Internet Provider Question

[john70t]

The fiber will be faster than cable but don't believe the 'speed hype' when you sign up for a plan.

I once had $40/mo 5mbs DSL for a long time until MaBell pulled all their phone wires.
Downloaded MSFS2020 (took a week) and got photogrammetry. but not the best versions.
Also did FPS with it. As low as 60 ping with some international servers. Big files were definitely slow.

Now my AT&T fiber is $65/mo. Something over 200mbs with speedtest. Honestly it's great but I don't notice a huge difference usually.

A $250/mo Comcast budget should get you whatever you need. (them is some expensive electrons...that add up over time)
Might even bargain them down.
A line out front is an easy run to the house

Starlink is $55-130/mo. Not sure about the phone and tv part. Dish and T-Mobile also have sat dishes.

[stevej37]

^^^ I've got lots of time to decide...I can't see them having it ready within a year.

At least I know the Comcast $250 won't go up....I signed up for their 'no price increase' deal last year.
It also allows me to quit anytime with no penalty fee.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

t least I know the Comcast $250 won't go up....I signed up for their 'no price increase' deal last year.
It also allows me to quit anytime with no penalty fee.

Did your "deal" last year come with a jar of astroglide or vaseline?

I don't remember what we had, maybe Time Warner or something like that, and then it was purchased and changed to Comcast, but we haven't had it in 15 years or so. And I remember back then they were constantly trying to jack the price up and sell the everything bundles. What a nightmare.

[KFC911]

I've had three choiches for fiber at one house for many years (never used 'em), but now have fiber at another via T-Mobile Fiber... who have/are gobbling up legacy networks ... sorta like banking in the 80s .

$55/month .... guaranteed for five years...

Then bend over ....

A former hs mate beat all the big boys initially with a private telco with fiber years ago ... then it became Lumos ... now T-Mobile Fiber.

No complaints....

Or I would

Spectrum just sucks ... hate that POS entity ...

[stevej37]

My monthly bill at Comcast was $285 before they came up with the 5-year guaranteed rate at $250

So, yes it's one helluva deal. Lol

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by masraum

Starlink seems to be pretty universally well loved as an ISP, although I don't have any direct experience with it.

I cut the cable with COMCAST about 4 months ago and went to Starlink and youtube TV and thus far have been very pleased. Since I don't do the video game thing, and am a single user in the household so the 50MBS has served me fine thus far. Stream both NETFLIX and AMAZON with no lagging what's so ever, down and uploading at a fine rate as well.

I went from $240 a month with COMCAST to $55 a month for Starlink, no equipment costs at the outset with only $20 shipping charge for the hardware. Paying $85 a month for the youtube tv so the saving was substantial. My COMCAST plan was nothing special, like one above the basic. They make a big deal about providing 1000mbs but 4 months in that was way over kill for my needs. As I recall the 100mbs with Starlink was like $85 a month.

[john70t]

Recently went through Comcast continuing to charge a card for months after equipment returned and contract ended with several follow-ups. There are a lot of stories like this on the internet. A class-action or three should have shut down the company long ago. I'd pay double that to not to give those cretins a single dime.

These are from a decade ago, but you get the drift:
https://www.moneytalksnews.com/comcast-wins-contest-for-americas-worst-company/
https://utdailybeacon.com/80464/opinion/comcast-truly-is-worst-company-in-america/
https://www.inquirer.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Is-Comcast-really-the-worst-company-in-America.html
https://thedailycougar.com/2014/08/26/comcasts-customer-service-earns-title-worst-company-america/
https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/8/5593824/comcast-named-worst-company-in-america

[wdfifteen]

Starlink is better than other satellite options. I'm happy with how it works, but they just raised the price to $135 a month.
The Frontier DSL we had at our last home sucked big time. It went down every time we had bad weather. Apparently, the string between their tin cans doesn't transmit as well when it gets wet. The company is horrible to work with. When we left them they tried to charge me a $50 disconnect fee. I haven't checked, but I think I have a black mark on my credit score now because I refused to pay it.

[stevej37]

[QUOTE=john70t;12657669]Recently went through Comcast continuing to charge a card for months after equipment returned and contract ended with several follow-ups. There are a lot of stories like this on the internet. A class-action or three should have shut down the company long ago. I'd pay double that to not to give those cretins a single dime.



That's prob why they renamed the company Xfinity.
I had to return/swap equipment a few times at the regional Comcast store. It reminded me of a prison. All the workers were behind 1 inch glass and there were glass 'pass thru doors' for swapping receivers and such. Had to almost yell to ask a question because of the glass.

The new Xfinity stores are much better now....they meet you when you walk in the door and send you to a chair to wait.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by john70t

Recently went through Comcast continuing to charge a card for months after equipment returned and contract ended with several follow-ups.

That’s why whenever I return stuff it’s in an open box and I take a picture of the box, the contents and the store - with the person at same time- that it was returned to.

Or - Verizon - if it’s a mail return a picture of all the equipment returned and another of it in the return box.

Oddly enough I’ve never had an issue. I’m going to go out on a limb and say if I did and had to initiate a chargeback it wouldn’t be too challenging.

