Couple bought home in Seattle, then learned Comcast Internet would cost $27,000

[sl8]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/couple-bought-home-in-seattle-then-learned-comcast-internet-would-cost-27000/

Couple bought home in Seattle, then learned Comcast Internet would cost $27,000

City "has no authority to require Comcast" to connect unserved homes.

JON BRODKIN - 6/29/2022, 7:30 AM

When Zachary Cohn and his wife bought a house in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, they didn't expect any trouble getting home Internet service. It was only after closing on the house in July 2019 that they learned the bad news. "All six neighbors I share a property line with are wired for Comcast, but our house never was," Cohn told Ars.

Comcast's predecessor company had wired up the neighborhood with cable decades earlier and the ISP provides high-speed broadband to the abutting properties. But the cable TV and Internet service provider never extended a line to the house purchased by Cohn and his wife, Lauryl Zenobi.

Cohn spent many months trying to get answers from Comcast on how he and Zenobi could get Internet service. Eventually, he contacted his City Councillor's office, which was able to get a real response from Comcast.

Comcast ultimately said it would require installing 181 feet of underground cable to connect the house and that the couple would have to pay Comcast over $27,000 to make that happen. Cohn and Zenobi did not pay the $27,000, and they've been relying on a 4G hotspot ever since.

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[exboyfil]

3. You do have to wonder how much of the cost

quote is wrapped on in amortizing fixed equipment that is most likely not being used all the time. Perhaps if they paid the variable (labor) cost and a small additional cost to cover the extra maintenance required because of the added usage?

[exboyfil]

2. It was on the disclosure forms

Shame on the agent who was "representing" the buyers in not emphasizing the issue though. Of course their fiduciary duty usually is with the seller.

The expense in hooking up services to new homes is a big reason why entry level houses are not built. This fixed cost is the same whether it is a $150K house or a $2M house.

[luv2fly]

4. Lesson: this day and age, check before you buy n/t

[Casady1]

5. Satellite service

works fine.

[Midnight Writer]

6. Local cable company just ran an underground line to my house (50 ft) for free.

Two guys came out, dug a little hole, shoved a tube down it, and the line runs through the tube.

Took them about an hour.

I'd investigate hiring a third party to run the line.

[tulipsandroses]

7. I bought a new build home in a new community

We were not told that it would take months to get internet service. I had XFINITY before I purchased. They had no lines in this community I was told that it would take months to do that. And you betcha they were not going to do that for one customer. AT&T had already started working with the builder and had some wiring already done, but it was still going to take 3-4 months they said. Since this was a new build, and homes were being sold in batches, it seemed like AT&T did not want to wire the whole community while homes were still being built or not yet sold.
I work from home. I need the internet. I used 4G internet for portable wifi for 2 months until AT&T finally got to wire my section of the community. You have to buy the 4G portable WIFI router which is not cheap. I lucked out and got one on sale on Amazon for $200. They can run several hundred dollars.
With the rate of new construction homes, this is happening quite often. At least with new build homes, they will eventually get to it when there are enough homes purchased to make it worth their while.
It’s not gonna happen for these folks.

Their best bet is 4G WIFI. I know we are up to 5G, but that’s not everywhere. 4G is, and it’s portable.That is the thing that I did like about using it. You can unplug it and take it anywhere and have internet anywhere you are. In the end my monthly bill with 4G was more than I wanted so I stopped using it once AT&T was set up.