Finding a backup to Excite@Home for 4 million
(old news - 12:11PM Thursday Nov 29 2001)
CNET and technews.com and ABC news : Comcast and other @home networks are warning their customers that since a bankruptcy judge could shut them down this friday, they may need to find backup access solutions such as dialup. If your branch of @home claims to be immune to risk please post. Creditors of @Home are pushing for a shutdown in order to maximise possible debt recovery. Dear Cox @ Home Customer: As you know from our previous emails, Excite @ Home, our vendor in delivering your Cox @ Home service, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection at the end of September. We have endeavored to keep you informed of the potential impact this Bankruptcy could have on your Cox @ Home service and are writing to you today to provide the latest information we have available. First, we want you to know that we are committed to providing you uninterrupted high speed Internet service. Cox Communications has been working diligently in negotiations with Excite @ Home and using all legal avenues available to protect you, our valued customer. Meanwhile, we have been forging ahead with our plans to deliver reliable high speed Internet service to you on our Cox-managed network. You will soon be receiving additional information about our new Cox High Speed Internet(sm) service, along with information to help you convert to this new service. The latest developments with Excite @ Home: This month, Excite @ Home's creditors petitioned the Bankruptcy court with a motion to allow Excite @ Home to terminate service agreements with its cable affiliates on November 30th. This includes agreements with Cox, Comcast and AT&T. If the Court grants the creditors' request, there conceivably could be a temporary disruption in the services that Excite @ Home provides to approximately 3.7 million customers served by its North American cable affiliates. We are doing everything possible to see that there will not be a disruption in your service, but also want you to understand the possibilities and to be prepared: *If the Judge's ruling states that Excite @ Home may terminate its service agreements with Cox and the other cable affiliates, this does not mean that Excite @ Home will automatically turn off the service on November 30th. *With the Judge's approval, Excite @ Home would then have the ability to make a decision on termination; however, we are negotiating with them to prevent any service disruption. *If Excite @ Home decides to terminate service despite our efforts to negotiate a temporary arrangement, the question remains as to when the service would be terminated. We are doing everything we can to ensure that your Cox @ Home service continues until we can transition you to our new Cox-managed Internet service. In short, we are doing our best to make sure that you will never be without high speed Internet service. Additional help Cox is providing: In addition to exercising legal avenues, negotiating with Excite @ Home, and building our own high speed Internet service, Cox is also offering the following to help you and to keep you informed during this transitional period: * Toll Free Customer Information Line (1-877-832-4751). You can call in for the latest updates as we work to quickly resolve any service issues. * Website Message Center at www.cox.com/info We will provide online updates and a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) section to address your concerns. * Automatic Account Credits. We will credit your account automatically for service and leased equipment so that you are reimbursed for any time you are without service. * Free, temporary dial-up Internet access. In the unlikely event that you should experience a service disruption, we have arranged for temporary dial-up access to the Internet via NetZero(r). In order to take advantage of this precautionary option, please see the "What Should I be Doing Right Now" section that follows. Cox has a long history of outstanding service in your community. We pride ourselves on providing high quality products and the best customer service. Please know that we are committed to our customers and understand the extent to which you enjoy the services we provide. We recognize that you have a choice in service providers and we will continue to do our best to remain your choice now and in the future. In advance, we apologize for any inconvenience that the Bankruptcy of our vendor Excite @ Home may cause you. Stay tuned for more details, and thank you for choosing Cox. Sincerely, The Cox High-Speed Internet Team Cox Communications, Inc. _______________________________ What Should I be Doing Right Now? 1. Check your Cox @ Home email daily. Opened messages will be saved automatically to your hard drive. 2. Download free dial-up Internet software. In the unlikely event that Excite @ Home terminates your service, you would lose connectivity to the Internet and access to your Cox @ Home services such as email and webspace. We do not recommend that you install the software at this time, just download the software and save it so that it may be installed should you have an interruption in service. In order to restore access to the Internet and to set up a temporary email address, we recommend that you register for dial-up service via NetZero and download the necessary software. You will not be able to download the software from your home after your Internet service has already been disrupted. While a free dial-up connection is not ideal, it will give you temporary access to the Internet for surfing, making transactions, etc. However, you will not be able to access your Cox @ Home email accounts while the service is shut down. For information on how to download this software, please visit www.cox.com/info 3. Back up your personal web page to your hard drive or to a CD. (This is a good precautionary measure to follow at any time.) 4. In the unlikely event that there is a disruption in service, keep your cable modem connected to your PC until service is restored. 5. Watch for more information from Cox on the transition of your service to Cox High Speed Internet. At such time that you can make the transition to our new service, Cox will be providing you with all of the information you need to make your transition as smooth as possible.
