Should I keep my 15/2 Comcast, my Gig FIOS, or both?

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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Trying to make a decision here, I've had Verizon FIOS for a number of years, both at my current as well as my last apt., and DSL before that. Toyed with Comcast, had some bad experiences with them, both in terms of CSRs and the corporation, as well as the service. FIOS is definitely (in my experience) a step above, more of a true 24/7 service. Comcast seems to have occasional outages (and my lines are new enough, I don't have line issues like a friend of mine does). But FIOS costs more.

Anyways, I am currently paying a little over $100/mo for Gigabit FIOS. (Yeah, you can all be jealous now, if you want. :p ) And I can also get Comcast, signed up with their special low-income plan, it's under $10/mo for what was recently boosted in speed to 15/2. It's not bad. But not great. But much, much, cheaper.

As my car insurance keeps going up by $250/year (why???), and my storage unit bill going up, I need to economize somewhere, as I'm on a relatively fixed income.

So, should I economize and go with the slower-speed service, or go with something that is fast enough, that I no longer have to worry about whether it's fast enough? I have been keeping both, with the Comcast as my "backup service", but I'm been using my Comcast as my primary, for the last month or so, just to try it out as my primary. It works better with Windows 10's Windows Update feature, if I enable QoS on the router, otherwise, my streaming radio switches to "buffering", when a Windows 10 PC is downloading updates. :(

The other possibility, is to talk to Retentions at FIOS, and try to get them to give me the new-customer price for FIOS, which recently is $39.99 / mo for 100/100Mbit/sec service. Which would be more than enough for me. (I can hardly tell any real-world difference between Gigabit and 150/150 that I had before.)

One of my concerns is, I don't know if my credit is good enough, should I cancel FIOS entirely, or if they have enough slots in the fiber hub or PON cards, that I would even be able to get FIOS at all in the future. (A neighbor tried to get FIOS in this building, and they couldn't.) And they've hinted that Gigabit Internet might get more pricey, after the beginning of the year.

(And then there's the whole issue with Net Neutrality, since Gigabit is their most expensive plan, I figure that they should throw in accessibility to the "whole internet" as part of their "services plan".)

Edit: Then there's the issue, I don't know if I can do 4K YouTube streaming with this 15Mbit/sec connection, and I tend to mostly max the upload, for some reason, running a mining rig or two and a wallet, on the slow Comcast connection.

I would be much better served with a 100/100Mbit/sec connection, well, my gigabit would be best, I have to think about it.
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
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I prefer to stick with companies that treat me well. Verizon has been good to me. Comcast and Cox have been jerks. I wouldnt go back to them.
 
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AMD64Blondie

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2013
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Dump Comcast.Currently stuck with them(@150 Mbps) here in Portland,OR,and I'd be all over FIOS Gigabit internet if I could have it.
 
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RossMAN

Grand Nagus
Feb 24, 2000
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If you're happy with FIOS service then I would first try calling their retention. After thoroughly researching what offers to expect of course
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30679889-Pricing-would-it-be-worth-it-to-call-retention

https://www.laurengreutman.com/how-to-negotiate-cable-prices-like-a-pro/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/3o8y7y/how_to_negotiate_with_internet_providers_verizon/

And I can also get Comcast, signed up with their special low-income plan, it's under $10/mo for what was recently boosted in speed to 15/2. It's not bad. But not great. But much, much, cheaper..

Assuming you're qualified I would seriously consider the Comcast $10/mo option.
https://www.internetessentials.com/
 
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John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
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If you utilize gigabit speed, then I certainly wouldn't go with Comcrap. If you want to save money and you don't need a fast higher speed connection, then I guess go with Comcrap.

I've read at DSLReports that Comcrap was a tier 1 ISP. Is that the same for Verizon FIOS? I would think so. Anything under tier 1 and you'r asking for trouble. Like Cocks *cough* I mean Cox, or Time Warner, etc.
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,174
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A. Do you really need a gigabit connection? If you're a gamer or you download terabytes of porn every month, I can see the advantage. For virtually anything else, I can't.

B. Dump the storage unit. There's stuff you value greatly in it, I'm sure. And I'd bet you'll never need or miss any of it.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,048
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You're in a great position to play them against each other, something my co-worker does every couple of years. Sign up for a one or two year promotion at one of them, then when that is up threaten to leave (and actually leave) for another two year promotion at the other place. Rinse and repeat. Sure, it's a hassle once every couple of years, but you'll save thousands.

