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jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

Service transfer to brand new house - what will Comcast do?

Bought a brand new house, will have our existing house service transferred there when we move. Also changing to HD Triple Play / Anyroom DVR package.

My question is at installation time at the new house, what will Comcast provide as part of the ($29?) install fee, and what will they charge extra for.

On the outside of the house, I'll assume they'll do F connectors and a barrel there to connect the line that comes from the street to the line that runs into the house.

Inside the house. there are 4 coax lines run, all unterminated and w/o F connector faceplaces They all home-run to a spot in the garage where the outside feed comes in. They are also unterminated there (and w/o a splitter to connect them).

Will Comast finish the runs in each rooms? Will they provide the faceplaces or do I need to do that? Will they provide the 4-way splitter?

Technically I'm paying for 5 devices:
- Anyroom DVR
- 3 HD satellilte boxes (both of these part of the package)
- standalone HD DVR I'm bringing from my old house (so I can record things separately).

Initially I'll only have 4 lines run (anyroom DVR, separate DVR, 2 satellite boxes). I assume they'll at least test the 3rd satelllite box. Would they provide any extra coax cable and/or 2 way splitter to facilitate getting each line working? I'm looking at 40' in one room, 15', in another.

I can certainly get my own coax cable (have some already) and terminate everything if it would end up they'd want to charge me for everything they did. On the other hand, I'd rather use their material and have their tech do the work, if it's already included in whatever minimum install / house visit fee I need to pay for.

Thanks.

Jeff
bigddybn
join:2000-10-18
Stuart, FL

bigddybn

Member

I'd personally setup the new house as a new install. You'll be able to get promo pricing and likely completely free installation that way.
NightOwl2
join:2012-03-19

NightOwl2 to jwhite4

Member

to jwhite4
I agree with nokiatech, much better to get brand new service. Sounds like you have a double play - do you have existing phone service with another provider? Transferring that number to a new address might not possible, and you'd want to check on that first.

If you did already set up a transfer of service, I would call right away and cancel that order. Once your move is completed, and everything installed, you can take your old equipment to the office and set up a cancellation. ( If you decide to keep the transfer, and for some reason the closing date is delayed on your new home - make sure that your existing service is not cancelled, the end date of your order has to be adjusted along with installation date.)

You can get a separate standalone HD DVR at your new place.

trythisfirst
@comcast.net

trythisfirst to jwhite4

Anon

to jwhite4
Do a new install and you'll lose all recordings on your Dvr-s. A new install will require new equipment.

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er to jwhite4

Member

to jwhite4
comcast will put ends on all cables, put faceplates on (some guys dont carry many though) replace/add splitters if needed, run jumpers in the rooms, verify the drop is in good order (replace if needed), verify levels at boxes, verify ingress is acceptable from your house, etc......

i dont know why these guys are saying setup as a new install, it doesnt matter, the transfer makes it easy as you just bring your equipment with you.
jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

I was wondering the same thing. I'm changing addresses but I'm not sure if that's enough to be considered a new customer.

I will confirm this when I call to arrange the move, but it's good to know what to expect.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

You can transfer services and still get the promo prices.
jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

The agent gave me $199 yr1; $209 yr2; $234 yr3+ for AnyRoom HD TriplePlay w/ 3 HD satellite boxes. That seems to be the advertised new customer price.
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

1 edit

dishrich to trythisfirst

Member

to trythisfirst
said by trythisfirst :

Do a new install and you'll lose all recordings on your Dvr-s. A new install will require new equipment.

NOT true at all - at least within the same town/headend; just moved ALL my existing equipment to my new house & got set up with a brand NEW promo & NEW account #...
NightOwl2
join:2012-03-19

1 edit

NightOwl2

Member

If you are moving within the same rate area, generally you can keep your equipment. Info from Comcast website. Otherwise it is a new install, Ex: with TWC, a customer moving from Queens to Hudson Valley cannot take that equipment. If you are moving from Philadelphia to another city in PA, you would be getting new equipment.

You always get a new account number because the number is associated with the billing address, also on the Comcast website. And a promo. My error - was thinking of another cable company where giving a promo when transferring was not allowed unless adding a service.
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

dishrich

Member

said by NightOwl2:

If you are moving within the same rate area, generally you can keep your equipment. Info from Comcast website: »www.myhomeideas.com/ Otherwise it is a new install

Yes, thank you for clarifying my post; I edited mine to reflect this.

