Comcast Cord Cutters Shunned...AGAIN

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
54,422
Have you given the big cable companies the middle digit when it comes to letting them control what media flows in and out of your house? Good for you. You are one step closer to a more fulfilling lifestyle. However, you likely also want an internet connection with that lifestyle as well. You will be glad to know that if you are a Comcast customer, you neighbor's internet speeds will be possibly doubling for free! However, yours will not. Thanks cageymaru.

Only those who bundle internet with cable television and other services, and who have Comcast’s latest X1 hardware, will see their speeds go up at no extra charge. However, the speed increases are significant. Customers who have the 60-Megabits-a-second tier and whose internet service is bundled with up to four other Comcast products will see their download speeds jump to 150 Mbps. Customers on the 150 Mbps tier with the Starter or Triple Play packages will increase to 250 Mbps.
 
I have their shitty basic cable package (it was cheaper than just internet, because Comcast I guess) so I should be getting this, but I also see it is dependant on certain hardware. I am confused about this line:

The speeds will also be available to Comcast customers who have cable TV and X1 equipment, but who have opted to use their own cable modems, provided they are DOCSIS 3.1 units.
Click to expand...

So I can have my own modem, but I also have to have their X1 equipment...?

Also, DOCSIS 3.1 modems seem to be pretty expensive right now...$150+
 
This is just one new method of doing what they have been doing for years.

There used to be a time when TV and Internet respectively were roughly half the cable bill.

Then they started amending their packages such that the bundle discount is so large that getting only internet costs almost as much as getting TV+Internet.

They don't see cord cutters as their customers. They see them as their enemies, and want to do whatever they can to screw them over.

They can get away with this because most Americans have only one option (or none at all) for broadband internet where they live.

IMHO, we need some sort of Volker rule for cable companies that separates TV and Internet service, because the monopolistic anti-conpetitive conflicts of interest here are strong.

Either that, or make sure every city and town across the country has at-cost municipal internet.

Edited out phone-based typos.
 
Last edited:
I could live with as slow as 20meg speeds.. So I don't care if they fuck with me. Luckily I have 100/10 speeds with Charter. I'm sure they will eventually fuck with us too.
 
MavericK said:
I have their shitty basic cable package (it was cheaper than just internet, because Comcast I guess) so I should be getting this, but I also see it is dependant on certain hardware. I am confused about this line:



So I can have my own modem, but I also have to have their X1 equipment...?

Also, DOCSIS 3.1 modems seem to be pretty expensive right now...$150+
Click to expand...

X1 is the cable boxes. Maybe only for DVR and higher plans though, I don't remember.

I currently have 100/10 with them which is not mentioned in the article. No mention of increasing upload speed either.
 
I don't use Comcast hardware, but they recently bumped me from 80 or 100 to 120Mb (I can't remember where I was).

Faster Internet really doesn't interest me anymore because it's already faster that I need. Now, if I had multiple devices streaming 4k content I would understand why faster would be important. I'm happy staying tidy under the data cap for now.
 
FYI - I have it in Connecticut. Blast only and mine went up about two weeks ago for no charge. I was paying for 150MB, and I noticed my modem light went from green to blue indicating full channels enabled. I did speed test and received 300MBs consistently over this past week, first time I ever saw actual performance exceeded plan. hopefully it stays like this.
 
Comcast is pretty good here in South Florida, but this is just another scummy move.

I dropped their cable service when they tried the 300 GB per month cap. They quickly bumped that up to a TB.

We just got AT&T fiber in our area, and Comcast is giving me every reason to try it out.
 
Their upload for almost every plan is still 10MB. There are some 30MB plans, but they tend to be $20'ish more per month at least.
I've been really happy with Comcast's service, but my pricing seems to change every 3 months. That's in spite of whatever the people on the phone assure me. Dealing with their customer service is torture, too. I swear every single person that works there has information that conflicts with whatever the last person just said. I can't even ask for "customer retention" anymore because everyone in the company claims to be in that department now.
 
MavericK said:
No mention of a cap increase so I'm assuming it's their standard 1 TB/mo cap.
Click to expand...
Aww fuck it, I'll stay on AT&T's fiber then for $80 a month. I get up to 1Gbps but I rarely see more than 600Mbps I only have that because my family easily hits above 1TB a month.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
They can get away with this because most Americans have only one option (or none at all) for broadband internet where they live.
Click to expand...

That's the problem, no other choices.

What we need is a law that regulates them like a monopoly or utility, unless there is a viable choice available.
Where I live it IS a monopoly. I can't even get a slow DSL line. It's either the cable company or my cell phone.

Dialup, cell, satellite or 3mbit DSL internet is NOT a competitive option for broadband internet.
 
