1. 13 Jun


    Yay for free 10MB internet upgrade! It’s a 1 year cable TV + internet promo bundle for $30/mo, but hey it’s less than what I was paying before for just 5MB cable.

    Yay for free 10MB internet upgrade! It’s a 1 year cable TV + internet promo bundle for $30/mo, but hey it’s less than what I was paying before for just 5MB cable.

     

  2. 27 Mar



    Charter Communications Files For Reorganization/Bankruptcy

    Yup, that’s my ISP… About the only option too in my area.

     

  3. 5 Feb



    Charter Cable Capping Usage Nationwide This Month

    News that directly effects me… I might have to start clocking my usage to see if I stay with-in 100GB a month on average.

    [via slashdot.org]

     

  4. 31 Dec



    Charter Internet is stupid! (support chat)

    1. TTD Zenaida : My name is Zenaida. Thank you for contacting Charter. How may I help you today?
    2. Nathaniel Daught: Hello. I just got disconnected from another chat. I was asking about a $25 fee on my bill. Apparently I'm on the 20MB plan when I had never asked to be upgraded from my 5MB plan.
    3. TTD Zenaida : I can definitely assist you with your billing concerns.
    4. TTD Zenaida : Please verify the security code. The security code is a four-digit number that can be found at the upper right-hand portion of your bill. It is located above the Statement of Service on the bill.
    5. Nathaniel Daught: ****
    6. TTD Zenaida : Thank you. Please give me one minute while I pull up your account.
    7. Nathaniel Daught: Thanks
    8. TTD Zenaida : You're welcome.
    9. TTD Zenaida : Thank you for waiting. May I know who I am chatting with?
    10. Nathaniel Daught: This is Nathaniel
    11. Nathaniel Daught: I was having poor service with my 5MB subscription about a month ago and had been in contact with support over that. I never asked to be upgraded to a greater plan though... I don't know if it's a tech's idea of a joke, or a shady scheme to get me to upgrade...
    12. (5 minutes or more before a response)
    13. TTD Zenaida : Thank you, Nathaniel. It is an upgrade charge for the internet service. The account showed that there is a work order for the upgrade.
    14. Nathaniel Daught: Why is there a work order? I never upgraded. I've been paying for 20MB since last bill and there is still a work order for it?! Are you saying that I'm still getting 5MB speeds? I hadn't noticed any improvement in service... I sure hope I haven't been paying Charter an extra $25 for nothing.
    15. TTD Zenaida : The reason why your speed is 20M is because of the upgrade.
    16. Nathaniel Daught: Again I never asked for or ordered an upgrade
    17. Nathaniel Daught: If Charter would like to give me a free upgrade without asking that would be fine. However I am not happy about being charged extra for an upgrade I never asked for.
    18. TTD Zenaida : Your first bill showed that the internet speed was 5M. The billing cycle from 12/4/08 to 1/3/08 showed the upgrade charge for the internet service. The service was upgraded on 11/25/08.
    19. Nathaniel Daught: I don't care when the service was upgraded... I care that I have to, and have been paying for an upgrade I didn't ask for. How are you going to fix this for me?
    20. TTD Zenaida : If I am going to remove the charge, your service will go back to 5M.
    21. Nathaniel Daught: Will I be compensated for the trouble and the past bill I have already paid? I don't understand how this happened without my knowledge.
    22. TTD Zenaida : I am unable to process the credit. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
    23. Nathaniel Daught: I just checked and my last internet speed tests on 12/11/08 were well under 10MB. You told me the upgrade was in effect as of 11/25/08. It would seem I never received the upgraded service.
    24. Nathaniel Daught: http://www.speedtest.net/result/370839160.png
    25. Nathaniel Daught: http://www.speedtest.net/result/370840188.png
    26. TTD Zenaida : I can only assist you with your billing concerns. May I transfer you to our internet support group for further assistance?
    27. Nathaniel Daught: Yes you may. A supervisor would be best if you could.
    28. TTD Zenaida : Let me transfer you to a supervisor. Give me one moment, please.
    29. Nathaniel Daught: Thank you.
    30. TTD Zenaida : Thank you for choosing Charter Communications. Answers to frequently asked questions and self-help options can be found by looking in the "Customer Help" menu at www.charter.com. If you have further questions, please chat with us again. Our Chat Support is available from 7:00 AM through 1:30 AM Central Time, 365 days a year. Have a great day!
    31. TTD Zenaida has left the session.
    32. Please wait while we find an agent from the CHAT - MDVL - Advocate department to assist you.
    33. You have been connected to TTM Mike .
    34. TTM Mike : My name is Mike. Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. How may I assist you?
    35. TTM Mike : Please let me know if you are still connected to the Chat session at this time.
    36. Nathaniel Daught: I was just transferred from someone in Billing about a $25 upgrade fee that I noticed on my bill last month. It would seem I was upgraded from a 5MB connection to a 20MB connection without my knowledge and billed for it. The upgrade went into effect on 11/25/08 It would also seem that I never got 20MB service.
    37. TTM Mike : Please give me a minute to look over the chat.
    38. Nathaniel Daught: My last speed tests were on 12/11/08 and they were well under 10MB, not anywhere near your "acceptable 70%"
    39. TTM Mike : Thank you for waiting. I see where you were charged an extra $25 for 2 months. I am going to credit your account in that amount.
    40. Nathaniel Daught: That would be great.
    41. Nathaniel Daught: Also do you have any idea how I would have been upgraded without my ever asking?
    42. TTM Mike : As far as the speed tests I will need to transfer you over to our internet support group.
    43. Nathaniel Daught: I am not at home right now so I can't run tests.
    44. TTM Mike : I really do not know what happened with the upgrade. I do apologize.
    45. TTM Mike : When you are home you can chat in with us and ask for internet support and they can help you with the speed issue.
    46. Nathaniel Daught: Alright. I will be happy so long as I am getting the 5MB service and am being billed correctly for it.
    47. TTM Mike : It will be taken care of.
    48. TTM Mike : Is there anything else I can help you with today?
    49. Nathaniel Daught: Thank you. No that will be all.
    50. TTM Mike : Happy New Year.
     

