Forum Discussion

evolvedresolve's avatar
evolvedresolve
New Contributor
7 years ago

Upgraded to Ultimate.. 300 Mbps?? More like 50-120 Mbps

I want to start off first stating that we were previously "grandfathered" in with the "Preferred Plan"; which was $55/mo for 50Mbps. Last month, I got hit with a new bill for $79.99. Cox says that the promotional period expired. I go online to their site and ONLY see one other option tier available.. "Ultimate" for $89.99 for 300+ Mbps. I figured, what the hell.. $10 more per month and my speed goes up x6, which despite paying almost double than we were once paying, seemed like the way to go.

I upgraded my modem (retail, not leased) to a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Modem/Router (C7000v2). So yeah.. DOCSIS 30.0, 24x8 Dual Band Wi-Fi, supports up to 1.9Gbps. I add it to the account and they tell me not to test my internet speed using any 3rd party sites; only Cox and Speedtest.com Of course when I test through them, it gives me a 300-330Mbps result. When I try Speakeasy or 5-6 other sites, my speed is anywhere from 14Mbps to 120Mbps. I call support and am basically given a sales pitch to lease their Panoramic Wi-Fi Modem instead. So despite paying $200 for a more than adequate modem; I'm not given the service I'm paying for.. and what feels like, actual punishment by having my internet speed "governed". Has anyone else experienced this?

Support also gave me the usual BS responses of I should try only using my internet when "hard wired" to the modem or the signal can't pass through walls.. My modem by the way is literally 10 feet away, in a different room. I can even see it from here. I have a MacBook Pro without an Ethernet Port, so I can't hardwire anyway. My ONLY consideration that this is not some marketing scam is that I need to update or downgrade my firmware on the Netgear modem/router.

I spent all weekend trying different things and I'm literally getting around the same speeds I had with my old plan, but paying DOUBLE now. I woke up so infuriated, I was prepared to cancel or downgrade my service with Cox. The only thing pausing me from doing so is they are sending a tech out this afternoon. If he starts with the usual BS of "well, check out how well MY modem works getting 300+ Mbps or "try using ONLY these two sites to speed test, I'm just going to shut it down and go with AT&T or something. Sorry for the rant, I'm just fuming over my situation. Has anyone else had this experience and what was your recourse or resolution? Also open to any suggestions, ideas, help, etc. Thank you

  • Becky's avatar
    Becky
    Moderator
    7 years ago
    Hi Evolvedresolve, please let us know your speeds don't improve after the service call this afternoon. -Becky, Cox Support Forums Moderator
  • imno007's avatar
    imno007
    New Contributor II
    7 years ago

    I'd also just suggest that instead of relying solely on speed tests, maybe try downloading a large file from somewhere. If it took you roughly 20 minutes before, or whatever, to download a file of an approximate size, and now it takes you one or two minutes, heh, you know you've got much better download speeds. But you can also look into getting a wireless repeater/extender if you still need or want to boost the signal strength. Personally, since I'd want the most speed I could get, I would move the modem to where I access the internet the most, assuming of course there's no good practical reason for not doing so. You can always pick up an ethernet adapter for not much money: www.amazon.com/.../B008ALA6DW