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Review by kmcmena See Profile

  • Location: Parkesburg, Chester, PA, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
very fast most of the time. No contract
e-mail unavailable at times. Feel that cap on E-mail spce is too low
not bad for $40. DSL is higher in my area
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

I have had comcast for about a month. So far I am happy with the service. I got a self install kit, hooked it up and locked on with no issues. The guy in tech support who set my account up initially was very nice to talk to, but below average technically.

Compared to my 56k connection, the speed of course is exceptional. NJ test server speedtest shows about 1500 down / 128 up. LA server shows much lower download, about 800.

Although I have only been on for a month, I have not experienced any of the horrer stories that I have read on this site. My cable has been out once since I connected, for less then 15 minutes.

I have made calls to tech support, and the skill level seems very inconsistant. Other then that, no real negatives.

member for 21.5 years, 22 visits, last login: 16.8 years ago
lodged 21.5 years ago


Review by Bill223 See Profile

  • Location: West Friendship, Howard, MD, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month
It seems faster than dialup
No documentation on anything
So far (1 day) better than dailup
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

Yesterday a comcast employee arrived at my house to install digital cable and internet access. This was a total surprise as I had never been given an install date. I had spoken to various sales guys previously for about a month and could never get an install date or if they area was released for service. Comcast had recently upgraded the area. The install seemed to go smoothly however they don't provide any documentation on anything. All I received was a completed work order for the install. I had to ask to find out how to get e-mail setup. The tech also did not do any kind of speed test on the line, just said this is faster than dialup. If anyone has recommendations on what tests I should do as a new user that would be helpful. I called this morning and got an e-mail account setup. I'll see when I get home tonight if it works or not.

UPDATE:

I've had no problem since installation which is about a week now. E-mail works fine and my speeds are very good and at the caps. I don't think my node has many people on it yet. This could all change the in the future. I haven't had any reason to call the dreaded customer support.

It's been several months now and I haven't had any problems. I have been getting the advertised speeds. It's really been great. I suppose it helps that I never had the @home speeds. On line gaming has been great with pings in the low 20's. How long can this go on?

member for 21.9 years, 48 visits, last login: 21.3 years ago
updated 21.5 years ago


CherryIcee
Winter
join:2001-10-25
Bellevue, WA

CherryIcee

Member

Use the speedtest here.

Its a great way to gauge your speeds and if they aren't what you expected the Tweaks worked great for me. As did the fine people in the tweaks forum. When my ATTBI was first installed, I had around 250 to 300kbps speeds, after doing the tweaks and receiving amazing help in the forums my speeds are consistently in the 1440 range. Good luck, hope everything works well.

Mac8Mac
@253-vaoffice.emotion

Mac8Mac

Anon

No just wait 48 hours.. the modem will resync

I spent 3 days with comcast trying to get my cable modem to work after having a successfull connection with them for months. I spoke to 4 service reps who all said seems like your modem is having a problem, unplug it for 30 seconds and plug it back in, oh hmm, it must be establishing a connection. So they told me 3 times to let sit for 45 minutes and it would be fine. Nay 3 times did it work. The fourth told me oh it may take 48 hours for it to come back up.

Funny enough after that Verizon DSL called me when i hung the phone up with Comcast. I switched.

MCSE, CCNA, Network Engineer (So i know that tech support was full of it)
ClaytonT2003
join:2001-11-07
Murfreesboro, TN

ClaytonT2003

Member

I know

I know exactly what you mean. I've called Comcast numerous times with problems regarding my downstream. I called last week and they told me it'd be at least a week before they could get a tech out. Fortunately, one showed up this morning. I checked my downstream before we got started and it was steady at about 1150. They checked the line to the modem first, then the line from the house, then finally the line from the box. The tech wasn't too happy so he ran an entirely new line from the box to the house. I didn't mind it, because if it wasn't going to work, I could plug the old line back in. Right after that thought passed, the tech cut the line that was coming out from the ground, so now I'm stuck with what I have. It's supposed to be 7-10 working days before they can come out and bury the line laying across my back yard. I checked my downstream after they left and wasn't too impressed. It was maxing out at maybe 362. It stayed below 500 all day and is finally now above 1000 again. Of course, it's past midnight here and I expect speeds those good during the day too. I've cut Comcast a lot more slack than I should have, but they gave me pretty good service for a while. I hope none of you have had too many problems lately, because when they have everything working right, Comcast gives us a pretty decent internet service.

MooseMaster
@lehgha01.fl.comcast.

