[von949]

Even the other service providers will admit that they don't the speeds of Cox. If you play online games, host websites, movie downloads and movie streaming, you have to go with Cox.


Posted from Nokia 8210

[NLVgal]

^^ Yes. They dug up half of Las Vegas to put in that fiber-optic network of theirs. It was rated fastest in the country by PC Magazine at one point. I sure don't love contacting their tech support when someone cuts a line or the cable modem fails though. My friends in the digital age, indeed. Harumph.

[djinnich1]

We had Cox for a 1.5 years and just switched to CenturyLink Prism, to a TV-phone-inet bundle. Internet would be bad if I were into gaming, but I'm not so it's slower but not that noticeable. (10 MBS vs. 15 MBS on Cox) Could increase internet speed but that costs an extra $50 a month, which isn't worth it to us. The TV/cable stations they offer are very comparable to Cox, but at much lower prices. The phone service is fine but costs a bit more for international calls ($0.12/min vs. $0.04/min). Installation was a snap, but some of the services didn't get turned on right away, so had to call their tech support -- one day I spoke with 10 different people. That was ridiculous, but eventually it got sorted out. AND, I will say this: CenturyLink customer service is a heckuva lot nicer than Cox, and the wait times were better than Cox, too. I really miss being able to backup when switching between two channels, though. That's the one problem I see with it. It forces us to watch more commercials. Ugh. But, it is about $60 less per month than Cox, and after Cox's last price boost, we just decided we couldn't afford it. But it really is top of the line -- I miss it.

[gvc8]

I used to have both (wanted sunday nfl package w/directv) but when directv came out with their advanced whole home 5 tuner dvr , I decided to completely switch to them for tv and I kept cox for internet only. dont think you can beat cox for internet . very reliable. but , cox does have the better "on demand" system.

[kwruk1]

Originally Posted by tadtam

You are incorrect. Directv has AMC. It was DISH that did not have AMC, but I think they do now.

Thank you for the correction! You are right, I was confusing Dish and Directv. You have given me something to think about for the future. Hmmmmm......

[chgodon]

Just researching this myself. Here are recent prices I've been given:
Cox internet - 1mb download ($29.99), 3mb download ($41.99) and 19mb download ($55.99)
Centrylink - 1.5mb download ($54.99), 3mb download ($59.99) and 10mb download ($64.99)

These are all non-bundled prices. My take is cable is faster than dsl in theory cuz cable is able to transfer more date, but 3mb on dsl is the same as 3mb on cable. Some cable isp can go up to 30mb. I think dsl can only go up to 10mb. I guess if you're a gamer than go with cox since you can receive faster data. If you're using it for web surfing and emails, both isp should be the same. I personally have directv and will keep it when I move. Since I will be getting a landline, internet prices will be lower. Telephone (unlimited nationwide, protection plan) and 10mb internet for $64 per mo. Locked in for 5 years. Since I'm not getting TV signals thru the above providers, I think centrylink is the way I'm going. Again it depends on what your web habits are going to be. You can't really compare 3mb to 3mb. Now if you're comparing cox 19mb to centrylink 10mb for the same price than its a whole new story.

[chgodon]

An added note. A cable line is a shared line. Speeds can be effected by how many users are online. Friday and Saturday nights can be slower than Tuesday nights. You get the idea. DSL is your direct line and not shared by other users.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by chgodon

An added note. A cable line is a shared line. Speeds can be effected by how many users are online. Friday and Saturday nights can be slower than Tuesday nights. You get the idea. DSL is your direct line and not shared by other users.

That was all true years ago but not anymore. And DSL performance is site specific. There are actually places in town where DSL is not offered. Also true of Cox Cable.

Any wide band system can load up at peak times and performance drops. Rare though.

[chgodon]

Thanks for update

[djinnich1]

I'd agree with this 100%. For us, though, the difference came when we looked at the bundled price for cable tv/internet/phone. SO much cheaper than Cox. If I were buying a la carte internet, though, I'd go with the 19 Mbps speed on Cox.

That said, it's important to understand that these services are all "up to" 19 Mbps or "up to" 10 Mbps. That means you will fairly often only get 4 to 7 Mbps service depending on how many other users are on at the same time. Also, that is the download speed, not the upload speed. I just ran Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test (unbiased utility, unlike the cable company-based speed tests) and my 10 MB centurylink ran at 9.71 Mbps download and 0.86 Mbps upload. Not bad at 10:15 AM.

To be honest, as a user I cannot tell much difference between the 19 Mbps Cox service vs. the 10 Mbps CenturyLink service, but then, I only surf the net and do emails. I'm not an online gamer. Hope this helps.