fini Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 No, I'm not asking if anyone knows any of the members of the Bangles, Go-Go's, or Indigo Girls. Comcast has been offering a 6-month, $20/month internet deal. I have been using SBC DSL (through a local provider), paying about $58/month (which includes an emergency dial-up account), and have been generally pleased, although I'm at the outer limits of DSL service (~12,000 feet from SBC), and speed is not as fast as anyone else I know who also has their service. After 6 months, Comcast cable internet goes to $45 (still less than the SBC DSL). It's supposed to be faster than DSL, but I don't know if my distance from the central office is a factor. They say it's available to me. Anyone here using Comcast? How's their customer service and reliability? The cable TV seems to go out more than it should, but I don't know if they're connected. Anyone know of an unbiased online reional comparison? Also, how big a hassle is moving e-mail from one company to another? I'd imagine they don't forward e-mail. fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 When you DOWNLOAD something, how many kb/s. are you getting? I am at 150-175 kb/s. and it is very reliable. Cable modem speeds are dependent on how many people are using it. If you are in lightly populated area, you have the potential to get blistering speeds, but in a area that is over-used, you can literally be a 56k speeds! DSL is always constant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
space_cowboy Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 Hey fini, I use Comcast and am pleased with the service. It doesn't matter how far you are from the CO because it's cable, no phone line involved vs. DSL. As ken mentioned, sometimes I do notice a lag, but don't know if thats due to other people on or not and it's really not that noticeable anyway. They forward my e-mail from ATT only because they bought the service, don't know what they would do from another provider though. My service has only been down once, but then again the whole neighborhood was without power during a thunderstorm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 Fini, I've been using Comcast for a couple years and I'm very satisfied. I don't know about the email transfer but it's very fast and the service is pretty good compared to other providers. Ask them about it. I also have a router running to 3 computers flawlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 Fini - I just jettisoned Cox Cable here in Phoenix. Maybe other cable providers are better, but the availability/reliablity was very poor. I'd have to reboot the modem and router a couple of times a day, and that was even after replacing both. However, I confess that the 3mbps download speed I was getting was pretty nice. Was paying $50/month for that. I'm now on a VDSL connection through Qwest at 1mbps both directions. I don't notice the difference except during large file downloads (like software version updates and the like). You can check at www.dslreports.com to see if anyone in your area is using Comcast and what their experiences are. DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted November 10, 2003 Author Share Posted November 10, 2003 Thanks for the tips 'n' opinions. Doug, no one from my area has rated Comcast yet at dslreports, but it hasn't been that long that they've offered cable modems here (which might be a good thing, speed-wise). I'm not looking forward to changing e-mail addresses (and changing back, if I am displeased with Comcast's service). If I had money to burn, I might keep both for a month or two, to compare. fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 BTW, I ditched using ISP-dependent email a while back. Makes it too hard to switch (ya think they plan it that way?). I use web-based (and free) email exclusively now. Yes, it's sometimes a pain with the 4mb mailbox limit on Yahoo, but the convenience more than compensates for that. DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 Distance DOES matter a little bit with cable. It is still a signal that can attenuate over distance, but thinnet is not nearly as succeptible to high frequency signal attenuation as good ole unshielded copper. Cable internet is definately worth $45/mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 ---------------- On 11/8/2003 7:08:55 PM dougdrake wrote: Fini - I just jettisoned Cox Cable here in Phoenix. Maybe other cable providers are better, but the availability/reliablity was very poor. I'd have to reboot the modem and router a couple of times a day, and that was even after replacing both. However, I confess that the 3mbps download speed I was getting was pretty nice. Was paying $50/month for that. I'm now on a VDSL connection through Qwest at 1mbps both directions. I don't notice the difference except during large file downloads (like software version updates and the like). You can check at www.dslreports.com to see if anyone in your area is using Comcast and what their experiences are. DD ---------------- I have Cox Cable in Northern VA and I have nothing but praise for their digital cable service and cable modem service. Check out the download speed I just tested in the attached image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 I had MAJOR headaches getting my comcast cable set-up! It several days/many hours on the phone to get things straightened out. It was a true tragedy of errors. I dread the day that I have to deal with customer service again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 im using comcast and have never been happier. they got great customer service and i've only had one problem ever...and it was fixed before i even called! cable internet goes through the same lines as the cable TV, so if your TV has problems, you might wanna do some calling around and find out why. lastly, moving email addresses isn't that hard, but might take some time. forwarding email is possible, but of course would cost something (i don't