[Cialug] Mediacom to boost speeds

[Justin Richeson]

<warning...incoming rants>

> Say what you want about service techs and the like. Once the service is set
> up it is very fast.


Unless you have to have a tech out at least once every 6 months because
that service keeps going on and off at random.  And said tech usually comes
out, fiddles with a splitter, shrugs and goes "it's working now." (x3 more
techs that do the same damn thing)


> One of the few ISP's that do not seem to over
> subscribe bandwidth.
>


BULL! Even when our service was working I'd be home and it would blaze from
8-3ish, after that every kid gets home and fires up their PSBox and
PornTorrent and BOOM I'm barely rocking a 1mb connection by 9pm.

Can't say I care for CL either after just over a year of service.  It at
least stays up, but I'm definitely noticing lower speeds.  I have 12Mb with
them (modem actually says it's provisioned for closer to 15) and it rarely
runs close to that.  The upload is atrocious and youtube ALWAYS buffers
(though I found that this is due to the use of content caching servers
instead of direct calls to youtube's main servers).  I thought DSL wasn't
supposed to have the overload issues of cable so I don't know what's going
on there.  And not that it's CL's fault but my Actiontec C1000A
modem/AP/Router they *gave* me (free modem from guy at mall kiosk - no
rental fee) is a POS.  It locks up regularly.  I put a server blower fan on
it (blows air off top of modem) to keep it running mostly reliably.  Tried
setting up openDNS but then it passes all DNS requests outside so I can't
find internal PC's by hostname. Many other issues with that POS....

I'd kill for Google fiber or FIOS (if the good things I've heard about it
are true).  No, seriously...who has to die for that to happen here in the
DSM suburbs?  WTF do rural communities get fiber-TO-THE-HOUSE and the best
I can do is Shittycom and LastCenturyLink?  My Grandma's farm in Northern
IA had not one but TWO rural telco's run fiber by her place and both
offered to do the install to the house free if it was done during the
initial lay so they at least got the fiber from the provider they were
already getting slow DSL from.  But I mean, they even have competition!
 FOR THE SAME PRODUCT!  Gotta love the MC/Cable, CL/DSL monopoly here....

<sorry...rant over>

I will say one good thing about my CL service.  We had an all-day power
outtage last winter I think.  I was home that day (made for a long day
off).  I was surprised, but our gas fireplace still turned on, so I stayed
home and kept that running to keep the house from freezing up.  Luckily I
have a UPS for my PC and one that my modem was on.  I quickly killed the PC
to keep some power in that UPS, and between the two of them my limited
network of my modem and my tablet stayed with me all day.  Surprisingly my
CL connection never dropped.  I don't know where the nearest connection
point was, but it still had power.

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