MooseMaster

Anon

Re: I know

I have Comcast internet and I had no setup problems. I got my FREE installation kit at the local Comcast office, got home, set up the cable modem in under five minutes, and I was downloading at over 1100kbps 30 seconds later. My download speed has never varied from this by more than 100kbps. I'm more than happy with Comcast's service.

Ryan2152
@sothfd01.mi.comcast.

Ryan2152 to ClaytonT2003

Anon

to ClaytonT2003
Bull shi^ I have comcast low speed and it does not take no five minutes. I allways have problems with comcrap. I want to switch to Wide Open West© when availibal im my area zip:48237

Review by ptjcs See Profile

  • Location: Knoxville, Knox, TN, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
cheap, works great (most of the time), don't have to buy a modem
horrible latency during peak hours
good service for the money you pay
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

Like most i wanted broadband really bad (ssh'ing into my school's network on dialup was rather bothersome). I would've prefered dsl but after looking at the phone wiring throughout the house i knew i would've ended up w/ a home run and didn't feel like doing it myself or paying the then $200 for a pro install. At the same time the only the modems for dsl companies (worth getting) were running $200 also. i'm in college i'm broke, so comcast had an excellent startup price, $45 for the install and the monthly fees are a lot less than any of the dsl providers i've ever seen. since signup i've only needed to call tech support once and was i sorry for that. their tier 1 support is at best incompitent, great cus. serv. skills just no technical skills. and my issue, which shouldve been easily resolvable over the phone, left me w/o service for 13 days (reprovisioning time, and then 10 days to get a technician out to my house). All in all they can be a pain in the ass, but i've been pretty satisfied w/ the service. So if you don't mind monkeys for tech support and can deal w/ some high latency (500ms) during peak hours then its a great service. otherwise you may want to look into one of the local dsl providers.

member for 21.5 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 21.5 years ago

jeff354011
join:2002-09-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

jeff354011

Member

comcast lies

COMCAST LIES. THEY PUT TOO MANY PEOPLE ON MY NODE AND CAUSED SLOW PEAK SPEEDS

THE ONLY WAY I GOT ANYTHING OUT OF THEM WAS TO TELL THEM I HAD A FRIEND IN EUROPE THAT WAS HAD A CLOCK SPEED OF ABOUT 2 GIGS AND I SENT HIM A PROGRAM TO PORTSCAN CONSTANTLY EVERYONE ON EACH SIDE OF MY IP +/- 100 IP'S, WHICH IS DURING THE DAY HERE. HE WOULD BE ASLEEP ANYWAY. THAT GOT THEM OFF THEIR ASS. THEY UPGRADED ME FREE FROM SILVER TO GOLD, AND ARE INSTALLING 2 NEW NODES AT THE HEAD. THREATEN THEM WITH UNCAPPING YOUR MODEM.

Jeff

ScoonerNS
join:2002-04-23
Calgary, AB

ScoonerNS

Member

Re: comcast lies

LOL 1st of all a "Gold" bootfile is for Comcast Buisness customers, its over $1000 to install and about $199 a month, so i highly dought they even gave u that. 2nd if you told anyone from Comcast that you got somone to portscan all the IPS on each side of you, you would have been banned from the Comcast Network. 3rd if you uncap your cable modem, the network will detect it and place your account in abuse.bin for your bootfile. So basically your full of BS
jeff354011
join:2002-09-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

jeff354011

Member

Re: comcast lies

Basically they gave it to me for 1 week until they split the node on the 30th. I just got of the phone with them. Since you are so in LOVE with them would you like a copy of my log off of several speed testers? It doesn't cost that. They poll the modems every 30 days. They have a spilt coming on the 30th of this month, the 15th of next and 25th of next at midnight, of the nodes at the heads in my area. I sat right there and told the man from comcast I would uncap it if something wasn't done. You want his name and number? He is the head of highspeed internet service in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I never said I uncapped it, but let me explain the definition of one word to you: POWER--- Yes, I can could go down to the library and get enough books on physics, and build a nuclear bomb. JUST BECAUSE I KNOW HOW, and if I got enough old fire detectors (SEE READERS DIGEST, not sure of month, but year 2001). I could most likely put together a very crude one. JUST BECAUSE I KNOW HOW, doesn't mean I am going to do it. I could go the the super bowl and run out on the 50 yard line at half time, unzip my zipper, pull out my pecker and turn around and piss toward each goal post. That doesn't mean I am going to do it.

POWER is knowing how to do something and doing it if you want to, not necessarily doing it.

