Thursday, January 15, 2015

Time Warner Cable From Slow to Fast

Time Warner Cable - Slow

Slow. So... very... slow. Not where my kids are directly connected to the TWC modem. Heck they sometimes pass 100 Mb/s. For Minecraft this was Nirvana (not the band, the mythical place where all Minecrafting is fast and easy). 

But down here, downstairs, on the wireless connection where the office is... Where I spend huge chunks of my day, and sometimes hours in the evening, and sometimes in the middle of the night on Lync and VOIP teleconferences with far-away lands... 

OMG... painfully slow, back woods slow, modem slow. 

For several weeks my upload speed surpassed my download speed - by 100%! TWC Technical support -- lame -- although they are really good at following their scripts - so bravo to their call center managers. And the TWC Arris Wireless Modem hated (HATED!) my Netgear 600 router. 

Something had to change. 


Speed Tests - January 2015
***Notice The Change on 1/8/2015***


Time Warner Cable -- Fast!

Solution (links go to Amazon for each product):



So, I took things into my own hands. I replaced the TWC modem with a Motorola Surfboard 6141 (which is on their approved list), switched to the TP-Link WR841N router and TP-Link WA850RE (wireless extender). After configuring the router and extender, I added the Netgear switch by plugging it directly into the single port on the Extender. My laptop and desktop are cabled to the switch. 

Bottom Line: 

  • Speed in the office UP from less then 3 Mb/s to an average of ~30 Mb/s
  • Saving $5.99 per month on my cable bill - 
    • Financial break-even is about two years (~24*$6)
    • Speed break-even is NOW. 
  • Two devices are OFF of my wireless network
  • I can stream movies on my Amazon Fire stick
Yes, It took some time and some money, but now my office is (relatively) fast!




~Tot1

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