My cable modem failed again, which seems to happen every 18 months or so. So I trucked on down to the Comcast office place to get another one. The new one has a wireless router built in (!) and it allows me access to Comcast’s new faster internet speeds. They really do seem faster, although I have my doubts about “twice as fast”. All at no additional charge.
On top of that, completely on their own without any prompting, they gave me a “loyalty” rebate of $20 a month for the next year, after which my rates will be exactly the same as now. In other words, apparently something for nothing. (Loyalty is a curious concept when you are a monopoly. I mean, really, what choice do I have if I want to have high-speed internet at home?)
So, early days yet, I am waiting to see if somehow I am getting screwed without knowing it. But I like the new modem. Due to this better modem (also has 4 network ports on the back) I am considering trying out telephone through the internet, like Vonage, or maybe Magic Jack; just as a second phone line to start with.
Feel free to share your Comcast (or other internet provider) stories, positive or negative.
Roddy
Apparently the SOB clerk tricked me into signing up for Triple Play, which includes phone service. And I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to cancel it.
They have been asking me for this every time I have any contact with them, and I always say no. They didn’t even ask this time, they just signed me up somehow. The bastards.
Roddy
ETA: And yes, like all the phone companies, any time you get a new anything you will discover you’ve been re-upped for a year, two years, triple play, HD, DVR, some goddamned thing. They Are Not Your Friends.
Buy your own cable modem, drop cable and voice, and go streaming/VOIP for a fraction of the cost.
Jog my waning memory here, Roddy. Are you the guy who had a free remote delivered to your home to replace a busted one, that they then billed you $50 for? Or was that someone else?
I don’t understand your advice. I understand about buying my own cable modem (are you sure this is possible, whenever I get a replacement modem from them they have to activate it or something). By “drop cable” you mean drop the TV part of the service?
Roddy
You are allowed to use your own modem if it’s compatible. Any DOCSIS 3.0 compatible modem should work but you’re best off picking one of the Motorolas from their recommended list. When you install it, you can sometimes activate it through a web interface or call them and get them to activate it. Takes 10 minutes and you have a better modem that you aren’t paying $100 a year to borrow.
If you drop both voice and TV-cable, you can get very cheap VOIP service from Vonage or other providers, and nearly everything you have on cable from streaming providers.
Nope, wasn’t me. I’m sure in that case the remote was free, the $50 was the delivery charge.
stpauler, I had to laugh too. Through the whole transaction the guy was looking at me as if there was something he was holding back; he kept saying “no extra charge” and “loyalty rebate” etc. My spidey sense was tingling, but I didn’t think anyone would just be out and out dishonest like that.
Roddy
I have no problem with Comcast. Two weeks ago my old cable box died, and I had to call Comcast for a new one. They came out the next morning, just when they said they would, and installed a new box.
However, during the first few hours of usage I and my wife both decided that we did not like the replacement (no display of time on the box, etc.) and called Comcast to state that we wanted a box that had features more like out old one.
Without any argument, they had a technician out the next day, and installed another box which we now liked. Then the tech said essentially that while he was here, he would check out my internet connection (also Comcast) to see that it was working OK. He did so, and found that the modem was not behaving precisely as it should. The difference was rather subtle, and I hadn’t really noticed anything amiss.
So he replaced it with an new modem, made sure that all was OK, and went his way. After telling us that as we had had to call Comcast twice within a 30 day period, we would get a $20.00 rebate on our next bill.
Can’t complain too much about that sort of service.
As far as the cable box goes, can I buy my own and hook it up? For the past month or so, the screen goes black and re-boots, taking about 10 minutes to turn back on again. I wouldn’t mind if it did this at 2:00am but it seems to cut out several times a day, unexpectedly. Any advice?
Back when I had Comcast (I switched to U-Verse near the end of 2010, mainly because (a) the way Comcast crams all of its signals into the cable feed, I was having serious TV issues on some channels, and (b) I wanted to upgrade my internet service (from 1.5 DSL), but had heard too many horror stories about Comcast digital internet), the customer service was hit-and-miss.
When I first had it installed, I arranged for Sunday installation, and the installer arrived on Sunday - at 8:30 AM (a good thing).
However, a couple of years later, when I wanted my main DVR box replaced with CableCards (for my TiVo), I was promised “between 4 and 6 PM”, and the installer showed up at 7 (for which Comcast did give me a $20 rebate - and, to be fair, the guy had to cross a bridge notorious for hour-long traffic jams in order to get from his previous location). It turned out that the CableCards he had weren’t working (at the time, the cards were notorious for this), so he had to postpone it until the next day, but he took the DVR anyway - and I didn’t get a receipt for it. The next two bills included the $12 charge for the DVR that I no longer had. I called it in, and they removed it - but then, random porn charges started showing up. (My guess is, somebody else had my old DVR - whether they had it legally or not, I may never know - and Comcast’s computer system figured, “Well, the box was assigned to (me), so he must be watching it, but he doesn’t have that box, so he must be watching it on his other box!”)
Is is possible? It may depend on the box. “The version I heard was,” neither Motorola nor Scientific Atlanta sells cable boxes to the public (at least, not in the USA), and if you see one for sale (e.g. on eBay), chances are it’s a stolen box.
Even if you had your own box, you would still have to get it in sync with the cable company; needless to say, if you have a box that gets HBO, you will be expected to pay whatever the going monthy rate for HBO is.
Follow-up - I had the phone converrsation with customer service yesterday, where they corrected this little snafu, and now they have removed all the extra charges. And now there is at least one (or maybe two) tickets open on their end to find out how this happened.
I would like to think it was one rogue clerk trying to make his monthly sales goal or something. We’ll see; they are supposed to call me back within 48 hours telling me the results of their investigation.
Roddy
Here we go again.
At least this time I can type this verbatim
Welcome to Xfinity
We are currently loading the Interactive Program Guide,
On Demand, and other applications. Soon you will be watching your favorite
TV programs and Xfinity On Demand.
Interactive Program Guide Loading
On demand Loading
Applications Loading
This may take up to 5 mins to complete
3:05 mark On Demand Complete
2:25 mark Interactive Program Guide Complete
2:02 mark TV goes blank and the current time is displayed on SA Box like its in standby.
Manually power back on
Box comes back on however there is no guide information for the channel I’m watching.
Non HD channel
The above is an exact description of the problem I’m experiencing. I went to the Comcast forum to see if I could start a thread, knowing that I’d screw up explaining the problem. Lo and behold, I come across a thread that exactly describes my problem. I copied the above description and pasted it in a thread when I engaged in a live chat with a Comcast representative. She tested some thing-a-magoobers and decided that my cable box was to blame. I’ll exchange the defective box with a new one at a local Comcast service center tomorrow. I hope that solves the problem.