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 wtansill
Ncc1701
join:2000-10-10
Falls Church, VA | Gee, what a surprise Bondholders may force a shutdown to maximize their profits, yet there is absolutely no protection for the millions of subscribers who've put up their hard-earned dollars for service that they will likely never see. | |
|  | 
mattman
join:1999-10-25
Lafayette Hill, PA
| Re: Gee, what a surprise Well, I don't think its their profits they are trying to maximize their profits, because, there are none. What the bondholders are trying to do is minimze their loses since each day @home is running, the more money they are losing. Thats what bondholders typically do, and they have a lot more say than the shareholders, which have zero say right now.
Matt | |
| | | 
NetworkJoe
@splitrock.net
| Re: Gee, what a surprise Actually, as of the recent renegotiation of the @home contracts with cox, att, etc, they're making money again.
The bondholders are mad because they want their money back, and the ATT deal is not profitable for them. It's a reasonable position for them to take, i guess, but they're going to screw a lot of people on the off chance that selling @home, router by router and switch by switch, might make them more money than a big lump sum.
Incidentally, if they do that, i forsee new problems for cisco etc. why buy new when you can get it at a firesale? 
refs:
»www.internetnews.com/isp-news/ar···,00.html
»www.dotcomscoop.com/athm.html
nj | |
| | | | STEVECH
join:2001-02-25
Mimbres, NM
| Re: Gee, what a surprise It's not just the bond holders, there are a bunch of stockholders that paid out of their own pockets also filed suit. The argument is pretty simple, AT&T offered 307 million for @Home, and the latest count is @Home has 4.17 million users and growing, that works out to be less than $100 per user acquisition, not to mention any hard assets, and since AT&T is the majority shareholder and controls the board, the suits merely argues that AT&T, rather than trying to pursue profit and grow the company, it undermines the company and buy it for a song, and the ONLY way to realize/unlock the true value of @Home is to shut it down and see whether AT&T is right (that it only worth $307M) or the bondholders/shareholders. BTW, the suits also want to renegotiate terms of @Home's debt (kind of a popular thing in the post dot-com days) and eventually kick AT&T out and have @Home operate as an independent company. | |
| | | | | | | | | | | STEVECH
join:2001-02-25
Mimbres, NM
| Re: Gee, what a surprise Right now is a game of chicken, from what I've read, the bond holders are owed a collective of some $750M, so assuming that they won't get all of the $307M (minus expenses, etc), you are talking about probably 30 cents for a dollar, in so far as bankruptcy is concerned, it could be a lot worse (ask the Enron bond holders  ).
Now we can say it's all the bond holders' fault and they are willing to screw the users, however, as far as I know, AT&T and others haven't given an inch either, and it looks like everybody's willing to stare down to the end and banking on even if they collectively (AT&T, et al and bond guys) pull the plug, they can absolve whatever consumer confidence that they may suffer as a result.
By the way, according to the CNET article, AT&T is in the worse shape, as they have the most users (3Million +) from @Home, and the least buildup for taking customer off @Home. The Mediaone buyout does not help them as they have not had the infrastructure to utilize those pipes as data pipes. For example, I have AT&T cable in my city forever, but we still have no cable internet access, it was supposed to be online in Sept 1999!!!
