Anybody ever compared Roadrunner to Hawaiian Telcom internet? (Kihei: live, costs)

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by OpenD

The upload speeds on DSL are a fraction of the download speeds. On Hawai'i Telcom, the Premium service lists a download speed of "up to 15" and an upload speed of "up to 1." <snooze>

And DSL service degrades as people pile on the same way cable internet does, maybe worse.

IOW, no, I don't think you would be happy with a switch.

Not quite true.

Upload speeds on Both cable and DSL are a fraction of the download speed - however, most people do not upload much anyway.

We used to have 3mb DSL and had no issues with streaming Netflix, etc.
We now have 20mb cable and other than faster downloads for large files, there really isn't much difference.

The cable DOES slow down when the kids get home from school - DSL never did. I can give the long technical reason why, but DSL doesn't have the slowdowns associated with it that cable will.

Available DSL speeds vary based upon your distance from their hub. Maximum distance in Hawaii is about 3 miles, which will only allow you the 3mb download speed. If close enough, you can get 11mb + (if you pay extra).

There is NO REASON why the DSL connection should drop when the phone rings - unless you do not have the proper filters installed on the phone lines or have too many (5+) phones in the house.

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

There is NO REASON why the DSL connection should drop when the phone rings - unless you do not have the proper filters installed on the phone lines or have too many (5+) phones in the house.

We've had DSL for years and have only recently had the connection issue. No new phones, nothing has changed at all. Is it possible that the filter might have gone bad?
We'll pick up a new one, switch it out, and see if it makes any difference.

[whtviper1]

DSL is cheaper than cable (roadrunner) - but DSL depends on how close you are to the switching station. Usually, cable is faster - but your experience may vary.

I recommend you get them to set it up at your house - do the speedtest - and if satisfactory - go for it. Everything is negotiable - I'm sure they will let you try and buy or cancel.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

Upload speeds on Both cable and DSL are a fraction of the download speed - however, most people do not upload much anyway.

Agreed, but I was replying to Hotcatz' specific case, in that she uploads very large graphic files. In my experience, having been an early adopter of DSL, and being someone who regularly uploads large graphic files myself, I feel strongly she would find DSL a downgrade from her current cable service.

Unless you have a commercial SDSL account, and are close to a telco hub on wires that are in good condition, you can't generally match cable internet quality with DSL. With streaming video like Netflix, internet speed translates to image quality. When I had DSL my Netflix views would routinely step down in resolution, a problem I don't often see with cable internet.

[hotzcatz]

Thanks, folks! I'm guessing we will stay with Roadrunner for awhile longer. It doesn't seem that the hassle of changing would be worthwhile. A little loss of speed wouldn't be too bad, but we'd keep Roadrunner for the TV cable anyway so the extra savings of putting the internet cable to DSL isn't enough to make the switch since there would also be some loss of speed and use. If the speed were the same, then it'd be a no-brainer, but offsetting the savings with less usability makes it a difficult call. I swear you forum folks are of more use than calling the companies!

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Thanks, folks! I'm guessing we will stay with Roadrunner for awhile longer. It doesn't seem that the hassle of changing would be worthwhile. A little loss of speed wouldn't be too bad, but we'd keep Roadrunner for the TV cable anyway so the extra savings of putting the internet cable to DSL isn't enough to make the switch since there would also be some loss of speed and use. If the speed were the same, then it'd be a no-brainer, but offsetting the savings with less usability makes it a difficult call. I swear you forum folks are of more use than calling the companies!

If you call Oceanic and say I'm thinking of switching - they'll probably do some kind of credit or promotion to keep you.

[hotzcatz]

Whoohoo! Thanks, Whtviper1, that's a great idea!

[KonaKat]

We have had DSL for years, the highest "plan" and rarely have a problem. Also have it at work w/ 4 computers and have little trouble with it.At home we also stream movies quite often via our blu-ray DVD player & Netflix. Once in awhile it will hang up for a second or two but not too often.

[Calico Salsa]

We've always had Roadrunner, and after about 2 years the intermittent but regularly-occurring drops seemed to stop. We figured fine service until we contracted in a VOIP with RingCentral.

Can't get good quality, and the problem is that RR tech on the first 2 visits told us that RR won't even test for jitter since they don't have the phone line contract. After weeks (it takes 2 weeks to get a tech out to visit), we finally got an escalated tech, and she was super. Did some tweaking of the amplifier and lines, and the call quality was better incoming, but still sucks big time outgoing. That means I can hear my clients, but they can't understand me. So that's the state of things now. Still working with RingCentral on tweaking settings, but about to give up.

Summary - internet service via RR is fine for internet, but not if you need the quality for VOIP. At least not in Kihei on Maui. Or maybe it could be OK, but we can't get anyone at RR to care enough to make it so.

[Hawaii Bound]

Originally Posted by BigIslandBum

I've streamed TV and movies for years on DSL without problem and see no difference now that I'm on cable.

You also don't know what speed you'll get on cable until it's hooked up.

Actually, it's just the opposite. Broandband (cable) speeds are not distance sensative like DSL is. You will know what speed you are getting with Cable but not with DSL as it depends on how far you are located from the DSLAM.