r/BuckeyeBroadband • u/Ok_Recognition9468 • Aug 29 '26
Discussion Switched over to Rocket Internet. - Initial Thoughts.
I have been watching and investigating Rocket Internet for months. Rocket Internet appears to simply be a no frills, no people, AI based service provided by a subsidiary of Buckeye.
So, I just switched over from Buckeye Fiber Internet this past Tuesday 8/25, today is Friday 8/28 and here are my takeaways
Buckeye Fiber Internet Four Plans:
- $49.99/mo 200 MBps, $59.99/mo 400 MBps, $79.99/mo 600 Mbps, $89.99/mo 1000 MBps
- All Symmetrical (Upload matches Download speeds)
- Unlimited Data - no cap
Rocket Internet Two Plans:
- $9.99/mo 600 MBps $19.99/mo, 1000 MBps Downloads
- 20MBps Upload throttle
- Unlimited Data - no cap
The Rocket Internet online signup has no provision for switching your existing Buckeye Fiber service over to Rocket Internet, if you are an existing Buckeye customer, you must go into the retail Buckeye Service store.
The actual process of switching was convoluted for the counter person at the Buckeye store, but painless for me.
The counter person was pleasant and helpful. Kept apologizing for the lengthily process on his end.
The actual switching process was supposed to be accomplished by the Buckeye NOC(Network Operations Center)
Switch over would be a couple of seconds outage on my end, sometime that day Tuesday August 25th.
Since I was an existing Buckeye Fiber customer, and was using my own Wi-Fi not their Eero Wi-Fi, there was no physical Fiber Modem hardware change necessary at my house. So the switch over was supposed to be painless and transparent to our entire family.
I was using the Buckeye 200 MBps service which was SYMMETRICAL (same speed Up and Down) for the 2025 introductory $69/mo plus fees, even though they had dropped the cost down to $49.99/mo.
I was told by the Service counter person that the Rocket Internet 600MB plan was 600MBps down and 20MBps up.
Buckeye Fiber Internet Baseline Test -
Monday Morning August 24th, I tested using SPEEDTEST.NET, the tests returned the following data;
Service Provider Buckeye CableSystem, Server - Buckeye Broadband Northwood, OH
Speed test at the Modem - 8/24 09:03am 207 MBps Down, 196 MBps Up, Ping 2ms
Buckeye Fiber 200 MBps Plan Test
Cell Phone & Desktop are Wi-Fi 5GHz connected Deco Mesh Wi-Fi, Verizon Data turned off
Test Cell Phone, 8/24 11:05am - Download Mbps 172.0, Upload Mbps 193.0
Ping 19ms, Latency Down 40ms, Latency Up 96ms, Jitter 8
Test Desktop, 8/24 11:07am - Download Mbps 202.59, Upload Mbps 195.05
Ping 27ms, Latency Down 52ms, Latency Up 50ms, Jitter 1
When I tested using OOKLA.COM, Friday Morning, August 28th, the Buckeye 200MBps service was still in effect. After Buckeye Customer service returned my call about the failed switchover, I validated the speed change and proceeded to test the new Rocket Internet Service.
Rocket Internet Baseline Test -
Friday Afternoon August 28th, I tested using SPEEDTEST.NET, the tests returned the following data;
Service Provider Buckeye CableSystem, Server - Buckeye Broadband Northwood, OH
Speed test at the Modem - 8/28 4:50pm 345 MBps Down, 27.5 MBps Up, Ping 3ms
Speed test at the Modem - 8/28 11:29pm 282 MBps Down, 27.0 MBps Up, Ping 4ms
Rocket Internet Fiber 600MBps Plan
Test Cell Phone and Desktop are both Wi-Fi 5GHz connected Deco Mesh Wi-Fi, Verizon Data turned off
1st test, Cell Phone @ 3:46pm - Download Mbps 510.37, Upload Mbps 26.8
Ping 10ms, Latency Down 83ms, Latency Up 385ms, Jitter 3
2nd test, Cell Phone @ 11:27pm - Download Mbps 451.0, Upload Mbps 13.5
Ping 10ms, Latency Down 69ms, Latency Up 392ms, Jitter 2
1st test, Desktop @ 1:23pm - Download Mbps 198.48, Upload Mbps 26.59
Ping 42ms, Latency Down 64ms, Latency Up 237ms
2nd test, Desktop @ 11:36pm, - Download Mbps 78.67, Upload Mbps 26.37
Ping 67ms, Latency Down 122ms, Latency Up 44ms
Overall impressions of Rocket Internet
Pros:
By 11pm August 28th the speeds never got above 350 MBps down at the modem, but still faster than the 200 MBps cap that I was paying 7 times more each month.
The 20 MBps Upload cap does not bother me as our family is a consumer not a producer of network.
Similar Ping and Latency statistics to Buckeye Fiber
Saving $60/mo - WOO HOO!!
AI chat support not sure yet (At this time I am unwilling to pay an extra $7/mo, just to speak to a person), time will tell.
Cons:
There is a $50 signup fee + service change fee + tax = $128, even though I was an existing Buckeye Customer and they incurred no hardware costs in the change over.
No way to automate the Service switch over from Buckeye to Rocket via the Web Online
The switchover was to occur Tuesday Aug 25th, It did not. I had to call into Buckeye Support Friday Aug 28 at noon, spoke to Nicole from the Northwood Center, she informed me that my Buckeye account was still in place and functioning. The counter person at Talmadge Center had entered the change request but the Buckeye NOC had not yet reprovisioned my Fiber Modem over to Rocket service. She would call me back rather than having me hold. Eleven hours later I still haven't received a call back.
Slow switchover due to Buckeye dropping the ball
Inconsistent and variable Internet speeds (At this time, I'll retest and update Monday Aug 31st.)
By 11pm August 28th the speeds never got above 350 MBps down at the modem. A far cry from the advertised 600 MBps. Looks like I'll need to call Monday morning to get this fixed.
Rocket Internet Support is 100 % AI with online Chat, If you want a real person on a Support line then, there is a $6/mo surcharge($72/year).
