 Review by ayoustic 
member for 9.3 years, 1754 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 1.3 years ago
 Bellefonte,Centre,PA
 $60 per month- (12 month contract)
 about 14 days "Great installers, reasonably pricing, reliable" "Hit and Miss Tech Support, mandatory equipment, horribly high install fees" "If nothing else is available, be Comcastic!"
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(ratings match consensus)
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UPDATE: 07/01/2010
Since the Comcastic Cap was announced, I converted to Business Class HSI @ 12/2 for $59.95 a month, with a one year commitment. However, the order process was fairly UGLY to go from "resi" to commercial.
First, the install fee was atrocious, so I emailed We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com and asked if anything could be done since I was attempting to respect their business model and obey the cap of 250GB. Since we had two ROKU and lots of other stuff going, the most I ever hit was 200GB. (Patching Linux Machines, downloading WoW updates, hours of video in HD, etc.)
That said, I got a response the next day that indicated that since I indicated that I was freshly wired for Comcast the year prior, the only thing I should need is a modem on commercial, and I'm good to go. Hearing this, a business rep called me with a 0 install fee, so long as I agree to a one year commitment. After the contract, I fall to month-to-month, in this market. I would be provided a free SMC Gateway with dynamic IP access. I had also dumped phone and video since we had ROKU w/Netflix and moved to phone power to save $15-20 a month over CDV. (and got rid of the piece of crap TM502G EMTA!)
So, I got the E-Contract, signed it and 10 days later, Comcast installers (No contractors...Comcast employees from the regional office near me.) They were super awesome and checked all my levels, which were "perfect". Within 10 minutes, they were gone since the gateway provisioned with little trouble and I was showing 18/3 with powerboost, of course.
I tried to live with the SMC, but it's just crap! So, I called tech support and asked quite nicely if they could just retasked my resi modem, SB5101U, to the Commercial side of things. Begrudginly, they agreed after I demonstrated that I went from 18/3 (powerboost) to 30/5 (powerboost) from simply changing the device out! After a quick 2 minute wait, my resi modem was provisioned and all was well.
I got my first bill later, which was prorated, however I found that my conversion from resi to business didn't go precisely as planned. Comcast Business said they would take care of all of the stuff with my email, Comcast account number, and so on. However, the only thing they forgot to do was mark my drop in the system as commercial! So, even the SMC was getting a resi config file! If I would've went over cap, I'd be up the creek. After working with ComcastSteve, I figured out what happened and between a level 3 tech on the phone and Steve, we got the modem nuked and moved over to BCI successfully. The most unnerving part was calling Comcast to request a "soft disconnect" so that my residential service terminated, BUT they wouldn't roll a truck to trap the line, hence shutting me off! That completed without incident in the system and about 7 days later (total) all was straightened up, with my 5101 leading the way.
Right now, I'm signed up with Phonepower on the 1 year plan, Comcast Business and using Netflix streaming w 2 DVD plan. By debundling, I saved over $400.00/year in telecomm charges and taxes (and rental fees....damned Arris piece of crap!)
To this day, I've had ONE two hour outage that someone caused by wrapping their car around a telephone pole -- the modem recovered itself after a short nap and all was well and we've not looked back. Until FIOS hits or Comcast messes with Business pricing, I'm here to stay as long as the service maintains it's current excellence.
PROS: rock solid service once billing got their butts in line
CONS: "mandatory equipment" upon installation and now they won't let you install your own modem to replace their SMC crap. I've heard the DOCSIS 3 version isn't bad, but I'd prefer my own device that I have semi-control over and not have to pay 10 times it's street value over the course of a contract/term.
BOTTOM LINE: Converting from residential to business could've been smoother, but it beats getting kicked off for a year because Comcast is too cheap to upgrade their aging infrastructure to accommodate modern network and telecommunications.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Ordered Comcast Triple Play Preferred plan for $109.00 for 12 months. Whined and cried a bit and got a $36.00 credit for the Arris EMTA/modem for the digital voice and Internet. Ordered on 6/30, scheduled for 7/11 from 3:30-5:30. Installers showed up early to do a site survey at about noon. Did a quick walkthrough and saw where they found where the cable come in and what they need for Internet/Phone equipment. The service was installed very professionally and swiftly as they replaced all splitters and runs with RG6 and low resistance splitters to get max signals. Install took about 1 hour since all of the runs had to be replaced, the Arris modem had to be phoned in since the Comcast "walled garden" sucks bad and didn't work. The contractors had some "secret" 800 numbers to bypass customer queues and get priority to get my cable, and MTA activated so that the equipment functioned properly.
After the install, I was showed briefly how to use on-demand and where the help sections were to answer any additional questions I might have thought of. Then, the installers said goodbye, and left. After they left, I found that my welcome kit included a coupon for a free pay-movie on on-demand.
Overall, installation of VOIP, cable, and Internet was rather painless, above expectations, and the Voice Quality is unbelievably good! Also, love all of the value-adds that Comcast throws in like caller-id, call waiting, all of of the stuff VZ wanted my my right arm per month for.
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