12. Does Road Runner require a phone line?

13. Does Road Runner connect to my television?

14. Can I watch television while I'm using Road Runner?

15. How does Road Runner connect to my computer?

16. Can other Road Runner users see the data I send and receive?

17. What is the installation procedure for Road Runner?

18. Who owns the Ethernet Card and will I need a PCI or an ISA card?

19. Can I buy my own cable modem?

20. Is there a local store I can visit to see an actual demonstration of the Road Runner High Speed Online service?

21. What are the difference between the installation choices?

22. What is a Data Outlet?

Road Runner FAQ - General Questions

1. When will Road Runner be available?

Public Launch is being staged throughout the next two years in all parts of Time Warner's Western Ohio Division, which began in Lima during 1st Quarter 2000. For more information on availability in your area, look through our rollout maps.

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2. What will Road Runner cost and what does this include?

Monthly Service Charges:

Residential Pricing
Rates Effective October 1, 2001

Basic or Above Cable Subscriber	$44.95
Non-Cable Subscriber	$49.95
Additional IP Address (limit 2 add'l)	$9.95

*All Road Runner customers receive 5 email addresses free with service.

Installation Charges:

Residential Pricing

Standard Installation - USB Connection	$69.95
Network Interface Card - Desktop Computer      (Avail. only with Standard Install)	$30.00 add'l
Network Interface Card - Laptop Computer      (Avail. only with Standard Install)	$80.00 add'l

 

Time Warner Cable provides a 30-day money back guarantee on the Road Runner service. There is no long-term commitment and no deposit for the cable modem for our Road Runner customers.

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3. How does Road Runner work?

Road Runner customers will be provided with a high-speed cable modem that links their PC to the cable fiber-optic/coaxial network and server complex rather than via a modem hooked up to a local phone line. Users can access local news, weather, sports and entertainment information and other local content from various computer servers throughout their local area. These servers also provide a gateway for Road Runner customers to connect to the Internet, at very high speeds.

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4. How fast is Road Runner?

Road Runner can deliver up to 2 megabits per second (mbps) to a computer through the 10base T Ethernet interface. A number of factors determine the speed of the data as it goes from the cable company's servers to the customer's computer. The cable modem delivers up to 6 mbps over the network, but the device with the slowest throughput along this path determines the effective speed. Typically, this is the PC bus and/or video display at the user's computer station.

The upstream bandwidth (from the PC to the system) is up to 384 kilobits per second (kbps). Because users require far more bandwidth downstream (reading Web pages, downloading files, etc.) than upstream (largely "mouse clicks" and file requests), the two directions can differ in bandwidth. Data bandwidth is shared from the neighborhood node to users in individual homes, so performance may vary depending on how many customers are actively using the system at any given time. The system has been designed to offer worst-case bandwidth far exceeding that of ISDN service, and that assumes continuous, maximum usage by every Road Runner user in a neighborhood simultaneously.

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5. Is this the Internet? Is Road Runner an online service like AOL?

Road Runner provides high-speed access to the Internet as well as online content services specific to Road Runner subscribers, including national news, information and entertainment from Time Warner content partners and local content oriented towards specific geographic areas. Customers will be able to "surf the net" and access everything that's publicly available on the Internet, including the World Wide Web. Charges for usage of for-pay information sites are between each individual and the information provider.

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6. Will the customer be able to send and receive e-mail?

Yes. Each user will have a unique e-mail address that can be used to send/receive e-mail to/from anyone on the Internet.

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7. Can I have more than one computer connected to the Road Runner modem?

Yes, however if you wish to use multiple computers simultaneously with the Road Runner Service, you will be assessed a $9.95 monthly fee for each additional computer.

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8. How will multiple users impact the speed of Road Runner?

Road Runner can operate up to a total of 27 Mb/s on a given network, with no noticeable impact with multiple users. The network is engineered to always provide faster-than-ISDN speed.

Should the Road Runner business grow to the extent that there are more customers requesting service than the allocated bandwidth can accommodate, Time Warner Cable will open another channel for the service.