The question is how have we ever come to this, it's not just the home casual users, there are schools, people that do business on EBay, etc and just small businesses that rely on their internet access. Now all these people will potentially be jeopedized. The worst part is this is not the first time this happens, we've all seen this movie before with Flashnet, Northpoint, etc. | |
| | | | | | | 
MickiDaMouse
join:2001-02-26
El Paso, TX | Re: Gee, what a surprise You sound pretty knowledgable on the topic. You're not one of the bondholder's lawyers, are you? If so, do me a favor...tell them to LEAVE MY CONNECTION ALONE!!!
Snail-Modem = Poo. | |
| | | | 
Homebrew1994
Betzwood Basement Brewery
join:2001-11-15
King Of Prussia, PA
| said by wtansill:
Bondholders may force a shutdown to maximize their profits, yet there is absolutely no protection for the millions of subscribers who've put up their hard-earned dollars for service that they will likely never see.
We subscribers paid our hard earned dollars for a service that we have been receiving. We will lose no money, only the luxury of broadband.
The bondholders and other creditors have the right to do whatever they legally can to minimize the bleeding of cash from @Home (and the possible fire-sale to ATT) so they can get partially repaid.
It is nice to think that the judge will feel sory for the 4mm subscribers losing their broadband, but I will not hold my breath for it. It is not like they are looking to shut off electricity or water service. High speed internet is not essential for life.
I really do hope that things work out for us and the cable light on my rented RCA modem stays lit, but I am not counting on it. Heck, the way my Comcast (Montgomery county, PA) connection has been running at night lately, a 56k connection will seem perfectly normal. I'll bank the $50 a month until they come back on line with something else.
Good Luck to All | |
| | STEVECH
join:2001-02-25
Mimbres, NM
| NO, I am not involved, my brother and my sister's families are both on @Home, not to mention a bunch of friends and I just completed a transaction on EBay that the other party has an @Home account (I would be REAL hesitant to do business with anybody on EBay that uses @Home right now, as email is the only way to correspond). I have some interest in this as when I was look for BB in summer of 99, I called both PacBell and @Home and @Home told me then that just wait till Sept (99!!), luckily, I did not wait and gone with PacBell. Over the past two years, my DSL worked great but there were billing problems that really tested my patience and I keep checking back with @Home to see if they are finally ready, but NO, so consider myself lucky . | |
| 
nc1165
join:2001-04-10
Delray Beach, FL | NetZero? Nothing like a little sarcasm. Wait a minute, I think they are being serious! I wonder what President Bush would use if his Boeing jet were grounded.
--
If my enemy cuts me, I will drown him in my own blood. | |
| | 
Jammy
be'suvwl
Premium
join:2000-11-03
Chula Vista, CA
clubs: 
| Re: NetZero? I could not believe that Cox@home suggested to use a "free" dialup such as NetZero! I was on the phone yesterday (Cox digital of course) for over 25 minutes chatting with one of Cox's level one techs in their High-Speed data department.
He informed me that an outage here in San Diego (Cox@home) would probably never happen:
•Because an outage would have world-wide consequences.
•Because there were just too many @home users nationwide.
•And he agreed with me that NetZero posed a hazard with its incessant ads and spyware.
I just hope that he is correct on this one. I am fortunate that I also have 6 months left of a paid up one year dial-up service, but I would hate to have to connect at 51.9 again.
Also the distributed computing that I run on both of my computers would seriously be affected because of the numerous stalls in using dialup connections to turn in finished WUs (work units).
Oh well . . .all I can say is ce-rap (sorry Justin).
said by nc1165:
Nothing like a little sarcasm. Wait a minute, I think they are being serious! I wonder what President Bush would use if his Boeing jet were grounded.
--
Don't you just love Ars?
Ars Technica Team Chili Pepper | |
| | Anon |  Smooth Transition for Now
| |
| | 
clyde_
It's A Chrysalis, Not A Cocoon
Premium
join:2001-05-02
Easley, SC
| Re: Smooth Transition for Now Same here. Charter@Home is offering to move everyone over to Charter Pipeline. The current transition deal is reduced fees for the first three months along with a free replacement modem.