Your cost figures were off on the gold, even if I had a business. It's just $90 a month.

My remedy will be going through the court system , after the 30th, if my speeds are not as advertised as they were promised. I have spoke to the head of comcast internet on the phone several times and he has finally admitted they were wrong, on the phone and in person.

Note: DURING THE WHOLE CLINTON/LEWINSKI DEAL THIS NATION WENT THROUGH. OUT OF ALL THE PLAYERS IN THAT NATIONAL SITUATION. ONLY ONE PERSON PAID ANY FINES OR DID JAIL TIME, AND THAT WAS A MATTER OF GEOGRAPHY.

YOU SEE MY CLUELESS FRIEND: 5 STATES ALLOW ONLY ONE PERSON TO KNOW THAT A CONVERSATION IS BEING TAPED, ON A PHONE CONVERSATION. THE REST REQUIRE THAT THE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE LINE HAVE KNOWLEDGE UP FRONT IT IS BEING TAPED OR A BEEP TONE EVERY 10 SECS. IN THOSE 5 STATES THE CALLER CAN BE THE ONE WITH THE TAPE RECORDER ON THE PHONE AND THE ONE WHO IS AWARE IT IS BEING TAPED.

IT SEEMS THAT THE LADY THAT MISS LEWINSKY POURED HER HEART OUT TO, ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL PECKER, DID NOT LIVE IN ONE OF THESE 5 STATES, BUT SHE RECORDED ANYWAY, WITHOUT MISS LEWINSKY'S KNOWLEDGE. IF SHE HAD BEEN IN ONE OF THOSE 5 STATES, NO ONE IN THAT WHOLE ORDEAL WOULD HAVE WENT TO JAIL OR PAID A FINE. SO YOU SEE IT WAS A MATTER OF GEOGRAPHY.

BY THE WAY, I AM IN ALABAMA, ONE OF THOSE 5 STATES, SO IS THE GUY AT COMCAST THAT IS HEAD OF THE PROGRAM FOR HIGH SPEED INTERNET, BUT THAT WOULDN'T MATTER WHERE HE LIVED, BUT I KNEW THE CALL WHERE HE MADE THOSE PROMISES TO ME WAS BEING TAPED. THOSE TAPES, WITH MY LOGS OF SPEED, AND HIS PROMISE ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY, PLUS THEIR ADVERTISING, WILL CERTAINLY ASSURE ME OF GETTING , YES THE SILVER , AND 1.5 SECS, TO DOWNLOAD 1 MEG, IN A CIVIL COURTROOM. EITHER WAY, AS LONG AS I PLAY BY THE RULES, , I WIN.

JEFF

COMMENTS??????????????

Review by laloosh97 See Profile

  • Location: Indianapolis, Marion, IN, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Best value for the money in my area
Self-install kit is worthless, tech support is awful
If you can find a comparable price with somebody else, take it
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)

I recently moved to Indianapolis. I found this website useful for doing research before I committed to an ISP. My choices were between Earthlink ($59.95/month!) and Comcast ($39.95/mo, with a promo for the first three months at $19.95). I had read that the customer service for Comcast was bad, and those reviews were dead on. I am not extremely computer savy, but I figured I had the smarts to use the self-install kit. A big box came with a cable, a network card (which I already had), a CD-ROM of network card drivers, but no instructions. I plugged in my cable modem, called in my SN and MAC numbers, and waited. After six hours and several phone calls, my service was finally provisioned. I have a desktop at the house and a laptop I take back and forth to work. Naturally, I wanted to use my broadband service with the laptop at home (and I haven't yet purchased a router). I kept getting bounced from one 1-800 number to another, and nobody seemed to know how to make the switch. The last tech support person I talked to told me after twenty unenlightening minutes that she could no longer help me because I was running XP Pro on the laptop. Five minutes after I hung up the phone, I got it working. I have used RoadRunner and InsightBB with very little trouble while living in a variety of locales. My experiences with Comcast have been far and away the most painful. If you can find another ISP with a comparable price, I would encourage you to sign up with them.

member for 21.5 years, 1 visits, last login: 21.4 years ago
lodged 21.5 years ago


Pz_
join:2001-03-31
Brownsburg, IN

Pz_

Member

yup

I live in the same area, I too have Comcast. I've been around for awhile though. So I have had enough time to watch the service and speed slowly erode to what it has become today. @home was a whole lot better. But, as people are quick to point out, they are gone now. And it MUST have been because they provided service and quality to their customers. I'm sure Comcast will survive since they do neither.

