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Now Surfing at 200 Mbps

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All this time I’ve had Oceanic’s Internet Ultimate 200 data plan and didn’t realize it. Simply put, my household could get 200 Mbps download speeds which is way greater than the 50 Mbps Extreme package I had back in the day. But my older Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 modem maxed out at 100 Mbps. Lose out!

So I purchased a new modem, the NetGear CM500-100NAS. Despite the name, this unit does not include a NAS but is just a plain old cable modem with no WiFi. Since I already have a good enough WiFi router, there’s no need to replace it. This NetGear model is on Oceanic Time Warner’s list of approved modems.

In order to activate the modem, I did have to call Oceanic Tech Support to authorize the new MAC address. Once that was done, it was 200 Mbps Internet surfing. It doesn’t feel faster for short, bursty downloads, but you can feel the speed increase when downloading big files. Oddly enough, while this modem just works, the best part I really like about it are its status lights. The usual complement of LEDs are on the front of the device, but their colors are muted, almost too much so. Kinda hard to see when the room lights are on, but not irritatingly bright at night like the blue LEDs of the SurfBoard SB6141. These LEDs would light up a room at night that could cause sleep issues.

Note to Self: Target Hawaii Does Not Price Match Amazon

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Just a reminder to myself that Target locations in Hawaii do not price match online stores. They’ll price match target.com but not other sites like Amazon.com. On the mainland, it’s a different story, but be wary of the “except Alaska and Hawaii” exemption clauses.

So if you ever need to upgrade your cable modem to take advantage of Oceanic’s newer faster speeds, you can’t just go to Target, hoping they’ll sell you the $120 Motorola SB6183 cable modem at the $90 Amazon price. Just won’t happen. Even with a 10% electronics coupon, Amazon is still cheaper.

Buying a Cable Modem

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The cost of leasing a cable modem from Oceanic/Time Warner Cable was never that glaring for me. If I had problems with the little box, I’d take it in and get another little box or a different box. I don’t remember how many cable modems I’ve had in the past. But then two things happened – I had signed up for Extreme Internet service in 2011, and Oceanic is raising its modem lease price.

When I signed up for Extreme internet, I got a different cable modem entirely, a Motorola SURFboard SBG6580. Capable of higher bandwidth, this modem included an integrated WiFi router – convenient but unnecessary since I already had a WiFi router. But then I began seeing similar cable modems sold in stores.

In my July 2013 statement from Oceanic, I saw this little blurb:

Beginning with your next statement, Internet Modem Lease will be $5.99/mo. As an Oceanic Time Warner Cable customer, you have the choice of leasing a modem from us or buying your own. For more information about your modem options, please visit twc.com/approvedmodems.

Six bucks a month to rent my commercially available cable modem? Hmmm…Then I read The Wirecutter’s review of the Best Cable Modem, the Motorola SB6141, this Squidoo lens, some Lifehacker articles, and was convinced that buying was the way to go. And yes, the SB6141 is on Time Warner’s compatibility list.

There is some confusion about the various models of the SB6141. There’s a version provided to cable companies and the retail version for purchase. Supposedly, you can buy “second hand” models that originally came from cable companies but while functionally equal to the retail version, the item’s warranty may be suspect. I wasn’t exactly sure, so I went with the retail version (available in black or white) for a couple more dollars.

The SB6141 only has one Ethernet port, mainly for an existing home router or a single computer so I had to pickup a cheap Ethernet switch (TRENDnet Gigabit Switch) to make up for the loss of ports on my leased SBG6580.

So while an additional investment, the modem will pay for itself in little over a year and my home network will be getting a Gigabit Ethernet upgrade. Are you convinced? Are you going to buy as well?

Update: I originally had a typo regarding the monthly lease fee. I corrected the mistake to reflect $5.99 per month, not $5.95. Thanks Damon for the catch.

Random ocHui Thoughts

Just some random thoughts, concepts, and ideas before I forget.

Social TV

This idea is inspired by HBOGo’s iPad app, specifically when watching the Game of Thrones. Sure, with HBOGo, you can watch selected HBO shows when you want over a high speed Internet connection. But with some shows like the Game of Thrones, the app unlocks interactive features associated with the show. Rotate the iPad from landscape to portrait view, and the extra screen real estate below the video now displays interactive content related to the show.

Now take that example and carry that over to other shows available via Oceanic Cable, namely Hawaii Five-0. There’s already lots of Twitter hashtagging and conversations going on during airing of the show. I’m guessing there are two devices involved – the TV and a mobile device (iOS, Android) for Twitter. What if that experience were united into the TWC TV app? Watch popular shows on your mobile device and watch the online social chatter on the same screen, even engage in the conversation through the app’s integration with Twitter.

Since Hawaii’s a geographic and temporal island due to the time zone difference, there may be sufficient local followings for other shows. Perhaps America’s Next Best Dance Crew featuring Flavahz Crew partially from Hawaii would be one of these social TV experiments?

Intelligent House

A newly revamped service that sounds cool. There’s already a lot of competition in the home security space so the value proposition would need to be solid. Is it there? I don’t know. The features of the Intelligent House are cool, but really, do I want all that access and (private and secured) visibility? At the core of this is home security. That’s what really matters. If something’s going down in my home, I don’t necessarily want the ability to watch it in real time. I want someone to react in real time and act on the potential incident/intrusion. If I’m going to dish out monthly for this service, I want to rest assured that safety and security are paramount. The whiz bang tech is secondary.

