Internet Service Providers?

[Member 34319]

My bill just doubled, I hate Comcast!

Im in Banks.

Anything worth switching to?

Or monopoly BS?

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[The Heretic]

Can you get Ziply fiber? You are probably pretty limited to whomever has the utilities in your area. If your phone line is Verizon/Frontier you might be able to get Ziply.

Also, I have read that if you call Comcast and threaten to disconnect they usually try to give you a new deal.

 

[Member 34319]

Frontier, you'd think considering there is literally a service box in my front yard. Nope. No fiber, not even DSL. I'm thinking of digging up the box and tossing it, maybe that will get them to actually send a human to check if I can get their services...

 

[The Heretic]

Contact Ziply - they bought the Frontier fiber business.

 

[Member 34319]

Also, I have read that if you call Comcast and threaten to disconnect they usually try to give you a new deal.

Did the threatening thing in the past, I'm kind of done with that BS. Every year or two having to call.


Anyone operate solely off of cell service? I'm thinking of ditching internet entirely if nothing else presents itself. Probably could get an unlimited line through someone for cheaper than our cell+internet bill costs.

 

[Member 34319]

Contact Ziply - they bought the Frontier fiber business.

Once when we first moved in, again a few days ago. Same thing. Out of service range, puts in ticket to ping something, no service. Never an actual person to check the box at my driveway to see what's what.

 

[The Heretic]

You may be able to get a 5G hotspot and use that.

If you are suburban then you might have 5G coverage.

 

[Member 34319]

You may be able to get a 5G hotspot and use that.

If you are suburban then you might have 5G coverage.

Was just looking at T-Mobile home internet. Going to have to call them tomorrow. $50 a month.

 

[The Heretic]

You would want the plan with "unlimited" data.

I am going with Starlink as soon as I can. I have long distance WiFi thru Upward access and only 6 mbps for $65/mo

 

[Alexx1401]

Did the threatening thing in the past, I'm kind of done with that BS. Every year or two having to call.


Anyone operate solely off of cell service? I'm thinking of ditching internet entirely if nothing else presents itself. Probably could get an unlimited line through someone for cheaper than our cell+internet bill costs.

Yes it really sucks rocks but most are kind of stuck. Norm is one provider for cable. Some places offer DSL and it's been many years so maybe it got better? When we went with Broadband we went cable and you just hook it up and it works. They did not even have to come to the house if you already had their TV unless you wanted another jack. So I thought that's how it all worked. Well a couple family members got suckered into trying DSL. It was a dumpster fire for every one of them and they all quit.
Now as for Cell, yes you could get an unlimited plan BUT, if you start trying to run your home with it you will be in for a shock. They will soon throttle you to the point it will not really work. We did drop the Comcast TV and go streaming which works fantastic but, they of course jacked up our internet to have enough bandwidth. Most people can get satellite but I have never seen anyone who has it say they like it. Most compare it to the old dial up connections and only seem to use it when there is no other choice

 

[alim]

You can login to your Comcast account to check for new offers easily. I do this every time my bills goes up, and I can sign up for a new discounted plan without ever talking to anyone.

Currently paying $70/month for Comcast Gigabit (1000Mbps).

 

[Certaindeaf]

Did the threatening thing in the past, I'm kind of done with that BS. Every year or two having to call.


Anyone operate solely off of cell service? I'm thinking of ditching internet entirely if nothing else presents itself. Probably could get an unlimited line through someone for cheaper than our cell+internet bill costs.

I do. Got TOATLLY tired of Comcast basic cable tv plus wifi for like $130? Years ago. Forget.
I went to AT&T. for cell many years ago because of coverage.. in my moto travels it was by far the best so ditched the little guys and paid a little more.
About 2 years ago I quit cable, got a killer smartphone and an unlimited plan through AT&T for $85/mo. I use a digital antenna on my TV and watch Amazon prime/youtube etc. using an HDMI dongle from my phone to TV and or hotspot phone to my laptop.
I'm saving money because I'm not paying that $130 PLUS a cell phone bill, which was probably Ike $60?
Anyway, screw Comcast.

 

[Member 34319]

Well, I tried to get away from the lord and savior Comcast...

No one, not a single other provider...

