motorola SB6120.

[bspvette86]

As an Insight customer, I'm glad I will eventually get DOCSIS 3.0, but I HATE TWC with a passion. I was with TWC for 9 years and was very happy to have moved into an Insight area.

Does TWC let you use your own modem? I already have a Motorola SB6120.

Doubtfull. I tried to get them to let me use mine a few years ago and they said no. You can always ask...

[arigatou]

I do not know if the fact is, they said it was a special "Time Warner Cable Broadband", not the Road Runner-up means that the Insight will not / can not match the service. This will suck.

[AvedisWolf]

WoW is offering "Wideband" speeds now. Just got them out here this morning.

http://speedtest.net/result/1894750298.png

Of course, they didn't get my cable card right in the TiVo, and they are sending a tech out monday.