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Review by rkpetros 
UPDATED: 277 days ago
member for 6.4 years, 317 visits, last login: 23 days ago
 Plainfield,Windham,CT
 Contract price not specified.
 "Can't think of any"
 "Customer Service Practically non-existent"
 "I don't recommend"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Here's what I've experienced with Metrocast. Some of these issues already existed before they bought MyEastern, but nonetheless, these are big customer service problems.
1.) I've been trying to reach customer service for a week now. Every time that I've called, I've waited at least 10 min., most of the time even longer and could NOT reach anyone. I finally gave up each time. I don't have that kind of time to waste on hold. I finally got someone to answer the phone and it was the answering service. Their answer to all of my questions was "I don't know", and "Call back Monday". I called back again several times, and when I finally reached a person who I thought could assist me, she told me that if I wasn't at home, she couldn't help me.***Update 2/23/09****Have been having internet issues for quite some time now. Everytime that I try to call customer service, the wait is at least 20 min. This aspect of Metrocast has gotten even worse.
2.) I'm paying for new HD channels which supposedly came online on 11/1. Everyone else seems to have them; however, I STILL cannot receive them. That's the reason why I've been trying to reach Customer Service. Update 2/23/09***HD channels that did come in were at times 'jumpy'. Finally ended up getting rid of cable TV w/Metrocast and now have Dish Network. I couldn't be happier. I have many more HD channels at a lower cost.
3.) When I've needed someone to come to the house in the past due to Internet issues, the wait was 3 weeks or more. Ridiculous.**Update 2/23/09***Now I can't even get a hold of anyone on the phone without a 20 min. or more wait so I can even try to get service at my home!
4.) Channel reception is bad on many channels. Some you can barely see at times. I never had that problem with satellite TV.***update 2/23/09***I now have Dish Network and the reception is unsurpassed.
5.) One good thing is that the Internet Service is quite reliable, and fast. ***Update 2/23/09**** This "one good thing" is now gone. They have raised the rates and ever since then, my speed is generally below 2000/400 and I'm paying for 7000/400. When I do have the very rare occasion to get a hold of customer service, they have me do meaningless tests and tell me there is no problem.
I'm very disenchanted with them and regret giving up DirecTV and switching. I am seriously thinking of going back to satellite TV and getting DSL for my Internet provider. I had DirecTV for 7 years and never once had a problem getting a hold of Customer Service.***Update 2/23/09****I ended up cancelled Metrocasts cable TV service and got Dish Network. I'm now extremely happy with that. I'm looking into cancelling my Internet service with Metrocastand going to AT&T DSL due to the very poor customer service and rude personnel that is employed there.
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 Review by ptrowski
UPDATED: 279 days ago
member for 4.7 years, 2463 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Putnam,Windham,CT
$70 per month
"Good selection for small company, techs in the forum are great."
"A bit pricey but worth it."
"Fastest around, the techs really busted their asses to help the customers.."
| Pre Sales information:
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2/21/09
Things seem to have finally settled down and the speeds on average are where they should be.
2/2/09
Well, things were ok for awhile, but I am still getting wildly varying speeds at night. A test a few minutes ago had me at under 2mb download on a 10 mb line. There was a delay in splitting the downstream in my area so hopefully it will be done soon.
1/23/09
Looks like the guys got everything fixed. Speeds are back up to where they should be. They are going to split the downstream in my area, so that should help a bit also.
1/12/09-
Speeds are still tanking it at night as they are having a major issue on the CT system. Speeds go below 2 MB often and sometimes are below 1 MB. It is not scheduled to be fixed for at least another week. Granted the guys in the Metrocast forum are working hard to get it done, but it has been 9 days so far, and it will be more than a week from today until it is fixed.
Not good....
1/6/09-
I bumped up the tech support rating.
Tech came out today, was early in the 8-5 window given. Immediately he saw the signal issues and called to have a line tech come out.
1/3/09-
Speeds at night are around 1/5 of my 10 mb connection. My call to tech support last night was "I guess I could have someone come out but they most likely won't find anything". Not very supportive for $70/month just for the internet connection. You can see some of the issues here.
»Issues tonight?
1/2/09-
Well the speeds are good while they last. I have noticed at night my speeds are tanking it down to about 1/3 what they should be, of course after I called to disconnect my DSL service. I hope they can get things working better....
12/31/08-
Speed bumps came a bit early, I am getting 10/1 now!
