This week, I’m going to take a seat while the other eight gazillion people on the Web complain about Comcast. See, back in New Jersey and Philadelphia, I never had problems with Comcast. Maybe once a year something would happen where I needed to call and bitch at them for an hour before something was done. But overall, it was a fine experience and I’d have no problem going back to them.
Then I moved to New York and things changed.
Moving to Astoria, my roommates and I were greeted with the options of RCN and Time Warner Cable for our Internet and TV needs. RCN had trouble finding our address, so we called Time Warner and had them come out. The previous tenants of our apartment never canceled their service and the guy happened to work for Time Warner. This made canceling their service a real pain in my ass. I had to fax a copy of the lease over three times before we got our account setup.
Finally, about five or six days later, the cable guy came out and set up our HD digital cable box and cable modem. It was quick and easy with no problems. I hooked up my NETGEAR wireless router and we soon all had a ‘net connection. Unfortunately, despite our 6mbps connection, our Internet to this day is usually slow as piss. Opening Facebook can take anywhere from a half-second to 30 seconds. How will I ever be able to update my status so my friends know I’m busy cooking dinner?!
So I called Time Warner after a few weeks, determined to get our Internet up to speed. However, when I called, I was greeted with a dude with a thick accent who was reading right off a script. Great. Outsourced call centers. Thanks Time Warner for making my life a living hell. After five minutes, we got into an argument and he flipped out at me. I told him to shut up and hung up the phone.
Time Warner says they don’t throttle traffic, but I’m convinced these bastards do. Every time I open my BitTorrent client, the speed of our network goes to hell in under 10 seconds. Same goes for my roommates. Even if we limit the upload and download speeds, it’s still crawling along at the pace of John in the NYC ING Marathon. World of Warcraft has become virtually unplayable at times, BitTorrent client or not.
So in conclusion, Time Warner has crappy Internet. Big surprise there. But I’m not done. See, Time Warner sucks at offering up cable as well. The on-screen programming guide is slow like molasses and the picture on the TV crackles and distorts every hour for a bit.
I’d call Time Warner to get it fixed, but, you know.
I was trying to watch a ton of football last Sunday because I’m as American as you get. Unfortunately, I was under attack by Time Warner Abduhljah, who’s cyber-attack left me missing out on Eli Manning tearing the Miami Dolphins a new one. Did he get the first down? Interception? How can I tell when I am constantly subjected to pixels that turn Plaxico Burress into a guy that looks like he’s from Battletoads.
Time Warner, listen up. I’m mad and I can’t even begin to wonder why I even signed up with you. Oh yeah! That’s because RCN couldn’t even find me. You cable companies need to start paying more attention to service instead of dollars. A happy customer will keep your cash flowing like a pitcher of Kool-Aid into a cultist’s mouth.
Maybe that’s why I’m going to cancel my cable today and just pirate everything via BitTorrent. Suckers!
“Maybe that’s why I’m going to cancel my cable today and just pirate everything via BitTorrent. Suckers!”
When I moved to Middle Village, Queens about a year ago, I came to the same conclusion right away. Two now-almost-full 500gb external HDD’s later (one for movies and one for TV), I’m very happy to have traded Cable TV for BitTorrent.
I guess that makes me unreasonable, too.
I’ll bet $5 the TV distortion problem and the cable slowness are caused by the same root issue. I’ll bet $10 you’ll never get sufficient tech support from TWC to find that out.
I have Time Warner Cable internet in Austin and I have had the opposite experience. 8Mb/s and I use Bit Torrent and Usenet constantly without a hint of throttling.
I live in South texas in the rio grande valley and iagree with him as soon as i open u torrent almost imediatly my internet speed goes to shit yes as soon as i close u torrent im back to my regular speed its a pain in the ass since i know its throttled i get good speed on bit torrent i guess most is like 2-3 mb/s average is 700+ sometimes less so is it really paying 50+ for internet when its being throttled
I pay way too much for digital cable from those TWC jackasses. My internet works ok, but the DVR, the entire reason I sprung for digitial cable, loves to pixelate every damn movie I dvr. And most of those stations in the 100’s wont even tune in. The humanity.
As soon as I go HD (I’m so ashamed) , I’m dropping cable. That is if I can give up my live sports addiction.
