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Review by puregenius See Profile

  • Location: Pittsburg, Contra Costa, CA, USA
  • Cost: $143 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
High speed internet cost has been the same for 12 years
Every other cost has skyrocketed
I am with Comcast because I have no other suitable options.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

The only things likable about Comcast is the fact that the internet cost has not increased a dime since 1999 and that service is pretty reliable. The one caveat to that is speeds were reduced when Comcast made the acquisition from AT&T.

Before I started service with what was TCI in 1999, I considered SBC DSL, but not being near the central office meant the best speed I would get would be about 768 kbps. That was not acceptable to me.

At that time there were no packages offering different speeds. You simply paid your fee and attained what speed they were offering at the time. Then the max was around 3 Mbps. Now they have packages going up to 50 Mbps, but I have stayed with the 12 Mbps package. On many large downloads I see consistent speeds of 17-20 Mbps. This is the package that has remained at $42.95 per month since 1999 if you have at least one other service. It's $56.95 without bundling.

Overall the order and install processes have gone well. My very first experience was horrible though. The tech didn't really know what he was doing and installed a outdated ISA Ethernet card that never worked. When the card did not work, tech support suggested I reinstall my operating system. After doing a little research I figured out the problem and a PCI card was installed and I was given a month of free service.

I have had various equipment over the years, but right now it's an RCA VOIP modem.

I have a hard time identifying good experiences with Comcast. The only one that comes to mind is the sympathy I would get from CSRs who lived in my city and were stuck like me. It took many years for us to get upgrades that other cities had. Some of the CSRs who had the authority gave some generous account credits. The bad are too many to number but that one that always comes to mind is how bad things were after the Comcast took over. They cut downstream speed in half but somehow thought it seemed sensible to promote the service like it was exceptional.



member for 13.1 years, 18 visits, last login: 11.3 years ago
updated 13.1 years ago

pinjas
join:2011-01-31
River Falls, WI

pinjas

Member

Have you considered starting your own ISP?

This story is so common over much of the US. If you think you got it bad, some people are still on dial up or no internet available at all. In the city of Monticello, MN they had a similar story. Poor speed, high prices and less than ideal connectivity. So they started up their own ISP, fibernet. They pay 35 dollars a month for a 20/20 line.
If you are unwilling to try that feat, I recommend dropping the extremely expensive voip and TV service. There are plenty of ways to watch TV shows without using the TV companies cable box. Google currently has a plan where you can call anyone in the US for a pretty great price, free. I am using comcast, but I am working on my own plans to clone fibernet to some extent.
The downside to all this is you will have to really think about these things and work to make them work. The upside is you'd probably save around a 100 dollars a month. You've got to assess the situation, is the convenience worth the price? When you have an extra 1200 bucks in your pocket after a year, you can send me my share. : P
Jasonfn22
join:2009-11-20
Bethlehem, GA

Jasonfn22

Member

Re: Have you considered starting your own ISP?

I think what your forgetting is that weather he is ranting or whatever he is entitled to his opinion just like everybody else.This isn't a review of his review,they ask for his review and his opinion about comcast and that's what it is so why does he need to start and ISP or anything else you suggested because I don't think he was asking for your suggestion.

I am not into people ranting either because I always take stuff like that to the source instead of posting it on a forum but a review is an opinion and thats what dslreports ask him for
saratoga66
join:2002-08-22
Saratoga, CA

saratoga66

Member

Comcast increased speeds not decreased them

Comcast increased speeds after they took over ATTBI not reduced them. When AT&T transferred customers from the @Home network to their own network the maximum download speed was 1.5. After Comcast took control they raised the speed to 3.0.
puregenius
Premium Member
join:2011-02-22
Pittsburg, CA

puregenius

Premium Member

Re: Comcast increased speeds not decreased them

I do not know what Comcast did out side of Pittsburg, CA. But in my city they reduced speed. We were already getting 3 Mbps before Comcast took over. For the first nine months our speed was cut in half. It then picked up to 4 Mbps.