Fuck you Comcast.

[Kalmado]

Yeah I've heard of some places around me that has done the same. Sad to say, but who's going to do anything about it.

[Kryssan]

So on a whim I decided to see if Verizon serviced my apartment. We were told that only Comcast worked here, which I thought was kind of odd since the entire town is wired for Verizon/Comcast, and all the homes surrounding my apartment complex all can get Verizon. So looked online and it seems Verizon services my apartment just from going through their initial "Can you have interwebz there?" tool on the website.

Is that usual? For an apartment complex to either only allow a single provider? Or maybe they are just getting kickbacks from Comcast? I mean they even have their "official" comcast guy...who charges $10 more a month for all the packages...

Seems to be at least becoming more usual. I always ask "silly" questions when I go hunting for an apartment ( can I see the apartment's breaker box, do you have any requirements for phone/net/cable, can I bring my own washer/dryer, do you have gas / water fees etc ) that most often get blank stares but when I was hunting last year I noticed that several places had 'dedicated' services where you had to take their offerings and only use specific residential providers. Because I always use a business vice residential account ( in my experience they tend to get better service, static ips, and ofc ports aren't blocked for my servers ), I can't be tied down by that BS.

[LinktheDeme]

I had that same modem and had no issues but the tech wanted to blame the modem as well. Likely when that happens theres something going on in the lines and the techs are underqualified to actually know anything outside of plugging in their box and putting one lego piece into another. I actually had to explain to one of them what packets actually were.

I do think some of the modems are more compatible with their frequency and such, the guy told me to switch to a docsis 2.0 one which I did. I get the same speeds anyway as i'm not going over 25 Mbps anywho.

[Kalmado]

On hold right now and just need to vent. Same crap as before, reboot modem and all is good for 10 minutes. Then speeds drop to below 1mbps. Called comcast and ask to be escalated to a level 2 tech and I had to tell the CSR my phone number 4 times before he got it right. He then transfers me to, I shit you not, direct tv. DIRECT TV. I really question why I don't switch to at&t, but it's probably just more of the same.

[LinktheDeme]

On hold right now and just need to vent. Same crap as before, reboot modem and all is good for 10 minutes. Then speeds drop to below 1mbps. Called comcast and ask to be escalated to a level 2 tech and I had to tell the CSR my phone number 4 times before he got it right. He then transfers me to, I shit you not, direct tv. DIRECT TV. I really question why I don't switch to at&t, but it's probably just more of the same.

can't say i'm surprised those places are just general outsourced call centers most of the time. They probably got the numbers confused, which is kind of funny considering the access they have to your account and other people's account on different networks.

AT&T is just as bad and slower speeds in Chicago. They wanted to charge 40 dollars to come and look at our jack when it was malfunctioning. (They also stated it was working perfectly fine on their end and receiving a signal) Comcast at least waives the fees if its on their end.

[Kalmado]

Was told by the level 2 tech I needed to change my network settings to wpa2-psk aes and channel to 11. Did that and same problem. After reading the modem log it seems it may be an issue with too many splitters to where I'm connected in my house. I'll have to move the modem+router to a different spot and see what happens. Sucks because I'd like to be hard wired directly from the wireless router to my gaming pc, but I guess I can use my repeater for that.

[Komm Suesser Tod]

Was told by the level 2 tech I needed to change my network settings to wpa2-psk aes and channel to 11. Did that and same problem. After reading the modem log it seems it may be an issue with too many splitters to where I'm connected in my house. I'll have to move the modem+router to a different spot and see what happens. Sucks because I'd like to be hard wired directly from the wireless router to my gaming pc, but I guess I can use my repeater for that.

The number of splitters only matters if you have low signal strength. If you type 192.168.100.1 into your browser, it should bring up the modem's info page. If the downstream signal strength is under -7dBmv then it could be too fixed by moving it earlier in the chain of splitters.

Or if you have noise issues. A low signal to noise ratio could indicate a faulty splitter or connector in the line from the junction.

And as a note, the people you call up generally don't know anything. Now, I'm not saying they're stupid, although generally true, it's just that they aren't required to know anything. They have a list for when stuff like this comes up. They go down the list, and that's all they can do.

[Gadritan]

Comcast just bought Time Warner for $45 billion. fuck.

[Mina]

Well it has to get greenlighted but yeah, the offer is out there.

Who needs competition anyways, it has always worked out for the consumer when there isn't any, amiright?

Edit: Also people seem to be talking about this over at the Net Neutrality thread.

[*Shinzon*]

I find it very unlikely that this deal will pass regulatory scrutiny. The DOJ has been very closely watching large mergers and has brought suits against a lot of companies this year for anti trust violations, although most of them settled. Comcast's argument is that cable companies don't actually compete, and so it should be approved. That's an absurd thing to say and I hope it highlights some of the problems with the cable system in the US. Since I've been in Buffalo going to school the only option is time warner or crappy DSL.

[Alexa M]

Comcast is on my last nerve. I had an issue with their modem. I tried to use one I had laying around when my Comcast modem went out. When the Comcast technician came I was pleased. But later very unhappy to see they billed me $60 for a troubled call. When i asked why, it was because at the time I had a non Comcast piece of equipment hooked up upon arrive.

[LinktheDeme]

Comcast is on my last nerve. I had an issue with their modem. I tried to use one I had laying around when my Comcast modem went out. When the Comcast technician came I was pleased. But later very unhappy to see they billed me $60 for a troubled call. When i asked why, it was because at the time I had a non Comcast piece of equipment hooked up upon arrive.

If it's a problem on your end you are going to get billed for it. If it's on their end they waive it and generally credit you depending on how long it's been since they are aware and how long it takes them to resolve the issue. I don't know how this applies to modem's that they have to replace which you are renting. You should probably complain and ask for a refund on that 60 dollars if it was indeed their modem that was lacking, explaining the situation. Ask to talk to the sales + billing department. Then threaten to cancel the subscription to that modem to purchase your own if you still want to go down that route and they're not listening to you.

However if that modem wasn't faulty, then you are going to be responsible. Although bitching might get you a refund anyway.