Question internet in central Iowa

[GTO]

@ChrisMWilliams - **** all this talk about internet and routers. What about the loss to FAMU? What are your thoughts on that? And, no, Rob Gray's article is not enough. I want to hear from you.

Can't show up here a couple of days later as if it never happened.

 

[MeowingCows]

I last had CL on the DSM south side, and that was awful. 40 Mbps fiber and I rarely actually got that speed, performance varied wildly across different sites, days, times, you name it. Now in a different place with Mediacom cable in Ankeny, and it's rock solid. I can only remember one minor outage overnight since I've been here. Rated speed is 60 Mbps, I normally push 70 consistently in sustained downloads. I supposedly should have the 400GB usage limit and had to have vastly exceeded it multiple times by now, but I have yet to hear about it from them (that's probably a result of being in a dual commercial/residential apartment complex instead of typical house -- MC normal cable and internet are included in the rent). And this is all using a ~10-year-old modem they provided (with my own router, of course). I was very reluctant to trust MC, but they've at least met if not exceeded my expectations this time.

 

[GTO]

I'll second the need to get your own router. The ones they provide are criminally underpowered.

 

[cyclone4L]

@ChrisMWilliams - **** all this talk about internet and routers. What about the loss to FAMU? What are your thoughts on that? And, no, Rob Gray's article is not enough. I want to hear from you.

Can't show up here a couple of days later as if it never happened.

Chill big boy.

 

[GTO]

Chill big boy.

I'm just messing with him.

 

[clone4life82]

Always always always get your own router

for someone not in the know, can you explain why you should always get your own router?

 

[CycloneErik]

for someone not in the know, can you explain why you should always get your own router?

Mediacom stuff is cheap. Real cheap.

 

[ScottyP]

from a customer service and reliability standpoint, CL and mediacom are about the same. You can get horror stories from both. Just go with the best available speed that you want to afford, regardless of provider.

 

[Trice]

For those talking about getting your own routers, make sure they support Wifi 6. That's not a huge issue now but at least you're futureproofed as more devices adopt the standard.

(edit: maybe not...see below)

 

[AuH2O]

Moved back to Ames several years ago and got Century Link. Tried setting up my own router back then, but I'm a moron when it comes to this stuff and have zero patience. So I just took it back and stuck with the POS CL provided.

I honestly think my Johnny Orr-endorsed NetINS dial-up from 2000 was faster and more reliable.

Now that my kids are in middle school they can probably figure it out, so if someone has a good router suggestion please share. Also, anybody think it's worth trying a new router on CL first before switching?

 

[Bader]

for someone not in the know, can you explain why you should always get your own router?

There's no incentive for ISPs to pay for expensive hardware. They charge you $10 a month for hardware they bought for under $50 wholesale. Even if 1 in 5 people (generous estimate) don't rent one that's a ton of profit.

 

[Bader]

For those talking about getting your own routers, make sure they support Wifi 6. That's not a huge issue now but at least you're futureproofed as more devices adopt the standard.

I disagree with this. WiFi 6 is bleeding edge and $$$. No consumer electronics are going to be WiFi6 only. In a few years when that stuff is more mainstream you're going to want to buy a new router anyway.

 

[aauummm]

Altoona here. I've had Mediacom for many years (more than 20). I go for the 100 Mbps, 1000 Gb/mo limit and it always over-performs at 135+ Mbps. Maybe have an outage once per year and only for a short period of time. It's usually a traffic accident where someone has knocked down a power pole in Des Moines and Mediacom has to go repair their line. Happy with the service here.

 

[herbicide]

for someone not in the know, can you explain why you should always get your own router?

It'll pay for itself in short time, normally a 4-5 months.

Amazon product

 

[wxman1]

for someone not in the know, can you explain why you should always get your own router?

In addition to what @Bader and @CycloneErik said you will be ahead money in no time with better equipment that you own.

 

[urb1]

Been on Mediacom since they began offering it. During that time, worked from home 5 1/2 years. Outages have been rare. We have no complaints.

 

[Trice]

I disagree with this. WiFi 6 is bleeding edge and $$$. No consumer electronics are going to be WiFi6 only. In a few years when that stuff is more mainstream you're going to want to buy a new router anyway.

Ah, well I'd read about it in what I would consider to be pretty everyday, regular-consumer level tech publications but hadn't actually priced routers. Having now spent 30 seconds doing so, I agree it's pretty pricey.

 

[HardcoreClone]

We also have Mediacom in DSM and overall have had good service.

One question for the group though: We recently dropped Mediacom cable and moved to Youtube TV. Will be watching for a few hours, then all of a sudden the streaming stops and we get a connectivity error display. Then sometimes after a few minutes it goes away and works fine. Anyone know why that is happening?

 

[Cycsk]

We use Mediacom. I had my own modem and router, but they were a few years old. Starting having problems with speed and consistency. A good day was 15.

A few weeks ago, I bought a new modem and router ($200 total). My speed went immediately to 70.

So, don't just get your own modem and router, but replace them often.

The router I got has a new feature (new to me) that targets the signal to devices that are using it rather than just spread a signal around the house.

 

[cycloneworld]

I live in Ankeny and centurylink has been slow as hell and spotty for me as well (as recently as yesterday when we were trying to stream slingtv). I don’t believe there was anything else offered in our neighborhood at the time we moved in but am seriously considering looking elsewhere as well so am interested in thoughts here also.

My Centurylink has been garbage for the past month or so in Urbandale. Very spotty with frequent few minute outages several times per day. I called and they blamed by modem. Can that really be the reason? Modem/router is pushing 3 years old.