Yeah I’ve always had TWC for internet and TV. I had the basic cable box for about 2 years and it was fine, though it would do the pixel thing every now and then. But I just recently upgraded to the HD box…which has like 5 HD channels.
First off, a few days after I got the box, record, FF, RW, etc etc stopped working. Called them, they told me how to reset the box, stayed on the phone with the about 15 min, it reset and when it came back up it was fixed. Cool.
Then a few days later it happened again, but this time they didn’t fix it over the phone, they wanted a guy to come out…which of course was like 5 days later, and when he did come it was ‘fixed’ by then. But I talked to him about it, he said I had a ‘new’ box where they’re still making patches for it.
..Patches? All because we have ‘the internet’ now, companies think they can release a pre-completed product because they know they’ll be able to ‘patch it’? I say F’ that! Give me something that works, that’s what I’m paying for! Now every time it screws up, I just unplug the power, plug it back in (resets it), and it usually works fine.
I haven’t had too much trouble with cable, it’s decently fast. Though I agree with the BitTorrent part of your article. When either my room mate or I are torrenting, internet turns to shit. Though I’ve found that uTorrent with right settings runs great and I’ve had no trouble with being online at the same time, nor does my room mate. But my room mate still runs BitComent, which pretty much stops all internet connectivity.
I’ve also got my torrents on a scheduler, so it’ll only start when I’m asleep, etc etc.
But it’s still lame, agreed.
FU-TWC
How ironic… I support a few people who work from home connections on the “business plan” but the packet lost and slow speeds usually causes me about a dozen phone calls a week from employees who can’t connect to the VPN.
Let alone the support sucks and were paying for the business service which cost a lot more $$$$
Try ATT’s DSL, it’s much faster and the service is decent and best of all it’s faster and costs a third as much, at least in Milwaukee but the problems you described are the same as what I had
I am actually experiencing a much more blatant response from Time Warner when I use a bittorrent client. If I have no bittorrent running I have one of the best internet connections I’ve had and I never loose connection. If I run bittorrent, my entire internet connection will be lost and I have to turn off their modem and wait a few mins to get the connections back. If I have Bittorrent still running, the connection will stop within a few mins again, but if no bittorrent client is running then the connection stays up. I have tried different client on different computer with different operating systems and even a diff router and the same issue every time. Best part, when I complain about it they actually have the balls to try to sell me their internet phone. So that way they can apparently keep me from being able to make an emergency call just because they don’t like what I do with my internet connection.
I use Time-Warner in NYC, and I have the same experience as TearDownAllSigns. I used to run bittorrent all the time, but in the last couple months the entire connection gets throttled within seconds of opening up a torrent. The first time this happened, I used encryption in µTorrent and it worked fine, but ever since then, even encryption doesn’t work. I end up having to use my work’s VPN connection for bittorrent — which is going to get me in trouble eventually, but it’s the only thing I can do. Has anyone figured out a way around this, besides just switching providers?
I did some more searching on my issue with Time Warner and I found people bitching about the same problem with my model of cable modem but back in early 2005 before deep packet inspection tools were widely available.
Ends up if you have a constant near-max upload rate with the Surfboard SB4200 going for a more than a few mins the modem has issues and kills the connection. After I throteled back my upload speed to 30, I haven’t had the issue. Here’s hoping it stays that way.
Hey guys, had all of those problems, got Direct tv and the SD picture blows away cable SD and the HD is amazing! No foreigners either in tech support!
Considering TWC uses local support for CSR and TSR, save for e-mail and CA software help, which goes to Canada/Colorado for the National Help desk…what ‘foreign’ support are you speaking of Tommy?
Interesting!
I started my bittorrent client and started downloading at a fairly decent rate then after a few moments it dropped to a trickle. I then did a Google search for bittorrent throttling and TWC. As soon as I got my search results, my bittorrent started downloading at the previous speed.
I have used TWC cable for a while now and i feel you on the bittorrents as soon as i load the client internet becomes to a halt. and about twc throttling i think it is true, if i remember right, not too long ago i read an article about twc being sued for throttling their internet.
Why don’t you stop complaining and switch to RCN. You have options. Competition is what makes companies improve.
Bit late, but the solution (I’m reasonably sure) is to limit your upload bandwidth. http://forums.pfir.org/main/messages/714/753.html For more.
