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

[Dave Thewlis]

Customer service is mostly an oxymoron.  Whether the last two syllables 
apply to the customer who expects help, or the bean counter who arranged 
the outsourcing, is left as an exercise for the student.

Today I hooked up our Roku "Netflix" box -- on a wired ethernet port, 
not wireless.  As it happens we've got gigabit ethernet throughout the 
house, and a secondary switch in the living room (where the WAP is).  
The setup went fine, and the pudding will be proofed in the next day or 
so, but I'm reasonably confident.

Dave


Keri Raphael wrote:
> 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 
> <mailto: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 <mailto:dthewlis at dcta.com>
>
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>


-- 
*Dave Thewlis, DCTA Inc.*
+1 707 840 9391 (voice) · +1 707 498 2238 (mobile)
http://www.dcta.com · dthewlis at dcta.com <mailto:dthewlis at dcta.com>

-- 
*Dave Thewlis, DCTA Inc.*
+1 707 840 9391 (voice) · +1 707 498 2238 (mobile)
http://www.dcta.com · dthewlis at dcta.com <mailto:dthewlis at dcta.com>
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