Arrrrggg! my area for intenet sucks - is comcast the devil?

[Locrian]

I have dial up that drops me or looses service like every 5 minutes. This has been forever. ATT says the phone lines are ok, ISP says service is ok so I'm stuck in the middle. Plus it's dial up ANYWAY so it just SUCKS anyways. I guess I could try another dialup but switching emails etc is a royal PITA.

ATT put in a big "lightspeed" box about 100yards from my house in freakin December - but there is no DSL service in my area and NOBODY at the feakin home office has a clue to when (if?) we will every be able to get DSL.

So - Comcast. I DONT have cable TeeVee. Dont want it. But to get comcast's f-ing service I need to buy $39 worth(less) of cable and $19 of "high speed" cable internet service.

Am I screwed? I really want high speed - but there doesnt seem to be any way out of paying $60 a mo - anyone work for ATT who can tell me when they will "condition" the DSL box in my area?

[LeftyMom]

1. You should be able to order cable internet without tv.

You won't get the $19 promo rate, it'll be closer to $50, but the promo rate will only be good for six months or maybe a year anyhow.

And yes, their customer service sucks donkey balls. I'll spare you the innumerable horror stories. Suffice it to say, I have them on speed dial, between billing fuckups and service issues. But I'd pick them over dial-up and day and twice on sundays.

[Locrian]

2. promo rate

I think (according to my wife who called) that the internet only is MORE (its like $62). But yeah, I guess that is not the promo gimick.

So is it better than DSL? Seems like 3X the price is a rip...


Plus - how do they try to rip you (Im assuming they try, silly me...)? I have my house wired with a router to all the computers. I just need the cable to come in the door into a cable modem then I can plug in my CAT5 cable right? Any "surprises" to watch out for?

[LeftyMom]

3. Well, the ripoff I got was for TV

I was promised a promo price, asked five times to make sure it had the channels I wanted, got a great deal, everything was good. Then a month later, in the middle of the night, I couldn't sleep and was up watching some documentary on History International, and all the sudden I got an error message that I wasn't authorized to watch that channel. So I called up (and let me tell you, calling at 2:30 in the morning I was a bit cranky,) was told that it wasn't on my package (after a month!) and neither were any of the other channels I watch, so they put me in some other promo package, and needless to say that was more money. And by then my show was over- I never did find out how World War II ended. :P

With the internet, I've just had to deal with frequent outages. Cable is faster, but if you're in an area where the phone lines are pretty good, DSL might be more reliable, and it's just fine for most home users. Cable wound up being cheaper for me, but mostly because I don't have a landline and had to factor that into the price.

[democracyindanger]

4. Depends on your location

Everything being equal DSL and cable are about the same. But cable can be affected by the number of people in your neighborhood using it--not just internet service, but cable tv, too. For instance, I live in a 100-unit apartment building. During primetime, my speed drops because everybody's watching American Idol.

On the other hand, with DSL the distance from your house to the switching station affects your speed. The closer you are, the better service you'll get. You start getting out into the suburbs and the countryside, performance will drop.

So basically, damned if you do, damned if you don't. But Comcast does indeed, suck. I'd avoid giving them money if I could.

[bikebloke]

5. Just switched.

I got a deal for Internet only of $33 for 6 months, then $59 afterwards. I had been paying $54 for "premium" DSL from Speakeasy - suck-O. So I figured in a year's time, Comcast would be cheaper. Maybe by then, FIOS will have been installed in my building or I will have moved. It was from an affiliate called buycomcast.com. Warning, their phone center is filled with know-nothings. However, my local Comcast center straightened out the deal for me.

I've been on cable for a week. No problems, so far. With the speed I spend less time online because I finish sooner.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. It is.

Although some of their commercials are humorous, I'll admit to it.