Time Warner offers high-speed Internet services for home and business markets. Road Runner is the name of broadband services designated for home use and is limited in features and flexibility. Business Class is the suite of Internet services offered to enterprise and is highly customizable based on the needs of your organization.
Service Flexibility
Time Warner Cable offers customers a variety of options for high-speed Internet. Road Runner is the non-specific high-speed Internet service option for home use. When you purchase this service, you know that you're getting Internet access at speeds noticeably higher than dial-up but that experience will vary from home to home. Time Warner's Business Class broadband services are delivered as specific service offerings either by speed or by technology, such as the fiber-optic broadband option. Business Class customers have a greater degree of control and specification for broadband services than do Road Runner customers.
Upload Speeds
Road Runner upload speeds have a maximum threshold of 1Mbps with no option to receive higher speeds. Business Class customers purchase the amount of upload bandwidth necessary for day to day operations. Higher upload speeds are more expensive and Time Warner is capable of delivering bandwidth of up to 10Gbps. Road Runner customers have no guarantee on upload speeds but Business Class users have the option of Dedicated Internet Access, which delivers consistent and reliable bandwidth for a premium.
Download Speeds
Road Runner broadband delivers download speeds of up to 10Mbps, though the actual speeds you experience will vary based on the number of users in your area who share the major pipeline from Time Warner. Customers who purchase Business Class high-speed Internet have higher thresholds for download speed and the premium option of DIA. DIA subscribers are guaranteed the full 10Mbps minimum of download speed as may be required for bandwidth intensive business such as Web hosting and Web conferencing.
Pricing
As of June 2011, Road Runner broadband costs $35 per month for the published bandwidth of 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload. These represent maximum speeds possible and differ from actual speeds experienced. Alternatively, Business Class customer pricing starts at $80 per month for a guaranteed 7Mbps download and 768Kbps upload. Business Class users that require higher bandwidths must subscribe and pay higher monthly fees.
References
- Time Warner Cable: Order Time Warner Cable Road Runner Broadband
- Time Warner: Internet Access
- Time Warner: DIA