dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1248
Robyn5
join:2012-03-09

Robyn5

Member

[Praise] Comcast Wireless Gateway Installation Report

I picked up a simple Comcast modem last week to get me on line again after my DSL got totally messed up. Today - I had a tech installation of a wireless gateway. The unit that was installed is an Arris T6862G. Note that I wanted to do a self-install to save the $49.95 installation fee - but my local Comcast office won't allow that. In retrospect - the $49.95 was well spent. Not because installing the gateway is difficult. But because this tech did a thorough test of our connections before the install - tested the amplifier - and replaced a lot of corroded connections/other corroded parts (we have about 10 cable feeds into our house - use about 7 of them). This being Florida - many things that are outside corrode sooner rather than later. He said the stuff wasn't in awful shape before he cleaned it up - but it wasn't in great shape either. And the last time I had a Comcast person out here was perhaps 5 years ago. So I appreciated the tech's initiative in "cleaning things up" (or perhaps this is SOP for Comcast these days). Kind of like having the guy who does a refrigerator repair cleaning the coils during his service (you're supposed to do the latter once a year - but who does?).

Anyway - the install was pretty simple. And everything was working. Until about 5 minutes after the tech left. And then 2 of the 3 computers that were connected displayed error messages that a step had been missed. I got a little PO'd - but the error messages were fixed quickly by 2 fast software downloads from Comcast.

So now everything (1 wired and 2 wireless connections) is up and running fine. Before I give up totally on AT&T DSL and fire it - I will see how the system performs over the next month or two - maybe three or four. Reckon it would take me at least a month to change all my email addresses/preferences - a chore I would rather do in the heat of the summer than during the beautiful weather we're having this spring.

BTW - if the system does continue to work fine - I consider the $7/month rental fee for the gateway to be a bargain. That's less than I pay monthly for a single HD box. And if the gateway turns out to be a stinker - I can always exchange it for a new box - or decide to buy my own.

Finally - I have been a Comcast customer for a long time - TV. Because it's the only game in town for me (I live on a heavily wooded 1 acre lot - so a dish really isn't much of an option). And was - how do I put this - totally unimpressed with its service for a long time. Like the old days when I would get heavy pixelated viewing on certain channels. Or like when I needed a new TV box - and a tech would come to deliver it - and what the tech had in his van was an old used POS that looked like kids had been drooling on it for 3 years. The equipment Comcast delivered today was nice and new. Perhaps when you buy NBC (which owns CNBC) - you decide it's time to clean up your act. Fingers crossed that's the case. Robyn

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by Robyn5:

Before I give up totally on AT&T DSL and fire it - I will see how the system performs over the next month or two - maybe three or four. Reckon it would take me at least a month to change all my email addresses/preferences - a chore I would rather do in the heat of the summer than during the beautiful weather we're having this spring.

FYI, the AT&T/Yahoo! policy is that AT&T customers keep their AT&T/Yahoo! email addresses forever. I have not had AT&T DSL service now for a year, and the ~dozen att.net and bellsouth.net email accounts I had are still up and running with no problems. I can use the AT&T/Yahoo! webmail portal, or any of the att.net, bellsouth.net, or att.yahoo.com email servers that I could use when my DSL accounts were active. I know that it is hard to believe that AT&T would be this nice to a departing customer, but I suspect that Yahoo! is actually the driving force for that policy (they want to keep the door open so that they can entice you to purchase additional Yahoo! services).

Also, you can simply set your AT&T email accounts to forward to your new Comcast email accounts and not have to bother with changing information for any old correspondents unless you really want to.

OTOH, Comcast shut off webmail access to my old comcast residential email accounts (and their associated personal web pages) almost immediately after I signed up for a Comcast Business Class account (but they do still let me access those accounts via POP3).

P.S. Glad to hear that your new install went well.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

said by NetFixer:

FYI, the AT&T/Yahoo! policy is that AT&T customers keep their AT&T/Yahoo! email addresses forever. I have not had AT&T DSL service now for a year, and the ~dozen att.net and bellsouth.net email accounts I had are still up and running with no problems. I can use the AT&T/Yahoo! webmail portal, or any of the att.net, bellsouth.net, or att.yahoo.com email servers that I could use when my DSL accounts were active. I know that it is hard to believe that AT&T would be this nice to a departing customer, but I suspect that Yahoo! is actually the driving force for that policy (they want to keep the door open so that they can entice you to purchase additional Yahoo! services).