Its the best deal in town, but if you ever have trouble with it, I hope the deity of your choice has mercy on your soul.

indymedic
@tamqfl1.dsl-verizon.

indymedic

Anon

Agreed, comcast support is awful

I had @home from day one, then switched to comcast. Never in my life have I talked to so many rocks. I actually just got off the phone with the third person this morning. I was told I could "snowbird" my account for $5 a month and cancel cable tv until I returned to Indiana in June (this was back on Feb 1), today I got a bill for the snowbird amount ($5) PLUS my customary monthly charges. The first person I talked to said I couldn't cancel my TV service and maintain my internet ($5 to snowbird the TV and $10 to snowbird the internet), and the snowbird wasn't offered after april 1, the second person I talked to (I requested a supervisor but he refused to connect me to one) said the tv could be cancelled, and the snowbird was in effect since feb ($10/month), the third person told me I could cancel the tv, but the snowbird was not offered for the internet. Additionally the internet service would go up to $60/month without the tv service according to her. She insisted that my internet and cable was never shut off (I was home for 5 days in March and neither TV nor internet was working). I told her I would just call back and talk to someone else, maybe they would give me everything for free since each person I talked to quoted me a different price. I figured if I talked to enough people they would eventually PAY ME to subscribe. The moral? Customer (dis) service is horrible- every person I talked to gave me a different story and price. But I really never had a problem with the actual product, it was nearly always up, speeds were awesome- consistently 1.5 Mbps+ down, but the price is pretty stiff and they are always adding $0.30 here and $0.50 there to the bill.

Review by QuadrantFive5 See Profile

  • Location: Silver Spring, Montgomery, MD, USA
  • Cost: $39 per month
  • Install: about 4 days
On time, basically a 15 min install
Mixup over my owning modem took 1 hr to get it into database
1500/128 is WAY better than NAS 384/384 @ $160/mo.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

09/11/02 - Update:

So far no problems I can lay at the door of COMCAST. Speeds still about the same, better during regular work day, slightly slower during times "everyone else" is at home.

07/23/02 - Installer arrived on time, after calling to confirm street name. Replaced missing cable connector, then it took about an hour to reach the right person that knew how to enter my Motorola SB4200 into their database. Apparently every modem must be in their database whether they own it or not. The support person we called kept insisting she couldn't do that, and put us on hold, or tranferred to wrong dept. Installer finally called his buddy at the main office (in 'Operations'?) and it was done in 2 minutes. I configured my PC's network settings manually, rebooted and Bob's your uncle, I'm on. Installer recommended to NOT download their software to "auto-configure" your PC.

I'm on nearly all day, and tests show I'm getting about 1400/110 of my 1500/128 rated speed with dynamic IP. Very satisfactory so far. BTW, if you're getting the $19.95/mo for 3 months deal, expect to be billed the 1st and last month on the 1st invoice.



member for 21.7 years, 276 visits, last login: 19.1 years ago
updated 21.5 years ago


jbgroup1
Non Conformist
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
Dayton, MD

jbgroup1

Premium Member

To me 1500kbps is slow.

Using @home and later "upgrading" to COMCAST Pro (actually going back to what I had in the beginning with @home) I just would not be able to use 1500kbps. COMCAST Pro's 3500kbps just is the way to go for me. I'm sure if I tried a higher speed then 3500kbps would not be good enough. They say you cannot have too much bandwidth and I can certainly say that that statement is true. Now some people would say that COMCAST Pro is expensive but I paid roughly the same amount for DSL and had only 1500kbps and one IP. Now I have speeds of up to 3500kbps and 5 "persistent" IP's lasting six months although I have had the same IP since January when I started with COMCAST.

LiLTizz
Back with comcast
Premium Member
join:2001-11-11
Ypsilanti, MI

LiLTizz

Premium Member

Re: To me 1500kbps is slow.

do u use the VPN? pro is not intended for home users alothough so many fell 4 the trap and coughed up the 95bucks when they were rolling out 2000/256 for 59 a month oh well i sure wont pay 95, im completely satisfied with 1500 down its the 128 up thats a real drag!

youwerido
@rrcnet.com

youwerido

Anon

lelak

haha

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: lelak

Cant hit your caps of 1500/128? dont bother upgrading to pro.
solgae84
join:2000-12-07
Boyds, MD

solgae84

Member

I agree! 1500/128 is much more better than 768/128

I've been in comcast for almost a year and now, I'm happier than ever because now my speed closely approaches to their advertised speeds, when it hit 80% of that (1200). The only problem is, it seems to go down more frequently than ever for a few minutes. But other than that, it's going well. I don't need the speed for Pro. It's too expensive to me anyway.