--
"Rockin' the suburbs just like Quiet Riot did. Rockin' the suburbs, except they were talented." -- Ben Folds Five, "Rockin' the Suburbs" | |
| | 
dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ | Isn't charter only 768/128?
so you will be going from 2000/128 to 768/128. Guess thats better than nothing. | |
| 
nwilcox
join:2001-11-28
Marysville, MI
|  Comcast issue
| |
| 
richb01803
Rich
join:2001-02-14
02100
| AT&T Broadband's statement quote:
If your branch of @home claims to be immune to risk please post.
I excerpted AT&T's statement in another thread. Here is the full URL: »help.broadband.att.com/faq.jsp?c···_id=1118
From my read of this, they expect to maintain IP dialtone and email service independently of Excite's web servers (on which subscriber home pages reside). | |
| | XzeroR3
join:2001-11-04
Aurora, CO | Re: AT&T Broadband's statement I work for AT&T @home and they do have a backup network ready to go(hmm what other network does att run).
But then again, no migration will happen if att is lucky to buy excite@home. | |
| | 
Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:
| Pretty straightforward from help.broadband.att.com:
said by AT&T:
Your AT&T Broadband high-speed cable Internet service connectivity, e-mail and Personal Web pages will not be affected by Excite@Home's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
I'm not sure if I believe them, but I sure want to.
[text was edited by author 2001-11-30 12:30:28] | |
| | 
DeathRowsFinest
Tru Prophet
join:2001-03-15
Moreno Valley, CA
| Check out www.attbi.com , that is where you need to go if @home network goes down, you will need to head there for further instructions from AT&T. This appears to be there back up plan.
--
That's what I am, America's nightmare. I am what you made me, the hate and evil that you gave me.- Tupac Shakur "One Life To Live" | |
| | niolithic
join:2001-06-04
Allen, TX | AT&T will be lucky to buy Excite. In fact I hope that they spend the capital, stock and layoff 90% of their employees so that they can purchase Excite.
One more Chapter 11 waiting to happen!!!!
Nio | |
| | | Anon | Well, I've just gone thru the situation.
If you're @home, and reading this, you'll have been thru it too, I guess.
I was down four days. My modem lights came back last night, but it took another 24 hours before any service was available. The browser configuration links on their "welcome" page didn't work (dns error), but I got the job done anyway.
What really sucks, is that my downloads are capped at 1.5 meg. Previously, I was getting over 5 meg (Speakeasy, Chicago), and just ran five tests, and got 1116/114 at the low end, 1241/125 at the top. I haven't changed any tweaks, nor checked out the latency yet.
I wouldn't have guessed it would be all that noticeable, but it really is. It really feels slow. Yet, they have the balls to brag about this being a "lightning fast" connection. Oh well.
Anyone follow up on Wide Open West lately? | |
| | victor3
join:2001-12-02
Sammamish, WA
| Yeah, I've gone through it too... I wasn't down for more than 24 hours, but now that it's on AT&T's network, it is REALLY slow. I ran speed tests as well that resulted in around 1.1mbps. That is definitely not "lightning" fast, nor is it acceptable compared to the 4mbps+ I was getting when it was excite@home. Latency seems to drag as well. And... I'm always getting error messages now about security failures while browsing.
I pay for speed... now that I'm getting 1/4 my original speeds, I should be paying 1/4 of the original cost. | |
| | solsystem
join:2001-12-06
Mountain View, CA
| Im located in the Mountain View, Ca area and have really been having a rocky ride with ATT.
My "service" went down last weekend, came up Tuesday and has been down since then except for a brief time last eve.
Although I have received a message confirming everything is up and running this is not the case.
What is so frustrating is that there is no way of contacting anyone who knows what is going on.
I will have to say when I left earthlink, I received a call from their customer service asking me why I had disconnected. Now with ATT Im beginning to wonder who is running the show.
Very frustrating | |
| | alpatzke
join:2001-12-02
Grapevine, TX
| Is it just me or is anybody else as pissed off as I am that AT&T reconfigured my Internet Explorer and put their label across the top bar of the window???
