Thinking about switching to Charter internet

[Wizrow]

We're getting rid of our landline and are planning on getting away from AT&T completely. Very bad experience with them. We currently pay $50/month for internet(1.5m) and $40/month for the land line.

Charter has 20m for $80, this seems like a good move. I've googled around for some reviews on charter and can't find any real(just normal people, not articles) observations.

I currently download at around 120kbps and was just wondering what I should expect. Should we go with the 10M or 5M instead? Will we need any specifically new hardware to utilize the new internet if we decide to change? Should I expect constant down times?

OR is charter a horrible company that I should keep clear of. Please share any experiences

[Shojin]

Post from BBB on Charter

The Better Business Bureau has received numerous complaints regarding this cable, digital TV, and high speed internet access provider. Complainants primarily allege that the firm had improper billing practices, referred customer bills to collection agencies in error, provided poor customer service, used misleading advertising, provided defective internet or cable performance, used improper sales tactics or misrepresented the actual costs of installation and service, failed to properly install or maintain service, damaged customers' property, and failed to honor service appointments.

Not only that, but they filed for Chapter 11 on March of this year. Not sure how they run their internet, or if there are any caps/throttling etc.

Personally I would recommend Verizon if it is available, and if FiOS is available, get that. I'd love the FiOS service, heard a lot of great things about it, great download speeds and much better upload speeds and is competitive with current prices, even cheaper in some cases. We've been using Verizon (non-FiOS) for a few years and have had no problems, not usage limits, no throttling or bandwidth caps so far, and I torrent pretty frequently.

Other companies I've heard good things from are Cox internet, but have no experience with them as they aren't available in my area.

[Kryssan]

Cox Cable is hit or miss. Can be really good or really bad. Depends on the region. No complaints about the VA/HR area. Very rarely saw downtime and connections weren't throttled.


Never had Charter but from what everyone tells me it sucks hardcore.





I'll second Verizon/FiOS, though for your area feel free to use BBB and find out anything that's going on first. I've also heard tales about it as well, though never seen too much substantiated on it.

[Wizrow]

Sadly, cox and verizon don't service my area ;.;

[Cephius]

Don't do it. I had Charter because it was the only cable provider available at my college and it was absolutely terrible. God awful. Horrible prices, horrible service, horrible everything. DANGER WILL ROBINSON

[Kryssan]

http://boulderspace.files.wordpress....09/danger1.jpg



Good quotes deserve pictures.

[Zosi]

I have Charter, it's pretty mediocre. I pay $55 a month plus modem rental for 6Mb (~580kb/s sustained transfer) cable with no other Charter services. I haven't had to deal with the customer service much, but when I have, it has generally been acceptable. I can't say that I'd recommend them if you have a reputable cable company servicing your area.

[Velgadess]

...........
Charter has 20m for $80, this seems like a good move. I've googled around for some reviews on charter and can't find any real(just normal people, not articles) observations.

tried checking here for reviews?

Reviews Finder - dslreports.com

[Wizrow]

tried checking here for reviews?

Reviews Finder - dslreports.com

Amazing. This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks

[Cheerios]

I use charter internet, and it costs $40 a month for 5 mbps here. I yoink free cable by splitting the coax from the modem to my television, so it's a good deal 'round here!

As for the actual service, I've gotten my bill forwarded to a collection agency before even though it was paid. Service used to completely crap out from 6 pm til 11 pm but not anymore, and upload speeds are pretty terrible, too (0.5 mbps). I only use Charter because it's the only thing that services my area, so if you have other options, I'd try them.

[Alishe]

Charter is great if you like your internet to go out all the time, mainly in the middle of the night and then comes back around 9am or so. If we didn't live in bfe and had another option, I would take it. Charter blows. Also, their cable is awful too.

[Haiko]

Yeah I had Charter before when i was living with my parents and i only that and clearwire as my options...charter was ok but shitty service....

[Vile23]

Charter internet isn't as bad as it use to be. I had worse experiences with Verizon dsl a few years ago. We have a charter "bundle" in our house cable,internet and phone (lol) for roughly 90$ a month. My biggest complaint with most of these providers is there usage of contractors to do the installations. We had two dudes who left wiring, and parts of my house exposed after the install. I complained and had a legit worker come out fix the problem right away. They all seem generally hit and miss none the less.

[Sonomaa]

I have charter 20/3

I get 8/.5 at best, sometimes I can download at 1.1 megs and upload at 120k but NOTHING else works, it completely becomes worthless to surf and I cant even play XI at all. Charter is shit and I hate it, I had verizon fios before and I miss it, everyone in the house does, and charters phone lines are voip, not actual hard lines, which fucks up my business and annoys the piss out of people because of the obvious half a second to full second delay

cant wait till verizon comes up here, cannot fucking wait.

[Alishe]

I think this thread probably steered the OP completely clear of Charter as long as they have an alternate provider. Pretty sure no one picks Charter because they want to. I miss Wide Open West