Aside from using my internet connection for telecommuting to work, I also use it for VOIP calling (Skype), online gaming (EVE Online), and off-site backup (BackBlaze), just to name a few.  None of which work well.  And so it was that after struggling with Time Warner Cable’s standard broadband service for months, I finally decided to upgrade to their Wideband service.  In the interim I upgraded to TWC’s Turbo package for testing and perspective.  What follows is my comparison of all three service levels.

Basic ($30/month)

This package is supposed to deliver 10MB down and 512kb up, which I realize is not nearly enough for what I was trying to do.





As you can see, this leaves a lot to be desired.  The extremely poor signal quality explains why I was unable to use Skype.  It also explains the poor gaming experience I’ve had.  The download speed was actually better than advertised and more than I expected.  That being said, download speed was never my problem.  It has always been signal quality.

Turbo ($45/month)

This package ups the ante to 15MB down and 768kb up.





The signal quality with the Turbo package is much improved allowing for the use of internet communications.  The download speeds were again better than advertised on at least one of my runs, though remained within expected ranges.  Overall this is  a great upgrade for the money.  I can’t believe I didn’t at least have this to begin with.

Wideband ($100/month)

Finally, with this service I ought to be getting 50MB down and 5MB up.




These numbers are right on par with what should be expect for a package with this price tag.  I don’t know why it took me so long to upgrade.  This was long overdue.