First, the ritual invocation of the mods:
Oh, Great and Mighty Moderators, I seek thy approval. My humble thread seeks to plumb the wisdom of the Teeming Millions, but does not have a single factual answer. Therefore, I have lovingly placed it in IMHO. Please let Your Humble Servant know if this displeases thee.
Now, I guess you’re all wondering what I’ve gathered you here for. I’ve come to the conclusion that my Internet service is terminally poky and that I’m fed up with it. (At home, I’m lucky if I connect as 21,600 bps.) The problem is partially the ancient local phone lines and partially that I’m using an odd GE device to connect my computer – far away from the one hardwired phone jack in the house – to the phone lines via the power lines in the house. Also, I’m currently on Earthlink, and their news server is slow as molasses – even when I connect to it from work (with a zippy connection), it’s a chore.
So I’m thinking about getting a cable modem – Optimum Online is the choice in my area, and the price is reasonable ($29.95 a month if you also have cable and the modem is only $129.95). But, before I leap, I’d like to know about other Dopers’ experience with them.
Is the service reliable? Is it as fast as they claim? Has anyone had security problems? (I’ve heard that having a cable modem essentially puts you on a network with all the other cable modem users in your area.) How about their news server – does it have a comprehensive list of groups and is it slow or fast?
I’m interested in hearing about other peoples’ experiences with OO (or similar cable modems), especially horror stories (just in case).