Charter Internet Reviews?

[murdoc]

Does anyone have Charter for Internet?  They are currently running a special on their 16MB service for 39.99/month for 6 months.  Paying AT&T 38.00 for 6MB DSL currently and wouldn't mind the speed boost.  How has their service been?  I plan on picking up a Motorola Surfboard 5101 online to save the $5/month rental fee.

[Tom Snyder]

What does it go up to after 6 months?

[murdoc]

What does it go up to after 6 months?

$54.99 after 6 months.  You can lock in 8MB at $29.99 for 24 months and pay the difference (currently $10) for the higher package.  Still a good deal IMO since I'm paying $38/mo with AT&T for 6MB DSL.

[mrschimpf]

Have had Charter's internet for seven years and haven't paid over $50 for it in any of my various bundles over the year (I'm on the $149 bundle for TV/Internet/Phone right now, where it's $40 after adding $10 for 16 MB, along with extra for DVRs and the like). Besides a tug-a-war month a couple years ago where they had to fix my cable at the pole to get my Internet working again it's been very reliable. Probably don't go with their email like I do (I'm still slowly working on over to GMail), but you can't go wrong with $40 for 16 MB.

I have a different owned modem too, the Linksys CM100 which I picked up to try to fix that problem with the pole, and it's very reliable. Small footprint (it's the size of a small poem book), nice and comprehensive diagnostics screens, and right now on Amazon it's $40 or even lower elsewhere. Check into that one, though the Surfboard isn't bad either.

[mrschimpf]

Have had Charter for seven years and haven't paid over $50 for it in any of my various bundles over the years (I'm on the $149 bundle for TV/Internet/Phone right now, where it's $40 after adding $10 for 16 MB, along with extra for DVRs and the like). Besides a tug-a-war month a couple years ago where they had to fix my cable at the pole to get my Internet working again it's been very reliable. Probably don't go with their email like I do (I'm still slowly working on over to GMail), but you can't go wrong with $40 for 16 MB.

I have a different owned modem too, the Linksys CM100 which I picked up to try to fix that problem with the pole, and it's very reliable. Small footprint (it's the size of a small poem book), nice and comprehensive diagnostics screens, and right now on Amazon it's $40 or even lower elsewhere. Check into that one, though the Surfboard isn't bad either.

[murdoc]

Picked up a Surfboard modem on Craigslist for $20.  I'll be ahead after just 4 months.  Just got off the phone with Charter.  They were able to guarantee the $39.99 16MB connection for 24 months. Install is this Tuesday.  If everything goes well I'll be calling AT&T on Wednesday to cancel.  :wave:

[Xizer]

Hahaha. Have fun with that, buddy. You just jumped onto a sinking ship.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Charter-Preparing-To-Strictly-Enforce-Caps-111347

:wave:

[mrschimpf]

Hahaha. Have fun with that, buddy. You just jumped onto a sinking ship.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Charter-Preparing-To-Strictly-Enforce-Caps-111347

:wave:

Actually there shouldn't be a problem at all; the 16MB plan has a 250GB cap. You'd have to stream Netflix all thirty days for so many hours, or be a very heavy data user and torrent entire weeks of primetime to get even near that.

I've been monitoring my usage as of late on both my computers. I download 2.5 GB of podcasts a day from CNET, Revision3 and TWiT, all very video heavy at HD quality, and do around 30-40 YouTube videos a week, then some more for audio podcasts. On average I usually get to 85-90GB per month. If you use the Network Meter Sidebar Gadget you can track your bandwidth use by accounting and then resetting at the start of your service month, then adjust if you're flirting with 250GB. However it shouldn't be a problem at all.

[murdoc]

Actually there shouldn't be a problem at all; the 16MB plan has a 250GB cap. You'd have to stream Netflix all thirty days for so many hours, or be a very heavy data user and torrent entire weeks of primetime to get even near that.

I've been monitoring my usage as of late on both my computers. I download 2.5 GB of podcasts a day from CNET, Revision3 and TWiT, all very video heavy at HD quality, and do around 30-40 YouTube videos a week, then some more for audio podcasts. On average I usually get to 85-90GB per month. If you use the Network Meter Sidebar Gadget you can track your bandwidth use by accounting and then resetting at the start of your service month, then adjust if you're flirting with 250GB. However it shouldn't be a problem at all.

Agreed.  Initially I was worried since I do download and game quite a bit.  However the contract I signed made no mention of any download caps.  Any implementation after I have signed and I'm out of contract free and easy.  

Tech diagnosed everything and said I have a great signal.  I'm pushing 30MB/s quite a bit, and have yet to see anything under 20MB/s.  Not bad for the 16MB/s package.

[kevbeck122]

If you use DD-WRT firmware on your router, you can monitor daily/monthly bandwidth very easily.  Example attached.