You always get a new account number because the number is associated with the billing address

Did not know this; I thought I got a new one, so that the CSR could start me over on a brand new promo...
NightOwl2
join:2012-03-19

NightOwl2

Member

I've had customers move to different apartments in the same building and still get a new account number. Per Comcast website, account number is tied to the billing address. It's the same with utility service, the account number changed when I moved across town.

I edited my first post to remove the link, which wasn't for Comcast, not sure how that got in there! (edit)
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to dishrich

Premium Member

to dishrich
When you keep your equipment when you move they transfer the equipment (hence transfer). You will always get a new account number when you move no matter what you do. Like i said the account always stays with your house or apartment no matter what you do. You can tell how many people had service at your address by what the account number is. Lets say your account ends with -044 that would mean you are the fourth person to have cable at that house or apartment. If it ends with lets say 164 that would mean you are the 16th person to have cable at that address. I might add when comcast prints work orders for techs you will notice the last digit missinng so in that case its the last two.
rody_44

1 edit

rody_44 to NightOwl2

Premium Member

to NightOwl2
Thats what im saying you move you get a new account number no matter what. Each apartment and each house is assigned a account number and never changes. The account never follows the sub. The only time a account gets changed is if for some reason comcast made the account unserviceable due to fraud or something like that. In that case when a legit sub moves in and proves they are not the old sub a new account is written so the new person can get serviced at all. A transfer in many cases saves the sub money as a transfer has less install fees and still allows the sub to get new subscriber promos.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA to jwhite4

Premium Member

to jwhite4
I'd have all the outlet plates so you have pick the style and color and whatnot. Let them do the compression fittings, as it takes a while to get good at doing them (I'm still not that good). The electrician really did a craptastic job there, he should have terminated everything with compression connectors, and installed the splitters, so that Comcast could just connect on the outside of the house.
jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

An update: Tech arrived ~430pm-ish (3-5pm slot), stayed almost 3 hours. No problem with him terminating all the coax lines (though all the ones in the house are practically outside the house; I don't think he enjoyed working in cold, dark weather). He also let me run an extension line of about 40' in the basement, which I did all the work.

My DVR worked from the beginning. AnyRoom master DVR took a while to get online; slaves a little less time.

On the video side, he said he had to use one of our slave units (3200M) for a previous customer, so I was one short. He said "someone would deliver it on Friday (he came Wed)". No one came. I called Comcast, they said they had to sent it out, I said okay. 5 days later, an old 120GB DVR shows up via UPS! I called Comcast, they said, "AnyRoom equipment never can be shiipped out, the warehouse always gets it wrong." So I have a truck roll for this Wed to deliver and install.

For the termination, left the faceplates, but didn't attach them or finish the boxes, I had to do that. One room, he ran the raw line into a splitter, so after I put on the faceplate, I was actually short a patch cable.

On the phone side, he gave me some BS about, "I can't get connectivity, there must be an intermediate junction point". So I had to have our base unit where the modem was. About a week later I got around to testing all the lines, they were fine. I think he just didn't want to do it.

While repositiioning the modem, I discovered no battery in the EMTA. Didn't help that a day or so later, the Comcast bill announced that batteries would no longer be provided for free. It took me close to 2 hours on the phone with various Comcast people to get them to finally agree to send me one out free (well, a credit for the $41 it costs from them).

Also on the phone side, while the tech was there, after the phone was 'working', I call from it to my cell. Phone rang, caller-id came through, so "It works." Wasn't until the next day that I tried to call it - just rang and rang and rang. Put a call in, "Techs will look into it." On Sat, wife got a call, "Oh, your husband requested service to be active as of next Wed (more BS), it'll work then."

I think on Tues I tried to call it, now, "Your number has been disconnected." More calls to Comcast - "We need to role a truck to fix it." Supposed to be this past Friday, I think on Thursday it was working. But now for some reason my cordless phone, when moved to my new wired location (not plugged directly into the mode) seems to have problems.

All in all, way too many issues I've needed to deal with.

Jeff
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Sounds just like Comcast. Took me 4 tries to get the service I wanted through the service center, then a dead box, and that's with Comcast already hooked up to my apartment...
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to jwhite4

Premium Member

to jwhite4
Yea, that sounds pretty bad. Let me guess it was a lousy contractor? They have comcast branded trucks down there and are usually ford rangers.
jwhite4
join:2002-03-21
Philadelphia, PA

jwhite4

Member

I don't think I noticed the truck.