Leap Of Faith
Written: Aug 10 '00 (Updated Sep 21 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: All the normal comm services for one lower price
Cons: Less than stellar service, sometimes unprofessional.
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| starrion's Full Review: RCN Cable |
What an offer. Two phone lines, with all the trimmings, cable TV with about 30 more channels and extra boxes, and cable modem service for $140. It cut 1/3 off our bills with Mediaone and Verizon. Then I considered the possible headaches- if the procedure didn't work, losing our phone, TV, and Internet, then I was a dead man. The offer was simply too good to pass on, so I made the call.
Install
The installer showed up right on time. He immediately began stringing the line to the pole and spent 30 minutes hooking up the cable to the outside of the house. He brought in the boxes and I set about unpacking them. Unlike our Mediaone remotes, these remotes include power controls for TV and VCR's- eliminating two remotes per set. Then I saw the cable modem by 3Com. This is a cool little modem. It claims 3MB p/s download and 1MB p/s upload. I know I'll never see numbers like that. But it is nice to know the hardware can go faster than the pipe. The whole install including phones, TV, and modem took an hour and a half. (I configured my computer and cable box, so that saved some time)
Internet access
It is faster than Mediaone. Based on the file downloads I've been doing it's maybe 20% faster. At these speeds it's hard to tell. A 5MB file took 34 seconds. I recall the same file took about 45-50 seconds with Mediaone. Email and News were easily setup and everything seems to work fine. I'm a three year cable modem user, so high download speeds no longer impress me the way they did, but going from a dial-up to cable modem service is quite the shock. It makes online news, and entertainment practical. I can't imagine Epinions on a dial-up line, RCN delivers the same instant gratification that Mediaone did, only cheaper. It really is twenty or thirty times faster. Plus there are the dual advantages of it always being available at no additional charge AND not having to use a phone line, make cable the way to go.
AOL users unite! you have nothing to lose but your hourglass!
Cable TV
This is a package deal, the cable delivery came with a shock. In the form of ten free channels, like the Movie Channel, multiple HBO's, Cinemax and Showtime. Plus the History channel and a host of others. Unfortunately, we don't get the fifteen Home shopping channels that Mediaone featured. I was very pleased at the setup of the cable boxes and the multi function remotes. The cable TV system also features on screen info boxes that tell you what's on, how long it's been on, and when it ends. The only thing is that the channels are not grouped together by type. But there is a lot more quality shows to watch now.
Telephone
The phone service features all the options like call waiting, caller ID, and voicemail. It all works. Plus we get unlimited regional calling on two phone lines. This is the same deal the we had from Verizon for about 30% less. There was no interuption of service and we got to keep our existing phone numbers. It was painless.
Service
For cable modem access was fast. About 5 minutes on hold. They answered my questions in under 5 minutes. Cable TV service was slower. The installer had to wait more than 15 minutes to talk to a person to get service connected.
I've been using this for a week and everything is better than I expected. Updates to follow.
UPDATE I
First major hiccup. The phone service died on both phone lines. A call to service was placed on Saturday and was promptly answered, but the service agent said it would take 5 days to respond on-site. I politely -but firmly- told her that was unacceptable, and that they had until Tuesday to fix the problem. They sent a service tech on Monday and he was able to restore service. They responded, but I am going to keep a close eye on them.....
UPDATE II- 9/20
Our service is still good, but I'm having trouble with deactivating the voicemail. What is remarkably disappointing is that based on our recommendation, two of my sisters each switched their houses over to the full RCN package. One cannot get Internet service for some strange reason and RCN has been two weeks trying to fix it without success. The other is far worse, an RCN tech came out and disconnected their Verizon phone service, then announced that the wiring on the house was "bad" and would have to be replaced. My brother-in-law disagreed and after the tech responded rudely, he was told to reconnect the Verizon line and leave the premises. The tech refused, saying only Verizon personnel could do that and left. Now they are without phone service. The whole incident is souring me on RCN. They may have a great package price, but their service overall is less than professional. They also don't tell you about a lot of fees that are not included in the package price. The monthly total is more like $160. After hearing about these experiences my other sister is going to switch completely over - to Mediaone. We all may follow if this keeps up. I'm reducing to three stars.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
starrion
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Member: Al
Location: Burlington, Mass
Reviews written: 63
Trusted by: 36 members
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