Upgrade from your SB4100/4200. That was my issue (combined with having the Turbo service). It finally ended my hellish nightmare. TW was almost no help for more than a year on this, btw…and to this day have assumed no responsibility. YMMV, of course. More here (and elsewhere on the site): http://www.alexfalkenberg.com/2008/04/14/time-warner-milwaukee-roadrunner-problem-may-finally-be-fixed/
this thread is old but I had to rant this somewhere…
I have TW roadrunner Standard (7Mb down/500Kb up) and have been experiencing quite extreme bandwidth throttling. I have been using TWC-RR for internet for years (on and off) and never got throttled before now (Oct/Nov 08). I just recently moved and had RR hooked up over here, thats when it started.
This is why TWC can kiss my ass!
1. My connectin is NEVER what i pay for, infact the best i ever see is 80% of my allocated bandwidth! on average i can only use about 70% of what they say i get, and thats when my connection ISNT being throttled… it gets worse!
2. uTorrent speeds were wonderful for the first 2 weeks (and years previous), then i started getting massive amounts of connection attempts in Peer Guardian 2 for various Time Warner IPs. Any torrent I add to utorrent incites these attempts, even legal/legitimate files… NOTE: when downloading ‘legel’ torrents my bandwidth is fine, but any ‘less-than-legal’ torrents get throttled to the point of being pointless to try finishing the file…
3. the ‘bandwidth games’, there are 4 scenarios every torrent goes through.
(1) when i first start they will be fine but will get cut off completely every hour or so but if i leave it running it seems they try a different approach.
(2) my torrent speed will be (obviously) capped to 60KB down and jump every 5 minutes to 150KB for 2-5secs than drop back to 60KB. if i still leave it running after a few more hours phase 3 starts.
(3) my torrents will cap at either 100KB or 150KB and drop down to 60KB every 5 minutes for about 5secs then back up again.
(4) If i leave a torrent running for 6hrs or more it seems to get uncapped for periods of about 30minutes and then recapped at a more acceptable 220KB and this is repeated for 2-3hours then phase (1) starts all over again…
i have uTorrent setup so that it does not affect other bandwidth usage (the web,streaming video,gaming etc…) but lately when i run a torrent (even when its not using bandwidth) ALL my bandwidth is throttled, the web is slow, video is choppy and drops connection. my modem even reboots itself, per TW’s command obviously…
4. TWC-Road Runner DOES NOT list ANY bandwidth usage limits or restrictions, so why am I being ‘watched’ and have caps on THE BANDWIDTH I PAY FOR!!!! DO NOT OFFER A PRODUCT YOU CANT DELIVER!
TWC-RR owes ME, i have referred dozens of people to their service over ATT-DSL. I now regret that, and am seriously thinking about switching over if I continue to be punished for using the product I pay for.
FU TWC!!!!
I have TWC RoadRunner and HD Cable and DVR. Sucks. Was good for a few years. But the picture freezes every five seconds now making TV unwatchable.
I call for service and nobody answers! In the last 24 hours, I have called 14 times to get through exactly twice, only to reach an agent who is impossible to understand. All they can say is “reboot the cable box” – that’s their answer for everything.
I asked to have a technician come to my apartment and they said they would charge me $30!!!! I told them send the tech for free or cancel my service.
Unfortunately, in NYC we have few choices. RCN is only in select buildings. Verizon Fios is not here yet. DirectTV is impossible because I have no place to install a dish. TWC has a monopoly and they behave accordingly. Sucks.
Time Warner is the worst cable company in the US. Souther California had Comcast up until 2 years ago, and I never once had a problem with them. Since Time Warner took over Los Angeles, I have cancelled my television service and only have internet with them because they are the only viable broadband in the area.
Time Warner is an exploitative, monopolistic parasite that has crap for customer service, idiots for technicians, and no competence in any of its management. They are crooks and frauds.
And yes – the DO throttle traffic, no matter what their PR liars say to make the general uneducated population believe otherwise.
I can confirm, Time Warner in NYC throttles bandwidth if there is a bittorrent client on your network. Unfortunately, there seems to be no real way around this for me as there are no other providers in my neighborhood! Is anyone listening? TWTC could REALLY use some competition!
First of all maybe you should stop the complaining, and pick up a book! Second, why would anyone move into a residents that still had bills and contracts in progress.
