Ok guys I tried to resist but I'm going to respond in whole to everything I've read here.  So please take no offense I'm not trying to be arrogant here just providing my 2 cents of what I know:

...I've been having much issues with Oceanic cable lately and I am tired of the constantly rising bills, crappy reception, half assed customer service, and turning in cable boxes every 6 months because they wear out or something(seems to always lockup or break some how??)...

Heavies the only question I have for you is where do you have your cable box located?  Is it in an enclosure?  These cable boxes especially with DVR have an internal hard drive, and heat is the number one killer for these things.  If anyone else for that matter has their cable box in an enclosure "I HIGHLY SUGGEST" to move it to an area where you have proper air circulation.

Quote from: houdni on May 07, 2011, 07:25:48 PM

im getting fed up with oceanics rates as well...as it is right now..$186/month...dvr combo with roadrunner package...
2 hd dvrs
1 regular dvr...
road runner with turbo...with the house being renovated, im thinking of downgrading
just curious how much does everyone pay?

118 a month for box / hd / dvr and internet.

I am so close to dropping the dvr / hd / box.  My next computer will run a DVR.  Hulu is great, Amazon Prime is also a choice. Online streaming of videos and channels.  I just recently found out of a few websites that for 10 bucks a month you can pretty much get most of the UFC / Boxing / Sports pay perviews streamed to your computer / tv for 10 bucks a month.  The 2nd one my buddy showed me does sports and adult stuff as well.  I have already moved my primary line to the internet, and once paying for the unit, I pay a small fee a  year for multiple lines, a set # anywhere I go, and all the regular features.

Imagine being able to watch all your UFC shows for less then 120 bucks a year .

I know everyone in Hawaii always questions why is the digital cable bill so much?  Why is Satellite service cheaper?  Well here's what I learned about Oceanic and all other cable companies.  We can all agree that dependent upon your location your channel lineup varies.  Did you all know that Time Warner in New York has over 120 HD channels in their lineup (What about Hawaii)? Well we've all seen the battle that certain channels lays down on the TV service providers right during contract negotiations right?  Well figure the customer base here in Hawaii compared to New York, I believe New York has an edge when dividing up cost.  A good chunk of the cable bill is to pay for the contracts established between Cable/Satellite service providers and the Content Providers.  So if say Oceanic has an agreement to have QVC channel for $xx, xxx.xx amount that equates to about $0.13 per customer bill and ESPN for $xx, xxx, xxx.xx which equates to $4.00 per customer bill (here in Hawaii).  Just know that services such as ESPN form contractual agreements on a divisional basis.  That means New York has a different contract agreement than Hawaii.  So can you imagine how Satellite companies are able to reduce their cost because their customer base actually spans across States rather than cable divisions?

the first thing everyone should do is downgrade from roadrunner turbo to regular, especially if you rely on it for video streaming (like through netflix) or gaming

the only thing the upgrade adds is a "boost" of up to 10mbps (website says 15 but absolutely no one here in hawaii will ever get 15 mbps through oceanic broadband)
that speed is only an initial boost until you actually download 10-15mb worth of data. at which point the connection rate drops back to your normal DL rate, which
is typically 5-6mbps.  But broadband users share bandwidth so the more densely populated your neighborhood, the slower speeds are gonna be.

its the biggest scam because everyone that pays for it, tests it by going from website to website trying to bog the connection. Since every website comes up
in a flash, you just assume its working like it should. no big deal if thats all you need the connection for.

in a netflix, youtube or gaming scenario, you get that initial boost of "turbo" speeds only at the moment you open the stream or connect to the server and for only a few seconds.
from then on, its your regular, boring, most likely 5mbps connection.

I agree with your post in regards that most people don't need as much bandwidth as they think.  As for bandwidth capping well that is done through firmware on the modem (DOCSIS) and I believe the fine print states that you'll receive service up to xx mbps.  As for expecting to have 5-10mbps continuous if that is what you're expecting then pay for "Dedicated Access".  Otherwise take a look at how much businesses are paying for their internet access (Dedicated Access that is) your monthly RR bill is chump change. 

The thing that bothers me most about the topic of bandwidth is that the misconception is "More bandwidth equates to faster service all the time."  WRONG!  You will always be limited to the bandwidth cap of the network that you're on or hitting.  If people can move away from this concept then we wouldn't be having this conversation.  However ISP providers are in a way forced to play into this misconception to please the customers.  But my question is how do you educate the population who is ignorant to the fact?  My stance is "Impossible" look at who has been elected into office, chances of educating the population are slim to none.

