If you have comcast. read.

[vontar]

OK, thought Comcast I only have internet, but you have to pay for the TV line as well.

My bill is about 75 bucks.

I got a bill just now for 140 plus.  Seems I may have missed a payment.

Well I just looked though my records and found a mistake.   I had missed a payment in Feb, but made march, and april and appears I hit the billing dates just right that I just now some how ended up behind.

Either way, Yes I was behind by my own account.

 

So I just sent the payment and here is where it gets interesting.

I decided to call comcast, I was going to ask them to reduce my current internet speed a level or so to reduce my bill

 

I called and got the billing department and I didn't really say much other then I wanted to see about reducing my bill some.  The lady was almost to the point of rude but I could tell she was reading a script.  You can tell when they make a mistake or so and back up and continue.  Besides the point.

 

She pretty much just checked and found a internet promotion that would reduce my internet service from 54 to 19 and make my total bill about 50 a month.  I just say great

she also said it prorated what I was behind and made my current bill go from 146 to 73 dollars.

 

I didn't ask for a promotion or threaten to cancel or anything.  I have been known to do both but seems Comcast today is being very friendly with discounts.

 

So now I have the same service I had yesterday for a reduced rate for 6 months.  Hard to argue with that.

 

Just bringing this up in case anyone else wants to call Comcast and see if they can get on a promo for 6 months.

[Metalhead]

I did that awhile back after my cable bill was creeping ever so closer to $200 a month. They were able to drop it to around $120 with some extras on the side.

[Garufa]

It's good to call the cable company every couple of years to set them straight on what reasonable pricing is.  It's about time I have a friendly chat with mine to get a new rate.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Garufa

[vontar]

I thought the whole call was strange.

 

I called and was going to reduce my internet speed a level which I figured would be about 10 bucks a month.  I wasn't trying to wheel and deal.  got 25 off and kept my speed level.

 

I do similar with direct TV about once a year, I call and get 10 bucks off for a year at time.

 

It's the little things, if you don't ask, you don't get them.

[NRA]

I am about to get a two year contract with the devil (Comcast) I am concerned about the Netflix issue? Do any of you people that use Comcast have any other  problems with them? Does Netflix work good?

[Lowpower]

netflix works ok on my tv and iPad. It causes my macbook pro i7 to heat up quickly.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Lowpower

[jhc77]

I am about to get a two year contract with the devil (Comcast) I am concerned about the Netflix issue? Do any of you people that use Comcast have any other  problems with them? Does Netflix work good?

Spring Hill must be all Charter(at least the Williamson side). It's alright, but the HD is much better on Comcast. Thompson Station is Comcast too I think.

[Schadenfreude]

I love everything about my Comcast service except the price - but there really is no serious Internet competition in my area

[babelt]

[quote name="NRA" post="1150327" timestamp="1400538825"]I am about to get a two year contract with the devil (Comcast) I am concerned about the Netflix issue? Do any of you people that use Comcast have any other problems with them? Does Netflix work good?[/quote] It really depends on what time of the day it is for me. I was out sick from work a couple days this winter and I spent most of the day watching Netflix and I had great speed through the day but you could tell when the kids got out of school and the people around me got home from work. Speeds would drop drastically. Comcast promises speeds but you don't always get that speed. Depends on how many people are using up bandwidth in a close proximity to you. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[10-Ring]

Had a bundled package with Comcast.  After a little over a year our rate went up about $20 per month.  A few months later a bill arrived and it was $80 more than usual.  They said that they would be charging us $40 a month per DVR for now on.  We turned the DVRs back in but they wouldn't give us cable boxes without DVRs so now we don't have any TV and are paying the same price as when we did but we still have internet and phone.  I enjoyed the TV but honestly I don't miss it much.  I really hate Comcast but there are no alternatives here.

 

I am about to get a two year contract with the devil (Comcast) I am concerned about the Netflix issue? Do any of you people that use Comcast have any other  problems with them? Does Netflix work good?

I've had lots of problems streaming Netflix content in HD to my laptop.  I've tried different laptops and different operating systems as well and had problems on all of them on this connection.  Specifically the video and audio get out of synch.  Not sure weather or not this is the "Netflix issue" that you are reffering to.  Switch the broadcast to SD and it works fine.  I use an Android tablet and a Chromecast to watch Netflix on my TV and it works fine, even in HD. 

