# TWC Price increase



## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

So, I call TWC last week to lower my internet by $10(slower speed)(from 15mb to 10mb) to save a few bucks. This week I get an insert with my bill, they will be RAISING internet cost by $16/mo. and cable by approx. $4/mo. $20/month increase, REALLY TWC!!!  I guess too many cable cutters so they raise internet costs that everybody uses.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

bobrt6676 said:


> So, I call TWC last week to lower my internet by $10(slower speed)(from 15mb to 10mb) to save a few bucks. This week I get an insert with my bill, they will be RAISING internet cost by $16/mo. and cable by approx. $4/mo. $20/month increase, REALLY TWC!!!  I guess too many cable cutters so they raise internet costs that everybody uses.


Where are you located?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

I didn't think TWC still had a 10Mbps plan. How much are you paying per month for internet? In many markets, Earthlink resells Time Warner Cable internet service, usually at a lower price than what TWC sells it for. Check and see if you can get a better price by switching to Earthlink through Time Warner on the Earthlink website: http://www.earthlink.net/

And if you don't already own your own modem, be sure to buy one so you can ditch the TWC modem rental fee.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Whoah, I can get Earthlink's 56kbps dial up internet service for only $9.95/month, where do I sign up?!?!?!


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I didn't think TWC still had a 10Mbps plan. How much are you paying per month for internet? In many markets, Earthlink resells Time Warner Cable internet service, usually at a lower price than what TWC sells it for. Check and see if you can get a better price by switching to Earthlink through Time Warner on the Earthlink website: http://www.earthlink.net/
> 
> And if you don't already own your own modem, be sure to buy one so you can ditch the TWC modem rental fee.


Dayton,Ohio area. Currently 41.95/mo. (I use EarthLink through TWC) I do not get charged by TWC for the modem. At least not YET. The new price for EarthLink standard will be 57.99. This is the same price as the new Road Runner standard price. And yes EL standard is 10MB vs RR standard which is 15MB


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Do you have fios in your area?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

bobrt6676 said:


> Dayton,Ohio area. Currently 41.95/mo. (I use EarthLink through TWC) I do not get charged by TWC for the modem. At least not YET. The new price for EarthLink standard will be 57.99. This is the same price as the new Road Runner standard price. And yes EL standard is 10MB vs RR standard which is 15MB


I think you can get Earthlink to give you the lower price again if you just ask them for it. And the Earthlink modem fee should be starting in a month or two so you should probably be looking into buying a modem soon.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I'm in the TWC SW Ohio region, same as the OP, and got the same notice in my bill today. My internet isn't Earthlink. It's part of a "promotion" bundle that includes TV, and there's no way to even tell what the separate prices are. As I read the notice it says if you are on a promotional deal, your prices won't change until the promotion period ends (one year typically). The standard approach is to call them when your promotion ends and then they come up with a new promotion bundle. I recently did this and got a bundle with a half dozen additional channels and for $10 less than what the renewal of my previous bundle was going to be.

TWC (Roadrunner) standard Internet used to be 10 Mbps but was bumped up to 15 Mbps some months ago.

I find it hard to believe Earthlink could offer much better Internet deals than TWC in our region (since it all comes down the same cables, presumably owned by TWC). One disadvantage of Earthlink I recall is they don't offer fixed IP's while Roadrunner does -- this might be obsolete info.


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## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

and what does this have to do with the Roamio?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

spaldingclan said:


> and what does this have to do with the Roamio?


It's potentially relevant to anyone having a Roamio connected to a TWC cable system.

But I understand your reaction -- I frequently have the same reaction to threads or posts that seem off topic to me. But I'm disciplining myself not to post complaints in those cases.

Because I think there's an argument that you should just ignore threads that you think are off topic, i.e., it does no good to post like you did. Obviously at least four forum members find this thread of interest, so why not just ignore it rather than complain?

