Charter Internet cable anyone??

[PolarNorth]

I have had them for about 6 months now, paying for the 3 Mbs connection (with a promo $15 /mo price) and I think somewhere after the first month, I was silently upgraded to the 5 Mbs service (checked with dslreports.com). And I have happily been enjoying 5 Mbs for Usenet and torrents.

Is it normal for them to do this? And has anyone else been silently upgraded to the 5 Mbs too? The reason this is an issue for me now, is that I recently added a second internet line, hoping to then get twin 5 Mbs connections (for a total of 10 Mbs) but it looks like they 'reset' even the first internet line and now I have two 3 Mbs lines, not 5 Mbs + 3 Mbs, and not the best case scenario of 5 Mbs + 5 Mbs.


Cliff notes: Did your 3 Mbs connection get upgraded to 5 Mbs after a while? How long did yours take if it did? And yes, I am download greedy.

 

[PolarNorth]

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1 to find out how fast your are. I am 2929 Kbps down and 238 Kbps for each line, I used to be 5000 Kbps and 500 Kbps.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?java=1 java based

 

[Tsaico]

I did, but when I relocated to a new place, it was put back at the correct speed. They als osome times do promotins without even telling you, so it might be that too.

 

[PolarNorth]

How long have you been at your new place now? And when they first upgraded you, how long before you noticed it?

 

[Tsaico]

At work now, and our connection reads 8634 k down and 9810k up... looks like more peopel surfing an downloading then sending files...

 

[clamum]

They didn't upgrade mine (3 MB). I did that speed test you posted and got about 1.5 MB. They might've upgraded my brother's Internet in Houghton, MI though... he told me he was getting really fast downloads recently.

 

[BuckNaked]

Its a complimentary preview for the 5mb speed... It will go back to the 3mb speed after a certain length of time...

 

[DaveJ]

Originally posted by: Buck_Naked
Its a complimentary preview for the 5mb speed... It will go back to the 3mb speed after a certain length of time...

Yep. They upgraded my service in February to 5Mb down/512Kb up, and it's listed on my bill as a free "preview" until 1/31/08. I'll probably pay for the extra speed when they start charging though, the extra upload is nice.

 

[PolarNorth]

Damn, complimentary preview, that makes more sense than a blanket upgrade of all 3 Mbs connections... hmm, I was afraid of that.

I live in Long Beach, and the 10 Mbs service is I think somewhere in the $80 plus range, if not $100. So the promo price I got for 3mbs $15/mo for one year is not too bad, especially considering it is also strips off the not having cable TV w/o surcharge requirement. $30 for a combined 6 Mbs, not bad I guess, even if I was expecting 10 Mbs download.

Now the bigger question is when the heck is FiOS coming to my block!! They have it in single family houses a few blocks away, but I live in a duplex, so I guess we are the ugly step-children when it comes to desired users

 

[PolarNorth]

Originally posted by: DaveJ

Originally posted by: Buck_Naked
Its a complimentary preview for the 5mb speed... It will go back to the 3mb speed after a certain length of time...

Yep. They upgraded my service in February to 5Mb down/512Kb up, and it's listed on my bill as a free "preview" until 1/31/08. I'll probably pay for the extra speed when they start charging though, the extra upload is nice.

February is around when I was first upgraded I think, I hope they start a new wave of 'previews' soon!

 

[Chaotic42]

Around here Charter is rough. $55/mo for 3000/256 service. No HDTV, no On-demand, no nothing. They're the only game in town though.

 

[PolarNorth]

Originally posted by: Tsaico
At work now, and our connection reads 8634 k down and 9810k up... looks like more peopel surfing an downloading then sending files...

Oh, to have a 10 mbps upload speed at home for those private torrent trackers! Let me know when you get home if you have been upgraded...

 

[PolarNorth]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Around here Charter is rough. $55/mo for 3000/256 service. No HDTV, no On-demand, no nothing. They're the only game in town though.

Google Charter hot deals or internet specials, and use your wifes/roomates/dogs name to get a new account. Normally $20/mo for a 6 mos, but also easy to find or ask for 15/mo for a year, and sometimes there is also a $50 rebate. I was offered the $50 rebate even though I asked for a new line, not even a new account!

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: PolarNorth
Damn, complimentary preview, that makes more sense than a blanket upgrade of all 3 Mbs connections... hmm, I was afraid of that.

I live in Long Beach, and the 10 Mbs service is I think somewhere in the $80 plus range, if not $100. So the promo price I got for 3mbs $15/mo for one year is not too bad, especially considering it is also strips off the not having cable TV w/o surcharge requirement. $30 for a combined 6 Mbs, not bad I guess, even if I was expecting 10 Mbs download.

Now the bigger question is when the heck is FiOS coming to my block!! They have it in single family houses a few blocks away, but I live in a duplex, so I guess we are the ugly step-children when it comes to desired users

Long Beach here. $53 (with tax, etc) for a whopping 3 Mb.

 

[duragezic]

Yep I have it. As said, it is a complementary 5Meg preview for current 3Meg customers, valid until 1/31/08, at least in my area. I didn't even know of the free upgrade until just recently when I went to switch service to my roommate's name to get a new customer deal, and seen "5M preview thru 1/31/08 0.00" on my account printout. They did not once mention this free upgrade on my bill statements or when I went to the office to get an address change when I moved a month ago or so.

That explains why in the past week or so, I was exceeding 560 k/s, steadily, on HTTP downloads, while seeding BT at 16 k/s, and while my roommate was on the web and/or using BT himself. Granted this had been late at night/early morning, but I knew normally that even that seeding would bring the internet to its knees, and that those download speeds aren't possible with 3 Meg. That is probably the fastest rate I've ever gotten over the internet. I know it's not much for you city guys, but in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Charter is the only option.

Last week, I overheard a coworker getting Charter service, and as he got off the phone said he was getting 3 Meg + basic cable (channels 2-29) for $30/mo for the whole year, upgradeable or dropped at any time he wants. I was like, "WTF?? I pay and have paid $63/mo for that exact same service!!". After work I told my roommate to lets go and switch Charter into his name for that $30 new customer special, dropping our bill by more than half! At the Charter office, the lady says there is no such $30/mo 12 month special, even after I kept saying my friend got that exact deal 3 hours ago. She said the only thing they had was 3 Meg + basic for $38/mo for three months.

We were about to just take the deal to save $25/mo for 3 months, but my roommate asked about specials with extended cable (channels 2-75), and there was a 6 month special. So now we still pay $63.42/mo, but its 3 Meg + extended cable instead of just basic. Still pretty lame how they gave that guy a 12 month deal for $30/mo. Still not much of a deal when I was hoping to drop our bill in half, but the 5M preview is great and there is no other options around here for broadband. And around here, Charter charges $10/mo extra for any internet-only customers, so when basic cable is $13/mo, there is almost no reason to not get basic cable.

So in conclusion, you need to either b*tch about the service and threaten to cancel (even though they know there is no other options in the area except them) to try and get a deal, or just check regularly for deals or new customer deals.

 

[Eos]

I got the same free preview. I'll be paying for it after it goes away. Great upload speed.