[bersaguy]

Well, I do my best to keep my life simple so only Comcast service I have was was the package just above the lowest for TV. Had it for about 14 years now and about three month ago I went in to pay my bill and I asked them if they had any plans on expanding the package I am presently using. She looked at my package and she said your in luck. We just did that this month and she handed me a pamphlet and I had about 80 or 90 new channels added to my original package. She also said and your service costs are dropping from $82.95 to $59.95 for one year. I asked her what the cost would be after the year and she couldn't tell me so I told her that if my bill went above what i was previously or if they take away any of the new service I am now getting I will pull the plug on Comcast and go back to an antenna since I have learn from a lot of my friends that I can get about 40 channels using regular antenna. I'm sure she made notes on my file to what i told her because as I was talking she was typing on my file she had open so I planted the seed. I use my Cell Phone Service for my Cel service and my internet service with a broadband program. I do use Netflix but just have DVD's mailed to the house on movies I want to watch but would not have that if I would have known what Comcast was going to give me because just about all the movies I want to watch on Netflix are showing now on one of the encore channels about every other night so thinking about cancelling Netflix until Comcast does something stupid..........jmho

[vontar]

I am about to get a two year contract with the devil (Comcast) I am concerned about the Netflix issue? Do any of you people that use Comcast have any other  problems with them? Does Netflix work good?

 

I have had comcast for over 10 years, probably close to 13 or so.  I have had no issues with netflix and remember do to the net neutrality thing, netflix already agreed to pay comcast for the fast lane. 

 

I use netflix streaming on TV, PC, phones, no issues.

[Murgatroy]

We have Time Warner up here. I have to call every year and argue about my bill. I pay around abouts $140. We have uprated internet, phone, two HDDVRs and a converter box. We have ~400 channels of crap and 50 channels of stuff we watch. Every year I get a bill for $180+ and I have to call to get back to the $140. 

 

I wonder how that works for them? How many folks just don't notice and pay the higher rate for the same crap they had before?

[analog_kidd]

My favorite Comcast bad service story goes like this: We got Comcast for the first time a number of years ago, and they could not get the modem to work. After being on the line with a young lady for quite some time, she was out of ideas, and told me I needed to turn off the modem, and leave it off for 24 hours to "let the electrons drain out". I told her I was an IT guy, and knew what she said was complete nonsense, but she stuck to her guns. I figured she was just tire of talking to me, so I let her go and called right back. Got someone on the line this time that got me all fixed up.

[NRA]

I have had comcast for over 10 years, probably close to 13 or so.  I have had no issues with netflix and remember do to the net neutrality thing, netflix already agreed to pay comcast for the fast lane. 

 

I use netflix streaming on TV, PC, phones, no issues.

 

Good to know

 

My favorite Comcast bad service story goes like this: We got Comcast for the first time a number of years ago, and they could not get the modem to work. After being on the line with a young lady for quite some time, she was out of ideas, and told me I needed to turn off the modem, and leave it off for 24 hours to "let the electrons drain out". I told her I was an IT guy, and knew what she said was complete nonsense, but she stuck to her guns. I figured she was just tire of talking to me, so I let her go and called right back. Got someone on the line this time that got me all fixed up.

 

Not good to know

[vontar]

let me sum up high speed internet.

 

Location, Location, Location.

 

I used to do tech support for BellSouth when they had their support though Client Logic.

 

Of course we only heard from people that had horrible connections.  I am sure it worked for most people.

 

Then you hear the horror stories about Comcast, you only here from the ones that have trouble.

 

In my experience My Comcast connection has been great here in Oak Ridge.  I have heard from others here in Oak Ridge that have horrible connections with them.

 

It seems if your locations has bad service with the other, switch and see if the other is better.  One will most likely work out for you, while you may have issues with the other.

 

 

3rd Location.  Some people still live in rural areas where neither is serviced by Land Based High Speed internet.  Hughes net knows this and exploits them with higher fees, bandwidth limits.

To top that off, due to satellite  latency VOIP doesn't work.

 

People in the 3rd location, like my parents end up even paying the AT&T

AT&T Universal Connectivity Charge

 

http://www.consumer.att.com/connectivity_charge/

 

Yes, it is due to FCC and all that rubbish. 

 

 

The Universal Service Fund helps provide affordable telecommunications services for low-income customers and customers in rural areas. It also provides discounts on Internet access for eligible schools, libraries and rural health care providers.

