# Question about cable internet



## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

Hi, we might be getting Charter cable internet within the next two weeks. We have charter cable tv and will bundle it. Now, my alienware m15x laptop doesn't have a place to plug in a coaxial cable. I have no idea how cable internet works. If we get charter, it will be the fastest available service for our area with 10mbps. Since I haven't used cable internet before, please explain it to me. My friend has it, and it involved a "splitter" or something. Here's how my room is.

My room has a cable cord coming through our basement up the wall through my room. It is a black cable that plugs into my small tv. In our living room, my parents told me there is a white cord that allows it to get over 200 channels. My Tv can only get 100. So the white cord seems the "main" cable cord. Now, how does the average cable modem work, and where would it need to be?

If the cable modem can only plug into the "main cord", it will need to be in the living room, and we would need a wireless modem or whatever. A linksys type thing. We haven't talked to charter yet, but I have a question about the modem. The modem they provide, will that modem be wireless? Does the coaxial coard plug into the cable modem? Then does an ethernet plug into it to go into the computer, or does it become wireless? We will ask charter, but I was just wondering about most cable modems, ie. comcast...


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## Vizy (May 27, 2008)

Our cable internet, TimeWarner Cable, is not bundled with DISH. For us, the coaxial cable plugs into a modem. The modem is NOT wireless, but it has an ethernet OUT that plugs into a comp/router. We have it plugged into a router, wifi, so we can use both computers.

hope it helped.


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

Thanks. So if I got a router like this

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=530





That router, does it have a place for ethernet? Would I just plug the cord into the cable and dlink router?


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## G25r8cer (May 27, 2008)

^^ Exactly  Charter will either put another line in or split off your existing one and hook up a modem to that. The modems they give you only allow one pc to be hooked up at a time. So you have to get a router so you can hook up more than one pc. This is how I have ours setup. The line that goes to the modem is the same cable that is used for your tv. It is all one line. That is were cable sucks. The more splits and the longer the cable the slower your internet is going to be. That is why some prefer DSL over cable. With DSL it is one dedicated line. Also with Charter, if there are multiple people in your area with charter then you are all feeding off the same line. That is also were cable screws up. It is hard to notice the difference even if someone is hogging bandwidth but, that is actually how it works. Have you decided to go with Charter b/c of the other Thread and b/c of my posts about Charter?


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## Francisck (May 27, 2008)

Yes that dlink router will work just follow the instructions bellow:


You would plug the coaxial cable into the modem that i would imagine the internet provider will give you, you will take the Ethernet cable that goes out of your modem and plug it into that wireless router.

Do you have a desktop?

if so you would use one of the wired ports on the wireless driver and take the Ethernet cable out from there and plug it into your desktops Ethernet port from there you just insert the cd that came with the router and it should guide you through the setting up of the wireless router.

Best Regards,
Francisco


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## G25r8cer (May 27, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> Thanks. So if I got a router like this
> 
> http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=530
> 
> ...



Yes you will need something like that. The modems that Charter give you have one ethernet port and one USb port. You can use either port on your pc but only one port can be used at a time. With the ethernet you will get the full10mbps connection and with usb most of the time you can only get 10mbps connection.

Edit: If you already have the router and pc's then Charter will set it up for you. If not then they leave you the disks to install.


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

We do not have a high speed router or wifi router. @g25racer, we are thinking of charter because it is the fastest connection in our area. The next fastest are 5mbps charter and 3mbps verizon.

Now my last question, will the splitter work on the cable cord that's in my room? Again, it is just a black cord that lets my room get 100 channels, not the 200 channels. I don't know if it needs the main cord or any cable cord. I won't need wifi if it works in my room. And my laptop has an ethernet port.

@my dad is used to slower things priced around $15, so I need to convince them that $60 is worth it..


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## Francisck (May 27, 2008)

Sir Travis D,

when they came to install the internet I would imagine they will give you a dedicated cable just for the internet...from there you just connect it to your modem and then to the router like i mentioned on the other post...



Best Regards,
Francisco


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

But wouldn't that cost a lot? 25*6+60*6/12 = 42.50 a month plus a router for about a hundred plus a few hundred installation? It would be easier with a dedicated cable, we'll ask them about it, but if it is low cost then I think we could get a dedicated one.


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## Francisck (May 27, 2008)

They are charging you to do the installation what do you mean by dedicated cable?


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

THIS IS BAD! sorry for caps.

Charter chat people said that they need to install a dedicated line. A $49.99 fee. Also, I am angry. They said that both the 25/60 dollar 6 month internet deal is not available for us. Also, they said that only 5meg was available. After the website said 10mb was. And worst of all, $55 a month for 5meg with it being that cost for the whole year. And we have to buy the modem if we want wifi.


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## Francisck (May 27, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> THIS IS BAD! sorry for caps.
> 
> Charter chat people said that they need to install a dedicated line. A $49.99 fee. Also, I am angry. They said that both the 25/60 dollar 6 month internet deal is not available for us. Also, they said that only 5meg was available. After the website said 10mb was. And worst of all, $55 a month for 5meg with it being that cost for the whole year. And we have to buy the modem if we want wifi.



Well I don't know about the company stuff...anyway just ask for a wired modem and purchase a wireless router (probably better)


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## G25r8cer (May 27, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> THIS IS BAD! sorry for caps.
> 
> Charter chat people said that they need to install a dedicated line. A $49.99 fee. Also, I am angry. They said that both the 25/60 dollar 6 month internet deal is not available for us. Also, they said that only 5meg was available. After the website said 10mb was. And worst of all, $55 a month for 5meg with it being that cost for the whole year. And we have to buy the modem if we want wifi.



Thats a rip off!! $55 a month for a 5meg?  A usual 5meg line should be about $30-35 tops


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

Ok, after talking to someone else here's what they said.

$50 to buy a wireless modem from them.
$50 for them to install everything

$30 a month for the first 6 months, then $45 a month for the next 6 months

Total cost about $100 at the beginning, $90 a month (including tv) for 6 months, $110 a month later

5 megs is still the fastest here.

Now, a question for you guys. How should a 5 meg wifi be? How will it play cod4?

BTW, how fast is fios? It is not here yet though.


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## Francisck (May 27, 2008)

It depends on the modem and how far away you are from the signal.


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## G25r8cer (May 27, 2008)

5meg should do just fine. I am currently on a 5meg line and im downloading stuff at about 600kb/s and upload at a max of 65kb/s which is fairly fast. If you upgrade to a 10meg line notice that only your download speeds will increase and your upload will stay the same. They upgrade you remotely from their server or w/e. That is still kind of a high price. My mom pays $100 a month for 5 room tv, 5meg line, and phone.


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## StrangleHold (May 27, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> Ok, after talking to someone else here's what they said.
> 
> $50 to buy a wireless modem from them.
> $50 for them to install everything
> ...


 
Your getting ripped. Charter installed my dedicated line for free and I,m getting 10meg down and 1meg up for 35 a month but I own my own Modem and router. Charter might have different rates for different areas.


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## Geoff (May 27, 2008)

You would be fine on a 512Kbps for gaming, as games don't actually transfer much data.  It's the latency that makes the biggest impact on online game performance.


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## codeman0013 (May 27, 2008)

Definately a rip off i have comcast here in my area (business class) for 45 a month 15mg down and 2 or 3 up on a good day and hell i have literally every channel of cable and a dvr and my internet for only 150 a month


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## Sir Travis D (May 27, 2008)

The reason I want charter is because it is the fastest service here.


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## G25r8cer (May 27, 2008)

^^^ It's still a major rip off  I would try to talk to them to knock the price down.


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