What to know BEFORE you sign the contract!May 03 '01 (Updated Jul 16 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Make sure you check with your cable company to ascertain all the facts I listed below, and if so, try it! Don't let them overload your area and decrease speed!
Like most people who "surf", I eagerly awaited internet service through my cable provider, Cablevision. Finally it arrived and I immediately signed up. Cablevision sends you the modem and connecting kit for $99, but you have to sign a two year agreement for internet service. If you already are a cable subscriber they charge you $29.95 a month, and if not, they charge $39.95 per month. If you are considering connecting and making Cablevision your ISP (Internet Service Provider), or any other cable company for that matter, there are some questions you have to ask the company prior to committing yourself to whatever agreement you have to sign. First, ask how many subscribers are on each Node. A Node is a group of users that have their own amplifiers, servers etc. The number of people in each Node should be as small as possible. That way, the system should not really slow up that much when many users are on-line at the same time. A fair number of users is 500 per Node. If the number is much higher than this, beware. The service may be fine starting up when not a lot of people are signed on, but as more and more folks come on board, the service will get slower and slower, especially at peak times. I know in my area, Northern New Jersey, Cablevision did the right thing, and divided the Nodes into 500 subscribers each Node maximum, which is fine. The service should only slightly slow down with 500 users. Second, ascertain the speed at which they will be feeding your computer. Cable modems usually work at about 500 kbps. This is a good speed and is adequate even for downloading large files. I have downloaded a number of large files from Apple, Netscape and C NET, and it took only about two minutes, as opposed to almost an hour with a 56K modem. I use my service with AOL and it works fine. You have to configure AOL to run with TCP/IP, and after doing this I had no problems. One important thing to check prior to signing for service is the type of modem you will be receiving from the company. I for instance received what they call the "Shark Fin", which is the 3 COM Home Cable Modem, which looks just like a silver shark fin. This modem is good because it has both USB AND FIREWIRE ports. Beware, some modems have only one or the other, and certain modems such as this one have both. If you are unsure, request a modem with both ports! The hookup is fairly simple. You plug in a coaxial cable which is the same type that you use for your TV into the back of the modem. Then, you plug in the power and the cable that connects to your computer, and that's pretty much it! You have to talk to a technical rep at the cable company to "authorize" your modem, just as they do with a pay-per-view event. This allows your modem to work on their system. If someone gets the idea that plugging just any cable modem in will work, give it some thought. The cable companies have a "sweeper" program that goes through users on their Nodes and checks serial numbers on the modems. If your number does not match an authorized user, they block your modem from sending or receiving information to their system. Using your own modem may work forever or it may be shut down after a period of time. That is quite honestly, the luck of the draw! There is one thing absolutely vital that you have to understand about hooking up a cable modem. If you use an RF amplifier to feed more than one TV in your home, the cable modem MUST GO BEFORE THE AMP! Most amps do not allow two way communication, and your modem wil not work! To get around this, in your installation kit, there is a 5-1000 Mhz. cable splitter. The main cable feed goes into the input of the splitter. One output feeds your amplifier, and the other output goes DIRECTLY to your cable modem. This is vital to make sure your system works properly. It is better to know this early on, rather than find out later and have a problem. NEW INFORMATION/UPDATED 7/16/01: I have just found that my speed has been cut in half!I talked to a supervisor from Cablevision on the phone. They said, due to overwhelming demand, there are many users on-line at one time, so the access speed has slowed down drastically! They expect to fix it in a few months! Warning: Be sure your cable company can handle the load, and if the demand increases, how they will handle it! DON'T GET STUCK!! One final piece of information which can be very helpful. There is a web site which actually checks your modem speed and compares it to all types of connections like T1, 56K Modems, etc. Try the speed test before you switch, and try if after you hook up the cable modem. If you are not getting at least 500 kb per second, you are not getting what you pay for! It is a good web site to try your speed any time. The site is: http://www.cnet.com/internetservices/g/bm/msn/0001.html. I left space so it is easy to copy the site and paste it into your browser. Believe me, it is worth the minute it takes to paste and check your speed. It is quite useful.  |
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