Cristiano

This is a complete tldr; rant, forgive me, but hey, it is my forum

As I am a web developer (and totally addicted to the Internet), I have long maintained both DSL and cable modem service. Originally, it was because it was actually more expensive to get rid of my cable modem and break my package than to keep it, but then when I moved and changed cable companies, the cable modem was 8 megs vs 6 megs with my DSL. I still kept the DSL, which proved to be a wise move after a hurricane two years ago - my DSL was back immediately and my cable was out for several weeks.

Anyway, this past Saturday after never having a problem with my cable service in more than a year, it went out. I called Comcast and they said there was an outage. So I waited awhile, and after a few hours, checked back as I still had no service. They told me the outage had been cleared - but I still had no service. After several attempts, they could not get my cable modem to connect, so they had to send a technician. The soonest someone could come was Wednesday. I wasn't happy, but I knew I could use my DSL until then.

Well, about 6 months ago, I downgraded my DSL to the lowest speed because it was stupid to pay for a 6 meg DSL line I was not using. I figured if I needed to use it again, I could just get the speed upgraded, which normally takes a day at most. So began more ordeal with AT&T on Saturday.

I called AT&T and explained the situation and asked to be upgraded. I was transferred back and forth about 10 times, often having to reinput my phone number (or to say the digits, since now everything makes you talk to it), only to then be asked for my phone number by the agent. I was told 6 meg service wasn't available, then I was told that it was, then there was something wrong with my account that billing needed to resolve and it could not be taken care of until Monday, but that the order had been put in to upgrade.

I called back on Monday, and nothing had been done with my account. I spoke two four different agents throughout the day. The first one assured me it would be taken care of within an hour, and even gave me her phone number to call to follow up. Her phone # was an AT&T voice menu system which kept asking me to input the mailbox number. All the while, still 768k DSL line.

Anyway, long story short, after going through more than 15 people now, receiving order confirmations calls that it has been upgraded, etc, my line is still 768k, which after an 8 meg cable modem is practically dial up - choppy streaming video, stuff takes forever to rez in SL, etc.

So this morning Comcast did show up, said there was a problem with the outside line. The technician was outside for about an hour (in fact I thought he left he was gone so long) and when he came back, my cable modem was working again:



So now I am happy again, thanks to Comcast. I think I am going to see if I can keep just my DSL and cancel my AT&T phone service and switch it to Comcast. I can't believe how horrible AT&T's customer service is. Comcast followed through every step of the way - last night when they called to confirm, the technician explained to me that outages can sometimes cause a surge on a cable line when it comes back and it can damage it which is probably what happened to me (and it turns out that is what it was). They were incredibly professional, and I continue to be impressed at the quality of their service. Their 8 meg service uses some burst technology so you often get much faster speeds - notice my line tested above at nearly 19 megs with a 2.5 meg upload speed.

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* slu stuff *

Vertigo Paris

Yay for you!

Stab AT&T in the ear with a spork.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Trout Recreant Helllllooooo Verti! At last! The chance to rate one of my favorite people! Absolutely beautiful pictures. You are a strong, opinionated woman who is not at all afraid to express herself both verbally and physically. You have a strong sense of fantasy and mystery surrounding a drop dead beauty. You maintain an aloof intelligent exterior that we long to break through, but which might intimidate some men. It shows a complexity of personality that few possess. Based on these pictures, I am giving you an 8.4 on the official Trout Recreant Scale of Slutiness. You are a slut, but only in the best possible way, and any man lucky enough to see that side of you should count his blessings.

Kavik Brock

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Tranquility

I had AT&T DSL at my previous apartment and before that at a single family home rental, and it was horrid. I swear I spent 30% of my internet time, trying to fix the internet! It would randomly slow to a 56k dialup speed for no reason and I would spend hours on the phone before it would magically work again (I think AT&T was purposely changing the speed).

But now I have verizon and have had minimal problems with it maybe 2-3 times in the past 4 years. It's great!

Richie Waves

I just moved into a new house and got NTL line of 20mbits!

only 40 Euro a month with digital TV... totally awesome!


Christ.. like the speeds, Cris :O

Got a link to that download speed site?

Getting a game in on Steam and its only clocking 1500kbs (!

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Oooh, Betty! the cat did a shit in the hat

Walker

NTL became Virgin Media on this side of the Irish Sea, and by all accounts the service went downhill fast.

We have 24Mbps for £18 quid a month from these guys:

https://www.bethere.co.uk/

Best ISP I've ever been with.

