14 January 2016
A FASTER INTERNET
For the New Year, I promised myself a faster Internet connection.
From the time we got our first computer, we have lived with DSL from Verizon and it seemed every year it got slower and slower so this month we decided to do something about it, and I'd like to share that experience.
I first went to “speedtest.net” to check our current speed. We clocked in at a whole 1.8 Mb per sec download and a stimulating .2 Mbps upload. After many hours on the phone with several Verizon technical representatives they concluded that in our building the best anybody could ever do with DSL was around 3.0 Mbps because of the long phone line run from our building to the nearest station. After adjusting our line from their side, the best they could do for us was only 2.0 Mbps. I then asked them to switch us to FiOS. Turns out, it is not available in our area so I said goodbye to Verizon.
I contacted Time Warner Cable at 1-855-366-5742 after seeing an ad that said they could provide 50 Mbps for $35 a month. Now we had TWC a long time ago for cable TV and we were not pleased with their service which is why we switched to DirecTV. However, for an Internet only package, this seemed like a pretty good deal and we were desperate. Since each unit in our building has 3 coax cables coming into the unit (one from DirecTV, one from TWC and one spare that could go to either box) I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a problem for the technician to route it over to my computer. I set up an appointment and paid the first months fee of $35 plus $40 for the installation.
You have the choice of either renting a modem and Wi-Fi box from TWC or buying your own. That decision was a no-brainer. On their website they list over 50 models that are compatible withTWC. After some research I chose the Motorola SBG6700 which has the capability of 100Mbps in case I later wanted to increase the speed later. It also has the advantage of operating on 2 frequencies; 2.4 and 5 GHz. I got mine at Target for $170 but it is available on Amazon for less.
The technician was right on time and we went to work laying some new cable in the unit. My cables came up from the garage and into the downstairs closet. He identified which cable was not being used and connected one end to the Time Warner Cable box in the garage and after drilling through the closet and the first floor to bring the cable up to my computer he plugged everything in and we suddenly had lightning fast Internet and Wi-Fi. Much to my surprise the setup was easy and we did not have to change our Email address.
I recommend this approach if you're still trying to deal with DSL.
Ed Schneider