Cox High Speed Internet in San Diego

terry · February 6, 2002 1:35AM

Does anybody have any input on their services for the mac community? I currently use Pacbell's DSL but am ready to switch after a rate increase. Is it better to buy or rent their modem? Does anybody at Cox seem to know how to set up Mac systems?(not that I'd let them do that anyway)

Thanks

pscates · February 6, 2002 1:57AM

I have it. Had the @Home thing, but, as you know, they went bankrupt and this transition that was SUPPOSED to take six months is now being undertaken over six weeks instead.

Except for a brief 2-day spottiness last week, during the height of the switchover, I've had nothing but great success with the service.

I've never had to call tech support. But seeing as how their number was all but impossible to find anyway, I guess that's a blessing?

<img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

But from May 2001 until last week, I had PERFECT luck. And for the past 6 days or so, now running under Cox's network, I've been having great speeds and connections also.

That's about all I can say. Can't get much more specific than that, only because I've never had a major blunder or service issue (minus my two pissed-off days last week...but EVERYONE was going through that, so I chilled out and now it's fine).

For what it's worth, nearly everyone in my office (uh, including my office itself) is on the Cox cable modem thing: my boss, one of the sales reps, the assistant graphics manager, an account manager and a fellow graphic artist.

We're all happy.

We're up in North County (Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, etc.).

pscates · February 6, 2002 2:01AM

I'm renting my modem, I think. It's listed on the bill. The guy who initially came out to do my set-up actually said "don't install all that crap on the CD...it's lame...".

He sat down and input a few things into the TCP/IP control panel and BOOM...there it was.

Basically, it's DHCP and a client ID number. Then configure your e-mail and you're off and running.

I think now that they're past that initial service glitch of last week and now the signal is all local (and FAST!), things will be great.

There isn't much to it, to be honest. Totally transparent, no special software or utilities, etc.

Cable comes out of the wall. The installer guy split it with a little junction box. One cable goes to my TV, the other to this little paperback-sized modem that stands next to my iMac.

Ethernet cable from there to the iMac. Modem is always on.

Couldn't be happier.

murbot · February 6, 2002 2:03AM

I just read a thread on Ars about this. Here's a blurb from it:

[quote]I only post this in the Mac Achaia cause I found it at <a href="http://www.macfixit.com"; target="_blank">www.macfixit.com</a> and I didn't know where else to put it.

Save you the click....

"Cox switchover: no fixed identities; policy changes

A reader sent us this note covering two significant issues with respect to the Cox/@Home switchover, a potential problem with accessing some corporate systems, and changes to the acceptable use policy, (We found some of the language in the use policy to be rather invasive and an open door to potential misuse.) Jim Williams writes:

"As a Cox customer, I had asked their technical support about how to maintain a fixed network identity, which is necessary for work-at-home users whose company servers accept connections only from known addresses. Although Cox@Home allocated IP addresses dynamically, each customer still had a fixed network ID (example: [email protected]) to which the dynamic IP address would resolve, allowing this type of login to take place. I was told that only does the new Cox.com service not provide a similar functionality -- but that this type of use is considered a Virtual Private Network and is specifically forbidden by their Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). They did inform me that I could have a fixed ID by subscribing to Cox Business Services -- which, of course, is much more expensive."

Reading the AUP carefully, I also discovered that -- among other things -- it forbids use of file sharing, personal HTTP or FTP, or 'any other device, equipment, and/or software providing server like functionality;' and also bans 'use [of] the Services on more than a single computer, unless otherwise authorized by CoxCom' as well as barring customers from performing 'IP address translation' (i.e. no routers allowed.) These provisions are much more restrictive than those of the most recent Cox@Home AUP, which permitted these types of features for personal use although noting that @Home would not provide support for them.

Cox.com also reserves for itself the right to 'terminate, suspend, or require a Customer to upgrade its Services and pay additional fees if CoxCom, in its sole discretion, determines that a CoxCom Customer is using excessive bandwidth' and grants itself the right to monitor customer's Internet traffic 'to protect itself or its subscribers.' And if you're still thinking you can get away with sneaking that Airport base station into the loop, note that under the AUP the customer 'authorizes CoxCom, and its employees, agents, contractors, and representatives to enter Customer's premises at mutually agreed upon times in order to install, maintain, inspect, repair and remove any CoxCom-owned Equipment and/or the Service."

Man... I'm under AT&T currently, but if this starts to become standard practice, paying $40-50 a month is surely not worth it. How can most ISPs give sub par service, and then slap these restrictions on them?

<hr></blockquote>

Doesn't sound very nice. No Airport? Can this possibly be true? Jeeeeesus.

[ 02-06-2002: Message edited by: murbot ]</p>

pscates · February 6, 2002 2:07AM

Well that does suck! If you have a multiple Mac household (like many of you guys do) and you've shelled out the $99 for the cards and $299 for a UFO Base Station, now you're not supposed to use it?!?!

It's one of those things, though, that can't really be enforced or caught, I suspect.

One of those "rules" nobody actually pays attention to or follows.

Kinda like speed limits and underage drinking.

eugene · February 6, 2002 5:52AM

Looks like Cox is going crazy with filtering ports now. My friend has over a thousand TCP/UDP ports filtered on his Cox cable connection...

macfan · February 6, 2002 5:20PM

Cox support here in PHX is pathetic and pretty much non existant. Spent and hour+ waiting on hold for tech support for a few days then decided to email a questions and it took them 6 days to email me back. Funny part was that their email recommended that I CALL support as it would quicker to contact them

Sorry, but I've more important things to do with my time that stay on eternal hold w/o a clus as to how soon someone will be on the line to help me. <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />

ghost_user_name · February 7, 2002 7:55AM

I am using AT&T Broadband Internet. I previously had AT&T @Home before the @Home issues, since the beginning of November, 2001. At first, on @Home, it was VERY VERY VERY fast - over 800KB/s at times (yes, that's kilo-BYTES) peaking over 1MB/s. There is almost nobody in my area with cable internet. Then, when @Home switched off service, I was luckilly in the area that only had a downtime of a few hours (overnight) switching over to the new AT&T Broadband network. Unfortunately, I spent the next day trying to get it working under their new settings. Finally I was on, but I noticed they lowered the bandwidth from 7Mb/s to 1.5Mb/s, which, for the same $50/month is unacceptable. My downloads went from 800KB/s to 160KB/s, overnight. And we're still paying the same price per month. Also, it is DHCP now (it was previously assigned IPs), so I have to resort to a dynamic-DNS address that updates every 15 minutes. So far, though, I've been lucky enough to have the same IP for several months.

I just hope we get another provider in our area soon that has 7Mb/s.

Cox High Speed Internet in San Diego

Comments