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Would you pay Time Warner Cable $6.99 a month to guarantee they will update your equipment on a regular basis to provide you with reliable service?
An unspecified number of customers participating in a Time Warner Cable focus group are being asked that question this month as the cable company ponders charging the new fee in the future.
“As technology, Internet speeds, and entertainment options keep getting better, you want, and need, your equipment to keep up. That’s why we’re introducing Time Warner Cable’s Future Proof Guarantee. Starting next month you will see a $6.99 equipment lease fee on your bill, which will guarantee you have the right equipment for all your TWC services. That means we will keep your Modem, and DVR set-top box up-to-date so you can enjoy a seamless, reliable experience and the service you expect.”
To be clear, Time Warner is only considering this new fee and is testing the concept with its focus group to gauge potential customer reaction.
The Stop the Cap! reader and focus group member who shared the news with us was not impressed.
“This feels like another money grab from an already very-profitable company,” our tipster told both us and the cable company.
The new fee would double-down on Time Warner’s already lucrative new cable modem rental fee, now $3.95 a month. The new $7 fee would cover “upgrades” that most subscribers might assume they were already entitled to as paying customers. We have no word if this fee would replace existing equipment rental fees or would apply in addition to those rental fees.
Any customer renting equipment can generally be assured of getting a free “technology upgrade” just by swapping existing equipment at any Time Warner Cable store — no additional fee required.
I don’t understand. Should the firmware and hardware NOT be kept up to date with the service for the customer. In fact they now charge terminal fees for everything and you lease everything so what is this fee for? I can see this somehow morphing into NON owned TWC equipment like tablets, xbox, and purchased cable modems (which they loathe to upgrade). This is nothing more than the old NYNEX “wireline maintenance fee” for 2012 to make up for new access points of which they won’t get immediate terminal fees. This also could be some redux of the signature home.… Read more »
How about offering their customers the option to NOT UPGRADE?
When Time Warner “Upgraded” their DVR software from SARA to Navigator (“Crapigator” to many) customers:
1) Lost Functionality
2) Found that the new software was SLOW
3) The new software was buggy!
BTW: I hope to escape this TW madness by moving to the Buffalo area (Hamburg) where I can get Verizon FiOS or TW. Don’t like the extra fees – (like Mitt Romney) fire them!
Exactly! The DVR is already a piece of garbage and they want to charge more to update it? Every “update” brings an entirely new set of glitches, bugs and issues. I took the survey about this and blasted them in it.
No, I wouldn’t.. I would expect that if was renting a cable convertor box, or any other piece of equipment for that matter- if it broke that they would replace it. – Without any extra charge. I also do not go to the local office ever time a new version of the cable box comes out that is the lastest and greatest either. Also, they charge for dvr service for each DVR as well.. some satellite providers only charge one fee and you can have several dvr boxes setup [with box rental fees- just like TWC] .. This effectively looks… Read more »
On the aspect of Internet service, isn’t the Modem Rental fee already covering the “Stay up to date” fee since in theory, you’re already paying the cable company to replace the modem when needed? Also on the TV department where you’re already renting the set top boxes, it’s the same deal. This seems like another bottom line fee. If Time Warner is doing something like this, I hope they’re also running heavy audits on their network, ensuring not only rock solid firmware, but efficient use of their network. Some of this includes removing DOCSIS 1 modems from service, and as… Read more »
“Some of this includes removing DOCSIS 1 modems from service,”
Certainly in Buffalo they are already gone.
“Turbo potentially going to 25Mbps you’re going to be pushing DOCSIS 2 modems pretty far on the downstream in busier neighborhoods.”
D3 modems are required for new Turbo installs.
No way will I pay this fee. My Internet will be disconnected before that happens!
I’m afraid I’ve seen plenty of DOCSIS 1 modems in use in recent weeks throughout the Buffalo division. I have no idea if they finally shut those off and replaced them, but they definitely are still out there. I think they have been proactive to that part in replacing them though, as I’ve had a few folks mention now that you bring that up that the cable company has shown up with a new modem at hand for them. Granted, it was a DOCSIS 2.0 Ubee. Will they be using DOCSIS 3.0 on the Standard tiers however, if it goes… Read more »
Actually that speed increase report was here on STC first, and comes direct from company executives. Since Turbo worked fine for me on a DOCSIS 2 modem before I upgraded to 30/5Mbps service, setting 15Mbps as the new download speed standard should pose no trouble for the existing DOCSIS 2 modems out in the field.
Gotcha. I see a ton of cross-posts of content, hence associating the content with DSLReports. My concern with the speed boost is not about whether or not the modem can handle it. I know you can throw a 30Mbps/3Mbps tier at a DOCSIS 2.0 modem and it will just laugh it off. It’s about the current state of the plant in the area I’m in. During higher usage periods I can see plenty of Roadrunner Standard and Turbo connections (running at 10/1 and 20/2 respectively at the time) showing a speed decrease. Wideband tiers, while I don’t see them often… Read more »
They should be long gone from Rochester as well. They have had to pry some of those early Motorola modems out of the hands of customers who insisted on keeping them because of their reliability since the service was introduced here in 1998, but DOCSIS 1 is dead.
DOCSIS 3 is so much more flexible at every speed level because Time Warner can more effectively balance their loads with additional channel bonding, so even if customers do not need the fast speeds right now, they are in a better position for more stable, predictable performance with a D3 modem.
Time Warner Cable deploys insecure wi-fi devices to their customers by preventing customer lockdown & configuration of their hybrid cable modems. As a result, the default WPA2 pre-shared key, which is a known value, with zero-bit entropy, cannot be changed by the customer.
This has already been reported to the FCC and will be reported shortly to NIST.
Yet, I would pay the surcharge if it included secure configuration capabilities.