MagamiAKO
@catonv01.md.comcast.

MagamiAKO

Anon

Comcast sucks

Before the switch from @home to comcast, I had around a 4-5mbit download and a 1.2mbit upload. After the switch, I have 1500kbps down and 128kbit up.

This is pitifully slow! $95/month is a freakin' ripoff for not even as fast as I got before.

To be honest, I'd rather move to Sweden...320 Kronas/month for 10mbit symmetrical, no strings attached, no download limits. That's right boys, this is equivalent to $34.12 USD/month for that kind of connection. Anything less than that speed for more than that price is a RIP OFF.
ClaytonT2003
join:2001-11-07
Murfreesboro, TN

ClaytonT2003

Member

Comcast is getting better though...

Comcast has had some problems. I think anyone would agree with that. The transition from @home was a total nightmare for just about everyone except for a few lucky individuals. It took much longer than expected and had more errors than they thought they were going to have. And once they got the new network on its feet, they were still having speed issues. I remember because during that time, Comcast was having a lot of horror stories posted on this site. But things have obviously gotten better because you hardly ever see Comcast listed under the horror stories section anymore. The only problem I've had within the past few months was that the node I was on was overloaded and it was making everything extremely slow. Web browsing, file downloading, music downloading, online gaming, you name it. I was told by a tech on the phone that the maximum amount of people a node can handle before problems start is around 175. Then he told me that there were about 350 people on my node. And what drove me crazy was that the next node over only had about 50 people on it. Does that sound screwed up to anyone else? So I told him either he switch my account and connection to the other node or he would be losing a customer and I'd be taking a few people with me (friends in the area who use Comcast as well). So we went through the process and the next day I was back up to my usual speeds and I haven't had any problems since. So as long as they keep me on this node and don't decide to overload it like they did the other one, things should be ok. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Review by drinkerofales See Profile

  • Location: Orange, Orange, CA, USA
  • Cost: $42 per month
Reliable, cheap,
Not easy to set up pop3/news servers
Does what it should
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

I have now moved away from the Fullerton/Placentia area. I live now in Orange and the HSI provider for cable here is RoadRunner.

The cable for internet was here when I moved so I just needed to hook it up to the router/hub setup I had for my last house and walla!

It is listed as 1500/384 and the down is usually a little higher, the up is a little lower. It is static IP that came with a 3com sharkfin cable modem. Getting mail and new is a little more difficult than I imagined, but I am lazy sometimes.

There really isn't much to say about anything else. I have not experienced an outage, nor had any problems yet. We have 3 computers running on the same line with no problems.

I don't know why it says I have comcast, when in Orange there is only RoadRunner.

member for 22.9 years, 759 visits, last login: 17.9 years ago
updated 21.5 years ago

kshive2
join:2001-04-19
Placentia, CA

kshive2

Member

Comcast Uplink speed?

I'm looking to get cable too but I was wondering what your uplink speed was. I currently have DSL and I can't get over 128k uplink. Do you ever get a higher uplink than 128k? I live in Placentia, right next door to Cal State Fullerton so I'm pretty close to you.

--ks

cxv
@home.com

cxv

Anon

Re: Comcast Uplink speed?

comcast @home has a upstream cap of 128 too, sorry

LiLTizz
Back with comcast
Premium Member
join:2001-11-11
Ypsilanti, MI

LiLTizz

Premium Member

Earthlink cable 384up

go for it I notice there all over your area.

TKAT2
?
Premium Member
join:2001-09-24
O Fallon, IL

TKAT2

Premium Member

I agree

Get EarthLink Cable if you can. Make sure the cable lines aren't capped at 128k though. I know the cable in my area is capped at 128k through Charter/Pipeline powered by EarthLink. It sucks, thank God for DSL through EarthLink/Covad (1500/384).
dale88
join:2001-01-26
Alexandria, VA

dale88

Member

Wrong provider

Why are you reviewing for Comcast when you have roadrunner?
wxguy
join:2000-12-19
Bowie, MD

wxguy

Member

Lend a hand--please

drinker:

I note that your prior setup has included a router and hub with you cable modem and you plan to go in the same direction. I need some help in configuring a similar setup. I have a Netgear 311 router and hub with my Comcast DCM245 modem. I've been able to open the router config menus but can figure out which needs to be entered and where. Can you or someone else reading these discussions give me the needed steps and entries? Thanks.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

comcast

you can get comcast pro ($95/month) to get that 300kbps upload.
Cecil5
join:2002-05-07
Gaithersburg, MD

Cecil5

Member

Re: comcast

yes but I dont think 300 upload is worth $99/month!
I have comcast in the DC area and realy its not to bad accept for 128 upload,and even with 128 upload you can do anyhting on the net but host large servers.