What internet service program is that that allows UFC for $10?    I am really red up with oceanic as well, I always have problems with UFC events on the HD channel. What pissed me off is when they took HDNET off the channel list a year ago.  My service has not been stable and reliable.   I was looking at direct TV our dish network but the two year contract and prices is not worth the switch even with the BS.

The content provider for HDNET wouldn't renew the contract hence the reason why it's no longer part of the channel lineup.  See my comment above regarding this topic.

Quote from: vooduchikn on May 09, 2011, 08:22:16 AM

Quote from: 2aHawaii on May 09, 2011, 04:52:19 AM

If you are having a problem with service stability, you can try and call up oceanic and tell them that. It may be that the signal is too "lossy" and needs to be boosted. They will usually send a tech out to check the signal levels at the endpoint and work from there.

+1

This happened to me at my old place. I was no longer able to thrash folks on COD anymore due to my signal.  Oceanic came and installed a booster and ...BAM..back to smackdown.. 

good examples of how we're all being scammed. they only boost the connection when there are complaints. why not just deliver the goods off the bat?

the US is SO far behind asia and europe in the bandwidth game and its all because of money-hungry execs in companies likes oceanic.

the japanese government has plans to implement broadcasted wi-fi internet to all of their citizens at speeds of 15mpbs or more within 10 years...for free

imagine that.

palaina.kawika you are misinformed.  The "BOOST" they're talking about is a forward "Signal" amplifier.  Without getting too technical if you're looking at the signals on a spectrum analyzer there's requirements for the signal to operate within.  If the signal is too low that they'll need to amplify.  Most of the times they use amplifiers if the building cabling infrastructure is hard to reach/correct signal levels without affecting other customers.  Seldom have I seen this in a single family home, they're commonly found in apartment complexes, Condos and Townhomes (from my understanding).   

And yes I agree we're (US) is far behind Europe and Asia, but the money hungry execs are not at Oceanic.  You have to go higher than that, think Corporate.  But as with any business they'll operate within their means.  Again touching topic to my above comments Hawaii customer base is small compared to Texas and New York.  So when you think of accounting and dividing up money to divisions who do you think will get most of the money?  The divisions that create the most revenue that is.  By the time Hawaii gets their funding California has already taken their fair share.  Hawaii has been treated like the little baby brother always getting hand me downs.  If I'm not mistaken Time Warner Houston has home internet service with bandwidth caps set to 30-40 mbps.  Why is that?  If Corporate could invest more then maybe service here in Hawaii could improve.  However there's competition in New York, Cali, and Texas, where's the competition in Hawaii?  Hence Corporates stance. (My opinion)

...I believe that Oceanic actually measures your signal when they first install your modem and you have road runner, if not, they probably don't do any signal testing. Usually something will happen between the install and when you are having problems that necessitates the signal booster. Not to say it doesn't suck, because it does, it's just kinda the way it is.

Correct see my comment above.

Quote from: Funtimes on May 09, 2011, 02:20:50 PM

When I was taking my cisco courses I was told Hawaii has more Fiber than almost any place in the United States.  I believe it was due to the transoceanic fibers and stuff -- someone in the know at a telcom company could probably confirm. I know no one tested my signal because I did a self install -- maybe I should QQ about signal loss lol.

the fiber you are talking about feeds hawaii's ISP providers, or hawaii as a state. the infrastructure that we're talking about is from the CO to the your house or business. TW does supply fiber from the CO to some businesses, but it depends on what part of the island that you are on and what kind of services you have purchased from them.

the island wide outage that they had a while back was because some tree cutters cut the fiber leaving the main ISLAND central office. sprint and other government ISPs had fiber running on both sides of the road, (physical redundancy), so they didn't experience a large outage.

I cannot confirm the amount of fiber but I do know that the first long distance network was made here in Hawaii connecting all the islands back in the 70's I think (correct me if I'm wrong).   

Quote from: palaina.kawika on May 09, 2011, 09:07:19 AM

good examples of how we're all being scammed. they only boost the connection when there are complaints. why not just deliver the goods off the bat?

the US is SO far behind asia and europe in the bandwidth game and its all because of money-hungry execs in companies likes oceanic.

the japanese government has plans to implement broadcasted wi-fi internet to all of their citizens at speeds of 15mpbs or more within 10 years...for free

imagine that.

i don't think it's so much of a scam. if you don't complain than the service provider doesn't know there is a problem. if they don't know there is a problem, then they can't fix it. call them and complain.

the only way they can fix the problem is by ppl reporting them. we've had to get our cable boxes replaced. i've been hearing bad things about the new format having issues with hardware. word is that the employees had to try it out before it was put out to the general public.

mokeanne I completely agree!


