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What cable Internet speed?

J

jason.siegel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
448
48
I am moving to a new studio apartment this summer and am looking at RCN cable Internet options (rcn.com). Available options are:

•*$35/mo for 10Mbps down / 2Mbps up
•*$40/mo for 50Mbps down / 10Mbps up
•*$50/mo for 110Mbps down / 15Mbps up

I use the Internet for the basics, Facetime, occasional iTunes movie downloads, and Netflix/Hulu streaming via Apple TV. Is the 10/2 option sufficient for these purposes, or is 50/10 necessary? According to Netflix, 5Mbps is recommended for HD streaming, so I can't imagine needing more than double this. How much of a difference will the upgrade make, keeping in mind that some services (like iTunes downloads) might artificially limit my download speeds anyway?
 
Last edited:
50/10 since it will help with itunes but 10/2 is OK. i have 15/1 on time warner and it's good for 2 HD streams at one time

the speed is not guaranteed and performance will depend on a dozen different factors
 
Not really. Only difference is that iTunes downloads would be faster. Most else will be exactly the same.
 
Save the cash and get the 10/2.

Assuming living in the studio means just you, maybe a significant other at times. You don't need crazy fast speeds to feed a big network.
 
Those are pretty good prices, but I'm a bit of speed freak and I'd probably get the 50 since it's only $5 month difference.

I'm actually wondering if I should decrease my FiOS speed, I currently have 75/35 and that's costing me $89.99/mo. But, I can definitely download huge files quickly and not have it affect my streams from my ATV and AmazonFTV.
 
Those prices do look pretty good, though I'm used to Time Warner pricing. I have 30/5 with TWC, LOVE the fast downloads (I think it was 15 minutes max to download the Mavericks installation). For $5 a month more, why not get a 5x speed increase? Seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
Great prices, but I agree with what you are using the internet for. Get the 10/2!
 
Thank you. If the only difference is going to be faster iTunes and App Store downloads, I think I'll save the $5/mo.
 
jason.siegel said:
Thank you. If the only difference is going to be faster iTunes and App Store downloads, I think I'll save the $5/mo.
Click to expand...

Another thing to consider is that you may not always be at 10Mbps, it may be lower than that especially during peak hours. The speed is the max, but can definitely fall below the 10Mbps and with my experience with Cable Internet, speeds are hardly consistent. With the price of the 50Mbps, I think the extra $5 is not much to ensure that you'll always have a reliably fast connection.
 
thatoneguy82 said:
Another thing to consider is that you may not always be at 10Mbps, it may be lower than that especially during peak hours. The speed is the max, but can definitely fall below the 10Mbps and with my experience with Cable Internet, speeds are hardly consistent.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm on a 50 Mbps download package with my cable provider, yet I don't get those speeds. I get a consistent 35 down, which I'm perfectly happy about. My provider considers that within spec for the 50 Mbps plan.

Personally, I'd want something faster than 10/2 and would take 50/10 every time since its only $5 more. But go with the 10/2. If its too slow, you can upgrade your plan later.
 
According to my bill, I have 30 down/4 up with Charter.

However, I typically see down speeds of 34 - 36 if I am just using my laptop. If I am using my laptop and streaming Netflix on my PS3 I am usually in the 28 - 30 range. My up speed is almost always 3 - 4.

I have no idea why my speeds are faster than the speed Charter indicates on my bill.
 
That 50/10 is nice. I wish I could get that. I have 25/5 which isn't terrible, but I could use more upload sometimes.
 
For General use I recommend, 50Mbps.

I’m on ZIGGO at €38 per month.
These are the actual speeds.
18 Ping 51.05 Mbps Downloads 7.63 Mbps Uploads
 
jason.siegel said:
I am moving to a new studio apartment this summer and am looking at RCN cable Internet options (rcn.com). Available options are:

•*$35/mo for 10Mbps down / 2Mbps up
•*$40/mo for 50Mbps down / 10Mbps up
•*$50/mo for 110Mbps down / 15Mbps up

I use the Internet for the basics, Facetime, occasional iTunes movie downloads, and Netflix/Hulu streaming via Apple TV. Is the 10/2 option sufficient for these purposes, or is 50/10 necessary? According to Netflix, 5Mbps is recommended for HD streaming, so I can't imagine needing more than double this. How much of a difference will the upgrade make, keeping in mind that some services (like iTunes downloads) might artificially limit my download speeds anyway?
Click to expand...



Soooo... I'm curious now. Which plan did you end up choosing?
 
It turned out that those were introductory prices, and that they went up $10 each year for the second and third years. Because they're so expensive, I'm gonna stick with the 10/2. Thanks all.
 
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