I don't remember authorizing AT&T to make changes other than that required to log in. The last I heard was that the Window frame wasn't part of logging in.
Anybody know how to change it back?
Al | |
| | | Anon | HI I am in boston. and I get only 56/20 on both speed tests ATT IN BOSTON SUCKS NOW. I hope someone is reading that and tells me that I am wrong or better yet why dont they try to pick up there phone. ohh wait knowing anything about your job wasnt in the job description. I am tired of people getting a job because they are cheapest rates. they should spend some more money in the quality of people they hire so the service raises too. BTW ATT KICK ASS BEFORE EXITE WENT UNDER AVERAGE SPEED +5mbs download and 2 mbs up. Now I cant even get through to cancel my account. | |
| jvaz34
join:2000-10-15
West Palm Beach, FL | Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut They are signing client left and right not saying a thing about the possible interruption in service. Good thing I still have my dsl running. | |
| | | Anon | Re: Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut Lemme tell you what.... comcast has said nothing in Northern Virginia either. They are still airing commercials for the service and I have received no emails stating that there may be a service interuption, etc. | |
| | | | | | |
ComcastMGMT
@64.212.x.x
| Re: Comcast is a joke Depending on your area, Comcast may already have you ready to be moved on to icomcast.net. icomcast.net has been in beta testing for a few months and was scheduled for public rollout on Dec.4, 2001.(www.icomcast.net) Best advice is to hope that your node is already setup for the transistion over. If you noticed a change in your ip address in the last 4 months that means your network is ready. | |
| | | | | mbone
join:2001-07-11
Boulder, CO | Re: Comcast is a joke "ComcastMGMT"
Right. Not Registered, no relevency :P
You would think Comcast would follow AT&T's example by posting the alternative plan on the website or *something*. Silence speaks volumes. | |
| | | | | | 
schipperke
join:1999-11-29
Potomac, MD | Re: Comcast is a joke | |
| | | | |
schipperke
join:1999-11-29
Potomac, MD | Damn.. my Comcast service was down about a day a little over a week ago. I'm in MD, the county that outlawed Santa (for God's sake)..
Anyway, when the service came back up I noticed a different IP subnet, hope this is a good sign... | |
| | | | |
JTB
@mindspring.co
| Not only have I had "intermittent" service for 2 weeks with no truck roll until 12/15 (they said they were busy with new installations), I have not received a single communication from them regarding the trouble in Redwood City. I couldn't even find a link on their site about possible service disruption until someone here posted the url. Wishfull thinking or gross incompetence? You be the judge. | |
| | | | | | mviker
join:2001-07-03
Arlington, VA
| Re: Comcast Silent in Philly | |
| | |
Evstok
@home.com | Re: Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut Nothing in Tallahassee, FL either. | |
| | | | LauranTech
join:2001-02-21
Cranford, NJ | Re: Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut Not saying anything in NJ either | |
| | | | |
Darkshadow
@home.com | Re: Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut All i've heard in MI is that "service may go down" and that "we are working on alternatives." Real help. wouldn't you say? | |
| | abrody
join:2000-07-20
Silver Spring, MD
 ·RCN CABLE
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
| Re: Oh how I wish I was as lucky to have a new nod node in Rockville Maryland, just across the river from Arlington Virginia almost....Well I got an e-mail stating I could be shut down tomorrow and to backup all my e-mail and try to pick up an alternative service. Only the links on their alternative service e-mail were dead when I went to find out what dialups they were offering. At least I already have a backup dialup, but that really does me no good since I really want to have my broadband stay the same...it has worked great and is still working great right now. Please if anyone knows how to get me put onto the new IP, and who I should call so I don't lose my service, please e-mail me at abrody@smart.net | |
| |
Beep Beep
@rr.com
| The good news is.. Those of us not with Comcast should have some great bandwidth this weekend! With 4 million plus knocked off the net, internet traffic much lower in the states..
