Time Warner Cable broadband customers who briefly unplug their modems to reset them will discover slightly improved download and upload speeds from the cable company.
Multiple customers from around the country have reported to Stop the Cap! Internet speeds have been over-provisioned by at least 10 percent as of this week and the PowerBoost feature that delivered a short burst of faster speed during the first few seconds of a download appears to be discontinued.
On average customers can expect the following speeds:
- Standard (was 15/1Mbps) is now 16.5/1.2Mbps
- Turbo (was 20/2Mbps) is now 22/2.2Mbps
- Extreme (was 30/5Mbps) is now 34/5.6Mbps
- Ultimate (was 50/5Mbps) is now 55/5.6Mbps
We have also heard from four different customers that Time Warner Cable has started providing a DOCSIS 3 modem for Turbo customers, which means those considering Turbo service and planning to buy their own modem will best be served choosing a DOCSIS 3 compatible unit. We continue to highly recommend the Motorola SB6141.
We do not expect Time Warner Cable to advertise the speed increases. They are likely a result of the discontinuation of the PowerBoost feature which was first offered to Time Warner Cable customers in New York City in 2008 and became available nationwide a year later for Standard and Turbo tier customers.
The Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing verification of the nation’s largest ISPs advertised speeds would have registered a broad-based speed decline had Time Warner simply discontinued the temporary speed boost technology. PowerBoost does affect speed test results because it provides a temporary speed bump during the download speed verification process. By “over-provisioning” customers’ broadband speeds, the company can compensate for the change and likely even see an improvement of its speed ranking by the FCC’s testing program.
Time Warner Cable increased broadband rates by $3.00 this summer and raised its monthly modem rental fee to $5.99 this month.