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Getting the Best Rate for Broadband-Only Service from Time Warner Cable

Phillip Dampier May 10, 2011 Broadband Speed, Competition, Consumer News, Data Caps 6 Comments

With Time Warner Cable’s broadband now running as high as $50 a month for standard, stand-alone service, getting the best deal possible can save you as much as $20 a month off those prices.  Time Warner Cable has been repricing their services to deliver the most value to customers who bundle all of the company’s products into a single package.  But if you don’t want television or telephone service from the cable company, you are going to pay a lot more than your service-bundled-neighbors for Road Runner High Speed Internet.

Stop the Cap! presents our strategy to help broadband-only customers get the best possible prices from Time Warner Cable:

Choose Earthlink

Customers paying Time Warner Cable’s regular prices for broadband service are paying too much.  Time Warner currently charges just short of $50 a month for Standard 10/1Mbps service (speeds are slower in some areas).  That’s up from years of charging $40 a month, slightly higher if you were a broadband-only customer.  But with the help of Earthlink, you can cut that broadband bill to $29.99 a month for the first six months.  Earthlink co-exists with Road Runner, Time Warner Cable’s own broadband service.  With just a few mouse clicks and a quick phone call, Time Warner can switch your regular price Road Runner to Earthlink without any equipment changes.  Billing and service will continue to be provided by Time Warner and the change literally takes less than five minutes by phone.

You can escape Time Warner Cable's Road Runner rate hike by switching to Earthlink service at a substantial discount.

Earthlink’s broadband service is indistinguishable from Road Runner — same speeds, same level of service, with two exceptions:

  • Earthlink does not benefit from PowerBoost, which delivers temporary speed increases during file downloads
  • You will forfeit your rr.com e-mail address

We recommend you avoid using ISP-provided e-mail addresses when possible, because they help tie you down to an existing provider.  Instead, sign up for a free e-mail account from Google’s Gmail, or Yahoo! Mail, or any of the dozens of other web-based e-mail providers.  Or, purchase your own domain name from GoDaddy or 1and1, which includes e-mail, and either read it on those sites or forward it to a web-based e-mail provider.  Domain names can be had for under $10 a year and deliver maximum flexibility for those who want the freedom to change Internet providers.

After Six Months, Switch Back to Road Runner

When your Earthlink promotion expires at the end of six months, your price will increase to $41.95 per month.  Just before that happens, switch back to Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner service.  You qualify for new customer pricing promotions.  As of this week, Time Warner Cable in western New York is offering one year at $29.99 per month for 10/1Mbps service.  Other areas may have different pricing promotions.

After the year is up, you can start all over again, heading back to Earthlink for another six month promotional term.  Earthlink has offered its promotional plan for more than two years, and it shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Promotional Half-Truths

Promotions come and go from Time Warner Cable, so it is wise to check with them often if the $29.99 deal is not currently running in your area.  Start by checking Time Warner Cable’s website, and remember if you are using Earthlink, you will want to select pricing for new customers.  If you find a good price on the website, you may be able to complete your order online.  Otherwise, call your local office and ask about currently running promotions.  Some common ones:

  • Road Runner Turbo at 50% off for the first year;
  • Road Runner Turbo free for six months;
  • Road Runner with wireless router/modem free for six months to one year;
  • Road Runner with free installation (especially useful if you want Road Runner Extreme/Wideband service, which carries a pricey installation fee);
  • Road Runner for $29.99 for six months;
  • Bundled promotions — $99 for all three services, $79 for broadband/cable or broadband/phone

Not every promotion delivers the best deal for customers, and some have been slightly deceptive, such as this speed comparison we found on the cable company’s website this morning:

Our View:

  1. Time Warner Cable has been spanked before for their claims about running a “fiber network.”  In fact, their “Fiber Rich Network” is a marketing stretch.  All modern cable systems use fiber optics to help distribute their service into various communities, but coaxial copper cable delivers the signal through neighborhoods to your individual home.  Cable companies still cannot match the broadband speeds available on an all-fiber network.
  2. “Powertasking” is a meaningless marketing claim.  Any high speed network will allow the entire family to effectively share a broadband connection.
  3. We’re glad to know Time Warner Cable has “massive bandwidth” — more than enough to go around.  We’ll remember that if and when the company ever entertains bringing back their experimental Internet Overcharging scheme they claimed was necessary to pay for equipment upgrades to cope with broadband traffic growth.
  4. It would be simpler to install Time Warner’s DOCSIS 3 upgrade if we could do it ourselves, but the cable company currently requires a mandatory service call ($67.98 fee) to install it.
  5. Time Warner is being cute comparing their broadband speed with Verizon FiOS.  In fact, FiOS is faster because of what isn’t mentioned here — upstream speeds.  Time Warner tops out at 5Mbps, Verizon offers 20Mbps for uploads.  But Time Warner’s pricing is better at that download speed.  Verizon is more aggressively priced when they bundle services together.  For example, Time Warner’s $99 triple play bundle only offers 10/1Mbps service.  Verizon offers up to 25/25Mbps service for the same price.  Both include phone and television service.
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AustinTX
13 years ago

I think that you’ll find, if you quit Earthlink after 6 months, you’ll be hit with an early termination fee, or see them recalculate those 6 discounted months at full rate and bill you for the balance. I had Earthlink over TWC here in Austin. If I recall correctly, they required that I remain with them for 18 months before I could quit without penalty. My educated hunch is that RoadRunner has a similar retention agreement. Switching every 18 months would therefore be more practical, however both companies also require that you be a “new customer” to qualify for the… Read more »

James R Curry
James R Curry
13 years ago

Just looked at the Terms & Conditions for Earthlink even here in Austin. It certainly doesn’t look like this is the case. Where did you find the Ts&Cs requiring you stay with them for 18 months? The details: EARTHLINK CABLE OFFER DETAILS Time Warner/Bright House NetworksSM1 Up to 768 Kbps service: $29.95/month Up to 6.0-10.0 Mbps service: $29.95/month for first 6 months; $41.95/month thereafter Up to 10.0-15.0 Mbps service: $39.90/month for first 6 months; $51.90/month thereafter Standard installation fee varies by region. Term Commitment (contract): None (no contract required) Still have questions? Call: 1-800-817-5508 Comcast customers2 6.0 Mbps service: $29.95/month… Read more »

Mann
Mann
12 years ago

Hi
I’ve EarthLink and am paying $42 bucks/ mth in NYC. So after reading this I called Time Warner and the customer service Rep told e that I do not quality for that $29.99 offer for RoadRunner cause Time Warner is a multi provider company. They can switch me to Roadrunner but I’ve to pay $49.99

Jeff
Jeff
12 years ago
Reply to  Mann

I had the same experience as Mann in NYC. I am in NC and trying to switch from Roadrunner to Earthlink. They stated that I would pay the same $57.95/month for Earthlink as Roadrunnner. Though a week and a half ago, when I dropped my TV services they indicated I could get $34.95 / mnth for 12 mos for Earthlink, but I had to wait until the actual service request was finished. I did and I called and was told the price wouldn’t “stick” to call back another day. I did that today and was told that promotion was no… Read more »

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