| reply to gdm
Re: [CDV] What people think I got really tired of the Verizon act here in SNJ (fees, fees, fees) and went over to Vonage starting in January 2005. Inexpensive, but not that great a value considering the poor quality, missed voicemails and other problems requiring lots of time on the cellphone listening to music-on-hold. Chucked that for CDV on May 9, 2006 and haven't looked back.
1. To my pretty good ear, call quality at least equals Verizon's. All of the extended features really work. These actually work better than the Centrex-provided features at my place of business.
2. Comcast gave me a 12-month promo for $27. Of course, your mileage may vary. Taxes and fees eat up some of the value, but that is largely not Comcast's fault. Here on Comcast SNJ (old Garden State System), is the 1st month's "real bill" - not the bill just succeeding the installation:
CDV - 27.00
Regulatory Recovery Fee - 3.99 (Verizon's is over $6 now)
Taxes, Surcharges, Fees - 4.29
Only 'extras' this month were for two calls to Ireland and they were charged exactly what I expected.
The "Taxes, Surcharges, Fees" is described at the CDV site as "state tax", but I couldn't get a straight answer from Comcast as to what this really means. If it were, for example, sales tax, the basis would be on the order of $71, which is not possible. I only hope that CDV customer service sharpens up.
3. For installation, appears that the installer will do anything to get the service in, up and running. Others here have described their particular experiences. Mine was superb. While he arrived about an hour late, he spent many hours sorting out the mess that Verizon had made when it originally certified the house when built in 1987. Also, we found a bad connection to the house alarm system and completely rewired that. At the end of 6 hours or so, a lot of old problems had been rectified and everything checked out. All for 9.95. Also, even though I didn't complain about the guy being late, Comcast honored its on-time guarantee and credited me $20 this month without being prompted. That is VALUE.
4. Battery - Great feature and a requirement, but worthless if the cable system is knocked off the air. This happens so seldom in my neighborhood - like twice in 15 years that I can remember. However, the week after installation, we had a hellacious storm here that did take both power and cable system down for about 2 hours. Of course, CDV was unavailable during that time. Obviously, for those with disabilities or elevated risk of life-emergency events, you MUST consider the 5-9s of reliability that Verizon offers and/or keep a cell phone charged and ready.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with CDV compared with where I was at a similar point with Vonage and I'm saving money over
Verizon. I'm satisfied to finally have all communications on a single wire into the residence.
I'm terribly dissatisfied with the lack of competition overall, though. If Verizon gets its rear-end in gear and deploys FIOS in the area, I suspect that we'll have some rate relief here in SNJ. I'm a value shopper that demands quality. Looking hopefully to a FIOS solution sometime down the road and if that solution provides quality and value superior to Comcast, then it will be back to Verizon.
Greg Palmer |
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 gdmPremium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
kudos:3
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Thanks everyone for the input still debating. A question for everyone that has it and Greg. Does CDV offer a NAN/Network Availability Number like Vonage? For those that don't know if vonage or your ISP gets knocked off it rolls over a number you specify either cell or real POTS line if you have one. |
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mbruno
join:2003-07-03
Fruitland, MD | reply to gdm
said by gdm:said by Obliteration:Can anybody post pics of the portal(screenshot) and possibly the house set up? I would be interested in this as well if some one can post pics. The new modem can you check HSI stats at all? What kind of modem is it? I would like to see a Pic as well. I know it's not rocket science but a Picture goes a long way in my view. good call gdm for asking for a picture of the setup. |
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Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| reply to gdm
They only have call forwarding from what I can tell. And if your HSI is down, I don't see how you could set it. I really like that feature in Vonage. When my biz lines are down for whatever reason, I could be unaware of it, but calls always go through to my cell phone. Also, it looks like voicemail notification by email isn't working either. Comcast needs to add these features and make them dependible if it really wants to sell the service.
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"No matter how I struggle and strive, I'll never get out of here alive". Hank Williams |
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| reply to gdm
gdm:
No, unfortunately CDV doesn't offer a NAN feature. I agree that it is very useful and is the one feature from Vonage that I do miss.
Greg Palmer |
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 chmodPremium
join:2000-12-12
Lockport, IL | reply to gdm
They came out and ran a whole new aerial drop from the pole to the house put in a new outdoor box and ran some new coax. Modem provied is an Arris TMA402P. Upload was increased to 768k so now running at 6/768.
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Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. |
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 CableToolPoorly Representing MYSELF.Premium
join:2004-11-12 | Whats your phone number?  |
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