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General Forums => On/Off Topic Chit-Chat => Topic started by: murdoc on Wednesday Nov 10, 2010, 11:34:47 PM

Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: murdoc on Wednesday Nov 10, 2010, 11:34:47 PM
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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: Tom Snyder on Thursday Nov 11, 2010, 09:18:03 AM
What does it go up to after 6 months?
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: murdoc on Thursday Nov 11, 2010, 07:29:07 PM
Quote from: Tom Snyder;56562What 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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: mrschimpf on Friday Nov 12, 2010, 11:54:27 PM
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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: mrschimpf on Friday Nov 12, 2010, 11:55:03 PM
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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: murdoc on Sunday Nov 14, 2010, 04:17:37 PM
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:
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: Xizer on Sunday Nov 14, 2010, 05:56:37 PM
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:
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: mrschimpf on Thursday Nov 18, 2010, 06:46:05 AM
Quote from: Xizer;56584Hahaha. 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 (http://addgadget.com/) 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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: murdoc on Thursday Nov 18, 2010, 04:10:00 PM
Quote from: mrschimpf;56591Actually 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 (http://addgadget.com/) 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.
Title: Charter Internet Reviews?
Post by: kevbeck122 on Thursday Nov 18, 2010, 10:30:20 PM
If you use DD-WRT firmware on your router, you can monitor daily/monthly bandwidth very easily.  Example attached.