If you haven't already, be sure to buy your own cable modem and router for use with Comcast.

15/2 sounds fast enough if 95% of your internet usage is ATOT. ;)
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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If you haven't already, be sure to buy your own cable modem and router for use with Comcast.
Yes, done.

15/2 sounds fast enough if 95% of your internet usage is ATOT. ;)
That's kind of what I've been thinking. Other than the occasional YT TechTuber binge when new tech comes out, and downloading Linux ISOs for fun, I don't do all that much with my connection.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
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FIOS $100+, Comcast $10. FIOS gigabit, Comcast 15/2Mbit/sec. Price per bit/second is cheaper with FIOS, but absolute cost is higher. For reference, where available, Docsis 3.1-based Gigabit Comcast is roughly $100/mo too. But upload is limited to like 35Mbit/sec, with FIOS it's... over 900!
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,174
524
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I don't even understand the dilemma here. Yes, Comcast the corporation sucks. Yes, the CSRs are clueless. But for the vast majority of people, they get the service, it just works, and they never have to personally deal with the morons at Comcast. Buy some healthy food with the $90 per month you'll save.
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
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Anyways, I am currently paying a little over $100/mo for Gigabit FIOS. (Yeah, you can all be jealous now, if you want. :p ) And I can also get Comcast, signed up with their special low-income plan, it's under $10/mo for what was recently boosted in speed to 15/2. It's not bad. But not great. But much, much, cheaper.
You lucky bastard. I pay $15 for 3/1 from Spectrum. (Formerly Time Warner). If I wanted a single mpbs more, I'd have to pay $60. I would kill for 15/2 for less than I'm paying. :(
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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You lucky bastard. I pay $15 for 3/1 from Spectrum. (Formerly Time Warner). If I wanted a single mpbs more, I'd have to pay $60. I would kill for 15/2 for less than I'm paying. :(
Well, that's how the program started, at 3/1Mbit/sec. Then it was upgraded to 5/1 (I think, maybe?), then 10/1, then just recently (after I subscribed) to 15/2. And there's talk that in the Comcast South region, they're going to boost the speed of the 10/1 tier to 25/2, eventually, in 2018. Whether Internet Essentials will get boosted too, I don't know. But it sure would be nice. Then I probably would stick with just that, it would finally be enough for 4K YouTube and whatnot.

Edit: Although, is that a regular tier that anyone off the streets can qualify for? Comcast's lowest tier is still a minimum of $50/mo, for 10/1. You have to go through a qualification to get the program that I'm on.

3/1 is pretty outdated these days, I don't even think that you can stream 720P YouTube with less than 4-5Mbit/sec down. Maybe 280 or 360P YT? (Do some channels even still support that low a res?)
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
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It is outdated. And it's the result of monopolies and no choices in internet companies. But there's just no way I can afford $60 a month. I don't even think you can get my plan any longer. I was grandfathered in under Time Warner and Spectrum's lowest package is $60. It is just enough to stream at 720p, but no more.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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That's why I think, that there should be some sort of gov't mandated "low tier" internet plan available from ISPs. It used to be with DSL, you could get plans for as cheap as $20/mo. They weren't fast, but they worked, mostly OK. I mean, today's 4K UHD streaming, might not work with that little bandwidth, but other than that, more mundane things work OK.

But ISPs and Wall Street try to push up subscriber ASPs, so it's like, 10Mbit/sec for $60, 50Mbit/sec for $70, and 150Mbit/sec for $80, and Gigabit for $100. That's kind of the stack. And it's ridiculous, really, how it goes from expensive, to not that hugely more expensive, for insanely faster tiers.

I think, either that, or ISPs should switch to TRUE metered billing, meaning that if you only use 100GB/mo, your internet bill would be like $5/mo. Period.

But ISPs don't want that to happen. They want to have customers pay for a minimum "unlimited" internet, and then implement metered billing ON TOP OF that. It's utterly crazy. And now that we have a Republican FCC,... well, things aren't looking so good for the consumer.

All the while, ISPs and industry figures like chairman Pai give lip-service to the whole issue of the "digital divide". Try actually doing something about it! Instead of going along with the industry, to rip off internet consumers even more.

