Farewell Comcast

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: JAH
Been a loyal customer of Comcast for over a decade (television and cable internet), so I didn?t mind the high prices. However, their handling of a problem (their On-Demand services fail me 99% of the time) was so inept that I decided it was time to move on.

For television, I got Dish Network with similar channels and set-up and it cost me $50/month for 10 months and $70 thereafter (vs. $93/month from Comcast).

Originally, I was just going to cancel the TV service and kept the internet because it has been rock stable. I don?t think Comcast internet went down once in the last two years. However, when I canceled the TV service, they decided to jack up the internet price from $45 to $60 and lower my speed from 6Mbps to 4Mbps.

There was no way in hell I was going to pay $60 for internet access, so I contact AT&T and got their DSL service (6Mbps) for $35/month. I don?t expect it to be rock stable as cable internet, but for nearly half the price, I don?t care!

I?ll be saving over $600 for the next year on television and internet. Wish I had seen the light sooner.

On Demand not working means there's a significant amount of noise on your cable line and you need an amplifier. I had the same problem with BHN Cable in Tampa and after calling two techs over and not getting it fixed I went to the cable-router-thingy we have in the garage and plugged the outlet we use for the cable box into the amp they gave us for Road Runner. Problem solved.

 

[PingSpike]

I wish I could get anything for high speed internet. Even just low latency 128kb. ISDN is pretty expensive though...I might try to convince some one in town to get DSL and try to buy a dry pair from verizon connecting to my house. But what a pain in the ass that would be.

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
I'll be keeping the tv, but will probably be moving to DSL Lite in the next couple of weeks(to save some $'s /mo.).

I went ahead and canceled Comcast HSI the other day(they didn't even try to talk me into staying) and was surprised to see that I qualified for DSL Lite for only $10/mo. That is a savings of at least $33/mo. :shocked: So far I have noticed that just surfing around the net that there is not too much difference in page loading times for most sites between the DSL Lite and Cable. Large files do take longer to download and that is OK with me, as it is rare that I download anything larger than OpenOffice anyway.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Toasthead
Man I had nothing but issues with Dish and ATT. I welcomed Comcast into my home for steady stable performance.

i went from comcast to verizon Fios, tv/ internet/ and phone. i won't be going back any time soon.

 

[Brainonska511]

FiOS is available for my house, but my parents haven't made the switch from Cablevision yet. A neighbor and my grandfather made the switch and they are both happy with Verizon's service.

 

[Nik]

YMMV but as soon as FIOS is available in my neighborhood, I'm kicking The Pig out of my house for good!

 

[PlatinumGold]

my only complaint with Verizon Fios is, they don't offer HD Content in their On Demand Service. Comcast did. they had Starz On Demand HD for example, verizon doesn't offer that yet.

 

[nageov3t]

can't wait till I get my 20m fios hookup... verizon's supposed to be coming to my new apartment on September 4th.

even without the discounts (first month free, 6 months with like $10 off) it's comparable to what I was paying for comcrap basic cable + cable internet.

 

[hdeck]

never had any problems with att dsl in houston

 

[PrinceofWands]

Question about FiOS:

What's the stance on servers/services? I finally had to go DSL because I couldn't run any servers from the house with cable. Tried alternate porting and Comcast always eventually shut it down.

 

[Casawi]

You get what you pay for.

 

[Deeko]

Congrats. After dealing with horrible cable service the last five years, I thought I'd be able to free myself of the tyrant that is Comcast...but my damn apartment doesn't have the right view to get DirecTV. Am I correct to assume Dish needs the same view (southwest)? At any rate, at least I've cut them for internet, but I'm still dealing with their overpriced (and not as good) tv service. All I watch is broadcast channels, comedy central, and sports. DirecTV is WORLDS better for this, they have so many more sports channels available. Ugh.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: Casawi
You get what you pay for.

I find it's the opposite by all accounts, fios is better and cheaper

 

[JAH]

Three weeks review since I made the switch:

AT&T DSL so far has been great. Installation was just plugging in the supplied splitters, then the phone lines and it work right away. The speed is the same as Comcast, but I've also notice that my newsgroup downloading is no longer crapping out after heavy traffic. I use Newsbin app and Astraweb news service, and with Comcast my downloading would stop and had restart manually (sometime I would have to wait few more days before it work properly). Folks at Newsbin forum said Comcast was probably throttling my traffic.

As for Dish Network, the TV reception has also been great. Love all the HD channels. However, their customer service could use a lot of improvement. It's very difficult to get a live person on the phone and when you do, they're not that very helpful. First, their CSR didn't know what he was talking about and said I could get my local HD channels through satellite, so I paid the $5 extra for that, then to later realized that wasn't true and I need to get a separate OTA antenna in order to get local HD. Second, Dish have this "programming access fee" where if you didn't plug in your phone lines to the receivers, they'll charge $5/month. Plugging phone lines into receiver is not an issue for me, just wish they would inform you of that instead of having to find out on your first bill.

I did not have to sign a long term contract with Dish (one of the reason I went with them instead of DirecTV) and I get the first 10 months for very cheap. So I'll be staying with them for the first 10 months and see my options then.

 

[Rage187]

I get rid of Comcast cable next Tuesday for DirecTV, $200 a month was gettin rediculous for what we actually got.

Only keeping comcast for the internet and that is until FIOS drops in my area.

 

[Modeps]

I recently switched to Comcast for phone, internet, and tv (before just had for tv and internet). Runs me about $150 with taxes vs $180+long distance charges. Saved me money, service is quite good... I really cant complain about them at all.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Question about FiOS:

What's the stance on servers/services? I finally had to go DSL because I couldn't run any servers from the house with cable. Tried alternate porting and Comcast always eventually shut it down.

They block off port 20 so you cannot serve anything. I think if you upgrade to their business account though, that is when you can get a static IP and you'll be able to do whatever you want.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
comcast is my internet dish is my TV!

Same here.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Modeps
I recently switched to Comcast for phone, internet, and tv (before just had for tv and internet). Runs me about $150 with taxes vs $180+long distance charges. Saved me money, service is quite good... I really cant complain about them at all.

Holy crap that's expensive!

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Modeps
I recently switched to Comcast for phone, internet, and tv (before just had for tv and internet). Runs me about $150 with taxes vs $180+long distance charges. Saved me money, service is quite good... I really cant complain about them at all.

Holy crap that's expensive!

mine was $20 more a month and I didn't have phone.

 

[MagicConch]

It is weird how prices vary so much with cable. I just got internet on Time Warner and they charge $30 for 7 mbits

 

[PingSpike]

When cable has no local competition they jack up the rates. If you have somewhere to run to they can't get away with it.

 

[AlienCraft]

AT&T gladly sold the Mom both DISH and DSL. despite a rewire of the home out;ets and two techs out on the pole, they were NEVER able to provide a DSL signal long enough to complete the sign up process.
I only wish COMCAST were available in her town.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
When cable has no local competition they jack up the rates. If you have somewhere to run to they can't get away with it.

:thumbsup:

The "high speed" cable here is $75 a month...

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I can't wait for the day Verizon has FIOS in my neighborhood...soon hopefully...people have it about a mile from me.

They are installing FiOS in my apartment complex right now - RIGHT before I move. :|