So I broke down and called Comcast. Followed the internet's suggestions to immediately go to the disconnect service part of the hotline.

Stated costs and Covid were the reason I wanted to disconnect.

Low and behold almighty lord and savior Comcast will endure!

LOL what a joke.

After a bit of back and forth with the guy that is supposed to be the one to actually cut services, I have $50 a month internet, faster than my original service to supposedly, and no contact. So my price should not change.

 

[gmerkt]

Comcast/Xfinity service can be a frustrating, infuriating experience. Depending upon the area, you have options for cable TV. But most people must have the internet connection to get these.

I'm not very internet service savvy. My friend in NM lives outside of any conventional internet service. He has some kind of arrangement whereby he gets a signal out of the air from an small ISP transmitter that is located a mile or two from his place. Because everyone in his area is in the same situation, I'd guess that there are many such transmitters situated on utility poles scattered around there.

The thing with Comcast is they will never let things alone. Every couple or three months, you will note your bill has crept up. Even if you have a so-called "contract," which they will explain is for your basic package only. All the extra line items under that are not covered or limited by the contract and are subject to creeping incrementalism. So every couple or three months, I have to get on the phone with an "agent" and haggle like an Istanbul rug merchant to get a reduction. Usually it works to some degree or another. Sometimes it only results in a partial decrease of the latest nicking they've given me.

If you call Comcast customer service, do it during US daytime business hours. That way you will probably get connected to an English as first language agent. Which is a definite plus in my experience. If you call at night, your chances of getting an "agent" who is 8,000 miles away, may interpose a language problem and may or may not be able to truly help you. Also in my experience, agents have lied to me and make false promises which I was unable to know about until the next bill cycle which resulted in having to make another call to get that fixed.

One bit of advice about Comcast was given to me by one of those free-lance, on-commission Comcast salesmen who had a card table set up in Walmart one time. This advice was for married couples. If the account had originally been set up in one person's name, to get a low, introductory rate, you could close the account under the first spouse's name, then re-open a new account under the name of spouse no. 2. I am saving that for in extremis. The downside of this stratagem is you have to turn in all your existing equipment to close the account. Then start over again with a new load of equipment. If you are paying for DVR service, anything you have recorded is lost. I've always perceived this to be a big hassle. But these days in the Covid virus emergency, a lot of this new connecting is done online. Comcast compelled me to change the "gateway" (router) recently for technical reasons. I thought I'd try this myself, figuring on being on the phone first thing next day to unfoul things but actually, I got it right in about 15 minutes. But that fire-up lag time is unnerving until it fully re-connects.

Our son has explained ways we could throw off the oppressive yoke of Comcast. But it all gets back to still having to use somebody for the ISP. Then the TV situation would be convoluted, involve some other method/service. Then there is the land line phone service that Mrs. Merkt likes to retain and if we ditched Comcast for that, we'd have to keep our cell phones on all the time, keep charging the batteries, etc., etc. Which in itself is a hassle we don't have to deal with now.

We had Frontier cable service in this area for a number of years. That was a back-up plan (and threat when talking to Comcast) during that time. But they are gone now and assets have been turned over to Ziply. Which isn't taking on any new cable TV customers. So if I switched to them, it wouldn't be a bundled service either. And I have no idea how good or bad their ISP service is. The choice of business model here is telecommunications monopoly or upstart remnant run by a private equity company. Is there an emoticon for a 9mm bullet in the head?

When I talk to a Comcast agent on the phone, they can see right there on my account information that I've been a customer for 33 years. And once in a while, one of them will comment on it. But it doesn't count for anything when it comes to figuring my bill.

 

[Alexx1401]

Well, I tried to get away from the lord and savior Comcast...

No one, not a single other provider...

So I broke down and called Comcast. Followed the internet's suggestions to immediately go to the disconnect service part of the hotline.

Stated costs and Covid were the reason I wanted to disconnect.

Low and behold almighty lord and savior Comcast will endure!

LOL what a joke.

After a bit of back and forth with the guy that is supposed to be the one to actually cut services, I have $50 a month internet, faster than my original service to supposedly, and no contact. So my price should not change.