Of course if you think the thread is seriously bad, report it to the forum admins.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

bobrt6676 said:


> Dayton,Ohio area. Currently 41.95/mo. (I use EarthLink through TWC) I do not get charged by TWC for the modem. At least not YET. The new price for EarthLink standard will be 57.99. This is the same price as the new Road Runner standard price. And yes EL standard is 10MB vs RR standard which is 15MB


Makes Comcast's 25M/4M regular Internet service seem like a real bargain with the new TWC pricing ($53.95 here without modem rental though). They are also increasing that to 50M/10M on double and triple play packages without any cost increase.

Scott


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## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

there's a section called "off-topic-General Chit chat" that this belongs in...you are just adding noise to a very specific HARDWARE section.


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## mpnret (Dec 4, 2012)

spaldingclan said:


> there's a section called "off-topic-General Chit chat" that this belongs in...you are just adding noise to a very specific HARDWARE section.


And yet your posting in a thread clearly labeled TWC Price Increase.


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

spaldingclan said:


> there's a section called "off-topic-General Chit chat" that this belongs in...you are just adding noise to a very specific HARDWARE section.


Actually I looked for the TWC thread and found it buried in the Series 3 Hardware thread. SO, I sort of brought it to the current hardware Roamio thread. Thought it would be relevant to the thread with all the cable cutter purchase discussions. 
My apologies to the posting police, no harm intended.


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

HarperVision said:


> Do you have fios in your area?


Not available in my area. Wish it were though.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

bobrt6676 said:


> Dayton,Ohio area. Currently 41.95/mo. (I use EarthLink through TWC) I do not get charged by TWC for the modem. At least not YET. The new price for EarthLink standard will be 57.99. This is the same price as the new Road Runner standard price. And yes EL standard is 10MB vs RR standard which is 15MB


TWC added an "Internet Modem Lease" charge of $5.99 to my bill a few months ago. When I called they explained that was to cover the increase of my (standard) internet speed from 10 to 15 Mbps. Of course they didn't come and replace my modem so the charge is ridiculous. This is just a way of increasing prices without technically violating the terms (a fixed price for a year) of my "promotion" bundle.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

HerronScott said:


> Makes Comcast's 25M/4M regular Internet service seem like a real bargain with the new TWC pricing ($53.95 here without modem rental though). They are also increasing that to 50M/10M on double and triple play packages without any cost increase.
> 
> Scott


But doesn't Comcast impose caps? TWC doesn't. Not sure about Earthlink.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> But doesn't Comcast impose caps? TWC doesn't. Not sure about Earthlink.


Yes, Comcast imposes a 300GB/month cap last time I checked. No cap on either TWC or Earthlink though TWC....yet.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> TWC added an "Internet Modem Lease" charge of $5.99 to my bill a few months ago. When I called they explained that was to cover the increase of my (standard) internet speed from 10 to 15 Mbps. Of course they didn't come and replace my modem so the charge is ridiculous. This is just a way of increasing prices without technically violating the terms (a fixed price for a year) of my "promotion" bundle.


Buy your own modem to avoid the lease fee. I recommend this one:

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorol...ie=UTF8&qid=1395002178&sr=8-1&keywords=sb6141


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Buy your own modem to avoid the lease fee. I recommend this one:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorol...ie=UTF8&qid=1395002178&sr=8-1&keywords=sb6141


Interesting. That's DOCSIS 3 and the one they are leasing me is just a 2 (although 2 is good enough for my 15 Mbps-rated service).

At $82 vs. $6/mo lease, my break-even point would be just 14 mos., but doesn't this just give them another place to point the finger when you want support for an internet problem? (I've experienced the finger pointing syndrome in spades with my Tivo and TWC cable TV.) I have had internet problems and they've swapped the modems several times for troubleshooting -- although the modem was never the problem.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> Interesting. That's DOCSIS 3 and the one they are leasing me is just a 2 (although 2 is good enough for my 15 Mbps-rated service).
> 
> At $82 vs. $6/mo lease, my break-even point would be just 14 mos., but doesn't this just give them another place to point the finger when you want support for an internet problem? (I've experienced the finger pointing syndrome in spades with my Tivo and TWC cable TV.) I have had internet problems and they've swapped the modems several times for troubleshooting -- although the modem was never the problem.


