List of Time Warner Cable Internet Plans available in Manhattan, and PowerBoost

As I've noted TWC does a poor job of branding their internet service. Since they can't pick a consistent name I really can't use a consistent name. So when I come across a Time Warner Cable page that talks about their internet service, I will link to it, even though a different page on their site may describe services as completely different.

Here is a list of Time Warner Cable Internet Plans, they are:

• Broadband Basic  (Download: up to 1.5Mbps.  Upload: up to 256Kbps)
• Broadband Standard  (Download: up to 10Mbps.  Upload: up to 512Kbps)
• Broadband Turbo  (Download: up to 15Mbps.  Upload: up to 768Kbps)
• Wideband Internet  (Download: up to 50Mbps.  Upload: up to 5Mbps)

The plans are largely differentiated by what maximum speeds they can achieve for both upload and download. I have Broadband Standard according to TWC customer support (my bill says "Road Runner Online Svc"), so I should expect to have up to 10Mbp up and 512Kbp down. In the village I have observed performance consistent with what TWC advertises. However, TWC does not rank as highly as others in terms of consistently reaching their advertised speeds.

TWC also provides a service they have branded as PowerBoost although it is not listed on their page.  It is included free for "Standard, Turbo and Extreme Road Runner" customers (note that the prior link to the list of Time Warner Cable Internet Plans had no mention of the 'Road Runner' brand, wtf? Extreme Road Runner=Wideband Internet?). A relevant TWC press release: "PowerBoost Launches in NYC."

The presser describes PowerBoost as "a new technology that allows Standard, Turbo and Extreme Road Runner customers to temporarily experience download speeds significantly faster than their current speed at no extra cost. With PowerBoost, customers will see a substantial speed increase while downloading large files from the Internet."

Pricing is not stated for any of the plans listed on the Time Warner Cable Internet Plans page. And they do not link to a page that details pricing even though TWC does have pricing information available on their website. My monthly bill states that I have the "Road Runner Online Svc" for $39.95. So I know Broadband Standard is at least that much per month.

I did find pricing for the different Road Runner internet access packages on the TWC website and you can see those prices listed here. The price for Road Runner Broadband Standard (10 Mbps/512 kbps) is listed as $49.95 per month for residential service. However, I am paying just $39.95 so I am under the a la carte price. I get a break as part of the "Double Play" package offered by TWC. So I guess I'm getting a deal but I'm not so sure, the manner in which TWC bundles their services into packages at discounted rates does not really look to be in the consumers favor.