[RTC List] Follow-up on Suddenlink broadband speeds and Roku Netflix box

[Keri Raphael]

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.
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.
Keri

On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:10 AM, Dave Thewlis <dave at dcta.com> wrote:

>  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.
>
> 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*bytes* 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.
>
> 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*bits* and apologized for the confusion.
>
> 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).
>
> (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*bits*a second so perhaps the fixes have happened happened.)
>
> 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.
>
> 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*
> bytes* per second and that in reality it needed more like 1.5
> megabytes/second.
>
> 6.  I then emailed Rolu's online technical support who replied it was 1.2
> mega*bits* 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.
>
> So it is all megabits as inferred, though the documentation was ambiguous,
> and the companies themselves seem not to know the difference.
>
> Dave Thewlis
>
> --
> *Dave Thewlis, DCTA Inc.*
> +1 707 840 9391 (voice) · +1 707 498 2238 (mobile)
> http://www.dcta.com · dthewlis at dcta.com
>
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