Never thought I would say this.. But.. Thank god I got Road Runner | |
| | 
morph
join:2001-08-19
Canada
| General Info About icomcast.net good chance the lights will not go out out tomorrow... very unlikely actually..... yes there is a new service offering from comcast called icomcast.... it has been in trials and beta testing for a couple months now and hopefully if needed will be up to meet the challenge of @home completely going belly up.....
icomcast is now up and running fully in a 4 states in the us (limited areas) where they have been working out the kinks to the best of the ability using a microcosom... will it debut on dec 1st... prob not .... will it eventually be taking over your comcast@home service - definatley...... Hey this situation sucks .... will it pass? Of course..... | |
| | abrody
join:2000-07-20
Silver Spring, MD
·RCN CABLE
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
| Re: Comcast not saying a thing in Connecticut Unfortunately, I've heard nothing about icomcast from my provider. And if I do see a disruption, I may be forced to go with the other company I hate, namely Verizon! Verizon's lowered their DSL cost and increased their speed, finally. Let's hope in my area they have Macintosh support, because if they don't well, I'll settle with the lower speed and higher cost of Atlantech.net, or Macconnect.net. I realize I'm lucky to have DSL in my area, but signing up for DSL in this area, even if it is available in the neighborhood often takes 2 months to get a successful loop test. Anybody know of a good DSL provider that offers month to month billing (no annual contract) other than Verizon that services Maryland? Please reply to abrody@smart.net | |
| | | | weenis
join:2001-08-18
Kirkland, WA
| hmm... | |
| | FeleciaSFX
join:2001-08-05
Panama City, FL | Re: hmm... @Home paid $9.8 billion for Excite which is why they are going bankrupt. | |
| 
raz58
NSFW
Premium
join:1999-08-15
Tucson, AZ |  Comcast in AZ.
| |
| 
larsfum
Premium
join:2000-09-01
Naples, FL
| Comcast still selling in Naples Just received an offer in the mail from Comcast. Gave the number a call, and the lady on the phone was ready to sign me up...until I asked about the stability of Excite@home. She then said that did not know if Excite was going down or not. Seems kind of fishy that they would not at least put a "hold" on orders taken during this period. Now, I should trust them to administer my IP's?
--
Fish laugh at the mere mention of my name! | |
| |
nwilcox
join:2001-11-28
Marysville, MI
| Re: Comcast still selling in Naples | |
|
Someone
@home.com
| Comcast is full of it I had just talked to someone at Comcast and according to them they are not shutting down the network and if it does go done it will only be for like an hour. Now I trust the as$holes at comcast about as much as I would Binladen. I guess we will wait and see. Then Again comcast couldnt find their As$ with 2 hands and a map. | |
|
RalphC
@home.com
| Comcast Info Sources Comcast's version of what-to-do is posted at »www.comcastonline.com/info.htm. It's very much along the NetZero lines mentioned for other systems. They have also set up a toll free number with a message updated several times a day at 888-433-6963 with info about the Excite @Home situation. | |
| 
MsGeek
We Jam Econo On This Ship, Sailor
join:2001-06-06
Panorama City, CA |  Adelphia E. Valley to switch 11/30
Ms. Geek
--
Damn right I'm a web hog! | |
| |
See 7 replies to this post | |
Metakomm
@home.com
| @Home still signing people up... »www.geocities.com/~dcrtv/index.html
**I called to today and they claimed they had a backup and there MAY be a slight interuption...We'll see!!**
Passengers Still Being Invited To Board Troubled @Home Train - 11/29 - Even though the Excite@Home service filed for bankruptcy in September and may cease operation at the end of November, AP reports that area cable TV giant Comcast is inviting new customers to come on-board: "Comcast was still advertising the ComcastAtHome Internet service, a major revenue producer, and was continuing to sign up customers, (Comcast spokesman Tim) Fitzpatrick confirmed. The ComcastAtHome Web site flashed 'Enjoy a high-speed holiday!' and 'Get a free offer on ComcastAtHome high-speed Internet.' Comcast's cable division reported adding 117,100 high-speed Internet customers during the third quarter, or about 9,000 customers a week, finishing the quarter with 792,700, more than double the number a year earlier. The service brought in about $81 million in revenue during the quarter." Hmmm. More on @Home's troubles is further down this page..... | |
| | 
dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
| Re: @Home still signing people up... Uhh yea. Just send us your money  Were not shutting down
You will never see it again, straight from your bank account into the debtors account and you gets NOTHING for it. Think it wont happen. Go ahead and think that... | |
| | abrody
join:2000-07-20
Silver Spring, MD
| >Enjoy a high speed holiday
More like high speed is taking a holiday
[text was edited by author 2001-11-30 09:27:40] | |
| |
ejamison
@covad.com | Well, new subscribers get 2 months free, so I'm not really losing anything, I'll ride it out, but if they go offline, i'm cancelling. I ordered today and they said they signed a new contract, its probably BS but I have nothing to lose. | |
| | | 
scaredpoet
join:2001-03-26
Monmouth Junction, NJ
| Re: @Home still signing people up... said by ejamison:
Well, new subscribers get 2 months free, so I'm not really losing anything, I'll ride it out, but if they go offline, i'm cancelling. I ordered today and they said they signed a new contract, its probably BS but I have nothing to lose.