 

So in short, my parents have to pay for the above, and they can't even buy high speed internet service though AT&T.  This started in 97.  Well my parents never had a kid in a school that had internet service.  There is no local libraries in their area for internet access.  Seriously, help pay for health care providers?

 

I honestly feel this fee has been being paid all these years and the phone companies have made no effort to put in service in many of these rural areas.  Thus pay the fee and if you want the service have to buy it from Hughes net and pay a higher fee for a lesser service.

 

I know I pointed out Hughes net but I am aware there are a few others.

 

I have been wanting to get a good write up on the Universal Connectivity Charge and write our congressman about it.

 

Satellite internet has higher pings due to the much longer round trip and the speed of light limitations.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Hey Vontor we used to work together.

[MacGyver]

I got so tired of playing their game.

 

My bill would continually creep up towards $200, and I'd call and get whatever "promotion" they were offering just to watch it continue to creep up month after month.

 

We finally decided to quit playing.  We kept our internet connection, but tossed the cable package.  We've got Netflix and Amazon Prime, and really haven't missed much.  We might get an over-the-air antenna at some point, but really aren't in much of a hurry.

 

Maybe if enough people get off of their merry-go-round it'll prompt some change.  On the other hand, with AT&T trying to buy DirectTV and Comcast buying Time Warner Cable, we seem quite content in letting them skip towards monopoly status.

[RC3]

I just wish charter was faster. 15mps is not bad, but when you have four PC's using it, it sucks.

[btq96r]

I have a 25 MB internet package and they threw in a free year of HBO with it in addition to using their box to get the basic channels.  It comes out to $42.14 a month.  That's reasonable for me and I'm content with paying that.  Once that year long promo goes, I'll adjust accordingly.  Probably going to cut the whole TV side and us an OTA antenna and maybe drop my internet connection speed if the adjusted price for 25MB isn't within reason.

 

Streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime come in just fine 99% of the time, with Netflix taking somewhat of a hit at peak use times during the night.  I'd attribute that to Netflix and not Comcast based on the time of day it happens. 

[Guest Wildogre]

Hey Vontor we used to work together.

That makes three of us then.

[Hozzie]

I have had Comcast Internet since I moved into my house about 4 years ago and had to go through the same games every 6 months or so.  I had DirectTV and really preferred DirectTV's service for the TV side, but Comcast finally came to me with a special offer I couldn't refuse.

 

I now have the X1 Service, whole house DVR, HBO, and 100MB internet for $99.99/month guaranteed for two years.  I don't like the guide interface as well on X1 as I did on DirectTV, but it isn't a big deal.  The voice commands via my Iphone is kind of cool.

 

Since I could lock it in for two years it made sense and I didn't have to worry about the ever creeping up prices.

[Dolomite_supafly]

That makes three of us then.

Client Logic?

[10-Ring]

I got so tired of playing their game.

 

My bill would continually creep up towards $200, and I'd call and get whatever "promotion" they were offering just to watch it continue to creep up month after month.

 

We finally decided to quit playing.  We kept our internet connection, but tossed the cable package.  We've got Netflix and Amazon Prime, and really haven't missed much.  We might get an over-the-air antenna at some point, but really aren't in much of a hurry.

 

Maybe if enough people get off of their merry-go-round it'll prompt some change.  On the other hand, with AT&T trying to buy DirectTV and Comcast buying Time Warner Cable, we seem quite content in letting them skip towards monopoly status.

I stuck on over the air antenae uo one one of the existing dish masts that were here when I moved in a couple of weeks ago.  Thought that I'd be really slick and rn it straight to the living room TV via the cables that Comcast had run into my house.  I have no idea why but it is a 4 into 1 splitter.  If you disconnect 2 of the cables the internet will not work.  Not sure what's going on but my attempt at getting some free TV has failed.

[analog_kidd]

I stuck on over the air antenae uo one one of the existing dish masts that were here when I moved in a couple of weeks ago.  Thought that I'd be really slick and rn it straight to the living room TV via the cables that Comcast had run into my house.  I have no idea why but it is a 4 into 1 splitter.  If you disconnect 2 of the cables the internet will not work.  Not sure what's going on but my attempt at getting some free TV has failed.

 

http://www.diytvantennas.com/

 

Here is a link to a page with several DIY indoor antennas that can be made mostly with stuff you may have around the house.