Richie Waves

The service itself is fine here, it rarely if ever drops... but you really want to avoid at all costs their tech help... sweet jesus its a train wreak..

they are owned now by another company still under the name NTL.. I think its Chorus..

FlipperPA Peregrine

Comcast has always been great for me, especially after dealing with Time Warner. Three weeks ago, our cable modem blew out over night on a Friday night. I called first thing Saturday, they gave me the address of the closest service center (about 2 miles away), and did a trade for a new cable modem right then and there. Perfecto!

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Cristiano

Speakeasy - Speed Test

Vengence Opus

the last time i moved, Comcast cemented themselves in my mind as giving me the best customer experience i've ever had with a cable company.

they scheduled the appointment for a Sunday, which i thought was not only strange, but also kind of figured i would be stuck at my house for an entire day on the weekend, waiting for them to show up.

so...the guy not only shows up, he showed up 45 minutes early. i was sitting out front smoking a cigarette. "morning, man! how goes it?" i say.

"great, bro! mind if i smoke a cig with ya?" the cable guy says.

"not at all, man!"

so we sat there, smoked a couple of cigs, and shot the shit for twenty minutes or so. then, he got to work getting things hooked up at the source, which is a fairly precarious ordeal, as there is a drop off of about twenty feet at the front of my yard. once at the top of the ladder, make that close to forty. i went out and held the bottom of the ladder with my foot, just to be on the safe side.

he then came in and ran new lines for me. (he was supposed to charge extra for that, but didn't.) after making sure everything was in working order, we shot the shit a bit longer, watched a bit of Formula 1 racing, had a coffee, and off he went.

awesome service. he gave me his card, and said that if anything went screwy, call Comcast and request him personally, and he'd make sure everything got fixed.

definitely earned my continued business.

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“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose.” ~ Charles Bukowski

Joshua Nightshade

See if that had been my story it would've gone TOTALLY different.

Joshua Nightshade

Also Comcast:

Comcast Defends Role As Internet Traffic Cop - washingtonpost.com

FCC chastises Comcast for blocking Internet users' file sharing - Los Angeles Times

FCC: Comcast Violated Internet Open-Access Guidelines - 8/1/2008 12:43:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable

Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users

FCC urged to stop Comcast Internet blocking | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

BUT, I know that won't bother your little party.

Vengence Opus

yes. yes it would have.

you would have humped the cable guy into giving you the premium digital service.

Mr. Nightshade: "Hey, Mr. cable guy. I've got a cable you can hook up. "

Cristiano

I don't agree with their P2P policy - yet that does not change the excellent customer service and quality of service I have received from them, especially compared to AT&T - the only two options I have here. I am thrilled to have my connection back.

Sean Gorham

Where I live I get to choose between regionally owned DSL service (slooooow because we're at the outer limit of the nearest phone CO) and Time-Warner. The problem is before it was Time-Warner, it was Adelphia, so I have zero expectation of good service. The last time we tried cable here it was slow and went down all the time. My DSL is slow but at least it's reliable, it's local, and the people running it aren't asshats. (yet.)

Dnate Mars

Comcast seems to be hit an miss with there service, but AT&T always sucks.

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Cristiano

The sad part is that BellSouth by comparison was an excellent company - the quality has dramatically gone downhill. The joys of consolidation.

Macphisto Angelus

When I went back to Comcast it was fun to be on the net again. AT&T talk a great game but the speeds and service were not good at all for me.



I never saw that kind of speed from the top tier AT&T home user service.

The phone service is great too. All kinds of extras like free long distance in the US, mailbox, call waiting, etc etc that AT&T charges for all included. I have that triple play package and will be keeping all services when it bumps up to regular price.

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Sean Gorham

Gah... my link sucks by comparison:

Richie Waves

I think I'm being ripped....

Brenda Connolly

I have similar satisfaction with Cablevision, even if they are Fucking up the Knicks and Rangers. They are about a 5 minute drive away, and the couple of times I've had equipment issues it was just walk in and trade.

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ZATZAi

Yah I've had power surges take out my cable modem as well. And the cable company seems to give out the cheapest modems, so I own my own modem and have it hooked into my UPS which has a coaxial cable power supply. Never have any modem problems just cable company problems, though I can hook into mny Sprint phone if I need internet now and the cable is down.

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Teeny Leviathan

You rent your cable modem? Comcast does allow you to buy your own. In almost 7 years, I've never rented a modem from Comcast.

Brenda Connolly

I got mine for free as part of a new installation deal from Cablevision. When I does go poof I guess I'll buy a new one.

Vengence Opus