Beta Testing Services

I’m all for this one. Heck, once I heard about Oceanic’s Road Runner Extreme, I went for it at a reduced cost. Allowing customers to test run these services might hook them forever.

Besides trying out services, how about customizing your services. With RR Extreme, I got a new DOCSIS 3.0-compliant cable modem. From what I understand, this is the new industry standard for cable data networks and offers additional capabilities. Is it possible to set my own upload and download speeds (within reason)? There are times when I need fast upload speed (those HD videos take awhile). During these moments, can I “flip a switch” and reverse my up-to-down ratio. Then there are times, especially overnight, that I’d like to dedicate bandwidth for off-site backup services such as BackBlaze. Even if there were three pre-configured settings (normal, faster upload, faster download) I could easily change to, that would be welcomed.

Trading/Syndicating Content

This is a tough one that I don’t yet understand or fully appreciate the exchange. I can see having RSS feeds included on Oceanic property’s web sites. They get a lot of traffic, but where’s the win-win situation? Is it that as a content provider, you’d get name recognition that leads to more followers and more traffic)? Could be, but I don’t know if merely displaying RSS feeds is enough. Perhaps something more along the lines of a featured post or featured author would be better and magnified by a mention on the accompanying Oceanic Facebook account.

I guess it comes down to guest blogging which I frequently hear is a good tactic and also overcoming that fear and hesitation of contributing content elsewhere other than your own blog.

That’s it for now.

Update: Check out Damon Tucker’s blog and his coverage of the event via Google Hangout.

Oceanic Mobile Simply Works Here and Here and Here

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I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to test drive Oceanic’s Mobile Internet service on several occasions. What can I say other than it simply works. Be it the older USB stick for laptops to the newer hockey puck-sized mobile hot spot, Oceanic Mobile Internet connected me to the online world again and again. And not just in Hawaii, but traveling in California as well. That’s why you’ll see the “And Here” tag associated with Oceanic Mobile since it works here and here and here.

Easy Setup

Connecting with Oceanic Mobile Internet is easy.  The USB stick required software drivers to be installed on my Mac, but that was a breeze. Launch the connection software and after a minute or two, you’re online. That’s it. When the software or drivers need updating, you’ll be notified of the updates.

With the Intelligo mobile hotspot, setup is even easier. The device is associated with the Oceanic Mobile Internet network, and all you have to do is connect to the device’s WiFi.  If you want to configure the WiFi or other Intelligo settings, it’s all done using a web browser. Easy. The Intelligo offers 4G speeds and lets you share this connection to five other devices – great when traveling with a geared up family.

Great Connectivity

I can attest to the great connectivity of the Oceanic Mobile Internet service.  Okay, it’s not perfect, no mobile carrier’s network reaches everywhere, but my OC Mobile device did remain connected when I lost connection with other carriers.

Here are just some of the pictures demonstrating the reach of OC Mobile.

Gotchas

To be completely upfront, there are some gotchas that you should know about however. Getting connected does takes some time. We’re talking minutes, not seconds. Part of getting connected is negotiating 4G or 3G speeds with the OC Mobile Internet network, and this is not instantaneous.

The battery of the Intelligo (first generation at least) gets really, really hot. Not dangerously hot, but more than “warm to the touch.” So when in use, you probably don’t want to leave the device in an enclosed bag. Let it “breathe” a bit. Battery life is pretty good. Depending on usage, you will recharge once a day.

Lastly, I just read about the change in service providers for Oceanic Mobile Internet. Oceanic changed partners from Sprint to Verizon. I’m not sure what impact this will have, but keep an eye on Oceanic Time Warner’s Verizon Wireless Partnership FAQ for more details.

Thanks to World Wide Ed for the free use of OC Mobile Internet, and to see where else OC Mobile works, head on over to andhere.com.

Extreme Speed!

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Have you heard of Oceanic’s new Road Runner Broadband Extreme service? That’s 30 Mbps of download speed to go with 5 Mbps upload speed. Now that’s extreme (at least for Hawaii)!

But does it work as advertised? Check out this speed test result.

Road Runner Extreme Speed Test

Looks like RR Extreme is holding up to its promises. But does extreme speed equal extreme costs? Oceanic is advertising this extreme service for “$35.95 more per month, for Standard Road Runner customers.” Whoa, that does seem extreme! An additional $36 per month on top of current RR costs? Not so fast. Talk with Oceanic reps and see if they can get discounted pricing for you. I’m not sure what factors come into play, but it is possible. Without giving out details, I’m paying between $10 and $17 a month for Extreme service, definitely not $35.95. There is on contract so you can always return to Road Runner Residential speeds and costs.

And if you’re hedging on this, one word of caution. This is a new service for Oceanic and is not optimized for its existing network. As such, Oceanic is limiting this service to two Extreme customers in an area. I don’t know what an area is, a neighborhood, a block, a network segment, but once there are two Extreme customers in your area, Oceanic won’t add any more. This will definitely change when Oceanic can ensure acceptable performance for all customers, but there’s no timetable. So if you want Road Runner Extreme, be sure to get it before your neighbors do.