I have used them previously, and wanted more speed than AT&T can provide. I used the same modem as before, and the install was pretty easy. I got their Gamer 6/1 speed. Not bad, low pings. The good thing is that January 1 the speeds will be bumped to 10/1.
Followup comments:  
AF333
@nh.gov
| Metrocast Is PAINFULLY Slow Lately I am a New Hampshire customer at my residence who has also been experiencing a major shortage in bandwidth.
I talked to tech support and we did many a trace route and it appears that the problem is beyond Metrocast's immediate control. The top suspects are Road Runner and Verizion. A few of their routers appear to be overloaded and not reporting.
I am getting 200-800kbps downstream from 6pm to midnight which is really disappointing for $70 a month. (par 10m/1m)  | |
| | 
tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
New Durham, NH | Re: Metrocast Is PAINFULLY Slow Lately Hey guys, if you register, you can post over in the MetroCast forum and we can try and help you out!
»Metrocast Communications | |
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Barrio
@metrocast.net | Metrocast Still slow for you ? I am a metrocast user also and it has been very slow lately, i cant view any streaming videos online | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Metrocast During the day it has been good, but at night is when the issues appear. It looks like they are starting to work on it so hopefully it will be back to normal soon. | |
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barrio84
@metrocast.net | Re: Metrocast Where are you from ? is this effecting everyone? | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Metrocast I am in NE Connecticut. | |
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lesiena
@metrocast.net
|  digital/HD
my choice was to not include "DVR" receiver(the one you can record) with just the regular HD receiver i was saving $5 month.
that unit lasted 1 week. went to metrocast to replace unit, 2nd unit lasted 3 days; a company tech came to my home to check my cable/wiring/box. he replaced the box with a "DVR" unit. this one lasted 3 weeks. the tech and the receptionist both told me that the company had "system" problems and that this was causing the units to ZAP out.
so today i am driving once more to the company to replace the unit AGAIN.
All at a cost of 120.00 month(including ISP) as for their internet service, i download at 6800 kbps and upload at 484 kbps. i have no complaint there at all!!!. let's see how they do with this cable box issue! METROCAST is the provider | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Waiting to see Hi veloct,
So far so good. The work they did Thursday night really seemed to correct the problems. I will post some more tests this evening. | |
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veloct
Premium
join:2003-01-21
Moosup, CT | Re: Waiting to see How has it been going lately ptrowski? Does it look like the issues are resolved? | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Waiting to see The past few nights things have been good, no issues. For now I am satisfied. | |
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Morty552
@vista-express.com
| Metrocast.... I've been having trouble with Metrocast since I switched to them. If I had any other option I would switch providers, tho I must admit DIAL-UP is starting to look good speed wise compared with them. 70 bucks a month for garbage unreliable internet service with download speeds in the 200kbps area when it should be 10mb. Real top-notch ISP and all customer support does is insist you need to restart your modem, like that ever helps. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone EVER. | |
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Review by madeyeb9
UPDATED: 302 days ago
member for 3.7 years, 5 visits, last login: 302 days ago
Laconia,Belknap,NH
Contract price not specified.
"none"
"Latency, bandwidth, customer service"
"Avoid when possible"
| Pre Sales information:
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Initial install went well and at first service worked well. Over the last month our performance has cratered. Things are worst in the evenings getting between 300-500k on a 1.5 meg line coupled with horrid latency. Now it seems performance is bad whenever we are home. At first customer service took laughable positions like “someone must be stealing your internet” WPA would seem to preclude that was our response. They’ve blamed Microsoft, other vendors, the weather everyone but themselves. The CSR was actually really rude on the most recent call when we wouldn’t accept that service would remain like this. Their line of questioning seems intentionally designed to confuse non-technical customers. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck I know something of IT. When a tech was sent out he tested the line said it was fine and that “yeah they had reports of problems in the area… sorry” and basically shrugged his shoulders. I don’t know if they just overloaded the gear on our street or if they have a bigger problem. The point is I shouldn’t have to find out. At some point this behavior stops being corporate shenanigans and starts being a fraud. Given the limited options in our area if Metrocast doesn’t make things right I guess our recourse is pursuing this issue with our local city hall and the state public utilities commission. To say we feel mistreated and misled would be a massive understatement.
Update 1/29/09: So after three weeks of being told we were crazy and twelve hours after we post this review the connection improves dramatically. I guess we'll see what happens over the next week. As someone noted below there does seem to be a big difference between the CSRs you get on the phone and the field staff you meet. The field staff seem pretty nice. It’s a shame I can only imagine how much harder it makes things for them. I’ll mod the ratings accordingly if things remain improved.
