Comcast...what to go with?

[RL'S pker]

Comcast has proven to be very frustrating. One month Im paying $115, then the next month it's $130. When asked why it's going up in price, their response is "Oh, we upgraded your blah blah blah.....", even though you didn't request for an upgrade. Ontop of them charging extra any time they want, my connection is slow as **** on my new computer.

I did that speed test in another thread, it says I ping 179ms...


So, I'm at a loss really. Sadly Fios isn't available in my location.

Would you suggest going with DSL, or satellite? Those are really the only other two I can think of. Or should I stick it out with the shady people at Comcast?

Help, and thanks a head of time!

 

[Taylor]

I use Verizon DSL at the moment and seem to have good speed. DSL is ok for now, but speaking in terms of the future, 2 twisted pair wires (DSL) will never live up to the capabilities of coaxial cable (cable internet) or fiber (e.g., FiOS).

So yeah, DSL works well. I'd guess that DSL is cheaper/faster than Satellite, too, depending on the service. Comcast is evil...but a few years down the road, cable internet will probably leave DSL in the dust. :-(

 

[Lord Frodo]

Comcast has proven to be very frustrating. One month Im paying $115, then the next month it's $130. When asked why it's going up in price, their response is "Oh, we upgraded your blah blah blah.....", even though you didn't request for an upgrade. Ontop of them charging extra any time they want, my connection is slow as **** on my new computer.

I did that speed test in another thread, it says I ping 179ms...


So, I'm at a loss really. Sadly Fios isn't available in my location.

Would you suggest going with DSL, or satellite? Those are really the only other two I can think of. Or should I stick it out with the shady people at Comcast?

Help, and thanks a head of time!

When you talk to Comcast about your billing and it is because of up-grades, tell them you didn't order it and you are not paying for it. They can not up-grade you without you oking it and charge you for it.

now for your speed problem. Speedtest depending on when you use it is not that good. I use http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/, it tends to be more consistent. Call comcast and tell them about your speed problem and also tell them you keep losing internet connection. They will send out a tech. to look at it. They should disconnect your cable going into your modem/roter and tell you how much signal loss you have. They had to run a seperate line into my computer to fix mine. DO NOT TAKE ANY OF THIER BS.

ran Speedtest and Speakeasy at the same time
---3.24 m download..11.4 m download
---4.36 m upload.......5.14 m upload
---10ms ping

 

[IanJames]

I would price out DSL in your situation. You're likely to get a better connection for less money. . .

If you want out of comcast altogether and have FIOS in your neighborhood, then I'd go with that.

 

[Taylor]

Actually, it really can help to be aggressive with ISPs.

I'm pretty laid back - typically diplomatic. I can't remember the last time I yelled at anyone. That said, I recently took a different approach with Verizon and had favorable results.

Two or three days after Verizon delivered my wireless router, it stopped working. I called them up and after they walked me through some diagnostics, they determined that the router was bad. Verizon reps then proceeded to tell me that I could "purchase" a new router, which would be delivered in 7 to 10 business days. I argued. I talked to a manager. The manager told me that he'd give me the router free and that it'd be delivered in 7 to 10 business days. I argued. I talked about my wife's use of the internet to find substitute teaching jobs, loss of wages, etc. I talked to the manager's manager. Long story short, a FREE new router was overnighted to me.

If you'd like to stay with Comcast, but want the charges reduced, arguing just might work.

 

[Basara]

Ian, having discussed Florida ISPs with persons on other boards, they looking for alternatives, I've heard some interesting things about internet service down there.

For one thing, what areas seem to be able to get cable internet or DSL are pretty haphazard. In fact, rural areas of Kentucky (where I live) have a much easier time getting either, or even getting to choose between the two, than Florida areas with 5-10 times the population density.

Another thing is that a number of the companies (phone & cable) down there are suspected by their customers to be "cheating" on the repair quality of their line infrastructure, because of putting in the "Good" stuff would mean higher cost, PLUS MUCH higher replacement cost if a hurricane blows through. BUT, More likely is that the companies put more emphasis on restoring service than making sure the service is running at optimum, and repairs from large weather events tend to be rushed, and with borrowed technicians from other areas. Add in Florida's usually-high temps and humidity, and repairs made by northerners might not stand up to the rigors of the local climate the way ones made by locals would.

And, lastly, state/local regs make it hard there, and many other locations across the country (but it seems worse down there) to dislodge the mismanaged companies from their customer areas.

 

[RL'S pker]

Thanks for the advice, and info everyone.

Hehe, I got a little aggressive with Comcast on the phone. A tech will be out tomorrow to see what's going on outside the house with the line.

We'll see if they fix it, or if I'm switching providers...

 

[Lord Frodo]

Make sure after they check your line outside that they do the same thing at your router/modem. Line to house might be ok, but you may have the loss inside.

 

[Skylark SP]

Ian, having discussed Florida ISPs with persons on other boards, they looking for alternatives, I've heard some interesting things about internet service down there.

For one thing, what areas seem to be able to get cable internet or DSL are pretty haphazard. In fact, rural areas of Kentucky (where I live) have a much easier time getting either, or even getting to choose between the two, than Florida areas with 5-10 times the population density.

Another thing is that a number of the companies (phone & cable) down there are suspected by their customers to be "cheating" on the repair quality of their line infrastructure, because of putting in the "Good" stuff would mean higher cost, PLUS MUCH higher replacement cost if a hurricane blows through. BUT, More likely is that the companies put more emphasis on restoring service than making sure the service is running at optimum, and repairs from large weather events tend to be rushed, and with borrowed technicians from other areas. Add in Florida's usually-high temps and humidity, and repairs made by northerners might not stand up to the rigors of the local climate the way ones made by locals would.

And, lastly, state/local regs make it hard there, and many other locations across the country (but it seems worse down there) to dislodge the mismanaged companies from their customer areas.

Yup, it is bizarre.

Incidentally it took 18 months for my cable Internet to get sorted out following the 2004-2005 hurricanes. Granted, I was happy to have anything at all considering the damage the area sustained (and I am 50 miles inland) but they tacked up the existing cable that was ripped down by a tornado (we observed them doing this), and they never actually replaced it which the tech said they would do with a regular field crew, when things settled down a bit. I waited 6 months before I really started to report it, nearly a year before I really started to complain. They kept telling me replacing the feed was not going to happen. Since I am one of the lucky ones in my area who actually has another connection option as a consumer, I opted for DSL. Amazingly the week after I notified the cable company I had switched to BellSouth DSL, and would not be needing their Internet connection services following the next billing cycle, a field crew was out and replaced the feed, and the problem which had languished for 18 months (of great frustration for me) and which was known from the beginning to be related to the line, was resolved. I kept the DSL a while and ran both connections to compare them. Both are max of 6Mbps so it was a toss up (DSL was a bit less expensive). The DSL seemed to suffer less from time of day congestion, maybe because most people in the neighborhood have cable, but I eventually disconnected the DSL in the hope that my cable company would join the rest of the country in bandwidth average eventually. I'm still waiting.

-Skylark

 

[Spree]

Comcrap bought my cable company they dropped my speed from 15m to 10m. They added lots of lag. I dumped them for Verizon Fios I now have 20m up 5m down, all the movies channels and unlimited long distance for less than i was paying Concrap for just basic TV and internet.