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9. What other advantages does Road Runner have over other services?

Your connection to the Road Runner service is always active - you never have to wait while your modem dials the number for your Internet Service Provider or endure the screech as the two modems jockey to establish the rate at which they will communicate. With Road Runner, you just press a button and in a split second, you have access to the Internet and all of its content.

No matter how many Road Runner subscribers are using the service, you never have to wait for a busy signal because you won't be using a phone line. Better still, you never have to worry about the ISP dropping your connection because of line noise.

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10. I currently use an Internet Provider. What happens now? Does Road Runner connect me to my provider?

If you use your online service provider for just accessing the Internet, then it may be financially beneficial to just use Road Runner's Internet access option. If you use an online service provider for its unique features and/or Internet filtering feature, then it would be best to access your online provider through Road Runner.

Online service providers including America Online and Compuserve provide filtered access along with such features as forums, games, ads, e-mail, etc. Road Runner enables users to access their online service providers and the Internet at incredible speeds, and there are no additional time charges for these connections.

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11. What am I agreeing to by using the Road Runner service?

• Acceptable Use Policy
• Terms and Conditions of Use
• Subscriber Privacy Notice

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12. Does Road Runner require a phone line?

Road Runner customers will be provided with a high-speed cable modem that links their computers to the fiber-optic/coaxial cable network and server complex rather than via a modem hooked up to a local phone line. These servers provide a gateway for Road Runner customers to connect to the Internet at very high speeds. Phone lines are not used at all.

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13. Does Road Runner connect to my television?

Road Runner connects to your personal computer. While there are products like WebTV that allow you to view the World Wide Web on your television (via a telephone-based modem), most people access the Internet using their personal computer.

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14. Can I watch television while I'm using Road Runner?

Absolutely. Road Runner sends data to and receives data from your computer using a group of cable frequencies that aren't used for television signals at this time. It is possible to use Road Runner and watch television at the same time just as it is possible to watch different channels on different television sets at the same time.

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15. How does Road Runner connect to my computer?

Serial ports and parallel ports are both too slow for Road Runner, so we use a 10BaseT Ethernet connection between the cable modem and your computer. If you don't have a Road Runner 10BaseT Ethernet port on your computer, we'll install one for you as part of the standard Road Runner installation.

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16. Can other Road Runner users see the data I send and receive?

No. While it is true that Road Runner sends all the downstream Internet traffic for your neighborhood to all the cable modems in your neighborhood, every byte is encrypted using the widely-used DES encryption algorithm designed by the U.S. government. Also, data sent from your computer to the Internet is never sent to other cable modems in your neighborhood, in addition to being encrypted.

However, as with any Internet account, data sent from your computer could be intercepted once it leaves Road Runner. You should be careful about sending sensitive information in email and should always be sure that you are using a 'secure' form for submitting credit card information. Your web browser's documentation will have more information about secure forms.

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17. What is the installation procedure for Road Runner?

When you choose to have Road Runner installed in your home, a cable installer is dispatched to place a second cable jack in the room where your personal computer is located. This cable line connects to a cable modem, which we provide.

In order to connect the cable modem to your personal computer, your computer must have an available USB port or a 10BaseT Ethernet connector. Time Warner Cable can provide a 10BaseT Ethernet card as part of the "Standard Installation" for an additional charge, when necessary. The actual cost of the installation is determined by the type of card needed (see question 18).

A trained computer consultant can also be dispatched to your home to install or connect the necessary hardware, as well as the software needed to access the Internet, as part of our Standard Installation. To safeguard against possible data loss during this installation, we recommend that you back up your hard disk prior to the arrival of our technician. (see question 21 for more details)

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18. Who owns the Ethernet card and will I need a PCI or an ISA card?

If we installed an Ethernet card in your computer as part of the "Standard" installation of Road Runner in your home, then you keep the card even when you cancel the service.