I had the same concern when I moved from AT&T/Covad/Megapath DSL to Comcast HSI last September. I had been using an att.net address for several years and did not want to change it (or even forward from it).

I found this statement in the AT&T High Speed Internet Terms of Service Update of May 2, 2011 (»www.att.com/esupport/art ··· Update):

"And what happens to my email when I cancel Service with AT&T? Is that changing?
We have changed our previous practice so that you will now be able to keep your email address even if you choose to disconnect your High Speed Internet Service with AT&T."

So far, like NetFixer, I've been able to continue using my att.net address, even though it is now a Yahoo premium POP/SMTP account.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

2 edits

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by telcodad:

So far, like NetFixer, I've been able to continue using my att.net address, even though it is now a Yahoo premium POP/SMTP account.

And I think that it is because Yahoo! is now the carrier for AT&T customer email, and all of the att.net, bellsouth.net, sbcglobal.net, etc email servers are simply proxy front ends for the att.yahoo.com email servers. In essence, your AT&T email has actually been Yahoo! email for quite some time even if you didn't explicitly use the att.yahoo.com (or sbcglobal.yahoo.com) email servers.

C:\>nslookup inbound.att.net
Server:  dcs-srv.dcs-net
Address:  192.168.9.2
 
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    pop-att-new.mail.am0.yahoodns.net
Addresses:  98.139.213.175, 98.138.83.30
Aliases:  inbound.att.net, pop-att.mail.yahoo.com
 
C:\>nslookup pop.att.yahoo.com
Server:  dcs-srv.dcs-net
Address:  192.168.9.2
 
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    pop-sbc.mail.am0.yahoodns.net
Address:  98.139.213.176
Aliases:  pop.att.yahoo.com, pop-sbc.mail.yahoo.com
 
C:\>nslookup pop.sbcglobal.yahoo.com
Server:  dcs-srv.dcs-net
Address:  192.168.9.2
 
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    pop-sbc.mail.am0.yahoodns.net
Address:  98.139.213.176
Aliases:  pop.sbcglobal.yahoo.com, pop-sbc.mail.yahoo.com
 
 

I suspect that the terms of the AT&T/Yahoo! partnership is that Yahoo! has complete control over the email, and that it does not cost AT&T anything at all for Yahoo! to continue to service closed AT&T accounts. If it did cost AT&T anything, I don't think AT&T would be quite so generous to former customers (I know that before the AT&T/Yahoo! partnership, you had to continue to pay for a dialup account to keep email accounts active if you terminated DSL service).

Whatever the motivation, the fact that AT&T has allowed me to keep using my old AT&T email accounts (I use them as front-end pseudo store and forward servers for my inhouse email servers) has saved me from having to pay for a store and forward service. My Comcast Business Class service is reliable, but an email server needs to be on-line 24/7 with near zero downtime, and no standard ISP service is really going to be able to deliver that level of reliability.

When AT&T shafted me last year by arbitrarily creating a rule that does not allow more than one DSL account per customer/address, I immediately terminated my remaining DSL account and POTS service (that I used for faxing) with them. I would have immediately ported my cell phone numbers to Sprint or Verizon except for a stiff ETF. Since I have not really had any problems with my AT&T Mobility service, I now may not terminate my AT&T Mobility service when the ETF expires, simply because AT&T has allowed me to continue to use my old AT&T email accounts.

Some good deeds actually do go unpunished. ;)
Robyn5
join:2012-03-09

Robyn5

Member

Thanks for the useful information. I have 3 email accounts - and there is one I definitely want to divorce. Too much spam. Which I get because I gave my email address to the Florida Bar - which made it public. A few enterprising souls put together an email address directory for Florida Bar members - sold thousands of copies of it - and now I get at least 20 spams a day. The reason I know it's because of the Florida Bar is because all the emails identify me as a lawyer ("Dear Counselor" - etc.). Robyn