 HR
@comcast.net | [Speed] Own Extreme 50, why does Comcast want $250 to "inst I've had Extreme50 now for some time. I see that I can get Extreme105 now for only $5.00 more per month than I am paying for 50mbps service. Of course, that is when I realized....there is a $250 installation fee.
I was online with chat and asked "I already have fully functioning 50mbps service, I've seen sustained throughput in the low 60's and upper 50's most of the time, why do I need a $250 installation, I'm already leasing the Docsis 3.0 modem?". Their answer was..."you have to pay the fee".
I guess the thought of me getting twice the bandwidth for only $5 more a month than I currently pay was not exactly a motivator for them to make me happy.
So, users of 105mpbs...did you find a way to get around this "installation" fee when one is arguably not necessary? I can understand flipping the switch and seeing if the speeds are not up to standard, but honestly to just 'impose' the fee regardless seems kind of draconian. Or, does a tech need to do something on the pole/in the house before 105mbps can be a reality?
I am running a 10/100 router on Cat5, so I know I probably wouldn't see 100mbps until I upgraded the copper and the router to a gigabit device, but something tells me that is all the $250 fee is for...a 'network inspection' to set customers expectations.
Anyone know for sure? Thank You. |
|
|
|
| Re: [Speed] Own Extreme 50, why does Comcast want $250 to " I hadn't heard of anyone being able to avoid the fee. It is to have a tech come out and "verify" signals and all that good stuff.
--
»www.VAJeeps.com |
|
 tshirtPremium,MVM
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
kudos:3
 ·Comcast
| reply to HR
for that $250 the tech comes and verifies speed, and signal strength, noise and wiring condition.
It also covers if they need to rewire the coax, replace the drop, have maintaince replace the tap, 'clean the lines', add a node (physical or virtual) run new fiber, add channels or new cards at the CMTS.
Obivously that measly $250 doesn't pay for all that, but on average it helps.
It also does one more thing
It discourages people from signing up for the 105 tier for just one month just "to try it out" while Comcast has to eat all those extra costs. |
|
 gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | said by tshirt:for that $250 the tech comes and verifies speed, and signal strength, noise and wiring condition.
It also covers if they need to rewire the coax, replace the drop, have maintaince replace the tap, 'clean the lines', add a node (physical or virtual) run new fiber, add channels or new cards at the CMTS.
Obivously that measly $250 doesn't pay for all that, but on average it helps.
It also does one more thing
It discourages people from signing up for the 105 tier for just one month just "to try it out" while Comcast has to eat all those extra costs.
WUT!?!?!
it does NOT cover add a node, run fiber, channels, or cards...that is utter nonsense.... no company will do that for a customer paying $250
while it does help curb the churn of 105 customers, it does in fact help pay for techs like me to stop EVERYTHING i'm doing preventativly in a completely different area and go fix any issue that the monitoring system detects regardless of how unrelated it is to download speeds....
the install fee pays for the required tech rolls of the service tech and the line tech to fix the issue in the node which can affect the as-paid-for-speeds..
op- most customers do in fact have a d3 modem....that doesnt mean all people will see the d3 speeds given the proper bootfile....levels, downstream SNR, upstream SNR (in the whole node), in channel frquency response, modem distortions, etc...all these need to be checked and rectified before comcast says you can have those speeds....
--
I'm better than you! |
|
HR
@comcast.net | reply to tshirt
I don't recall them ever doing this for 50mbps service. I believe they handed me a modem to lease and said "good luck". If they have to verify all of this to get 105 service, I'm wondering whats the point, perhaps 50 is fast enough. Thank you for the replies. |
|
gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | 50megs doesnt tax the system so speak as the 105 package does....not mention when you have 105 service they expect you to be downloading a metric ton.....so they figure you will experience issues where a lesser tier woudlnt...
50 is damn fast enough...i always saw the 105 tier as overkill...
--
I'm better than you! |
|
tshirtPremium,MVM
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to gar187er
said by gar187er:WUT!?!?!
it does NOT cover add a node, run fiber, channels, or cards...that is utter nonsense.... no company will do that for a customer paying $250
If you carefully read what I wrote you'll see that was my exact point.
No they can't do that for a single customer, but over an average of 1000- 105 installs the $250,000 they collect will HELP pay for the 2-3-4 times they need to add/split a node, the 10's of times they needs additional line techs to find some noise, etc.
Surely it doesn't pay it all, but it helps and if the $250 bite keeps away the high churn "just wanted to try it" crowd, the long term customer will end up paying of the rest over time.