AT&T in Charleston, SC has been nothing short of fabulous. I have fiber going into my home and get U-Verse Gigabit. Speeds are constantly 950 down and 940 up and i have unlimited data. I have had it for almost 2 years now and have had 0 issues with it. Oh, and the best part? I pay $82 a month.
 
It's sad, that where I moved to, I wish I had Comcast's offerings! $50.00 per month for 5Mbps service!
 
The thing... if you're a cord cutter with a 100Mbps pipe, you're probably still ok with streaming. Although I don't know how much data that chews through since I don't stream a lot.

Guess that explains the speed I'm getting through, I pay for 50Mbps, and it's pushing closer to 180. Although I have the Arris Docsis 3.0 that you can get at Costco not 3.1, unless they were able to push a firmware update *shrug*
 
You have to play games with Comcast to get a decent price. Alot of people get the basic cable which is like $12 just to keep the internet price reasonable. if not you end up paying MORE for just internet than with internet and cable.....at least its that way around here. They suck.......
 
Here in the south sub of chicago we have 1 choice and thats comcast. I dont count DSL as a choice. I plan on canceling tv,phone movie channels and only getting the 150 internet which will still cost me 89.99. They offered 159.99, plus fees and boxes which brings it up to 199.99, if i kept the phone, tv, and movies. I figure the internet only should cost me about 1/3 of that price (159.99). Would love more competition.
 
Well, you knew it would come sooner or later.
The cable operators have to find a way to stop people from dropping cable services, so this is a good idea, until something else comes along.

I guess I'm "lucky". I have 150Mbps already in my internet option from Spectrum.......my entire monthly is just south of 300 dollars, but considering I like HBO and Showtime, if I paid 20 each separate for them
plus my landline phone, I'd be pretty close to that anyway. (yeah,yeah.....look I have to have very reliable voice communication and cellular is spotty at my house)

So, it all evens out for me pretty much......not like I can get service from anyone else, one cable provider....Spectrum.
 
If you want to *actually* get to Comcast's retention department, you have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Not that you're *thinking* about cancelling, or that you want to reduce your bill. Any of those and you lose. You have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Then, and only then, will they offer you the new-customer discounts.
 
travisty said:
Yep :)

Contact your city council and get your community motivated. Get your city to run its own internet as it should be a right to have fast dependable internet, not a privilege.
Click to expand...

Spoken like someone who doesn't live in a large metro area.
 
They pestered me with around 8 months of phone calls to bundle extra shit on top of my internet only plan. They they gave up and sent a notice to reboot my modem and I went from 80 down to 100+.
 
I'm hoping Century Link will give me an additional option. Right now they offer internet in my area, but the performance is so bad that I'd rather be at Comcast's mercy. At the very least their product isn't bad.
That's the worst thing about all of this. I like Comcast's product, I just hate their customer service and billing department. If I could get back on one of their 2-3 year plans I'd be ecstatic.
 
Mohonri said:
If you want to *actually* get to Comcast's retention department, you have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Not that you're *thinking* about cancelling, or that you want to reduce your bill. Any of those and you lose. You have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Then, and only then, will they offer you the new-customer discounts.
Click to expand...

Tried it, they said "see ya". Our two year contract ran out, called them about renewal options, I said "too expensive" and they said "good luck". No discounts were offered.
 
Mohonri said:
If you want to *actually* get to Comcast's retention department, you have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Not that you're *thinking* about cancelling, or that you want to reduce your bill. Any of those and you lose. You have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Then, and only then, will they offer you the new-customer discounts.
Click to expand...
I just pack up my equipment into a bag and go down to the store a few blocks away and plop it on the counter. It's a lot harder for people to lie to your face, which I have found to be 100% true when dealing with Comcast. Their in store people are generally very pleasant to work with. It's their online and phone people who flat out lie to you.
 
Comcast is a garbage company anyhow, this isn't news for them. That aside, I need upload speed..I really stopped caring about DL speed past 50meg..I need higher than 5mb up.
 
Mohonri said:
If you want to *actually* get to Comcast's retention department, you have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Not that you're *thinking* about cancelling, or that you want to reduce your bill. Any of those and you lose. You have to tell them that you are cancelling your service. Then, and only then, will they offer you the new-customer discounts.
Click to expand...

Same with Cox cable. Used to be you could ask for a lower cost plan, then say that was not good enough, and that you would call them back to cancel after you had your satellite dish installed.
Now, they will usually call you back a week after you cancel, when it's too late since you already switched.
 
I started getting 300mbs through triple play out of nowhere about a month ago. No complaints here however upload still fucking sucks at like 14mbs. My ratios are barely hanging on by a c word hair.
 
MavericK said:
No mention of a cap increase so I'm assuming it's their standard 1 TB/mo cap.
Click to expand...

Cap stays the same. We've had 250mbit here for about 3 months now. But with a good 3.1 modem it's easy to get 300-350mbit in low usage areas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top