  5. 10 Dec



    OpenDNS breaking streaming videos?

    I contacted Hulu support about a week ago with a traceroute report because Hulu has been almost unwatchable for a while now at home over my 5mb/s connection. Here is the email response I just received from Hulu support.

    Hi,

    I dug into this issue and found that the problem is that you’re being routed to an incorrect server.  This happens because your DNS assigned by your internet service provider is very remote - based on the information you provided, your DNS server is located in New York.  

    Unfortunately, this is not something Hulu can fix as the route between you and the server is managed by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), a third party service. We recommend that you contact your ISP to have them fix your DNS location to be where you’re at.  Once they fix it for you, the streaming issues you’ve been seeing should disappear. Additionally, your overall internet speed experience will increase as well with a closer DNS.

    We apologize for the inconvenience; please let us know if we can be of further assistance.


    Thanks,

    Chaitanya
    Hulu

    I happen to be using OpenDNS instead of my ISP’s DNS, and have been for over a year now. If this email is correct most of my recent internet issues may be caused by OpenDNS. I may just need to update my DNS settings to use the closer Washington, DC server. I will need to do some testing tonight after work to see if this is the cause of my issues.

    UPDATE (12-11-08): I was only able to do a quick inconclusive test last night. Hulu was working fine with my ISP’s DNS, however I didn’t have enough time to thoroughly test OpenDNS to see if it was indeed causing streaming issues. Expect later updates.

    UPDATE 2 (12-12-08): I have not tested OpenDNS again yet, but my ISP DNS has been working fine with Hulu so far.

     

  6. 4 Dec


    WTF Charter?! Checkout these speed tests from tonight. The speeds differ greatly depending on what server I test with. Charter has got some big routing issues it would seem. I’ve highlighted some of the best and worse speeds… (I missed a few, and miss-labeled Vancouver as slow because I was also watching a movie at the time.) My connection should be around 5000 kb/s. Here’s the summery graph.

    WTF Charter?! Checkout these speed tests from tonight. The speeds differ greatly depending on what server I test with. Charter has got some big routing issues it would seem.

    I’ve highlighted some of the best and worse speeds… (I missed a few, and miss-labeled Vancouver as slow because I was also watching a movie at the time.) My connection should be around 5000 kb/s.

    Here’s the summery graph.

     

  7. 20 Nov



    Awful 1st Experience: Netflix Streaming on Xbox 360

    I had eagerly been awaiting yesterday’s Xbox 360 NXE (Next Xbox Experience) update to gain access to Netflix instant streaming to my 40” TV. I gave it my first try last night watching National Treasure 2 with my girlfriend. Everything started out smooth and I was impressed by the best non-HD quality video it had determined  my connection could allow me, it was like watching a slightly more blurry DVD quality video (far from bad for streaming).

    About 27 minutes in, just when I was convinced that Netflix streaming on 360 was the best thing since Netflix itself, the video stopped and screen came-up saying that my “internet connection had slowed” and it was adjusting the video quality to accommodate. After a progress bar finished loading the movie started again but the video quality had dropped dramatically so that it looked like a low quality YouTube video blown-up to fit my 40” TV. Needless to say I was far from happy. I checked all my router settings at this point and even reset it. Each time I restarted the movie where I left off (a great resume feature is built-in) the picture quality would be back to the good quality for 10 to 5 minutes before giving me the same message and reverting to low YouTube quality… Because at this point the movie was about half way finished I just let it play…

    My ISP is Charter Cable and I have their 5Mbps plan. Apparently Charter is unable to provide me with a stable 5Mbps connection. If this keeps up I will no doubt be complaining to them very soon.