*******************************************************************************

And if any of you are wondering I don't work for Oceanic.  Well just not anymore that is.   

lol i will have to agree that i don't know as much as i would like to know on the topic. thanks for your input

lol i will have to agree that i don't know as much as i would like to know on the topic. thanks for your input

Here's something else to keep in mind, if everyone could tighten down their cable connections at least 1/8 of a turn more you can help reduce excess noise in the line.  Next time pay attention if you have an Oceanic tech at the house.  He/She will tighten down the connections to help reduce "ingress" in the line.  If you're cable line is only "finger tight" it has the ability to induce ingress in the line. 

Thanks folks for all the input.  I very much appreciate it!!

Here's an update.

My plan was to pick up a wire less box to run Hulu and Netflix, so, upon checking out the Netflix website I came across the Roku.  Since I don't do video games, I chose to run this box; which was a good value (I suppose) for $100. 

I have been working tons of hours lately, so I just got a chance to drop off the old cable box the other day.  I had planned to drop everything but the bare bones basic, plug the wire into the tv, cable.  The CS rep told me the bill for that would be around $69!!    I was like, What??  that is crazy.  Basic used to be like $20 before and it still looks the same as it did for many years.  Well, she must have seen I was about to pull the plug altogether so she yanked out her code book and gave me a promo for $49 a month for one year.  Still too much IMO, but I'm gonna run with that for a while.  If the wifey can do with out the cable I'm  gonna cut that line on OC for good.

if you drop the cable....what will you use as your internet provider? wish i could do that here....but with the mountains blocking reception...i got no choice but to stick with oceanic....wish clear would provide an antennas in my area...

if you drop the cable....what will you use as your internet provider? wish i could do that here....but with the mountains blocking reception...i got no choice but to stick with oceanic....wish clear would provide an antennas in my area...

When I first started with Clear Wireless internet I had only two bars of reception. Now I have full strength and  fairly fast speed. In my experiments with Hulu and Netflix it seems to have no problems streaming videos, movies, and TV programs thus far. I'm sure Clear is not as fast as Roadrunner, but it is a great alternative IMHO. But as always YMMV.

Try calling them up or emailing them about the possibility of providing service to your area. It's worth a try, to break the OC monopoly. 

Well, I got the Roku box.
 
All I can say is, I'm disappointed.
Gonna return it and try something else. 

Looks like severing the cable line won't be as easy as I thought. 

just got the salesman at my door for Hawaiian Telcom's package deals to challenge Oceanic.  I am seriously considering this  as I am sick of Oceanic's service.

some rates I was given, with free installation, free DVR included.  Free 3 mo HBO.  HD channel svc is $7 / mo

TV + Home Phone + long distance  = $119/mo
TV +internet+home phone = $104
TV + Internet = $85
TV  + Home phone = $74

One slight bummer is if you have a TV in another room, you'd have to get another digital box which runs $5/mo

I currently pay with Oceanic about $135/mo for internet/TV/HD package/DVR

Ah yes. One of my coworkers got the package from Hawaiian telecom. He said it seems like a pretty good deal. I would probably try it, however, they have very limited service areas at this time.
I ended up canceling everything exept basic, and I hooked up an old computer to my TV through the computers HD card for Netflix. It's works fairly well. For now. 

I hope more options open up, but for now it cool.

Check out roku.com.  It's a tv appliance that can stream shows from Netflix, Hulu, crackle, etc.  I think it can also show TFC.

[edit] lol just saw Heavies reply. Guess roku is so-so.

Everything I read tells me the WD TV Live Streaming Player is the best media player for now. Otherwise an HTPC or Laptop can hook up to most newer TVs and it's just like using a computer (because it is one).

I'm also in the process of migrating away from Oceanic.  Well, maybe.

We've decided not to keep cable, but to move to internet-and-phone only.  So I ordered up a Roku box and called HawaiianTel.  HT has hooked me up with DSL and a wireless modem, and they did so quickly.  However, although I'm paying for 11Mb/s, I've yet to get 7. 

