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| Here is the Xbox360 loading Zune movies. |
At 6meg, there was an immediate difference. Everything now felt "sluggish" which made me think more about exactly what I wished to watch in order to avoid the wait times associated with thumbing around the remote control.. If I hadn't already experienced the "snap", I would probably blame the slow down on the hardware itself. However, I already know these devices can perform. Indeed, the Internet speed is to blame. Also, netflix and vudu services would no longer give me HD. It looked more like DVD quality on the screen.
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| Here is the Roku box interface. |
So, I had the guys at RTC turn up my connection speed to something more middle of the road. 10meg. The "snap" is back just like before. Also, my HD video quality is back. 10 meg seems to work just fine for over the top video. Here's the exception: my daughter was watching a movie on netflix, my wife was uploading pictures on facebook, and I was downloading some music online. Suddenly, I heard my daughter yelling, "Daddy....my movie is messing up will you come fix it?" Come to find out, all this net activity was causing a buffering issue in my daughter's movie. So, I paused my download and it cleared up the movie situation. But some how I was hoaxed into making home made popcorn while I was at it. :)
In sum, if you wish to bring Internet TV to your living room, have a robust Internet connection and consider the other Internet devices in the house. Do you need a 50 meg connection? Probably not but I would advise something more than the minimum plan from your Internet service provider.
In my next post, I plan on posting some pictures, links, and articles so you may "see" Internet TV in action! Stay tuned!
The sad story here is that CATT does not offer more than the minimum speed for our location. They have talked about fiber and increased speeds for over four years now. We have even taken the time to answer their phone surveys. All we have today is even slower speeds than we did a year ago. It is difficult to operate in today's environment with upload speeds about 0.33 and download about 2.3. To make matters worse, we cannot get any other provider because RTC/CATT has a monopoly in our area. Bummer!
ReplyDeleteI hope some day they wake up and decide who the customer is again.
Hi Bruce, thanks for your comment and following the blog. I suspect your limitation on the up/down speeds is distance based. RTC has made a huge commitment/investment in the Ringgold plant. This includes both the copper and fiber investments. At work we discuss Customers every day and how we can better serve you. I have never worked for a company with such an interest in serving its Customers. That said, I am sorry you are only able to get 2.3meg. I have two suggestions. Go to the www.rtctel.com website and make sure your address is entered. We use this information to help make decisions on where to go with fiber next. Just want to be sure we have you on our list. Second, give one of our Customer Service agents a call and see if we have a "bonded modem" card out in your remote. This will give us the ability to potentially double your speed. I would like to see if this is a possibility if you haven't already explored this route with Customer Service. If you would like to talk to me directly, just give me a call at 965.1264. Thanks again.
ReplyDelete