Well, I finally got the cable modem installed in February 1999.  I have been reading about it for months and I hope it lives up to the hype.

My local cable service is Media One.   The internet service is called Media One Express which claims it "revolutionizes the way you experience the Web, delivering the Internet at rates up to 50 times faster than the standard dial-up modem".

When I signed up they were having a deal where the $99 installation fee would be waived.  How could I beat this deal, so I called and signed up right away.  I asked the sales representative a bunch of questions, since I wanted everything to go smoothly.  They asked if there was a cable outlet in the room and they also walked me through a series of steps to ensure that my system met the minimum specifications that are needed to run this service.  This is important, because with the cable modem your internet speed can be limited by your system.

I also asked if they would put the wire in the wall and the sales representative assured me they would drill holes in whatever wall they had to in order to get the cable wire to the computer.  I thought great and all for free.  I promptly scheduled an installation visit for the next day.  It was nice to know they would show up fast.

Well, the installation started off on the wrong foot.  After letting the service representative in, I quickly showed him how I wanted the cable wire placed.  I said to splice the cable wire above our drop ceiling in our computer room, run the wire above the drop ceiling and then bring the wire down inside the wall where the computer is.  I then showed him where I wanted the wire to come out of the wall.
He quickly responded with "I don't do that" and he explained that for the service I wanted, it would mean I would have to hire someone to come and do it for $90.  What?  I thought this was free installation.  What do they do?

He then said he would run the wire from the TV around the bottom of the room over to the PC.  Great, my wife said I we could install this thing only if we did not have wires running around the room.  I then insisted that he splice the wire above the drop ceiling and run the wire across the top of the ceiling tiles and drop it down right at the computer (outside the wall).  He reluctantly agreed.

Now that we got this settled, he first got to work on the computer.  Because if the network card would not take in the system, it would not matter where the wire ran.
The first network card (NIC) would not work in my PC.  We do not know why, but it had something to do with the drivers for the card.  Windows 95 was looking for them, but we could not find them.  They are supposed to be on disk 18 of the Windows 95 installation.  We searched my copy and his two copies of Windows 95 and we had no luck.
 

He then tried another network card, which took right away.  You can see it in the photo to the right.  The top card is my 28.8 sound/modem card and the lower card is my Stealth S220 Video card.  The network card fit nicely between them.  See the green area, that is the reflection of a green light that is on the network card.  I think it lights up when the card is working properly.

They charge $50 for the network card; you can get it cheaper and install it yourself.  I bought the model they use and, unless you know what you are doing, you are probably better off letting them install it.  If you are buying a new PC you should see if you can get one with the network card already installed.

Once the network card was in the computer he began to do the wiring.  Once the inside wire was set up he had to climb the utility pole outside.  He explained that there are high frequency filters on the cable wire that need to be removed for cable service to work.
 

Once his work was done outside he came back in with the cable modem and proceeded to hitch it up to the PC.  You can see the modem to the right.  Once I saw it I realized why it was not installed inside the computer.  It is quite large and heavier than it looks. The cable wire comes from outside (white wire on top) and plugs into the back of the modem.  The modem also has its own plug (black wire on bottom).  The third wire is the data cable that runs from the modem to the network card which was just installed in my system.

Once the modem was all set, he configured my system.  I did not have to do a thing to the software, it took him two minutes to configure.  Once he was done all three internet browsers were now connected via the cable modem.  The first test of the connection was as slow as molasses.  I then remembered that I ran PPP - Boost from my PB tools page and remembered that this could be the cause of the bad connection.  I than re-ran this utility setting everything back to default and we had the download speed that we should have.

I have to say I love it, it can download a 15 MB file in 1.5 min.  Every now and then I hit a site that takes a minute to connect, but this slowness is due to internet congestion and not the modem or my system.  Once connected to a site the page loads almost instantly.  The speed is most apparent when you download large pages of text or graphics.  The text and graphics almost load instantly.

Well I could not live with the cable wire dangling out of my ceiling.  My wife and I solved this problem simply.  We took a trip to our local Home Depot store where we bought a wall snake ($10), coaxial outlet ($3), wall box ($1) and a 3 foot cable extension ($3).  We then spent 15 min snaking the wire through the wall and this was the first time either of us had ever done this.  The results are so much better, just look at my before and after pictures.

Before Cable wire left dangling out of my ceiling	After Cable wire neatly coming out of the wall to the right, the phone line can be seen coming out of the wall to the left.

Well it was so easy, I was surprised that Media One said they would not do this.  So I called to complain and I was told they will not do any snaking or fishing in walls to install the wires to the computer.  I wish the sales person had told me this when I made my initial call.  At least this is my only complaint about the installation, the rest of the process went smoothly.

Someone else I know prepared the wall ahead of time so that the wire could be installed properly while the service representative was still at his house.  I don't know how other cable companies deal with the installation, but keep this in mind if you decide to install the cable modem.

Well, Media One brags about its technical support being available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even on holidays.  Well I called at 8:30 on a Sunday night to get my password.  I waited on the phone for 1.5 hours and I was still on hold.  I never did get through that night.  I don't know how the service is at other times, but I do have to say I got better technical support at some of my past ISP's.  Unfortunately with the cable modem we are stuck using the only game in town.

Since I could not get through on the phone, I then sent in my request via forms on the Media One web site.  I received the information I requested within one working day as promised.

From my experience so far I think the cable modem is well worth the money I pay.  My phone line is now open at all times, so people can call me.  The computer is connected to the internet the second it is turned on and it stays connected 100 % of the time.  There is no more dialing up, I now have instant access.  The connection speed increase is incredible, much faster than a 56K modem can deliver.  The price is reasonable at $40/month; it is the same price as my alternative of installing a second phone line and paying $20 a month for the second phone and $20 a month for internet.

If you have the opportunity to get a cable modem, go for it.  And if you are getting Media One make sure you say that I referred you to them.