internet connection (Durham, Star, Speed: house, buy, price)

[mcmartian]

What kinds of internet connection am I likely to find in suburban Durham?

I currently have roadrunner with a cable modem connection in NY state and absolutely love it.

Actually, if only dial up was the only option available in an area, I wouldn't buy a house there. I've been dial up free for almost 10 years and so love not having to try different phone numbers for half hour till getting a connection and then loosing it in a few minutes again.

yup I'm internet connection spoiled!

[MrsSteel]

Not to worry. Time Warner is the cable provider in this area, so you can keep your Roadrunner connection.

[mcmartian]

hurray! I'm so used to my fast internet connection that waiting for a reboot of the cable modem seems like a deprived internet access time.

Yeah I know, I need outdoor away from computer hobbies. But if I move to NC, maybe I can grow a vegetable and have it actually ripen on the vine before it freezes on the vine! laughs!

[CaliBoy]

Originally Posted by mcmartian

hurray! I'm so used to my fast internet connection that waiting for a reboot of the cable modem seems like a deprived internet access time. Yeah I know, I need outdoor away from computer hobbies. But if I move to NC, maybe I can grow a vegetable and have it actually ripen on the vine before it freezes on the vine! laughs!

I had Roadrunner but recently switched to Earthlink since they still serviced my email accounts. However, both companies are serviced by Time Warner, so it doesn't matter. I'll just use Earthlink for the six months of promotion, then move back to Roadrunner, and visa versa so that I never have to pay full price. Oftentimes, each company's retention department will extend the promotion just to keep you around.

Nonetheless, Time Warner has been fantastic. Aside from the initial connection issue I experienced at the beginning (which they eagerly corrected to my satisfaction), my connection speed has always neared 5kbps. Consistently. Excellent work.

You can test your connection using Speakeasy's online tester. It works well. The link is as follows: Speakeasy - Speed Test. Pretty handy to help verify your connection.

Also, you can check the throughput of your connection by doing the following on a PC:

1. Go to Start menu
2. Go to 'Run'
3. In the dialog box, type in 'cmd' without the quotes.
4. When the prompt comes up, type in 'tracert www.url.com' (without quotes and the URL can be google, city-data, amazon, anything).

The resulting list of numbers will tell you if you have a clear connection to their servers. If you see any stars in the mix, that tells you there are issues with your connection and that you are not getting the best connection that is offered (due to some problem in the line, server, etc.). I really don't know the technical part of all that, but stars are bad. And I see them. But still, I get a fast connection.

Just an added bit of interest to verify your connection speed. That's all.