[Cairo94507]

I had Optimum Cable for about 1 year. Horrible serve and outages all the time with 1-3 days before they could sort the problem. Never on my end, always their equipment that caused outages to the neighborhood. I finally went with Starlink.

I waited several weeks before cancelling Optimum to be sure we were good. Then I called and cancelled Optimum and mailed back their equipment. Got the guys name, date time, etc. Then the bills kept coming. I called and they said, "Yes, we see you cancelled your service and returned the equiptment but apparently our customer support rep. did not process the cancellation. So you owe us for that month. I did not pay and told them their mistake did not equate to my owing them more money. The next month another bill, now double. I called and they again confirmed they saw the cancellation but repeated the same BS about their employee did not process the cancellation. I refused to pay.

The next month, you guessed it, another bill. I called and they said they could not even see my account to discuss it as it was now locked. To get them to open it and discuss it, $79. I was pretty upset at this point as I do not ever have unpaid bills and this bothered me. I agreed to the $79 ONLY so they could view the account. They then repeated what they have always said. The next day they processed a charge for the $79 and 3 months of service after I specifically told them I was only authorizing the $79.

I called my CC company and they agreed the charges were fraudulently placed and removed them. For the next 2 years I got notices from collection agencies. I responded with a factual letter and copies of my extensive notes. I would never hear back from them. They would then sell their debt to the next collection agency and I would have to do it again. Finally (it appears) they stopped trying. So to sum up, OPTIMUM CABLE are actual thieves and fraudsters.

[Chocaholic]

New FO service here from a company that had never run fiber before. It's been flawless and 100x faster than the ATT we had before. Not sure this helps you but I'd say it's worth the risk.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

I had Optimum Cable for about 1 year. Horrible serve and outages all the time with 1-3 days before they could sort the problem. Never on my end, always their equipment that caused outages to the neighborhood. I finally went with Starlink.

I waited several weeks before cancelling Optimum to be sure we were good. Then I called and cancelled Optimum and mailed back their equipment. Got the guys name, date time, etc. Then the bills kept coming. I called and they said, "Yes, we see you cancelled your service and returned the equiptment but apparently our customer support rep. did not process the cancellation. So you owe us for that month. I did not pay and told them their mistake did not equate to my owing them more money. The next month another bill, now double. I called and they again confirmed they saw the cancellation but repeated the same BS about their employee did not process the cancellation. I refused to pay.

The next month, you guessed it, another bill. I called and they said they could not even see my account to discuss it as it was now locked. To get them to open it and discuss it, $79. I was pretty upset at this point as I do not ever have unpaid bills and this bothered me. I agreed to the $79 ONLY so they could view the account. They then repeated what they have always said. The next day they processed a charge for the $79 and 3 months of service after I specifically told them I was only authorizing the $79.

I called my CC company and they agreed the charges were fraudulently placed and removed them. For the next 2 years I got notices from collection agencies. I responded with a factual letter and copies of my extensive notes. I would never hear back from them. They would then sell their debt to the next collection agency and I would have to do it again. Finally (it appears) they stopped trying. So to sum up, OPTIMUM CABLE are actual thieves and fraudsters.

Wow...that sounds like a real mess. I would be very upset also.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

New FO service here from a company that had never run fiber before. It's been flawless and 100x faster than the ATT we had before. Not sure this helps you but I'd say it's worth the risk.

This one is a 'first time' company also. I have prob a year to make a choice. If it ends up costing close to the same as Comcast...I might pass just because of the hook-up hassle. (new router and wiring into the house)
.

[stevej37]

They spent a half of the day in my yard pulling the FO cable.
340 feet at a time.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by stevej37

They spent a half of the day in my yard pulling the FO cable.
340 feet at a time.

If ya need someone to cut the FO cable with post hole diggers a few weeks after watching the "ditch winch" thingy bury it....

I know a guy

I helped the technician locate the cause of an outage within minutes tho

[stevej37]

^^^ I cut the old style buried phone cable once in the 80's with the same tool when digging for a new mailbox.
The repair guy was out there for a full day splicing wires back together! But FO is surely more costly to fix.
.

[wildthing]

I have Comcast at 1.2Gbps and it has been very reliable. AT&T Fiber has been slow to install their cables. Would I move to Fiber? The only advantage I would get is the same upload speed as download speed, and I don't need that at this point in my life.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by wildthing

I have Comcast at 1.2Gbps and it has been very reliable. AT&T Fiber has been slow to install their cables. Would I move to Fiber? The only advantage I would get is the same upload speed as download speed, and I don't need that at this point in my life.

At this point, I won't switch unless there is a savings in price. I'll see what others in my area think of it.



We had lots of rain last night and they came in this am to finish up in my yard. I had to leave and when I got back they were gone. I wanted to ask them about fixing the damage in my lawn. Pulling out and running parallel to the road, they rolled my lawn down into the ditch (lower area)

Will they auto/fix it or do I have to complain first?

.

[craigster59]

I recently switched from Cox cable at $65 a month to Quantum Fiber (ATT) at $45 a month locked in price, no contract and since ATT is my cell provider I get $20 off my monthly cell bill.

So now I have lightning fast internet for only $25 a month. They are starting to install fiber all over town, since we are a newer development there was no need to upgrade.