I have the 15Mbps Earthlink through TWC. Before getting this modem, I had a TWC DOCSIS 2 modem. While it obviously did not increase my peak speads since those are capped by TWC, switching from the DOCSIS 2 to the DOCSIS 3 modem greatly improved the stability and reliability of my internet connection. Since D2 only uses one channel, if there is any sort of interference on that channel it will adversely affect your internet connection. Since the D3 modem uses multiple channels, interference on one channel can be compensated for by the other channels. Before switching, my download speeds would fluctuate from 5 to 16 Mbps when I would test it. Now, I pretty much get a solid 16.3 Mbps no matter what.

My new modem also seems to handle any network problems much more gracefully than my old TWC modem did. I remember back when I had the TWC D2, I would have to reboot it every few weeks, but I've had the D3 modem for over 6 months and have not had to reboot it once. I highly recommend you upgrade to a DOCSIS 3 modem regardless of what your internet speed cap is.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I take it you haven't had to request any support from the ISP after installing the new modem. I'm still concerned about them evading responsibility by blaming user-supplied equipment. In the last three years I've had two bouts of internet dropouts that were caused by problems outside my home. But the first thing they do is swap modems because it's so easy to do. 

What did you have to do to get the system to connect to your modem? Just a phone call?

Also do you know if Earthlink provides static IP numbers?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> I take it you haven't had to request any support from the ISP after installing the new modem.


I had repeated problems when I was using TWC's modems. I have had no problems since switching to my own modem.



dlfl said:


> I'm still concerned about them evading responsibility by blaming user-supplied equipment.


You can say the exact same thing about owning a TiVo rather than the cable company's DVR/cable boxes.



dlfl said:


> In the last three years I've had two bouts of internet dropouts that were caused by problems outside my home. But the first thing they do is swap modems because it's so easy to do.


And if you ever have problems going forward, it is just as simple to swap out your modem with a TWC modem to see if the modem is the problem or not. TWC will prorate fees on your bill, so if you put one of their modems on your account for a day to test it, it'll cost you all of about 20 cents.



dlfl said:


> What did you have to do to get the system to connect to your modem? Just a phone call?


I actually activated the modem through TWC's web chat feature. It took less than 5 minutes and was very simple.



dlfl said:


> Also do you know if Earthlink provides static IP numbers?


This I do not know.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tarheelblue32 said:


> .......
> You can say the exact same thing about owning a TiVo rather than the cable company's DVR/cable boxes.


Yes, and it's a PITA. But one doesn't have a choice in that case -- unless you like Cable Co DVR's. In the case of the Internet modem, I have a choice that isn't too hateful. I don't have to power cycle my modem every few weeks like you did.


tarheelblue32 said:


> And if you ever have problems going forward, it is just as simple to swap out your modem with a TWC modem to see if the modem is the problem or not. TWC will prorate fees on your bill, so if you put one of their modems on your account for a day to test it, it'll cost you all of about 20 cents.


Well I agree that is simple, and the logical way it **should** work, but will they really do it that way? -- it appears you haven't actually had this experience, correct? (Since you haven't had any Internet problems after installing your new modem).


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> Yes, and it's a PITA. But one doesn't have a choice in that case -- unless you like Cable Co DVR's. In the case of the Internet modem, I have a choice that isn't too hateful. I don't have to power cycle my modem every few weeks like you did.


My old DOCSIS 2 modem from Time Warner was as inferior to my current DOCSIS 3 modem as my old Time Warner DVR was to my TiVo. But hey, if you want to pay Time Warner a rental fee for an inferior modem rather than buy a new modem that will pay for itself in about a year, that's your prerogative. But for me, anything I can do to improve my service while at the same time keep more of my money in my pocket and out of Time Warner's greedy pockets is a win-win for me.



dlfl said:


> Well I agree that is simple, and the logical way it **should** work, but will they really do it that way? -- it appears you haven't actually had this experience, correct? (Since you haven't had any Internet problems after installing your new modem).


