TWC digital phone

[Gregg Lengling]

How much does that cost?

With taxes and 1 digital box and 1 HD-DVR I'm paying $137.00 including all taxes.  Before with SBC Phone, SBC DSL and Directv I was paying around 180 a month without long-distance.  

I also have my modem on a UPS so I don't have to worry about power outages.

TWC offers many discounts depending on what you buy from them.   I think the basic Digipic 1000 with Road Runner and Digital Phone is under $100.00 per month.  That makes the deals really competitive if you get all 3 services from TWC...ala carte is always more expensive.

[mhz40]

If 911 is truely a concern, then I would stick with a standard land line.  Cable is much more prone to outages than land line.  Not to mention that electrical outages will also result in cable telephone outages unless you have your equipment on a UPS.

The phone/cable modems have their own backup battery system built-in.  No UPS is required unless you have a cordless phone tied to it.

[HiFiTy]

I have had the digital phone service now for about a month.  It should have been closer to two months but I have had some issues with the phone install.   :bang:  

When we finally got the install scheduled and the service tech actually showed up, it took a day and a half to complete the installation.  Once your phone is switched over, you will be without phone service for the remainder of the day.  TWC does not take ownership of the phone line/number until midnight.  We also had a problem in that our installation took place the same time TWC was performing an upgrade and their system crashed so we were without phone service for an additional day.  

Outgoing calls seem to be as clear as before with our SBC land line.  There is some additional static for people calling in to our house.  For example if I call home from an outside phone, I notice static or hissing on the line.

Time will tell if the switch was worth it.

[Gregg Lengling]

.  Once your phone is switched over, you will be without phone service for the remainder of the day.  TWC does not take ownership of the phone line/number until midnight.  We also had a problem in that our installation took place the same time TWC was performing an upgrade and their system crashed so we were without phone service for an additional day. .

This is not true....The installer had to install a drop to our house (had no cable service before) and install the splitters in the garage and hook up the wiring I had done in the house.  Took him a total of 2 hours to do everything and when he was ready we disconnected SBC at the demark box and plugged the TWC modem into the house wiring and he called in and it was instantly changed.  Within 2 minutes he used his cellphone and called my number and the phone rang and I talked with him right next to me.  Worked flawlessly from day one, minute one.  There should be no delay or being without phone service for any amount of time over a couple minutes.

[summerfun]

I talked to a couple of friends that have Vonage and they said they are only about 80% happy with the service. You guys seem to be happier than that with TWC digital phone, so I am giving it a shot. They will install on the 15th. Thanks for all the feed back.

Mhz40. They told me there is NO battery back up or UPS. If I loose power, I have no service. Maybe you have different modems in Eagle than we have here in Pewaukee. Not a big concern. How often do we loose power? I can always use a cell phone if that happens.

[Andrew Grall]

We went with Vonage when we moved to our new construction house.  It was unbelievable how much money SBC and other local phone companies wanted to hook the line up to our house.  So, I said too hell with them and went with Vonage.

It could not have been simpler.  After cable service was installed and my cable modem was working, I picked up a Vonage adapter from Circuit City - will be free when I finally get the rebate.  Hooked it up and signed up.  Dial tone within minutes.  Changed the phone wiring in my house so that the phone jack near the Vonage adapter acts like the incoming line to the house, so it splits the signal to all phone jacks in the house.

For $24.95/month - All calls, local and long distance are no extra cost.  My 911 service is activated.  You can set up features like call forwarding when you are not home so that your cell phone rings at the same time as your home phone.  If your cable service goes down, you can have it automatically forward to your cell phone.  You get an e-mail letting you know if you have voicemail.  You can listen to your voicemail on your computer from their website.

Lots of nice features... I have not had problems with the service.  I would highly recommend it.

[Mark Strube]

With taxes and 1 digital box and 1 HD-DVR I'm paying $137.00 including all taxes.  Before with SBC Phone, SBC DSL and Directv I was paying around 180 a month without long-distance.

Ok WHAT in the world?? We're paying (before taxes) a total of $134.70 for Digipic 2000, the HD Package, standard digital box & HD-DVR box, and Road Runner (34.95 deal). What am I missing here??

[Gregg Lengling]

Ok WHAT in the world?? We're paying (before taxes) a total of $134.70 for Digipic 2000, the HD Package, standard digital box & HD-DVR box, and Road Runner (34.95 deal). What am I missing here??

