Road Runner Shifts Into High Gear

[Southern Man]

I don't usually look at the news letter that RR sends out monthly but I decided to have a quick once over the most recent one. Man am I glad I did.

Here is the top listing:

This February Trracks Newsletter includes an assortment of special offers and product enhancements just for you... our valued Road Runner customer!


More Speed!

Road Runner is pleased to announce yet another enhancement to your high speed online service — even more speed! For the standard Road Runner service, download speeds have increased to 5 Mbps (up from 3 Mbps). Upload speeds remain at 384 Kbps. This makes Road Runner triple the speed of DSL's standard package and more than 100 times faster than dial-up!* And, you are receiving these higher speeds for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

In most cases, a modem reset is the only step required to take advantage of the increased speeds. While the modem will automatically reset itself periodically, you may want to manually power cycle your modem. Here's how:
Unplug the modem
Wait 30 to 45 seconds
Plug the modem in again, wait for the modem lights to become solid
Reboot the computer
For modems with a battery back-up, look for the reset button and use it instead.

And, for those of you who want even more speed to enjoy gaming, video news, and entertainment online, Road Runner provides a premium level of service that offers blazing fast speeds of 8 Mbps (up from 5 Mbps) and upload speeds of 512 Kbps. Call your local Time Warner Cable office to purchase our premium level of service!

With speeds like this, your time online can be even more productive and enjoyable! Just another benefit of subscribing to Road Runner High Speed Online!

Well I decided I was going to have a look at just how fast I was before and after the modem reset. Before I was running at 2.8 Mbps. This is about the norm for me. I did the little modem reset and hit the speed test again and came back with a 4.7Mbps. Man, I like this. I'm kicking some download butt and didn't even have to pay a cent more....... yet. Well see how the rates do over time. I think they are just trying to dog the DSL providers.

Whatever it is.... I'm one happy puppy.

[~* InSoM *~]

nice... over here, connection speeds are just totally c**p, i cant even get upto 1mb on DSL and i think the highest cable do is about 1.5mb wiv NTL or 4mb wiv Telewest...

The highest BT go wiv DSL is 1mb

[Áedán]

In the UK BT do 2Mbit/sec ADSL, Bulldog do 4Mbit/sec ADSL, and I believe that Homechoice is using 8Mbit/sec ADSL for their video on demand.

Nothing compared to the Japanese 45Mbit/sec ADSL.

[Pitch]

You can get 4mb DSL with Bulldog Insom.

[Pitch]

Eh, cross post.

[GrahamGarside]

I'm on a really good 1mbit adsl connection so I'm quite fortunate but most people I know are on 512k and don't even get this amount during peak times, a friend of mine has 1.5mbit ntl and I wouldn't touch that service, it's only just more than half the speed of mine for the most part and it's upload rate is aweful.
I can't wait for them to start pulling their fingers out over the speed in this country, 120kb/s may have impressed me at first but after a while it's still a pain waiting over an hour for cd images

[~* InSoM *~]

never heard of bulldog?

is the address just bulldog.co.uk?

[GrahamGarside]

Aren't they london only?

[~* InSoM *~]

i am looking at their site now, havent found anything yet about bein london only.

[Southern Man]

Keep in mind that it is all subjective.

I may be getting 4.7 but how many sites can serve up a page fill of graphics that quickly?
Now, AOA has super bandwidth and I am seeing a difference here but just surfing around I see pretty much the same old - same old.

[~* InSoM *~]

well, I am currently on 512k/sec with BT, but it registers a connection of 576k/sec...

Just gone onto the BT website and applied for the 1mb upgrade for an extra £3 p/month... dont think the lines will take it, but they reckon it has passed the initial test, and they are doing the second test over the next 2/3 days...

[keithwalton]

Alot of sites can cope with the higher speed, aah for the days i was on 100mbit halls connection. Hopefully the uk will really get the ball rolling this year now that adsl is moving outside of bt's control.
Oh Bulldog service the entire country at standard bt rates, but they have control over a few exchanges (mostly london but some other big cities) which allows them to run higher speeds typically in an off-peak package.

My isp do upto 2mbit (we used to be on it, but now on 1mbit as it cost too much) but since then they have reduced prices on a 'lite' package which is a load of rubbish really. It might be cheap but 1GB of b/w included then £1.* for every other gig is rediculus

[GrahamGarside]

my isp also do 2mbit SDSL but it's pricey, sometime this year if I can afford it I might consider going to 2mbit ADSL or if the prices drop
by the way ~* InSoM *~ all 512k packages at 576, my 1mbit is actually 1152kbps though I only ever get about 120kb/s from it and I would dump BT if I were you, there are much better companys out there, I won't ever trust the big name providers after I had caps put on my connection after just 2 weeks of use when I was with tiscali.

[cadaveca]

take your 1000kb and divide by 8 to get KB, and you see that you are as fast as you should be graham. Common mistake.

[GrahamGarside]

not really, 120x8=960kbit/s and the connection is 1.15mbit/s but obviously with overheads and stuff it's the best that is achievable, on a 512k connection I could get around 70kb/s
I have seen occasions when it's hit 130 but it's rare and only usually with a http download

[robbie]

Sounds like RR is ramping up to compete with Verizon....
One of our techs has left us to join Verizon, and he has informed me that they are CURRENTLY running fiber!!! He says that they are really really trying to get it out fast. I'm thinking that RR has made this move so you (ie consumer) be temped to go else were for you broadband (as well as get it cheaper and slower)
Just my
$.02
Rob

[GrahamGarside]

Ahh you thought I thought I should be getting 1000kb/s
just dawned on me, no I know lines are rated in bits not bytes