This is about selecting higher quality customers for the premium service levels. |
|
tshirtPremium,MVM
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to HR
Well it depends what you do and what tier you are coming from but for MOST 50 is plenty.
In fact a clean 12/2 will handle all customers needs 99% of the time, but if you have 2 kids doing homework (or playing games) at the same time you ar streaming something and the wife is downloading something else... you only need 1 or 2 small glitches before many will pay the $10-35 to jump up a few tiers.
It's the "buttery flavored oil" on movie popcorn, you know you don't NEED it, but are you willing to risk a less than perfect moment over a few bucks?
This psychology drives a great deal of the american market, and is why service tiers are designed the way they are. |
|
loveageekPremium
join:2009-07-10
Oregon City, OR | reply to HR
Can't they do MOST of this remotely? when I call for support they always are muttering "ur signals look fine". |
|
HR
@comcast.net | Thank you all for contributing....I'm still deciding if I want to bother with this or not.
I also can't buy the argument that this is to prevent people from 'trying out' the speed and then getting rid of it......there's a 12 month contract required and a fee that will hit you if you try to break the contract early, so that doesn't explain the 250.
If it means a tech has to stop what he's doing and investigate that speed their immediately however.....if the 105 isn't up to snuff...that is sort of another story, that is like "Priority Service" in a sense. But if you have 105 and service is flaky and you still need to wait 12 days for a truck to get sent out...well.
Still hemming and hawing.....  |
|
gar187erI do this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE
kudos:4 | reply to loveageek
said by loveageek:Can't they do MOST of this remotely? when I call for support they always are muttering "ur signals look fine".
yes and no....while you can take a snapshot of whats going on, its doesnt tell the whole picture....signal levels can be fine, but there can be a ton of ingress (interference) coming from a house causing connectivity issues for that house, and/or the whole node...so a tech msut physically disconnect the house and verify whats coming out of that location.
CAEs dont have access to the full range of tools that technicians do, only the basics.
--
I'm better than you! |
|
 L337Premium
join:2005-03-10
Chicago, IL | reply to gar187er
Haha, trust me 105 is overkill. I had it and I know it. Stick with 50 guys! |
|
1 edit | reply to L337
Re: [Speed] Own Extreme 50, why does Comcast want $250 to " i've heard of people doing it without install fee
you gotta nag on phone
live chat ppl get you nowhere |
|
| reply to tshirt
I was told that it was to have them verify that we can even get 105, and if we couldnt, they wouldnt pay us back.
I had NO intention to just try it out, especially since there is a 12mo agreement, however, I refuse to pay 250$ for them to LOOK if there equipment is upgraded, and if not, pay for them to upgrade their infrastructure. they make enough profits, they can upgrade the infrastructure w/o costing an arm and a leg for the consumer... I really wanted it, as we are big gamers, and use a lot of bandwidth, however, I will NOT pay that much for them to see if they can even get me the 105 |
|
Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to HR
with the whole speed increase thing occuring and the 105 being discontinued wouldn't all this be a moot topic? »[Speed] Northeast speed changes coming.. »Comcast radio commercial Proof of Speed upgrades! |
|
| reply to HR
It sounds like they are trying to charge for things they should be doing anyway. They will let all kinds of problems continue for lesser tiers, but if you pay more, they will try to fix their system. |
|
| reply to beckshink
said by beckshink :I was told that it was to have them verify that we can even get 105, and if we couldnt, they wouldnt pay us back.
I had NO intention to just try it out, especially since there is a 12mo agreement, however, I refuse to pay 250$ for them to LOOK if there equipment is upgraded, and if not, pay for them to upgrade their infrastructure. they make enough profits, they can upgrade the infrastructure w/o costing an arm and a leg for the consumer... I really wanted it, as we are big gamers, and use a lot of bandwidth, however, I will NOT pay that much for them to see if they can even get me the 105
if and when you get it and does not live up to your expectation, you expect them to "fix" whatever you think is broken, nag them and demand that they deliver the speeds promised....they basically go out on a limb for YOU only....and you expect them to do this for free? they're running a business and this is how they run it....
big gamers spend a lot on their rigs, maybe $250 shouldn't be a lot for bandwidth.
you expect good service....pony up for it... |
|
| reply to Mike Wolf
You would think so, and shouldn't people that already have 105 service be getting a $250 refund since people already on 50 will be upgraded for free? |
|
Reviews:
·Comcast
| nah, they are just going to upgrade the 50mbit users to 105 mbit and then send them at $250 bill for the free upgrade 
this does kind of invalidate their reason for the $250 bill... the whole come out to check the lines BS... if the net was working at 50Mbit it probably will work fine at 105Mbit |
|