Here's what I have:
Digital Phone
Road Runner
1 standard digital cable box
1 HD-DVR
The Digipic 4000 package.



First off I am getting a discount thru work, if I ordered it alacarte on thru TWC it would be $172.80 plus the charge for the extra box and DVR which would be another 15 bucks.  But with the package discount I save about 55 bucks a month.  I'm sure the street prices for the package would be around 150 for what I have.....

[mhz40]

Mhz40. They told me there is NO battery back up or UPS. If I loose power, I have no service. Maybe you have different modems in Eagle than we have here in Pewaukee. Not a big concern. How often do we loose power? I can always use a cell phone if that happens.

summerfun-
yes.  my bad.  not all units have this functionality, but some of them do.  maybe mine is part of a test batch, or maybe only a single vendor's modem comes with internal backup.  sorry for the misinformation.  it's gottabe my age or the pace of the world in general, but  it's getting impossible for me to remember everything about anything anymore... or is it anything about anything??  :blush:

[Gregg Lengling]

summerfun-
yes.  my bad.  not all units have this functionality, but some of them do.  maybe mine is part of a test batch, or maybe only a single vendor's modem comes with internal backup.  sorry for the misinformation.  it's gottabe my age or the pace of the world in general, but  it's getting impossible for me to remember everything about anything anymore... or is it anything about anything??  :blush:

I have the WebStar unit that is a RoadRunner and Digital Phone modem and it does have battery backup.  But seeing as it is in the computer room and I have a UPS, I have it and my cordless phone plugged into the UPS so I can use my cordless and don't have to worry about the battery time that it will provide.

[Mark Strube]

I know this is going a bit OT but since it was already discussed here... anybody know of some special deal we could get to lower our bill? I remember I switched to digipic 2000 when I realized it's the same price as 1000+ 2 premiums but then I also got the ondemand for the same price by switching to 2000. It just seems like we're paying A LOT, I can't imagine paying the full price for the 4000 package.

Is there a special deal if you get cable/internet/phone all in one?

[summerfun]

I have the WebStar unit that is a RoadRunner and Digital Phone modem and it does have battery backup.  But seeing as it is in the computer room and I have a UPS, I have it and my cordless phone plugged into the UPS so I can use my cordless and don't have to worry about the battery time that it will provide.

I guess I will have to ask for the WebStar unit. They went out of there way to say that the system is down during a power failure. First the girl taking the order told me, then at the end, there was a recording that asked me to verify my order and the automated voice asked me to say "yes" if I understood that this did not work during power outages.

[gparris]

Months ago, when they first were installing Digital Phone, my installer told me the battery backup was built into the unit lasting about 30 minutes..maybe they changed their boxes so you have to ask for it...got this feature without asking.

[kevbeck122]

I know this is going a bit OT but since it was already discussed here... anybody know of some special deal we could get to lower our bill? I remember I switched to digipic 2000 when I realized it's the same price as 1000+ 2 premiums but then I also got the ondemand for the same price by switching to 2000. It just seems like we're paying A LOT, I can't imagine paying the full price for the 4000 package.

Is there a special deal if you get cable/internet/phone all in one?

Well, they do have the ALL-N-ONE thing which includes every service they offer.  I couldn't find much on TWC Milwaukee's website (look under special offers), but on another TWC site, they say you can save hundreds per year when going this route.  There's a basic, plus and premium package, which basically is your Digipic 1000, 2000 or 4000.  I really wish they would put the prices on the site, unless they are hidden deep enough that I can't find them.

[mhz40]

I guess I will have to ask for the WebStar unit. They went out of there way to say that the system is down during a power failure. First the girl taking the order told me, then at the end, there was a recording that asked me to verify my order and the automated voice asked me to say "yes" if I understood that this did not work during power outages.

Every conceivable power failure can not be constrained by area or or length.  The batteries on the modem last for a few hours at best.  In addition, there is a power supply feeding the active gear outside your home.  It could simply fail as well, which would render your modem useless with or without a backup solution.  IMO, that's some of the reasons for the dislaimer.
In any event, most everyone here can support my assertion that since the fiber upgrades of the mid 90's, complete system outages are extremely rare and relatively short; not only with TW, but all cable systems in general.