Very interesting and a bit (or a byte) amusing. Sounds like much of what everything is coming to, even without outsourcing. True customer service is a dying art.<br>I look forward to actually being able to watch movies on Netflix, when
high speed becomes a reality along 299. I've exceeded my FAP with
Hughes more than I can stand.<br>Keri<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:10 AM, Dave Thewlis <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dave@dcta.com">dave@dcta.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
A few weeks ago I posted a query about whether Suddenlink was offering
8 Megabits/second or 8 Megabytes/second, and what the actual
requirement of the Roku "Netflix" box was. The query engendered a quick
flurry of discussion and a variety of opinions. Here is what has
happened since then.<br>
<br>
<blockquote>1. I called Suddenlink technical support and
sales/marketing on four separate occasions. Their sales people and
their tech support people all insisted that they were offering 8 mega<u>bytes</u>
per second even though what I measured was about 7400 kilobits/second.
So I asked for a someone to come out and check my installation because
something was apparently wrong.<br>
<br>
2. The guy who came out knew his stuff but when I asked him about
megabits versus megabytes he didn't know - he guess megabytes but said
all he ever told people was "8 megs". So he called his supervisor.
The supervisor confirmed that it was mega<u>bits</u> and apologized for
the confusion.<br>
<br>
3. The guy on site also talked about the problems they were having
with speed due to upstream limitations and that they finally expected
to have the issue resolved by the end of February (he added that the
necessary stuff had been on order for months, but that it was coming
from a competitor (guess who) which might explain all the delays). <br>
<br>
(I have noted in the last couple of days that my download speed as
measured by the Speakeasy speed test is now very close to the promised
8 mega<u>bits</u> a second so perhaps the fixes have happened happened.)<br>
<br>
4. Finally, the guy on site confirmed that they do offer faster
speeds, and that it's just a matter of changing the speed limit on the
cable modem. But he recommended against bothering until their planned
speed fixes have all happened and Suddenlink confirmed it as he doubted
it would make any difference until then.<br>
<br>
5. I called Roku technical support (which appears to be in Bangalore
or Hyderabad) and asked whether their recommended minimum speed
requirement was 1.2 megabytes or megabits per second and this guy
flatly said it was mega<u>bytes</u> per second and that in reality it
needed more like 1.5 megabytes/second. <br>
<br>
6. I then emailed Rolu's online technical support who replied it was
1.2 mega<u>bits</u> per second and that it should work fine with an 8
megabit/second service. They also apologized for their telephone
support which puts them one up over most companies who have outsourced
their support. <br>
</blockquote>
So it is all megabits as inferred, though the documentation was
ambiguous, and the companies themselves seem not to know the
difference. <br>
<br>
Dave Thewlis<br><font color="#888888">
<br>
<div>-- <br>
<font size="-1"><b>Dave Thewlis, DCTA Inc.</b><br>
+1 707 840 9391 (voice) · +1 707 498 2238 (mobile)<br>
<a href="http://www.dcta.com" target="_blank">http://www.dcta.com</a> · <a href="mailto:dthewlis@dcta.com" target="_blank">dthewlis@dcta.com</a>
</font></div>
</font></div>
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