All Pentium computers have PCI slots. A small number of newer 486 computers have PCI slots as well. The PCI card is recommended over the ISA card due to its faster bus speed. If all of your PCI slots are full or your computer does not have PCI slots, then you will need an ISA card.

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19. Can I buy my own cable modem?

At this time, Road Runner owns the cable modem and includes the rental fee for the modem in the monthly fee charged to all Road Runner subscribers.

Because cable modems are expensive and use proprietary methods for sending and receiving data, we are not offering a discount in the monthly rate for subscribers who purchase their own cable modem. In the future, when cable modems that are "Data Over Cable Systems/Interoperability Specifications certified" become available for retail sale, that policy may change.

 

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20. Is there a local store I can visit to see an actual demonstration of the Road Runner High Speed Online service?

Yes, right now there are three locations you may visit to actually experience the speed and excitement of Road Runner High Speed Online.

 

 

Road Runner High Speed Online    
Demonstration Kiosks

 

 

Lima	Time Warner Cable 3100 Elida Road Lima, OH 45805 Tel: 888.567.2318
Kettering	Time Warner Cable 4333 Display Lane, Kettering, OH 45429 Tel: 888.567.2318
Troy	Time Warner Cable 1450 Experiment Farm Rd., Troy, OH 45373 Tel: 888.567.2318

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21. What are the difference between the installation choices?

Customers have three installation methods available from which to choose, FULL INSTALL, STANDARD INSTALL and RETAIL INSTALL. When you choose to have Road Runner installed in your home, a cable installer is dispatched to place a special cable outlet in the room where your personal computer is located, this is known as a DATA OUTLET. The DATA OUTLET is connected to an external cable modem and the cable modem is intern connected to your personal computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port or a 10BaseT Ethernet card with a RJ-45 connector. Most newer model computers are equipped with USB ports. However, Time Warner Cable can provide a 10BaseT Ethernet card, for an additional charge, as part of a STANDARD INSTALL ONLY. The final cost of the installation may be determined by the type of card needed (ISA, PCI or PCMCIA), if any.

It’s as EASY as 1-2-3 with a USB!

During a STANDARD INSTALL process, the cable installer will install the special Road Runner cable outlet, deliver and connect the cable modem to the newly installed DATA OUTLET. The cable technician will confirm internet connecitivity and provide everything needed to get up, and running with Road Runner. REMEMBER: NIC / ETHERNET CARDS ARE NOT INCLUDED OR PROVIDED WITH STANDARD INSTALL. However, if you have any difficulties getting online, our Technical Support Team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to work you through almost any configuration problems you might encounter during the installation process.

During our FULL INSTALL, a trained computer consultant will be dispatched to your home in addition to the cable technician, to install the cable modem to the computer, via USB or Ethernet card, if necessary. The computer consultant will also install software needed to access the Internet. And they will guide you around the Road Runner Home Page and show you how to make the most of the exciting features of Road Runner High Speed Online service. Conversely, a single installer may also be dispatched to install the DATA OUTLET and complete the software installation. The single installer or Road Runner Field Technicians have been thoroughly trained for each of the installation processes.

To safeguard against possible data loss during any installation, we recommend that you back up your hard disk prior to the arrival of our technician and install anti-virus software on your computer system.

The third installation method is a RETAIL INSTALL. A local Road Runner Retailer schedules this type of install. Typically, the customer takes their computer into the retailer store. The retailer installs any necessary hardware at their cost, installs Road Runner software and schedules the DATA OUTLET for the customer. The customer pays the retailer for the install and the newly installed equipment and returns home with the computer. The cable technician arrives at the customer's home, at the scheduled time, to install the DATA OUTLET and deliver the cable modem.

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22.  What is a Data Outlet?

A data outlet is a special cable outlet installed exclusively for Road Runner use.  For Road Runner to operate at properly, it requires a cable signal having specific requirements. These parameters must be within a certain frequency and must be maintained consistently. When a data outlet is installed in a customer's home, additional equipment is connected to reduce signal to noise ratios and remove any frequencies that may inhibit Road Runner from operating at peak performance.  

 

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