Oceanic, of course, offers a similar package at a similar price.  I've got both thru the end of the month, and am having a hard time deciding which to keep.

Oceanic has been a reliable service provider for me.  It's not their fault that I don't want cable anymore.  And I got what I paid for in terms of bandwidth, at least some of the time.  Cable is infamous for degraded performance during peak times, and I've experienced that. 

Hard call. 

It is very hard to get the data rates you pay for with DSL. The reason is that it can be configured at the telephone company's office at 11MB/s. But the problem with DSL is that the farther away you get from their equipment the more the signal degrades and the slower the speeds get in return. So the phone company can configure your line 11MB/s but you may not get that speed due to the distance and condition of those two 24ga copper wires that were installed in your home at the time it was built. If you live close to where the equipment is located you stand a good chance of getting the speeds you pay for. That is until everyone gets on at the same time and then you can experience the same issue as cable. But you may not. It is due to the way the phone company configures the equipment. They can dedicate the 11MB/s for you so they cannot put more than a maximum number of people per pipe. They may not and then they do what they call oversell. Where in the cable example if enough people get on the pipe at the same time they share what bandwith is available and can get slower speeds during peak times. Cable companies don't like to dedicate bandwith to anyone. So if you can't get the 11MB/s with DSL now, chances are you never will.

However, although I'm paying for 11Mb/s, I've yet to get 7. 



Hard call.

interesting cause the salesman tried to "sell" me on the fact that you get all of the 11mbs, unlike Roadrunner where it's shared by a large number of people and therefore subject to traffic.

Yeah, not only do I not get my bandwidth, since I started the service, I get "clicks" on the phone (yes, i am using the filters.)  And the internet freezes several times a day, for about 5 minutes at a time.  I've got service calls in on all 3 problems, but I gotta tell ya, the fact that I have 3 problems is not endearing them to me.  Oceanic is looking better and better.

The clicks can be one of many things. It can be anything from you doing it to yourself unknowingly to crosstalk between your wires and someone else's wires. Your wires are not shielded from your neighbors as they are in cable. DSL has been problematic since its inception. I know, I worked on DSL back in the late 90's. The only people who don't have many problems are the ones that live two miles (approximately) or less from the telephone company's equipment. And even then you can still have numerous problems. I don't recommend DSL to any one I like. 

I hate to say it but cable is probably the most common, stable and trouble free method for Internet access at this time. With that said you might check to see if Verizon provides FIOS to your area. They are the other solid choice in Internet access. Plus they provide TV/Movies/phone over the FIOS. Better than cable but a little more expensive. There are other methods of Internet access such as wireless and satellite that you might consider if cable is repulsive to you.

My Roku box came this evening.  Hooked it up, set up my Netflix account, and I must say, I LIKE IT!

It performed without any hiccups via my DSL.  I think tomorrow I may try turning the DSL off and running it over cable.  I mean, what the hell, if I'm paying for both services this month, I may as well shake it down, right?

I gave up TV a while ago. It cuts into my conspiracy reading time.

My Roku box came this evening.  Hooked it up, set up my Netflix account, and I must say, I LIKE IT!

It performed without any hiccups via my DSL.  I think tomorrow I may try turning the DSL off and running it over cable.  I mean, what the hell, if I'm paying for both services this month, I may as well shake it down, right?

Glad to hear it is working out.  When I tried the Roku it did not preform very well for me.  Maybe they worked the bugs out..

Having had both Oceanic's RoadRunner cable internet and HawaiianTel's DSL internet in the house for a couple of weeks now, I can state the following:
RoadRunner is an unconditionally superior product.

With RoadRunner, I consistently get over 90% of the bandwidth I pay for when I test.  WIth DSL, I get as low as 30%, and never as high as 70%.

With RoadRunner, my service works most of the time.  It is a rare thing to have an outage.  With DSL, I get outages of 5-10 minutes several times per day.

With RoadRunner, using my iMac as a wireless router works seamlessly.  With DSL, the wireless router they supplied only works when I'm not talking on my cordless telephone.

Since the addition of DSL to my phone service, the quality and clarity of the phone service has degraded noticeably.  And, yes, I am using the provided filters.

Pricing for a phone-plus-internet package from each provider is quite competitive.  The Oceanic bundle I chose is $44.95 + tax & fees, while the closest HawaiianTel package was $45.99 + tax & fees.  There's no reason to choose one over the other based on cost. 

So, there you have it.  The definitive answer, if you are living in my house!