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Review by paxcrabber
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 5 years, 166 visits, last login: 16 days ago
Mechanicsville,Saint Marys,MD
$50 per month
 about 6 days
"have responded well to any issue brought to their attention"
"no speed options to equate w/ comcast boosting for short bursts"
"not bad not great, but you need to work at it to get the value from the service"
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we have very few options, no dsl, wooded so sat is challenging and metrocast is the only cable game in town. FIOS is closer to "town". But, for a vanilla cable broadband system they are reliable, and responsive to issues that arise (like my cable router that I own containing a different mac address than what was on the label). They advertise a speed of 6M down, and 300K+ up and if the network is calm, the modem's recently rebooted and my teenager isn't gaming up my wireless network you can get the speed. Seem to be using the same motorola equipment, etc. that comcast is using. Order/install went smoothly once we straightened out the exact location id/address.
Followup comments:
tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
New Durham, NH | If you run into any problems Just stop by the forum!!
»Metrocast Communications
Glad it's working out great! | |
| | paxcrabber
join:2004-10-31
Mechanicsville, MD | Re: If you run into any problems will do... the site and forums are very useful | |
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 Review by nelamvr6
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 9 years, 3808 visits, last login: a few hours ago
New London,New London,CT
$57 per month
"Great fast reliable connection"
"Sill no bad points!"
"Great! The best way to go southeastern Connecticut!"
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Update 10/5/08
Metrocast replaced the wiring in my apartment with brand new coax. The already great service is now even better! They are in the process of rebuilding their entire system. It is great to see that they are investing in their infrastructure to bring me a better product. Metrocast rocks!
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Review by ricbnh
Posted: 1.1 years ago
member for 7.1 years, 141 visits, last login: 12 days ago
Rochester,Strafford,NH
$100 per month
"Fairly consistant speeds and service continuity"
"Uploads speeds are a bit anemic"
"Good value"
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My selected speed and overall cable package accomodates my requirements.
The supplied motorola cable modem (though a bit quirky at first) is adequate.
Have only had to call tech support a very few times.Issues resolved promptly.
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Review by dbartenstein
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 1.2 years, 20 visits, last login: 25 days ago
Tilton,Belknap,NH
$148 per month
about 14 days
"All-in-one Cable/Phone/Internet beat my old a-la-carte prices"
"Only real option in my neighborhood (Northfield, NH)"
"Could be better, but it beats the alternatives around here."
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Had Metrocast cable modem for several years and just recently upgraded to the VIP package. Speeds seem to be on par with what others have reported though I find the 40kBs upload limitation frustrating when you are trying to maintain share ratio with concert trading sites.
My wife claims that the digital phone drops out on her once in a while Though I have never personally experienced that, I have a pal in Franklin who go so sick of it that he dropped his digital phone service and went back to using cell; that's saying a bit considering how spotty cell service is up here.
Service seems to have improved a bit since I upgraded from a Motorola Surfboard to the Arris Touchstone. I used to get regular service drops that would require modem/router reboots, but those are now few and far between.
Though the installers I've met are outsourced, they are friendly, reliable, and willing to go the extra mile.
Attachments:
Followup comments:
tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
New Durham, NH | speedtest Can you test to speedtest.metrocast.net
I want to see if your speeds are what they are supposed to be. | |
| | dbartenstein
join:2008-09-07
Tilton, NH
 ·Metrocast Communic..
| Re: speedtest Speed Test #57067998 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-09-08 07:49:17 EST
Download: 5537 (Kbps)
Upload: 362 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 676 down 44.3 up
Tested by server: 60 java
User: 1579678 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: metrocast.net | |
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tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
New Durham, NH
| Re: speedtest Cool!!
I was asking cause for some reason, there is some routing issues going to NY every now and then, and when I saw your speed of 1.1mb/s going to NY, I wanted to make sure your getting the actual speeds your supposed to.
Thanks!
--
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
Disclaimer: These are MY comments, my employer cant be held responsible. | |
| | | | dbartenstein
join:2008-09-07
Tilton, NH | Re: speedtest So are my speeds normal? Is there nothing I can do about the 40kBs upload rate? | |
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tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
New Durham, NH
1 edit | Re: speedtest 40KB/s is equal to ~320kb/s
So yes, your speeds are normal. | |
| | | | | | dbartenstein
join:2008-09-07
Tilton, NH | Re: speedtest OK... It seemed like I was getting faster upload rates a few weeks ago, that's why I asked.... | |
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 Review by icedcorn
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 2.3 years, 238 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Rochester,Strafford,NH
$42 per month
about 3 days
"Fast connections, speed as advertised after a hiccup"
"Had some initial issues but were fixed."
