They used to have internet that's worked fine. Then it went to shit. TWC keeps telling them to call earthlink, since their internet is on earthlink's lines?

Their internet has been consistently degrading. It used to be an occasional outage, and then about half and half up/down, and now they're without internet more than they have it, and when they do have it, it's at terrible speeds. Sometimes they're down to dial-up speeds or worse.

TWC and earthlink both know that
1) mom and dad have VOIP
2) That dad's a diabetic with a heart condition (i.e., 911 needs to be available at all times)

I've called the attorney general's office, and they didn't seem interested at all until I mentioned that my parent's internet used to work. They're sending out a complaint packet, and I've told my mother to print off all call logs with TWC and earthlink from the time all this started, as well as all emails. My dad has set up some sort of tracking program (ping tracker, I think he called it?), and I told her to include those reports, and that I'll fax it in or deliver the complaint for them.

Anything else we should be doing? TWC doesn't give a damn about their BBB rating, and I don't know if this is something an FCC complaint will help.

8/5/2008 5:36:25 PM

http://savetheinternet.com/

8/5/2008 5:47:28 PM

you could always... stop paying for their service????

8/5/2008 5:48:14 PM

welcome to TWC

8/5/2008 5:50:00 PM

911 works from any cell phone, even ones you no longer have service on.

if they don't have a cell phone, it might be a good idea to get an old crappy one that they could just leave in the house to call 911.

hell, i've got an old alltel phone w/ charger i'll give them.

good luck with TWC, they blow hard.

[Edited on August 5, 2008 at 6:03 PM. Reason : unclear]

8/5/2008 6:02:44 PM

Unfortunately, your parents probably had to sign a waiver when they signed up for their VOIP that said that they understood that 911 doesn't work the same way as with a landline. (i.e. will be unavailable if the internet is down). Really, all they would tell you regarding the 911 issue is to plug up a phone to the existing phone jack. Even if there is no service on the line, they should still be able to dial 911. If not I think Bell (or whatever LEC is in their area) can provide you a completely featureless line just for 911 for like $2 a month.



[Edited on August 5, 2008 at 6:05 PM. Reason : a]

8/5/2008 6:03:08 PM

^that too

8/5/2008 6:03:52 PM

do they have cell phones?

i have a 919 cell phone # and called 911 here in houston and it worked no problem

8/5/2008 6:24:39 PM

^what does a 919 # have to do with calling 911?

unless you mean you have a plan for this area (surrounding states probably) only. which only means that if you go outside the service area, you will pay roaming fees

8/5/2008 6:43:57 PM

I had a TWC guy come out the other day and he replaced everything--and when I say everything, I mean everything. Every single cable and connector from the box outside to the line to my house and every cable and connector inside. In addition, he called the 24-hour crew, and they replaced the main line that feeds everyone in the neighborhood--I can. . .um. . .be very insistent.

I was having problems with pixelation on my TV and slow "high-speed" (LOL) service. Needless, to say, I'm not having any problems anymore--the Internet's never been faster here.

PS: They recommend that you don't kink any of your cables (no 90-degree angles). Doing so apparently degrades picture quality, at the least.

Also, make sure to use only high-quality cables recommended by TWC. I had a white one (for aesthetic reasons) and some cheap patch cables that were helping to degrade overall quality, too.

8/5/2008 6:44:50 PM

the point is that i have an out of state and out of area cell phone number but i called 911 and it went to the local dispatch


and no i dont pay roaming, wtf is this? 1996?

8/5/2008 7:32:11 PM

Quote :

"That dad's a diabetic with a heart condition (i.e., 911 needs to be available at all times)"

If my dad had a condition like that, I'd be sure he had a landline first, and a cell phone secondly. And VOIP would be third in that priority list.

If nothing else get a pre-paid cell phone as a backup (assuming they don't want to pay for a landline)

But GL all the same. TWC sucks.

8/5/2008 7:53:49 PM

This is the same service that has called 3 times so far to persuade me not to drop my service with them when I arranged for them to disconnect it in a month.

I've told them every time I'm moving to an area that doesn't get their service.

If I were you I'd just get them to use something else.

8/5/2008 9:22:08 PM

Guys, the point isn't that we fear needing 911. I merely used that to show the complete and utter disregard TWC has for providing the service my folks are paying for. Dad has a cell

Quote :

"you could always... stop paying for their service????"

Start naming alternatives, then. Satellite isn't an option: it's some heavily wooded land in a valley, my folks aren't interested, and we all three are loathe to add another contract to the monthly bills.