Sadly in many cases this is what you get. They are VERY anti freedom, I would like to not give them my money but, they are basically the only game in town here too. So I support them. In some cases there is just no real choice.

 

[The Heretic]

I went from Comcast to Frontier when I lived in Everett and I did it as quickly as possible. Frontier actually came around door to door and solicited hookups. Then I got them again when I moved to Hillsboro. My kids have them too but have Dish for TV.

Frontier was much more reliable - I almost never had problems with them whereas Comcast required resetting almost everything several times a week. It was still better than Starband (satellite) which was only slightly better than dialup, but much more expensive ($700 equipment cost).

Here on the mountain I really doubt I could get Dish or DirecTV due to the trees blocking the view needed, and I have Amazon Prime for TV via the internet.

I use UpwardAccess for internet, which is long distance WiFi from here down the mountain about 2.5 miles as the crow flies - it uses planar antennas to link up subscribers. At first, and for years, this ultimately dumped into a Comcast internet connection, but now it apparently goes into Ziply fiber. I have not noticed much difference in performance or reliability as I do often simply lose connectivity altogether for at least a few minutes, especially in the winter - probably due to weather and trees blocking the signal. I am supposed to get 6.5 mbps, but rarely do - like right now I am getting 3.5 mbps - probably because my signal goes thru my neighbor's system and then down the mountain.

I am hoping to get Starlink before the end of the year.

 

[Member 52301]

Comcast sounds like Bresnan/Charter/Spectrum. Eewww. El-suck-a-roo-ni!

I was complaining about Spectrum all OVER AGAIN to my husband and not only to Spectrum.

They stink but I can't GET some other so called services even though I have been TOLD that I can which is and was a LIE. CL is my land line but they do NOT offer dial up ISP connection HERE or ISP service through some other wires/fibers even though they SAY that they do in this area! LOL

Blackfoot can't give me service even though this is a fairly new house in the middle of the valley. Been there - done that!

I LOVED Blackfoot in the SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS. I had it up in the middle of BFE - super remote area butt up to wilderness using a LAND LINE connection and I had NO issues with my telephone OR my internet!

I have Century Link for my land line. We have NO cellular telephones, on purpose, for now.

This is one big internet ISSUE for us, mainly ME, and I am trying to figure out what one man said on here about his telephone and using it for his ISP.

I showed this thread to my husband the other day too.

Thank you for the information.

Old Lady Cate who uses a company for the internet but uses a tiny indoor antenna for her boob tube reception.

 

[Flopsweat]

I had Dish for TV until nearby trees got too tall. Had Frontier for ISP until they dropped our area. Was then stuck with Concast. I had a slow, intermittent connection. Sometimes when it rained it would drop out completely. Every time you call they have you reset the modem and if that doesn't work they reset it. Then they send a technician who runs tests and doesn't fix bubblegum. I knew exactly what was wrong. It took me 5 years to get them to replace the underground cable leading up to the house, which fixed the problem completely.

When they finally came out they told me that the street would be torn up, and marked up the macadam with different colors. I assume it was for water, power, phone and cable. Looked like they were going to do half the neighborhood. They wound up doing only me and my next door neighbor because we were on the same cable for most of the distance from the pole. Boy were the other neighbors pissed. I called up and asked why they didn't fix the rest of the cables, which were just as old and crappy. They said nobody else complained. Funny thing, for years everyone in the area has been complaining and talking about how Concast never fixed anything. If I didn't need broadband for work I would be doing the cell phone thing that @Certaindeaf does.

TLDR: CONCAST SUX!!!!!!

 

[PiratePast40]

Good luck with getting comcast/xfinity t to give you a break on prices. They thanked me for being a good customer for 17 years and wanted to know how soon I would like to have service disconnected. Going the Dish route is the same price as comcast at $130 for internet & TV.

Was able to ditch the landline by getting a free 3rd line from Sprint. Once we get all friends/business/doctors switched to our cell numbers, we can ditch that too. I needed a phone upgrade so got the phone at 1/2 price and will switch my old cell phone to the old land line number.

 

[Member 5605]

$70/month
300/12 service - no specials, that's my bill and it doesn't change.


I have their cell service running through Verizon towers too. This saved me enough to offset and almost make home internet free when compared to what my ATT bill used to be.