Seriously? I pay them to provide me internet service and you actually think that if I ask them to provide me a modem that is required to receive that service that they would say "no, you will just have to use the internet service you pay us for without a modem"? That would be like a rental car company renting me a car without tires. I am 100% confident that if I go down to the TWC office tomorrow and tell them I am having trouble with my modem and want to get a TWC modem put on my account that they would hand me one without hesitation.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Yes, Comcast imposes a 300GB/month cap last time I checked. No cap on either TWC or Earthlink though TWC....yet.


No caps here with Comcast but it has been reported that they are starting to roll out the 300GB/month cap you mentioned in other locations. I'm guessing it's just a matter of time.

Scott


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tarheelblue32 said:


> .........
> Seriously? I pay them to provide me internet service and you actually think that if I ask them to provide me a modem that is required to receive that service that they would say "no, you will just have to use the internet service you pay us for without a modem"? That would be like a rental car company renting me a car without tires. I am 100% confident that if I go down to the TWC office tomorrow and tell them I am having trouble with my modem and want to get a TWC modem put on my account that they would hand me one without hesitation.


That's logical, probably correct, although you don't deal with **my** TWC (Southwest Ohio) which strikes me as one of the more clueless TWC regions. I'm not confident of a reasonable response in this situation until it's verified by experience. I don't recall them ever doing something for me "without hesitation" (other than sending my monthly bill ).

But even if true, the drive time to my TWC office is 35 mins, so the round trip time to pick up that modem, allowing time spent in office, approaches 1.5 hours. This compares with less than 5 minutes to swap a leased modem (the tech just gets one from his truck). Admittedly I might have to wait 3 days for the tech to arrive.

If anyone located in the TWC SW Ohio region (Cincy, Dayton areas) is using their own cable modem, I would be interested in hearing their experiences regarding modem swaps as part of Internet support issues.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

dlfl said:


> That's logical, probably correct, although you don't deal with **my** TWC (Southwest Ohio) which strikes me as one of the more clueless TWC regions. I'm not confident of a reasonable response in this situation until it's verified by experience. I don't recall them ever doing something for me "without hesitation" (other than sending my monthly bill ).
> 
> But even if true, the drive time to my TWC office is 35 mins, so the round trip time to pick up that modem, allowing time spent in office, approaches 1.5 hours. This compares with less than 5 minutes to swap a leased modem (the tech just gets one from his truck). Admittedly I might have to wait 3 days for the tech to arrive.
> 
> If anyone located in the TWC SW Ohio region (Cincy, Dayton areas) is using their own cable modem, I would be interested in hearing their experiences regarding modem swaps as part of Internet support issues.


For someone who uses a TiVo rather than your cable company DVR, it amazes me how resistant you seem to be to the idea of getting your own modem. A TiVo is much more difficult to get working properly and much more prone to possible technical glitches on a cable company's system than a user-owned modem is.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tarheelblue32 said:


> For someone who uses a TiVo rather than your cable company DVR, it amazes me how resistant you seem to be to the idea of getting your own modem. A TiVo is much more difficult to get working properly and much more prone to possible technical glitches on a cable company's system than a user-owned modem is.


I have enough hassle keeping my Tivo going without adding possible additional hassle with the modem, even if it's less than would apply to a Tivo. I'm not sure it's worth it to save the $5.99/mo. (plus improve Internet performance -- although mine is quite acceptable already). Now if the savings or performance boost was much greater that would be a different story.

Anyway thanks for the info, and I guess you'll have to continue being amazed.


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## kirk1701 (Feb 5, 2007)

Bob

Didn't read all the replies but scanned down through the tread to see if you got the issue resolved and didn't see anything.

The price change may not be related to your call, call them back this happened to us last year and I know I have to watch my statement again come May 2014.

You must have called them a year ago and they put you into a 1 year package, when the package is up the prices get changed and they are outrageous.