Review by Rucinski1 See Profile

  • Location: Detroit, Wayne, MI, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days
Next day install; it works
Clueless Installers (ITT Grads); CS Cluless
Three (3) locations WORK!
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

Preliminary Report!

Subject: Comcast@Home Broadband and CATV

Executive Summary: Favorable

Opinion: Snake Oil; may as well be Ameritech customer service representatives.

Web Site: Useless; see Opinion above.

Installation: Prompt! On-Time (Scheduled: 14:00-16:00 arrival at 15:00) Installation completed at 17:30.

Price: Yet to be determined. Pricing, services (up/down), capacity (size of pipe), DUH?

Installer Competence: Minimal - Independent contractor. (see Case Study below.)

Case Study:

Dropped Comcast cable television five years ago because of poor reception and frequent outages. Sent a VHS tape to their Southfield, Michigan engineer. The tape came back with no note, apology, or credit for lack of service. Can you say cancel?

Install "rabbit ears" and enjoy a better quality picture on the upper channels via broadcast and specialty channels (CBEF, Windsor, Ontario) not carried by Comcast.

Enter broadband. Customer service is only interested in selling "premium" programming. I ask for a rate sheet. No such thing, we don't have a fax, you will have to call (toll call) the Southfield office. Same story there.

Since Comcast is the ONLY provider of plant, the Detroit Cable Commission intervened. Communication was difficult as Ameritech had not "fixed" their telephones and our conversations, with a sincere person, were interrupted with various noises and fax tones.

Received a prompt call-back from Comcast asking if tomorrow was OK for scheduling the installation. EXCELLENT! They arrived within the three hour time-frame and charged two hours for their 90 minute visit. Since installation was "free" I have no problem with the $9.95 charge for the extra outlet.

They also REPLACED the drop from the pole to the house, it having sat unused for many years. This exceeded my expectations; however, they twist-tied the new wire to the old (breaking the ground-messenger-wire) in several places. They did not have or were willing to use a drill to properly fasten the cable to the stucko facade. Neither were they interested in using the "pull-rope" in the conduit from the weather-head some twenty feet from ground level.

Quick and dirty gets the job done. (I am in an historic neighborhood and find extraneous outside wiring offensive.)

So, we are back inside and the argument continues about placing taps (splitters.)

We discuss dB loss and they ain't 'movin from "the grand goal." Since the wet-plaster walls are now visible, explaining future expansion falls upon deaf ears.

It would have cost them NOTHING to install the second cable. It will now take a second trip to add the wire for additional TV outlets. (Each outlet adds a 3.5 dB drop in signal.) Having graduated from ITT and looking forward to more classes, they had no clue as to the consequences of their actions.

Examining the "crimps," person "A" had better skills than person "B." Both had the good sense to inspect a proper ground wire, of which I approve. Neither of whom removed and cleaned (sandpaper) the connection to the cold-water-pipe.

Of course, they left the shop with a load of "BAD" digital converter boxes, The last one, designated for this address, and it, too, was bad, a.k.a. inoperable. They were more upset than I.

Cable box is working! Somewhere slower than 1.2Mbps down and 128 up.

Unfortunately, they had no clue about NNTP. So, I am back to Worldnet for mail and news.

With a lot of phone calls to make,

Bob



member for 22.6 years, 21 visits, last login: 20.5 years ago
lodged 21.5 years ago


redsky
We're All Mad Here.
join:2002-08-30
Lansing, MI

redsky

Member

funny you should mention contractors

I just got HSI & phone service. My phone tech was a comcast employee, he was very nice and answered all of my questions.

The funny part is, that he had been delayed for 3 hours previously because a clueless independent contractor had botched up a phone install and needed help..whoops

Review by Ebeneezer7 See Profile

  • Location: West Chester, Chester, PA, USA
  • Cost: $95 per month
  • Install: about 14 days
Insanely fast
Advanced skills may be required
If basic cable works okay then upgrade to PRO level. Otherwise...
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

Comcast cable Pro - $95 per month
(same cost as a good dsl 1500/384 provider with static ip's)

Average "real world" speed...
Down: 3670 Kb/s (insanely fast)
Up: 357 Kb/s (adequate)

PRO: Blistering fast download speed. Jeepers!