If you knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t be screaming at Time Warner. You should be screaming at Microsoft, (if your using a ms os). They are the problem, not TW. There is so many things they needed done to a os, p2p apps, etc. I have used TW (previously Adelphia) for nearly ten years or more. I currently have speeds of 15360 kbps dl. and have for some time.
Here is a few tips, but I’m not going to give you all the right answers. Go into your cable modem ip and check your status numbers. There are certain guidelines for a cable connection, if it’s not a balanced signal, (too high or too low) your going to get a crap of a signal. Here is my information to compare.
Downstream Channel:
Lock Status Operational
Modulation 256QAM
Channel ID 6
Provisioned Rate 15360 kbps
Symbol Rate 5360.537 Ksym/sec
Downstream Power 3.0 dBmV
SNR 39.5 dB
Upstream Channel:
Lock Status Operational
Modulation 16QAM
Channel ID 4
Provisioned Rate 768 kbps
Symbol Rate 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream Power 41.5 dBmV
You should also make sure the cable line is in very good condition, no power cords of any kind are touching, nor any type of low signal splitter or splitter that will interfere with the already balanced signal. (The cable company TW will balance the signal for no charge and even run a new line, just for the router only, if you ask nicely! -clue). I don’t know what it is with this trend, that it’s cool to tell people off and tell them to shut up and then expect anything in return, well it’s not cool, your the stupid one, that’s why your living in a “living hell” as you put it.
Besides the tips above, research all you can about overcoming issues with your os, and the internet, and how ms blocks certain things that have to do with the internet, (clue xp/vista) and p2p (clue emule exteme mods/ip blocking/zero uploads/etc.) ..programs from working the way we want them too.
Hope you get things working, and stop being an idiot to people, it’s not cool, it makes you sound like a moron. It won’t get you anywhere, and you shouldn’t be talking like that anyway, there is no excuse for people to act this way no matter how they grew up. If you can’t accept that, then you deserve to have a no good service, and a life of living hell.
In addition, you should have enough memory for the os you are using, (not the recommendation), (optionally a computer not from a retail store, or any retail computer really, they are all crap, but still should not be causing all the problems your having), a good brand router, (-clue dlink gigabyte gaming router), a network card to match the gigabyte network, the correct network cable, (don’t believe anyone (including tw) that tells you, a cat5 or 5e network cable will be just fine, there is about ten different types of network cables out there, (more than one that accept gigabyte, and have different speeds and wire used) ..and if you have collected as many as I have over the years, you learn just grabbing any network cable, could cost you bandwith drastically!), update your network card drivers, and be sure to edit them to your advantage! same with motherboard bios, and anything that effects the network and speed of the system overall! I could go on all day but I’m done.
…oh yeah, and never ever use a p2p, if your not using a ip blocker (-clue peer gaurdian) to block the people you are getting service from! ..and if your anti virus tells you one of the files is a virus, (being you dl the program at the proprer place).. it’s not, it’s something they have to add to the definitions files, you have to add this to your avg or your own antivirus program, so it will not detect it as one, or it won’t work. Simple as that. Expect to be limited in your bandwith then.
..and because it sounds like many people on here don’t know what they are doing, here is a few more tips… don’ t use a satellite connection unless you live in the desert, (or accept the loss). Never fall for TW phone/cable/Internet package! A voip connection, should never be used on a internet connection. TW will tell you different because they want the cash and service of course (I tell ya, no honest people these days!), but voips use very much bandwith, even when your not on the phone! Don’t do it! The person that said DSL is faster then a cable connection!!? Hmmm,… where did you crawl out of?
…and final, don’t forget the ccleaner to clean out all the trash you collect from the internet! ..with the push of a button!
Brian, I think that you really should realize that the point is that we are PAYING for a certain quality of service to be delivered Time Warner, and it should be given as promised.
You should not have to go into all you IP settings and balance shit or generally know ANYTHING about how the connection is setup and run: that is TIME WARNER’S end of the deal IMO, to deliver the fucking service.
To expect the customer to work their ass off tweaking setttings and downloading things just to get the PROMISED performance is idiotic.
Exactly. Brian, you’re an idiot. Do you work for TW tech support?
Brian is the stupidest person I have seen posting on the internet in some time. That says a lot.
The slightest bit of quasi-knowledge really does seem to make idiots think they have any idea what they are talking about.