think it's that expensive). however, i think it's just easier to keep the old email for a good month into the new plan, so that you can email everyone your new email address with the old email, and then they can respond to your new email addy from then on...i've never had problems switching email addresses...but with a business, you can't contact people that only have a business card and let them know of the change. but you'd think they'd could make a phone call if their email didn't go through. anyways, comcast rocks and i've never had bandwidth problems...yet friends in my area have had problems with their dsl. i can say that i've worked with SBC DSL in the past and have had nothing but problems...i would think those issues are more regionally based (otherwise i have no idea how SBC is still in business) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 Only downside with Comcast I am aware of is poor customer service. You should have much better speed, and better reliability, than with DSL. Download speeds will be much better than upload speeds, not a problem for most folks. In my market, the price you quote is no bargain for that kind of performance though. I have fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) from Surewest. The cost is similar and I typically get 7 to 8 megabit speeds in both directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 You can go onto MSN.com and do a speed test to see your speed in case you haven't tried it. Get onto the site and type "speed test" in the search box. The site will take you to it. It is interesting to try it repeatedly because you will see if your ISP is ripping you off or if you get what you pay for. I had cable and it absolutely FLEW, sometimes. I would easily get around 200 Kbytes / sec on downloads. But when the neighbors got on, it sucked. Now I have DSL and consistently gets around the advertised 187 Kbytes / sec. This sounds slower but it is constant always as mentioned earlier in this thread. Very fast on downloads always. Upstream is slower (sending to the net.) Always do the speed test a few times to see the real deal. The speed test measures both directions so you see how fast you send AND receive. Then decide about your provider. Just tryin' to help. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 You can go onto MSN.com and do a speed test to see your speed in case you haven't tried it. Get onto the site and type "speed test" in the search box. The site will take you to it. It is interesting to try it repeatedly becuase you will see if your ISP is ripping you off or if you get what you pay for. I had cable and it absolutely FLEW, sometimes. I would easily get around 200K bytes / sec on downloads. But when the neighbors got on, it sucked. Now I have DSL and consistently get around the advertised 187Kbytes / sec. This sounds slower but it is constant always as mentioned earlier in this thread. Always do the speed test a few times to see the real deal. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted November 10, 2003 Author Share Posted November 10, 2003 ---------------- On 11/10/2003 7:27:58 PM mark1101 wrote: You can go onto MSN.com and do a speed test to see your speed in case you haven't tried it. Get onto the site and type "speed test" in the search box. ---------------- mark1101, Good idea (I did this at Cnet.com), but which of the over 2 million sites that come up did you use? Yhe first one (MSN's) is no longer there, or out of service. fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 ---------------- On 11/10/2003 7:27:58 PM mark1101 wrote: Now I have DSL and consistently get around the advertised 187Kbytes / sec. This sounds slower but it is constant always as mentioned earlier in this thread. Always do the speed test a few times to see the real deal. Good luck.---------------- Same here. It has been the same speed for the last year and a half. We have a router with firewall and all computers in the house are hooked up (including a 802.11b system for the laptops), you just open IE5 and go, no connections or anything. I have foxnews.com as my homepage, and going online is seamless, NOT like opening a program. I love broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Sorry, I see that the MSN.com speed testing is no longer available. However, as you found (me too) there are plenty of other places to do it. I just tried a couple of misc. ones and found my connection here at work is 238 Kbytes/sec, pretty darn good, actually great. But the idea is that you can see what you actually get in both directions. Important stuff since we all pay good bucks and need max. bandwidth. Sorry about the steering you wrong. MSN must have just shut it off in the last 4-6 weeks. I was using it not too long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Comcast customer service has improved over what AT&T was providing. On the other hand, its not what they call lightening fast most of the time. At times (such as like now, as I write this) it is at a crawl. It can take me 30 seconds or more to move between pages on this site, which is particularly slow. The reason Ive kept it is because we have the TV service coupled with internet service, at a combined discount. And also because of some problem with our hook-up at the junction box which causes video noise problems when they disconnect the premium channels like HBO & TMC. So they just decided to leave the premium channels on & not charge us for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Use: www.dslreports.com Thay have quite a few links there. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted December 2, 2003 Author Share Posted December 2, 2003 I went ahead and ordered cable internet from Comcast tonight. I will compare it to DSL before I decide which to keep. When I asked the order-taker gal if it was a wireless connection, she said "Well, sort of." I wonder what that means... fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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