Review by speedy99 
UPDATED: 1.4 years ago
member for 7.1 years, 354 visits, last login: 19 days ago
 Saratoga,Santa Clara,CA
 $45 per month (month by month)
 about 7 days
 "Realiable always-on connection withoutht he hassle of DSL/SBC/ASI"
 "Clunky installer process, needed multiple tech support help"
 "Once up and running, it works well. Tricky to get 3000 w/ router/NAT config"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
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Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I wanted 3000/256 (current DSL only worked for 1500/256, and I was out of range for better than that.) Then SBC goes on strike and my DSL stops working the same day. Instead of paying SBC $90/hour to look at a problem on my end and not theirs, I decided its time for cable. Unfortunately my line had some bogus filters on it, so I had to wait for a tech to come out and remove them. Nice thing is that anything wrong with the cable is "handled" - with no extra charges. Up and running now, and seems stable after several days. Unfortunately I'm only getting about 1500 down, not 3000. Seems my neighborhood generates a good amount of traffic. (Yes, I tried the tweak tests.) Even 1500 is fine as long as I don't have to deal with SBC and "inside wiring". Using my own (Linksys) Cable Modem, with dynamic IP. Tech support (many issues since I run a router and I confused the installer program) was stellar. Able to walk me through very technical issues well. (I'm very technical myself.) Finally got me up and running, despite being in a funny state when I started. I talked w/ many different techs along the way, and all seemed quite good.
UPDATE: It seems my 1500 was a fluke. I now consistently get less than 768, and typically less than 500 down during "rush hour" (7pm-midnight). Planning to start poking around with the SMTP utilities to see if my node is oversubscribed. Already done all the tweaks. Now I'm a bit sorry I left DSL. At least I always had 1500 down from my DSL connection. Not clear Comcast can or should do anything for me at this point. Paying twice as much for half the bandwidth now. What good is "up to" 3000 down if the nodes are oversubscribed!?!? D-oh!
(I also verified my script was OK. Changed from 1.8 to 3.0, but I still don't get anything better than 1.4)
»/quality/nil/1419147
ANOTHER UPDATE: After a few tries I got an updated cable modem script that works. What was confusing is that it seems the modem script allowing higher speeds is tied to a specific MAC address. Since they insisted I connect my computer to upgrade the cable modem script, I finally figured out the link (since speeds dropped again when I put my router back in.) I cloned the MAC address of my primary computer to the router, and now speeds are better. (Not 3000, but at least faster than 1.5 DSL!) Seems comcast defaults to a 1.5 (or 1.8) script.
Which all makes me wonder if there is a hidden interface to the cable modem that will allow me to view/change the scripts!
Yet Another Update: Now that the modem script thing is worked out, I consistently get just under 3000, which is much better than I was getting. Connection has been rock solid with no issues for several months.
Yet another update (May 2008): After months of Comcast and AT&T digging up the streets, I now qualify for faster DSL. Comcast has been off and on for weeks, and speeds are no longer consistent. Streaming (ftp, video, etc) of large files often pauses or simply stops. I've spent so much time on my "backup" DSL link, now that speeds are faster I've ordered DSL Extreme to upgrade my DSL speed. It will be the same as Comcast, but cost 1/2 the price. Can hardly wait to drop Comcast.
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