CON: I changed the dns servers away from Comcast to get fully functional. Blocking ports and servers should be a crime at this price level. Required a few calls to shake the bugs out. Speed is never guaranteed but my speeds were well documented at the basic level. This removed the "speeds can vary" speech when there was initially very little speed change after upgrading to PRO.

Another con - static ip's are not actually static. Then again, my previosu DSL static ip's also changed 3 times in 2 years (due to rerouting after events of 9/11, new isp nodes and some other cause I can't remember). Having to visit Network Solutions is part of my life.

Another con - I have no other choice but cable.

Another con - Tiny little outages each day. Sometimes just a few seconds, other times up to 20 minutes but that is rare. DSL was worse as my previous DSL line would go down for hours at a time.

Sometimes I get weird little messages from my firewalls blocking obscure Comcast company machines like ICMP redirects or PORT OUT OF RANGE. Not Comcast users, Comcast machines (xxx.xxx.xxx.1). Hellooooooo?

member for 23.9 years, 73 visits, last login: 21.5 years ago
lodged 21.5 years ago


dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

PRO!

Gotta love it. they take what you had with @home (comcast pro level of service) then offer it back to you at double the price. (gotta love big business)
zuf54
join:2002-08-27
Hershey, PA

zuf54

Member

Locked in

I just got Comcast cable internet and find I can't use any of the file sharing programs with my friends anymore. I tried serv-u, apache and a couple of small file sharing programs like simpleserver but nothing works anymore. Does Comcast block all the ports? I see where you said you changed the dns servers to get full function. Can you give me a link or some directions on how that is done? Thanks.

Review by crunk091 See Profile

  • Location: Augusta, Richmond, GA, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
fast enough for me and reliable.
cost is a little expensive
i would say a good value, but not great.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

I have not really had any major problems with Comcast, and they are pretty fast and reliable with tech support. I had problems one time and was able to rectify within 15 mins the rep was excellent. My d/l speed ranges from 68-168 kbps, and i am satisfied, and would reccomend Comcast.

member for 22 years, 4 visits, last login: 21.2 years ago
lodged 21.6 years ago


NoComcast
@sri.com

NoComcast

Anon

Comcast Sucks

I swear Comcast is the horror among horrors when it comes to
cable modems. I have been using cable modems since they were
first being tested in my college town with TCI Cable. They
used to charge $30 a month and you got a static IP address
and no questions about what you were using the service for.
I have since moved to Augusta and finally got a cable modem.
I am a Software Engineer, I have used Linux since its infancy
and have always run a Linux server for my MUD and a web page
or two. I ran my Linux server fine with TCI and Knology and
for a while Comcast didn't care, my downloads from it are much
less than most users, a MUD just runs text. One day of a MUD's
text is about the same as someone downloading a movie clip.
But then Comcast starts screwing me.
I sign up for service, I tell the lady all I want is just
regular basic TV with Internet. So she signs me up for the
digital TV, I just figure they need to add the box now as
opposed to what they used to have. So come to find out I
have 400 channels. I figured I'd see what the price of this
service was after a month and see if I wanted to keep it.
So at the end of the month I get my bill...it's a cheap
$30 something plus Internet fee. So I'm cool with it, I
go off for Christmas and think nothing of it. Come January
I get this huge $150 bill. I figure something's got to be
screwed up, must be a fluke or something. Come February I
get give TV up for Lent, after getting another $150 bill I
figured I'd just turn everything off and start fresh after
Easter. So I take the digital box back and tell them to shut
off my TV, making extra sure that they do not turn off my
Internet service since I had my MUD running on my Linux box.
So I go my 40 days without TV during Lent and come the end
of Lent I get another huge bill for service even after I
shut it off. Meanwhile it's a good thing I make decent cash
to have been able to pay the hundreds of dollars to Comcast
for those few months.
I moved soon thereafter and went with Knology and was quite
happy.
Unfortunately I moved back into an apartment that had only
Comcast as a choice.
*One interesting thing that Comcast took about 2 years to fix
was that the local server would not recognize my work IP
address as a legitimate address. Since my company was one
of the first companies to develop the Internet we have a
class C address. Comcast would not recognize that address
because they said those addresses are only for computers
behind a router. So for 2 years I could not connect to work
from home or home from work without first connecting out
to my California account and back here to Augusta.*
So I decided, screw my TV service I'll
just get Internet because I need it for my Linux box. I stick
up my rabbit ears and get my 4 channels and I'm fine right?
All of the sudden Comcast starts changing the IP address on
me about once a day. I can't keep up with them, I have to
change the IP address on my domain every time they change it.
Then it starts changing every few hours. It becomes hopeless.
Then I find no-ip.com They have something set up so when
my IP changes at home, they can update it for my domain name.
So I'm all happy with that service as Comcast keeps changing
addresses left and right, kicking me off of any online games
I'm playing when they do so. But I cope.
So finally I get a call today. 'Sir, this is the Comcast
abuse center. We have a report that you're running a server
on your cable line. You're going to have to shut that down
or we're going to terminate your connection.'
So now I'm in the decision stage. I could go with BellSouth
even though I use my cell phone for all of my calls and
haven't had a land line in 3 years. So I'll have to sign
up for a phone line that I don't need and pay for DSL as
well.
I'm still sticking with my rabbit ears for TV, screw Comcast.

