What Restrictions Apply for Getting Time Warner Cable Internet?

Time Warner offers a variety of different cable Internet services. The company offers EarthLink, its standard service, and Road Runner, which it describes as running on a "fiber-rich" network: a combination of standard cable (coaxial cables) and fiber-optic cables. The company now also offers what it calls "wideband" cable Internet, its fastest service, which it says can reach download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second as of June 2011.

Because Time Warner's cable Internet services require cables, these services are only available in communities where Time Warner's cable networks extend. Generally speaking, Time Warner Internet service is more likely to be available in more densely-populated areas. As of June 2011, its wideband service is available only in New York City.

Time Warner recommends that the Road Runner service be restricted to those whose hardware meets the system requirements. It recommends that PC users have a Windows XP, Vista, or 7 operating system and a Pentium-class 450 MHz processor (or its equivalent) or faster. PC users also should have at least 128 MB of memory, 300 MB of free hard drive space, an available Ethernet or USB port and a CD/DVD drive. Macintosh users should have an OSX 10.5 or 10.6 operating system (Leopard or Snow Leopard), a G3 or newer processor (or Intel processor), at least 256 MB of memory, 300 MB of free hard drive space, an available Ethernet or USB port and a CD/DVD drive.

Time Warner recommends that EarthLink users also meet its minimum system requirements. PC users should have a Windows XP, Vista, or 2000 operating system, a Pentium-class 200 MHz or higher processor or its equivalent, at least 64 MBs of memory, 115 MB of free hard drive space and Internet networking capability. Mac users should have an OSX operating system, a Power PC G3 processor, at least 128 MBs of memory, at least 30 MB of free hard drive space and an available Ethernet port.