"in the Rochester NH area, this is it for 6.0 down, but does work well."
| Pre Sales information:
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I had used Verizon DSL for some time, however due to my distance from the CO, the highest speed I could possibly get was 1.5 down. This of course is "slow" by broadband standards
I had been with Metrocast for a few years before I switched to Verizon DSL. (Back in 1998, it was a one way cable modem with 512 down and a phone line up)....Verizon offered $29.95 a month with a free wireless router/modem combo. Verizon also offered MSN Premium free.
So now that I'm with Metrocast, I gave up the wireless router/modem and had to buy a separate Linksys wireless modem. I had to give up the "Free" MSN Premium and go with the pay by month feature ($9.95). I had to give up ESPN 360.
In return for all that I got 4x the speed. Sometimes. After multiple calls with tech support and having an onsite tech, we found out that the signal to my cable modem was too low. Once we got it fixed the speed went through the roof (the speed was always high on speedtests but never in real world downloading).
Now I am happy with the service. The signal thing just took a long time to fix. Thankfully a Metrocast tech is on the DSL forum and I found it was much easier to talk to him about issues than calling the traditional lines.
Metrocast now handles my cable TV, digital phone and internet. I still have had a few billing bumps but they've always been courteous to me on the phone and have tried do to what they need to in order to resolve my problems.
Again, my package is the "high speed" 6.0 down, which I got for $39.95 for six months and then it goes up to $41.95. I phone call set up an install which was within a week, I believe it was about three days. The original modem installed was a standard Motorola SURFboard, but when I switched to digital phone, I now have an ARRIS TW502G.
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Review by MCrevier
Posted: 1.3 years ago
member for 1.3 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Belmont,Belknap,NH
 Business customer
$144 per month
"None"
"Everything"
"You'd be better off with morse code."
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I just recent moved to Belmont from Raymond, NH, where I had Comcast business class service. My speeds in Raymond were remarkable. At one point they were 33mb down/2.5mb up. I was subscribing to Standard Cable ($53/mo) and Business Internet ($65/mo) which included a static IP. So my monthly bill was $124, and I never once had an outage. The customer service was local, and outstanding. My speeds for internet were only supposed to be 8mb/1mb, but it never went that low.
Unfortunately, being in Belmont now, i am forced to use metrocast. The only business internet plan they have that offers a static IP is $100/month, and the speeds are supposed to be 6mb/768kb, but i've never seen it higher than 4mb/500kb. Their customer service is simple a joke, and the connectivity is hit or miss. Comcast is 50 times better, and $20 - 40 cheaper.
Stay away from Metrocast. I'll reconsider if Comcast ever buys them.
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Review by clucas001
UPDATED: 1.3 years ago
member for 6 years, 491 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
Mechanicsville,Saint Marys,MD
$32 per month
about 6 days
"Advertised speeds, Ping/Loss good, No Longer Need TV!!! $29.95/month is GREAT!"
"Subcontractor forgot to put cable box together, almost wanted to drill a new cable line that was unnecessary"
"Much Better than 2 years ago! Stable, solid connection."
| Pre Sales information:
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I considered DSL through Verizon which is, and always will be, unavailable for me.
I ordered the 1.5mbps/256kbps package for $29.95 plus a $49.95 installation fee. I could have gotten 6mbps/384kbps for $39.95 plus $29.95 installation, but I remembered their past of horrible speeds and pings over 12,000 (yes, that's twelve THOUSAND). I thought hopefully I could at least get a stable 1.5/256. They haven't capped me (yet), cause I'm getting the full 6/384 speed right now--and I'm actually getting it!! 5,500 kbps/320-350kbps. Pings to servers are similar to what I get on my school connection of 40,000/40,000.
Order went smoothly, but make sure to go to their billing office. I thought I was a new customer, so I clicked on that option, and they wouldn't let me order a new service. A little confusing, eh?
Install took about an hour even after having cable just two years ago (I used to pay $54/month for 4mbps/384kbps that I didn't even get, and that included basic tv which I don't watch).
I used my own Motorolla Surfboard SB5100 modem.
Metrocast is looking good right now for St. Mary's County, MD. Beats dial-up!! I'll keep you all updated.
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