Thomas writes in to ask why Time Warner needs to send 12 different technicians to his home to get his Roadrunner speed up to the 10 mbits/sec that they promise in their advertising, as opposed to the 2.5 mbits/sec that he averages. He tallied up some of the more interesting facts from his recent experiences.

Hi,
 
I've been using TimeWarner's road runner service for a few months. The bill is for a speed of 10 mbits/sec, but their tech people confessed that their server is unable to deliver more that 8 mbits/sec in the area; marketing is stretching their capabilities by 20% !
 
They sent 12 people to my house, all but one totally incompetent.
 
Here's the story in numbers:

Advertised speed Real speed in dry weather Real speed during rain Average speed Computers tried Modems tried Cables laid out Technicians dispatched Time on the phone

10mbps 1 to 7 mbps <1 mbps 2.5 mbps 4 4 1 original + 3 new sets 12 >15 hours

Here are some of the gems coming from their tech people:
 

• Can you sign up my work sheet? My friend is waiting for me to go to lunch
• to have high speed, you need a fixed IP
• 3mbps is fast enough!
• why don't you sign up for a slower service? That way you will pay for what you have right now
• I removed the old cable, but I don't have the right drill to put the new one so I cannot finish today
• this is a free world, there are other internet providers. If we haven't managed to fix it so far, it will continue
• I see the problem, it is the splitter! (a new splitter later) I have no idea why it doesn't work
• Do you know a website to check the speed?
• it's the router causing the problem! (I show the router is not plugged in) I have to call my supervisor to see if he knows
• It doesn't rain anymore, so your internet will be fine!
• Why do you have a router if you don't use wireless?
• the wireless signal is slower, that's why it's slow (no it's not slower and I don't even use it)

"Time Warner is sorry" [Sibylle and Thomas]
(Photo: Getty)