Performance: 3 ¼ Stars
Time Warner's performance was judged much more favorably by our readers, earning 3 1/4 (3.17) stars out of five. This is still a somewhat surprising score, mainly because it's lower than what cable Internet providers with slower advertised speeds are earning.
Perhaps performance is a given for cable Internet subscribers, since surveyed readers using TWC voted the category their least important factor when deciding on an ISP. This is similar to how Comcast users voted in our survey, implying that cable Internet customers simply expect high performance from their coaxial cable connections.
Many readers related pricing to performance as well, with the minority who rated Time Warner Cable below three stars noting "poor performance, high prices and highly fluctuating upload/download speeds."
In addition, many who were dissatisfied with performance believed that they should be getting more bandwidth for their dollar (again, confusing given Time Warner Cable's impressive speeds and best-in-survey price-to-performance ratio). Other respondents had legitimate performance gripes. "I have a laggy connection and lots of downtime," said one particularly dissatisfied reader, who gave every category less than a two-star rating.
Time Warner Cable still garnered a respectable 3 1/4 star rating in the performance category, with users who rated it three stars or higher complimenting the broadband service's impressive download speeds. "Time Warner's Internet service is consistently fast and very reliable," said one satisfied reader. Another summed up their high performance score with "reliable speeds, usually low ping, and no data cap."