Super Cool Cable Internet
Written: Mar 29 '03 (Updated Apr 01 '03)
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Pros: Fast loading web pages, Always on, downloads are also super fast
Cons: Tech Support, occasional downtime
The Bottom Line: Although I seem like I'm complaining about every little flaw, cable internet is incredible, and is worth the extra money.
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| waluigi's Full Review: AT&T@home |
How I started to use the Internet:
Back in the mid 90’s, the Internet was the latest fad. Everyone was starting to e-mail everyone else, exchange screennames, go into chat rooms, and getting the latest up-to-the-second news. I had used it in libraries, and my school had recently gone online too. I was amazed when a girl in my class told us that her dad found out about an earthquake in the Philippines before CNN had it on the TV! Eventually, my parents broke down after I begged and begged, and in 1995, we went online. Out ISP was AT&T, and we signed up for the 20hrs a month for $14.95. The internet opened up a whole new world, and I have never looked back.
Why I got fed up with dial-up:
Although at first, the Internet was cool, and I was glad for what I had, I started to need more. After 5 years of wasting time dialing up, and waiting for pages to display, and getting disconnected, I was just fed up. This was around the time when napster, and the explosion of MP3 swapping occurred. Downloading a 3 minute song on a 28.8 modem would take all night. I wasn’t getting enough hours, and was having too many problems dialing in. This was around the time when cable internet was just starting to become popular in my area, and I decided to give it a go.
Who cable Internet is for:
As of now, I wouldn’t recommend that my grandmother switch from AOL to a cable modem. First, she only uses the internet 10 hours per month, and with a cable modem, no matter what you use you still pay 45 dollars per month, which is triple what she pays for AOL. Second, although she does have many problems with AOL, they all go away by her changing the number she dials into, however, with a cable modem, and an awful company like AT&T, you have to be up-to-date, and proactive when your modem goes down, and she just doesn’t have enough time to deal with that. Finally, she only uses the internet for e-mails, and browsing through some news on sites like CNN.com, so she really doesn’t need any more bandwidth. However, on the other hand, if you are one who uses the internet all the time, downloads tons of MP3s, programs, or movies off mIRC or Kazza, and have the money, then, yes, you should definitely go with cable
Speed:
Generally, speed is great. I keep my computer on for days, sometimes weeks at a time downloading 50 to 80 different files at a time, some as big as a few gigabites. I average around 200KBps, sometimes higher depending on who I’m downloading from. Web pages pop up instantly because your modem is always on!. However, some times, for some reason, certain web pages take forever to load, which is either internet explorer’s fault, or the server that hosts the individual web sites. My one complaint would be with upload speed, at a lousy 10 to 15KBps, it will take you a long time to upload large information (sending e-mails, putting files on an FTP site, sharing files with other users on a P2P network). My cable modem, however, is not fast enough to stream into a live TV signal, which would require about 2MBps speed, but that really doesn’t break my day.
Instillation & Requirements:
First, you have to have service in your area. You can check to see if cable Internet is available in your area on AT&T’s website by putting in your zip code. If you can get it, you need a computer that meets the following requirements: Windows 98 or later; Mac OS 8 or later; and you need an Ethernet port (if you don’t, you can either buy a PCI Ethernet card for 10 dollars, or you can hook up your cable modem to your computer via a USB port. You should also have an Ethernet cable that can run from your computer to the cable modem. If you do not have cable coming to your house already, or the cable that comes into your house isn’t up to standard, or is from another company, your going to have them put their cables in. Usually, you can sign up, and get free instillation as a ‘special promo’ that has lasted for years. This is great, because it took 6 hours for my technician to start me up! Some people might need only 20 minutes, but it varies.
Routing:
AT&T tries to squeeze an extra $5/mo for every additional computer you use the Internet on. My advice to you is to buy a 4, 8 or 16 port Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router (costing 50 to 100 dollars pending on how many ports you want). If you plug in your cable modem to the router, and run Ethernet cables from each computer to the router, you can save a lot of money then doing the same thing, but paying for additional IP addresses. I personally have 3 computers hooked up to my router, and I can use them all at once and get amazing speeds. As far as instillation of the router, it is a breeze, and comes with picture directions that are easy to follow. You can choose to go wireless and buy a wireless router, but that is much more expensive, and you need a card on each computer to pick up the signal.
Buy or Rent:
You can own you own modem, for around 100 dollars, but I would not recommend it. First, your modem will be useless with in a year or two not because its obsolete, but because AT&T will no longer offer support or service for it. They do this because they want to monopolize the whole cable Internet industry, and just as they used to make you rent your phone to get their phone service. If you do decide to buy, you will pay a higher monthly fee for the service, but will pay no rental fee for the modem, so it comes out to the same amount as you would pay if you rented. I personally rent, and you should too.
Price:
The price of cable Internet service keeps going up and up and up. AT&T has a monopoly in the cable Internet market, and thus they have no competition to keep prices down for consumers. I started paying 40 dollars per month in which 30 dollars went to the service, and 10 dollars went to renting the cable modem. The price then went up to $45/mo within a few months. And as of now, it costs $50/mo. I can foresee this price going down if there is more competition backed by legislation promoting broadband by the government, although that’s probably 2 or 3 years off.
Reliability of service:
I’d venture to say that my cable modem is up roughly 97% of the time. I have had my fair share of downtime though. When my modem goes down, it’s usually down anywhere from 3 hours to one time a full week! However, I’d rather have a few hours of downtime every few months rather then being frustrated getting busy signals every time I go online. So, if you have a small business, or host a web site and rely on your internet to be up, you should have no worries.
Customer Service:
AT&T’s customer service on the phone is completely useless, and should be avoided. They always tell you to power cycle (turn your modem and computer off, then wait 15 seconds, and reboot), which never works. There is no communication between the attendants on the phone and the technicians that monitor nodes, and outages, and what not. I’ve had to have a technician come to my house about 5 times in the last 2 years. These guys are excellent, and provide the best support all for free! They have replaced the cable wire from the street to my house, which is about 200 feet, 3 times, and one was on the coldest day of the winter. They come in, do their job, and you internet is back up.
Reliability of company:
AT&T isn’t my favorite company. They came and bought out @home, and took over cable Internet service in my area. They forced SNET out of the cable TV business, and now are the sole cable TV provider. However, in the phone, and mobile phone sectors, they have been knocked out by start up companies, and are losing market share on a daily basis. Recently, they were bought out by Comcast, and by 2004, I have to change my e-mail address yet again. I will be writing a review of Comcast’s service when I have had enough information and experiences with them. My internet has been up all the time, and I have no complaints thus far with them.
The future of the Internet:
The Internet 2 is on its way with speeds 1,000,000 times greater then we now have. There are currently around 200 colleges and universities that are working cooperatively on making this a reality. Personally, I do not for see this until sometime well into next decade, but just the thought of that much bandwidth makes me drool.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Version Number or Year: 2003
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Epinions.com ID:
waluigi
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Location: United States
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
I am still blocked by the community
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