Milwaukee HDTV User Group

I've been running an SB6141 for over 3 years on the 50Mbps service (get 60+ usually)... still working fine.  If I were to upgrade, I'd just go with the SB6183.

I just rebooted, was experiencing slowness.. now I'm at 8x4 in Sussex.  I have a Moto 6141 on the 50/5 plan, getting 56Mbps down, 5.7Mbps up.  Tried to upgrade to 100Mbps, but they still won't let me (not that I need it, but last time I checked, it was the same price as I'm paying now so why not).

I noticed the upstream light on my SB6141 changed from green to blue, meaning it went to a bonded connection.  Web interface shows 4/2 now, and the modem rebooted early this morning.

Still 4/1 here too.  Maybe they're in the process of getting our area ready for higher tiers of service (100+ Mbps down, 10+ Mbps up).

Here's an article for the Austin, TX market: http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/about-us/press/twc-bringing-incredibly-fast-internet-to-austin.html.  Not sure when or if we can expect the same.

I'd personally stick with cable.  TWC has a pretty decent infrastructure in place, not sure how Charter can mess it up enough to cause a significant decrease in quality of service.  I'd be more worried about Charter bringing in their crappy (or at least very dated looking) Motorola EPG system on the cable TV side.

I think regular DSL still maxes out at 6Mbps, don't think they require phone service anymore.

That is correct.  My parents have phone and internet - I bought them a modem to avoid the rental charge, and they kept the other modem for phone service w/ no rental charge.  You just have to call TWC with the MAC address of the purchased modem and have them move the internet service to that.

Quote from: ArgMeMatey;59632To what extent does TW reduce data (internet) congestion by segmenting the network vs. allocating additional spectrum to data?  

I am wondering if some of the free space will be used for internet market-wide, both to increase capacity and provide higher tiers of service, or if they tend to build out fiber closer and closer to customers for the same effect.

They are currently bonding 4 channels on the downstream for internet, with 1 upstream channel (for DOCSIS 3 modems).  Technically they could offer a max of 152 down/9 up service with the current setup if they had the bandwidth available at the node.  I don't seem them adding more channels for internet in the near future (except for maybe upstream), but they could do an 8x4 channel bond setup to get a max of about 304 down/108 up.

At this point if they wanted to provide higher tiers, they just need to up the bandwidth to the nodes and/or upgrade the CMTS equipment (converts the fiber at the node to coax) if it can't handle the additional bandwidth.

This whole DTA thing must be a mess for TWC, or they didn't get much of a response the last time they tried this.  They started rolling these out last November... sent a letter out stating the exact same thing you are all getting now.  Only then, I think they said the DTAs were free through the end of the year (2012).  I picked one up at the Mayfair store shortly before switching back to DIRECTV last year.  They told me it wouldn't work for a week or so, til it was "officially supported", but I was able to get the non SDV digital channels and local HD after letting it sit for a few hours IIRC.  Maybe had to call in too, but don't remember.

Regarding DIRECTV, I believe you're looking at $240 for ETF.  $480 minus $20 per month into your contract.

Quote from: REVM1M;59464I did, it is around 18 or 19 down and 2 up. That is how it was with my regular roadrunner.

Turbo is 20 down, 2 up.  Standard is 15/1, but they may still have powerboost running which would show higher speeds on a test.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/residential-home/internet/internet-service-plans.html

The usage tracker has been there since at least December.

They offer a $5 "essentials" discount if you want to go with a 5GB cap.  Pretty useless nowadays unless you just browse the web w/o streaming or anything, plus the discount isn't that great... http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/residential-home/support/faqs/faqs-internet/internetus/plans/what-is-time-warner-cable-esse.html

Otherwise they say there won't be a cap on the regular plans, but plans are subject to price increases like usual.

I'd say Panasonic plasma.  Their top of the line 2012 model, TC-P65VT50 was going for $2499 recently.. might be less now if they're still selling them.  The new ZT60 series is supposed to be even better, but pricey since it's new.

I bought the 55" version of the model I mentioned above for $1499 a month ago... picture quality is pretty amazing.  Black levels are comparable/better than my old 30" HD CRT.  It has the apps and 3D... no glasses included, but you can buy $20 Samsung glasses if you really want it (or any that are compatible with the RF/Bluetooth 3D standard).

If you want to go lower end on Panasonic, I also read good reviews on their other series, GT50, ST50.  I believe they have the newer GT60 and ST60 series out now too, or will be soon.

Quote from: popegreg;59120Yep that too, but the DVR Service ticks me off more.  I've been putting up with their half-baked Navigator and 20th century tech for far too long.


I've been pricing out DirectTV and Dish.  It's not a switch I really want to make but TWC has proven that they don't give a cr@p about existing subs.

Anyone know what the actual equipment lease fees are for Dish & DTV?  I honestly can't figure it out without fully signing up.  I'm looking at a whole house set up with one primary and two other TV's.

I have the DIRECTV Genie (HR34 DVR with 2 C31 client boxes - 3 TVs).  Whole Home DVR service + HD is $18 per month regardless of how many DVRs are on your account.  For the first two years that is discounted to $8 per month.   Each box lease fee beyond the first is $6 per month (so $12 in my case).  These charges are in addition to the normal programming costs.  For more content/features compared with TWC, I'm currently paying about $30 less / month with DIRECTV (both were new customer deals).

I went boxless with TWC for a few months using a PC with the HDHR Prime and Windows Media Center.  Worked fine most of the time.  Some of the time I would get a garbled mess on some of the SDV channels, not sure if it was signal issues or maybe a bad splitter.  I was using an XBOX360 as a Media Center Extender on the main TV, which worked great (just don't use the extender over wireless - it will work, but interface gets slow and picture can suffer at times).  I have an all in one computer in the kitchen that I added the tuner drivers to and had no issues streaming wirelessly to it.

If you want it to be "wife friendly" I would recommend using XBOX 360s as extenders on your TVs, with the Media Center remote.  Basically you push the media center button and the 360 boots right into Media Center where you can get the guide, live TV, etc. right there.  If you want an app that you can schedule recordings from, Ceton makes a pretty good one that works on iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad and Android... though it's $5 I believe.

I actually am selling my Prime, so if you're interested, let me know. (I switched back to DIRECTV - nothing to do with the Prime, just not a fan of TWC's pricing and lack of some channels that DIRECTV has).

The DOCSIS3 modems, such as the SB6121 / 6141 bond to multiple channels so that's why you may see a higher consistent speed on standard or turbo.  You do lose powerboost though with the DOCSIS3 modems... which isn't a huge deal anyways (20-30Mbps burst for 20-30 seconds?).  The DOCSIS2 modems (DPC2100, SB51xx, etc.) still get powerboost.

I've had the SB6141 (bought my own) on the Extreme 30Mbps service for a few weeks now and it's been solid, no connection issues.