It IS B.S., in fact, even before this **** started to hit the fan in the smelliest of ways, Comcast had already decided they were going to let their contract lapse with @home in 2002. This "contigency" network they're building out right now was already on the drawing board; they just weren't expecting to have to make it ready so soon.
I say take your two free months (if they stay alive that long), then change your credit card number, and cancel. | |
| | |
morph
join:2001-08-19
Canada
| Re: AT&T confident finally someone with a realistic view that realizes s*&t happens ..... i love my modem service i fourtunatly know my lights will be on, but i do tech support for comcast.... and yes it truly does bother me whether it goes down ... unfourtunatly at the moment it is not in anyone hands but @home | |
| 
RoguePimp
join:2001-01-31
Phoenix, AZ | What a waste! | |
| | 
scragg2
join:2000-10-01
Virginia Beach, VA
| Re: What a waste! said by RoguePimp:
I just bought my damn cable modem and Linksys router. What a waste of money. I have a feeling they will be collecting dust for a little while. I refuse to go back to dial-up.
You can use that Linksys with just about any broadband service. If you read into this stuff you can see Excite is going away, there may be a disruption of service but the individual cable companies are all working hard fast and furious on an alternative service. If you are without service it probably won't be for long.
--
Trust me... I are smart. | |
| |
RoguePimp
join:2001-01-31
Phoenix, AZ
·Cox HSI
| I know the router and modem can be used with other broadband and cable providers but the problem is I just left Sprint Broadband to go with @home. There are no other providers in my area other than dial up service. Cox was interviewed this morning on our local news cast and stated that they were working on their own network but it would not be ready till January 2002. Sigh..... | |
| | niolithic
join:2001-06-04
Allen, TX | I wonder what the new service will be like?
There are only a few backbone providers that the cable companies can turn to. Many of these are having financial difficulites as well.
Nio | |
| iluvmycablemodem
I Want Speed
join:2001-07-17
Kendall Park, NJ | @!%# Comcast! | |
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See 9 replies to this post | |
dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
| The Bell Strikes Back
This sucks. Here I go again. uckF this chit. I'm going back to ISDN till they get their acts together...I can't go back. I must. I can't.
Im just a crack head smoking the Broad pipe... | |
| v4p0r1
join:2001-08-23
Woodbridge, VA
| ha! for real speed test i got comcast@home and this speed test is real... just did it a few min ago
** Speed 12(down)/47(up) kbps **
About modem speed!
Logging result
Finish.
AHAHAH sad.. just sad... i cant wait till comcast has there own thingy... i noticed it going down hill a few weeks ago but this is just unacceptable... wut eva happened to my 2000 down 1000 up i used to get =/ | |
| | mviker
join:2001-07-03
Arlington, VA
| Re: ha! for real speed test try doing a traceroute to something. I'm nearby in Arlington, and having heavy latency at the Washington DC hub. If you go through the same hub, you're having the same problem. I called @home and b*tched about it. They say they know about the problem and are working on it, but the more people calling em up, the better eh? Definitely slowing things down...