Soon as you call they will put you back into a new package again, they did us.


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

kirk1701 said:


> Bob
> 
> Didn't read all the replies but scanned down through the tread to see if you got the issue resolved and didn't see anything.
> 
> ...


Thanks, that is what I intend to do. Looking at their website they still have Standard internet(15mb) for 34.99/mo. for 12 months. And if they start charging for my modem (I believe they are not because I have EarthLink) I will not hesitate to purchase my own. Payback in about a year SEEMS like a no brainer.


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Buy your own modem to avoid the lease fee. I recommend this one:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorol...ie=UTF8&qid=1395002178&sr=8-1&keywords=sb6141


What's interesting is all of TW "approved" modems are Docsis3 at $50+ while they supply Docsis2 modems which you could buy @Amazon for $26.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

bobrt6676 said:


> What's interesting is all of TW "approved" modems are Docsis3 at $50+ while they supply Docsis2 modems which you could buy @Amazon for $26.


Because TWC would rather keep everyone using cheap crapola than pay to upgrade to all new modems, which is particularly egregious now that they charge a modem rental fee.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

HarperVision said:


> Whoah, I can get Earthlink's 56kbps dial up internet service for only $9.95/month, where do I sign up?!?!?!


Several years ago I wound up as an Earthlink dial up customer after they bought out the ISP who bought out...(insert chain of ISPs here) who bought out the original mom and pop dial up ISP I started with.

A few years later it had gotten up to $22 a month (with 8 email addresses possible, including some on the previous domain which I don't want to give up, so I'm in effect held hostage), and switching over to Earthlink's lowest speed over TWC cable was $30 a month, so I did that.

I've exchanged the provided cable modem a few times (even though I doubt the problem was ever the modem, but the change of serial numbers seems to trigger something that fixes the problem for awhile), and the use of the modem is part of the package at no additional cost.

There's been more than one time where calling with a problem meant TWC told me to call Earthlink and Earthlink told me to call TWC.

If not for wanting to keep my old email addresses, I'd have no particular loyalty to Earthlink, and if I wanted to start from scratch with a dial up account, I'd go with BasicISP at (currently) $8.95 per month (which includes one email address at least, maybe more)

The reason I know about BasicISP is because a few years ago I was having cable modem problems and falling back to Earthlink dial up (you get like 20 hours a month of dial up included with their cable package, supposedly for checking email away from home and stuff), the dial up wasn't working worth diddly either.

You can sign up with BasicISP on a month by month basis, no commitment, and it's as good speed wise as Earthlink dial up ever was, and when you call on the phone you get a real human here in the US in fairly short order.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

unitron said:


> I've exchanged the provided cable modem a few times (even though I doubt the problem was ever the modem, but the change of serial numbers seems to trigger something that fixes the problem for awhile), and the use of the modem is part of the package at no additional cost.


Not for much longer. TWC's modem rental fee will be extended to Earthlink customers in the next month or two.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Yes, Comcast imposes a 300GB/month cap last time I checked. No cap on either TWC or Earthlink though TWC....yet.


Comcast imposes the 300GB cap on Xfinity customers, not Comcast Business Line customers. That is why the difference in pricing between the two tiers.

Its actually not a cap at all, its included data, extra data is charged like extra minutes on your cell phone plan. Upgrading to Business Line gets unlimited. $10 for 50GB I think.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

At least on Comcast, if you upgrade to the 50M tier of service, you get a Docsis 3 modem. You can drop back to lower tier and you keep the same modem.


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

jcthorne said:


> Comcast imposes the 300GB cap on Xfinity customers, not Comcast Business Line customers. That is why the difference in pricing between the two tiers.
> 
> Its actually not a cap at all, its included data, extra data is charged like extra minutes on your cell phone plan. Upgrading to Business Line gets unlimited. $10 for 50GB I think.


You need to realize that your info about Comcast is local. Comparatively few Conmcast franchises have caps now, and the details vary between franchises. The caps are undoubtedly coming to the rest of us, but not quite yet.


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