I'm one of those tech guys...you know, the guy that ordinary
folk come to when they have questions about Internet and such.
I'm the guy that people come to when they want to know what's
the best service to go to for their needs. I will definately
be recommending Knology if they can get it though tell them
to not get the phone service, just go with a cell phone. I
will definately tell them to stay the hell away from Comcast
like the plague. And if they can't get Knology, I guess I'll
have to see how BellSouth is before I can see if I can
recommend that or not.

I have left out the many times Comcast service has kept my
Internet connection down for days considering I've gone on
long enough, you get the idea. Comast Sucks.






Review by nic0n See Profile

  • Location: Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
quick install in and out
slow upload speed
After living it out for awhile Comcast got better
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

i got comcast roughly 2 months ago and it hasn't so bad. My biggest problems with it are the daily downtimes. Also i the upload speed is very bad somewhere in the range of 112. Email is also a big problem. It goes DOWN a lot!!!! Comcast will have to do because its all i got and it not too bad at all.

*UPDATE* 4/25/02

My cable connection has know been down for about 2 weeks i have called comcast and noone is able to come out till 4/26/02! i am outraged i am 19 this cost money! one more problem like this and im gone.......

*UPDATE* 8/7/02

After some work on the lines was done in my area the connection has been great no downtime at all.Uploads are still slow but download speeds stay nice and stable. If Comcast keeps up the good job i think i'll stick around.....

member for 22 years, 105 visits, last login: 19.8 years ago
updated 21.6 years ago

JerseyG
join:2001-12-28
South Plainfield, NJ

JerseyG

Member

La Cosa Comcast

I have had Comcast for a while. I had it when it was @Home. I have had cable for about 2 years. But, In a year I think I have only paid my bill 3 Times. The rest of them were all a refund.

I dont want refunds tho. I want a good Cable connection.
And it looks that with Comcast, Thats not gonna happen.

Upload is capped at 128. Your Lucky if you get 110.
Downloads are good, Somtimes. Depends if you are downloading from Iceland or next door. I say that because my transfers seem to be better if I download from the other side of the world than it does if I transfer with someone in town. Way better.

Gaming is out with Comcast. Comcast is the worst connection for gaming. The packet loss is unbarable.

Im starting a petition to bring to the town "Suggested by the town office" to have Comcast replaced by another Cable company. The Closest Cable Company is 2 towns over. Its Optimum. I have heard nothing but good about them.

I suggest anyone having problems with Comcast start one of these. Because the problems only get worse and the coustomer service does not care. When you can get a hold of them.
heyyou9
join:2002-05-10

heyyou9

Member

Re: La Cosa Comcast

Stop crying!!!! All you people complain about Comcast this Comcast that... Do you think your petition is going to get rid of Comcast, NO!!! Even though you didn't sign a contract, your town committee did... So guess what your out of Luck, hahahaha!!!
ecb1171
join:2001-03-28
Phoenixville, PA

ecb1171

Member

Go to DSL if you can

If your stuck with Comcast your upload speeds won't get any better. Your actualy lucky to get 112 up, as I was getting 68 up until I upgraded to the pro package (which is a total ripoff btw) Download speeds are good usually, but I don't get anything near the 1500 I'm supposed to get withe the pro package. Support for Comcast is the worst. If your close enough to your CO then get DSL...just be sure to go with a ISP that will be around (and who will use a CLEC that will be around) I had verison DSL before Comcast (though I was too far from my CO to get anything better than 189 down/120 up) and the service was great; no down time, good support (though the hold times were usually 10 minutes or so) and great support for vpn.

I'm finding that with Comcast, it can be good but you need to do alot of tweaking yourself