Streamyx

Back in the Stone Age, you didnt have much choice when it came to Internet access. Yeah, you could choose your provider. But every single one of them basically offered the same thing ?molasses-in-January slow connection speeds. If you had a 56k modem, you thought you were FLYING!

Well, things have changed a little bit, havent they? Today, who you choose for your Internet service directly impacts the quality and speed youre going to get. Dont get me wrong ?whichever broadband high-speed service you choose is going to be light years ahead of any dial-up connection you might have.

But over at my DigitalTVDojo blog, one of the things I like to do from time to time is to do speed runs?on the various services available (Its a geek thing.) because there ARE differences ?even if theyre tiny. (Theres a link to my blog down at the end of this story. Check it out because I also fill you in on a little secret that will save you hundreds of dollars when you order either service, so its definitely worth your time ?unless you make like a thousand dollars an hour or something.)

The other day I did one of these speed tests on Comcast Cable Internet and Road Runner High Speed Online from Time Warner just to test the claims the two companies were making about how fast their products really are. Heres what I found?/p>

It was easy to verify what Comcast was saying, because I have the service myself. I headed over to Bandwidthplace.com to see if they were full of it, and Im happy to say that theyre not. In fact, according to Bandwidthplace, my connection is smoking at 7.6 Mbps, which is even faster than Comcast officially says it is (cool!). What does this mean in the real world? I can download a typical song thats around four minutes in under one second. Pretty sweet.

Time Warner takes a different approach. While Comcast throws stats out at you, Time Warner actually shows you how fast their service is. (I have pictures of this up at my blog ?dont forget the link is below. And dont forget you can find out how to save a couple hundred bucks there, too.)

Heres how Road Runner High Speed Online shakes out. Its a bit slower than Comcast at a stated 5 Mbps. But in the real world, what difference does that make? Youre still going to be downloading huge files in seconds. And against a typical dial-up connection, the comparison is downright stupid! A typical webpage with graphics will take around 21 seconds on a dial-up connection, while it takes less than a second with Time Warner. And with videos, for example, its even crazier ?a typical video clip will take seven minutes to download with a 56k modem, and only seven SECONDS with Time Warner. That really put it in perspective for me.

So there you have it ?DigitalTVDojos review and speed-test comparison of Road Runner High Speed Online and Comcast Cable Internet. I hope it helps you make a decision.

If you want the best deals on either Road Runner High Speed Online or Comcast Cable Internet, you have to check out my Time Warner Road Runner speed test story, my Comcast Cable Internet review, and this Time Warner Road Runner vs Comcast Cable Internet entry at my site. Youll be glad you did!

// posted by jayjay15607 @ 3:51 AM