Comcast - This is what a monopoly looks like

[IGBT]

looks like the US government big gov.monopolies. Why so surprised??

 

[Sonikku]

Because people don't look at their bills or simply don't know they can. People paid for landline phone rentals until the mid 90's. Most were not aware it cost extra money.

A landline phone is cake. You plug it in and it works. Getting out from under the modem fee in contrast is a major pain in the neck. You can't just buy any modem either, if you were to buy the cheap $10 modem Time Warner leases out to customers and try to activate it they wouldn't let you. They only let you activate one from a small number on their "approved" list, the cheapest of which is $70.

Even then after doing all the hookups you have to get all the numbers ready and call them and wait an hour on hold to "Activate" it. I ended up having to go into network settings and having to have windows try to resolve any issues just to get it running after they were all finished on there end. And after all of that if anything goes wrong with it, I'm on my own. So I can sort of see how a lot of seniors and regular people get roped into that absurd $8 a month rental fee. ($10 a month for Comcast, all kinds of crazy) The breaking down of the unholy fusion of these two awful entities can only be described as a godsend.

 

[Carson Dyle]

A landline phone is cake. You plug it in and it works. Getting out from under the modem fee in contrast is a major pain in the neck. You can't just buy any modem either, if you were to buy the cheap $10 modem Time Warner leases out to customers and try to activate it they wouldn't let you. They only let you activate one from a small number on their "approved" list, the cheapest of which is $70.

You're saying that the modem they lease you is NOT on their approved modem list? Pretty sure that isn't the case with Comcast. Comcast now requires a DOCSIS 3 modem, so you're not going to find one for $10, but $70 is paid for in a matter of months.

Even then after doing all the hookups you have to get all the numbers ready and call them and wait an hour on hold to "Activate" it. I ended up having to go into network settings and having to have windows try to resolve any issues just to get it running after they were all finished on there end. And after all of that if anything goes wrong with it, I'm on my own. So I can sort of see how a lot of seniors and regular people get roped into that absurd $8 a month rental fee. ($10 a month for Comcast, all kinds of crazy) The breaking down of the unholy fusion of these two awful entities can only be described as a godsend.

I've replaced my cable modem on Comcast twice. You just hook it up, reboot the router or PC immediately behind the modem, then pull up any page in a web browser, where you're directed to Comcast's "walled garden" (they prevent the new, unrecognized equipment from accessing the public internet). From there, you're directed how to register the new modem online. Once that's done, you're online.

I'm certainly no apologist. Comcast has been notorious for billing for leased modems when user's have their own, often requiring several calls to customer service to sort out.