Wireless Internet choices--- RoadRunner-- advice?

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redfishsc

redfishsc

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Joined
Feb 11, 2006
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Location
North Charleston , SC
Locally, Time-Warner RoadRunner has the best reputation, and I had it set up today. Problem is, the cable is on the other side of the room and my 8ft long computer desk (yup I built it:D) won't fit on the other wall.

I now have to use a wireless router, which is fine.


Given that the wireless router supposedly slows down the speed some, would I be as well off with the RoadRunner 5.0 (5.0 megs per sec supposedly) or the RoadRunner 1.5 (1.5 megs per second)? Do you suspect that I would notice a difference in speed if I am mostly surfing and downloading music and sermon mp3 files (as long as an hour)? I do not play online games or such.

I know I could ask Time Warner but I figure there are people here that will give an HONEST answer and not the pre-programmed sales pitch answer. BTW, the 5.0 is $47/mo and the 1.5 is $30.
 
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Easy answer here. The slowest wireless is the older 802.11b which is 11 megs per second. The newer is at least 52 megs per second.

If you aren't doing a ton of pc-pc traffic INSIDE your house, rather 1 pc to the internet - the RoadRunner is still the slowest part of what you can control. Unless you REALLY know you are going to tranfer a TON of data, the 5.0 isn't worth it.

Just to give you reference - I have the 5.0, but only cause I get a deal through work.
 
Just another point of reference since you talk about d/l music and long sermon files.

Most music mp3s will load in just a matter of seconds at the 1.5 Mb speeds from a high bandwidth site (like itune). The sermons are normally smaller than music.

For a test I did a random google search and downloaded the first sermon file I found.
I came down at about 300k per sec (thus was slowed down somewhere other than my rr).. It was a 35 minute sermon file, was 4.5 Meg in size and took approximately 20 seconds. :D

You will be happy with 1.5... :)
 
Wow. Thanks for the help. Right now I am on the 5.0 and enjoying the Corvette-like agility but I think I am going to downsize for the price. Thanks a ton!

Matt
 
Glad to help Matt. The 5.0 only really does big things for big d/l.. IAP will run great at 1.5 too. If you want to be sure to see a chart of how much you use:
- press ctl-alt-del..
- Choose task manager
- There is a networking tab.. It will show you the speed of the link between your pc and the first device (wireless router, router, modem, etc)... You can see what % you are using and see how little of the network you actually use.

PM if you want more help or detailed questions.
 
Originally posted by redfishsc

Wow. Thanks for the help. Right now I am on the 5.0 and enjoying the Corvette-like agility but I think I am going to downsize for the price. Thanks a ton!

Matt
Click to expand...


I am sorry to disagree with most everyone else............ but at only $0.50 extra per day I would stay with the 5.0... I have 6.0 at home and 1.5 at my businesses, the slower speed drives me nuts at work. It is really tough to slow down.
 
Well, after one phonecall they changed my settings (which we knew happened b/c it booted my wife off the net when the rep said she "just switched it").

So far I only notice a touch of difference when downloading sermons. I downloaded around 30 in a matter of a few minutes, which is fine with me.
 
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