Here's my trace....
11/29/01 23:12:39 Fast traceroute www.icomcast.net
Trace www.icomcast.net (64.152.74.132) ...
1 10.81.128.1 18ms 13ms 9ms TTL: 0 (No rDNS)
2 24.11.248.33 76ms 10ms 10ms TTL: 0 (bb1-fe1-0.alngtn1.va.home.net ok)
3 24.7.73.21 452ms 509ms 482ms TTL: 0 (c2-se9-0-9.washdc1.home.net ok)
4 209.0.227.117 444ms 510ms 479ms TTL: 0 (pos6-1.core1.Washington1.Level3.net ok)
5 64.159.18.98 497ms 503ms 466ms TTL: 0 (ae0-54.mp2.Washington1.Level3.net ok)
6 64.159.1.129 635ms 591ms 650ms TTL: 0 (so-3-0-0.mp1.SanJose1.Level3.net ok)
7 64.159.2.137 586ms 646ms 625ms TTL: 0 (gigabitethernet9-2.ipcolo3.SanJose1.Level3.net ok)
8 64.152.69.26 601ms 597ms 597ms TTL: 0 (unknown.Level3.net fraudulent rDNS)
9 172.16.2.2 617ms 581ms 597ms TTL: 0 (No rDNS)
10 64.152.74.132 592ms 580ms 600ms TTL:115 (icomcast01.icomcast.net ok)
Also notice the trace destination. Is the New Comcast internet page! They are getting their new pipes from Level 3. They have Tons of unused bandwidth and backbone! I think things could get better sooner than alot of people think | |
| miatasm
join:2001-06-20
00000
| Just a little insight on the Comcast plan Comcast did send e-mails out on 11/28. They essentially said the same thing the Cox e-mail said. Right now NOBODY knows if they are going to go down on the 30th. Comcast has been working very hard on getting their own ISP up online. They are supposed to have all of the equipment in place through-out the Comcast network by years-end and as far as I know the only area that is even running Jumpstart is Charles Co. in Washington. If @ Home pulls the plug tommorrow, then it is possible you won't have service until 1st quarter 2002. The only thing I can say is just be prepared for it to go down, but pray for it not to. Again NOBODY will know until it happens so for now they have to take it business as usual. | |
| | arkolski
join:2000-08-01
Bowie, MD
| Re: Just a little insight on the Comcast plan Check out the Comcast cable test site:
www.icomcast.net.
According to their site, they plan on rolling it out on 4 December, after which beta testers on icomcast.net will get new addresses, etc with comcast.net.
I would guess that if @Home goes belly up, they will be trying real hard to convert current comcast@home subscribers to this new service - if they have the capability to handle it already.
At least from their website, it looks like it is pretty close. | |
| | | instability6
join:2001-04-02
College Park, MD | Re: Just a little insight on the Comcast plan I guess the key question is whether PG County is in the loop ... | |
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linflas
join:1999-08-18
Manassas, VA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Just a little insight on the Comcast plan said by instability:
I guess the key question is whether PG County is in the loop ...
I was told by a guy that was working on my connection back in August in Manassas, VA that some customers in PG County were up then on the test network. | |
| | u2beats
join:2001-08-14
Royal Oak, MI | I have Comcast @Home cable service and NEVER received any notice, I'm in the Royal Oak, MI area (48067). Damn it. | |
| | u2beats
join:2001-08-14
Royal Oak, MI
| By the way, I pay for a 1500/128 connection but have had consistent 3800/1100 connection for over 6 months. I pay 49.95 + 5.00 rental fee. My second IP is 6.95 more but they never charged me. They also only charge me 44.95 total per month. Last week, for 3-4 days in a row, I lost connection every hour and had speeds dip to 500/80. Now, a few days ago, it is totally back to where it always was. I wonder if Comcast was switching something over? Bye the way, I never bothered to call Tech Support....Happy As Hell With ComCast, please hope they continue!!! | |
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