| Back in the Stone Age, you didn't have much | | | | headed over to to see if they were full of |
| choice when it came to Internet access. Yeah, | | | | it, and I'm happy to say that they're not. In |
| you could choose your provider. But every | | | | fact, according to Bandwidthplace, my |
| single one of them basically offered the same | | | | connection is smoking at 7.6 Mbps, which is |
| thing - molasses-in-January slow connection | | | | even faster than Comcast officially says it |
| speeds. If you had a 56k modem, you thought | | | | is (cool!). What does this mean in the real |
| you were FLYING! | | | | world? I can download a typical song that's |
| | | | around four minutes in under one second. |
| Well, things have changed a little bit, | | | | Pretty sweet. |
| haven't they? Today, who you choose for your | | | | |
| Internet service directly impacts the quality | | | | Time Warner takes a different approach. While |
| and speed you're going to get. Don't get me | | | | Comcast throws stats out at you, Time Warner |
| wrong - whichever broadband high-speed | | | | actually shows you how fast their service is. |
| service you choose is going to be light years | | | | (I have pictures of this up at my blog - |
| ahead of any dial-up connection you might | | | | don't forget the link is below. And don't |
| have. | | | | forget you can find out how to save a couple |
| | | | hundred bucks there, too.) |
| But over at my DigitalTVDojo blog, one of the | | | | |
| things I like to do from time to time is to | | | | Here's how Road Runner High Speed Online |
| do "speed runs" on the various services | | | | shakes out. It's a bit slower than Comcast at |
| available (It's a geek thing.) because there | | | | a stated 5 Mbps. But in the real world, what |
| ARE differences - even if they're tiny. | | | | difference does that make? You're still going |
| (There's a link to my blog down at the end of | | | | to be downloading huge files in seconds. And |
| this story. Check it out because I also fill | | | | against a typical dial-up connection, the |
| you in on a little secret that will save you | | | | comparison is downright stupid! A typical |
| hundreds of dollars when you order either | | | | webpage with graphics will take around 21 |
| service, so it's definitely worth your time - | | | | seconds on a dial-up connection, while it |
| unless you make like a thousand dollars an | | | | takes less than a second with Time Warner. |
| hour or something.) | | | | And with videos, for example, it's even |
| | | | crazier - a typical video clip will take |
| The other day I did one of these speed tests | | | | seven minutes to download with a 56k modem, |
| on Comcast Cable Internet and Road Runner | | | | and only seven SECONDS with Time Warner. That |
| High Speed Online from Time Warner just to | | | | really put it in perspective for me. |
| test the claims the two companies were making | | | | |
| about how fast their products really are. | | | | So there you have it - DigitalTVDojo's review |
| Here's what I found... | | | | and speed-test comparison of Road Runner High |
| | | | Speed Online and Comcast Cable Internet. I |
| It was easy to verify what Comcast was | | | | hope it helps you make a decision. |
| saying, because I have the service myself. I | | | | |