If I can find a set of services that provides my folks with what they want/can live with, as well as what they need (Internet is the big deal here: they're both perpetually job hunting, my sister is in HS and my folks are sharing one car. Dad's also going for a CCNA, but I don't know how vital the net is to that), and at a price they're willing to pay, they'll happily switch.

8/5/2008 9:38:56 PM

Quote :

"If nothing else get a pre-paid cell phone as a backup"

you don't have to pay for service on a phone to use it to call 911

8/5/2008 9:43:57 PM

If they have earthlink, they should be calling TWC earthlink tech support.

Quote :

"since their internet is on earthlink's lines?"

no, but it is leased to them and they have their own tech support structure which you have to access to be upgraded to a higher level.

Quote :

"I've called the attorney general's office, and they didn't seem interested at all until I mentioned that my parent's internet used to work."

They probably didn't care b/c your family didn't take the required steps to troubleshoot (according to your previous posts).

[Edited on August 5, 2008 at 9:44 PM. Reason : eh]

8/5/2008 9:44:01 PM

Uh...what would you be considering the appropriate steps?

When one calls one's ISP, and ISP says to call Party B, and one calls Party B

...What else are you saying to call? In case I wasn't clear: mom's spent countless hours on the phone with both TWC and earthlink. Neither party gives a damn; the onus is on TWC to make sure earthlink's infrastructure is capable of delivering TWC's services. They pay TWC, not Earthlink. If the problem is with earthlink's physical equipment, then TWC needs to get on earthlink to fix that shit.

8/5/2008 9:49:24 PM

I heard recently that Time Warner was selling off twc...


This was on a quick google check:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/InvestorRelations/PressReleases/TWCPressReleaseDetail.ashx?PRID=2307&MarketID=0

8/5/2008 9:54:10 PM

do they have a laptop?

i use a verizon air card for my work laptop and it actually works pretty good

i think its like $60/mo though

8/5/2008 9:56:37 PM

Quote :

"Uh...what would you be considering the appropriate steps? When one calls one's ISP, and ISP says to call Party B, and one calls Party B"

It's clear now, but I was working off the unclear first post.

8/5/2008 10:38:30 PM

I'm betting that you have a bad splitter or a bad trap.

8/5/2008 11:33:53 PM

Quote :

"I can. . .um. . .be very insistent."

hooksaw insistent?
NO.....WAY.....

8/6/2008 12:52:09 AM

or just a bad line running to their outlet. if the trap or line gets moisture in it, it will give you shitty signal.

8/6/2008 12:54:14 AM

Quote :

"the point is that i have an out of state and out of area cell phone number but i called 911 and it went to the local dispatch and no i dont pay roaming, wtf is this? 1996?"

what does an out of state phone have to do with calling 911? it's always gone to the local call center.

if you're in houston, then you are on a cellular network there, not where your home area is. 911 is a regional area, and no matter where you are, your 911 gets routed to the local 911 call center.

[Edited on August 6, 2008 at 7:40 AM. Reason : .]

8/6/2008 7:38:24 AM

People still use TWC

8/6/2008 8:01:46 AM

Telecom in general is a bunch of finger pointing, especially when you get into VOIP. Each vendor will do whatever it takes to avoid doing any real work.

But again, as for the 911 issue, it is the current major issue in VOIP technology. Like I said earlier, the LEC in your parent's area (Bell, Sprint, whatever) should have an option to activate a copper line just for 911 usage, and it's dirt cheap. Have your parents look into that just to be on the safe side. Look at it this way, even if they weren't having issues with their internet connection, what would they do if the power went out and they had to call 911?

8/6/2008 8:04:55 AM

Utilities services are almost always contractually free of liabilities due to losses of service. This includes if your Auntie Bea dies because the power goes out and her ventilator stops running, if your house catches on fire and your phone line is dead and it's a total loss, if your cable TV goes out and you miss the superbowl (gg suddenlink).

I mean hell... you can't control squirrels. Those damn little furry demons.

8/6/2008 8:08:50 AM

Quote :

"Look at it this way, even if they weren't having issues with their internet connection, what would they do if the power went out and they had to call 911?"

Nah, she thought she could use that as a crutch to her argument while the ISP who knows the law and what was signed, could care less.

8/6/2008 8:57:29 AM

^ yep

I recently worked for a CLEC, and our flagship product was a VoIP service we delivered over T1. Every business I signed up had to sign off on a disclaimer which informed them that if their T1 went down then they wouldn't have 911 access. This usually isn't a problem in businesses, however, because most of them keep at least 1 copper line with Bell for their security system so they can just use that to dial 911

8/6/2008 9:36:12 AM