Granted, Comcast has been, dare I say, "generous", with their Internet Essentials program. Originally offered as an olive branch of sorts to allow their NBC Universal merger to go through. But instead of quietly discontinuing the program a few years later, they've actually expanded it. I guess the idea, besides connecting low-income families, is that once they get them to become Comcast customers, they can possibly upsell them on future services. Makes sense, "the first hit's free".

All in all, I'm glad that the program exists, and that they expanded it such that I qualified for it, but I would like it much better, if they, and all other ISPs, offered a form of "affordable internet", that any joe blow off of the streets could get, without going through a rigourous and limiting qualification stage.

Basically, like the plan you're on. I think all ISPs should offer something for $15/mo or maybe $20-30/mo at most, at whatever speed that they find feasible to provide at those prices.

Here's a non-profit reselling Sprint's 4G (actually, 3G, 4G LTE, and "Spark", whatever that is) service, with no income requirements at all! Looks like it's $30-40/mo, but you have to pay $500 up-front for the first year of service.
https://www.cheapinternet.com/4gcommunity-org-low-cost-internet

Apparently, Pai threw a wrench into the developing "Lifeline Broadband" program, and it's basically all but dead now. :(

https://www.cheapinternet.com/fcc-attempts-to-kill-its-own-lifeline-broadband-program

And the result of that, is a separate application process for each state, and only offered in certain states.
https://www.t-mobile.com/Promotions/ResourceTemplate.aspx?PAsset=Pro_Pro_Lifeline

Guess what, T-Mobile does't seem to offer it in my state. Otherwise, I could get a cell phone for under $20/mo, with unlimited voice minutes.
 
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Nov 20, 2009
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I dumped my Comcast 25/5 service that I was paying $60/month for after AT&T installed fiber. My employee cost was $50 for GigE. Just before AT&T did the network upgrade in my neighborhood Comcast was charging almost $70/mo. I tried to considering keeping them as a back up but they wouldn't come off the $60/price. Almost a dozen people on my street dumped Comcast.
 
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Well, that's how the program started, at 3/1Mbit/sec. Then it was upgraded to 5/1 (I think, maybe?), then 10/1, then just recently (after I subscribed) to 15/2. And there's talk that in the Comcast South region, they're going to boost the speed of the 10/1 tier to 25/2, eventually, in 2018. Whether Internet Essentials will get boosted too, I don't know. But it sure would be nice. Then I probably would stick with just that, it would finally be enough for 4K YouTube and whatnot.

Edit: Although, is that a regular tier that anyone off the streets can qualify for? Comcast's lowest tier is still a minimum of $50/mo, for 10/1. You have to go through a qualification to get the program that I'm on.

3/1 is pretty outdated these days, I don't even think that you can stream 720P YouTube with less than 4-5Mbit/sec down. Maybe 280 or 360P YT? (Do some channels even still support that low a res?)

If 15Mbps downstream is fast enough for what you do (it would be for me) then it's $90 wasted.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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If 15Mbps downstream is fast enough for what you do (it would be for me) then it's $90 wasted.
Downstream's OK, it's the 1.5-2.0Mbit/sec upstream that's really limiting. I'm not talking about uploading YT videos either. Mostly more mundane things, like mining using NiceHash on a few PCs, running a Bitcoin wallet, and web browsing, and running Skype. I get these red "Internet Connection Problem" warnings constantly in Skype, and my friend on the other end said I was really blocky, and sometimes I sounded scratchy. So my upload is being congested. I'm also running QoS on my router, an Asus AC68R (same as AC68U) running Tomato.

So upload is a real problem with this service.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,199
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www.anyf.ca
That would be a tough decision... Gig would be super nice to have, but that cost difference is huge. Is there a setup fee for your gig connection if you were to reconnect? I would personally cancel it and go with the cheap option, and if you miss it you can always go back.

I've actually been contemplating downgrading my 50/30 service to the lower 30/15 one, and also cancel my TV and landline. I am reluctant to do it but really I should just do it. I would drop my bill by a half decent amount if I go with internet only. I'm in the same boat, all my costs of living keep going up, so keep looking at places I can save.

I wish ISPs would quit with the whole "no web servers" bullshit and crappy uploads though. If I had a gig connection I'd want to be able to offer services like web servers or colocation. Could host like 10-20 colos and make half decent money on the side.