Topic: Who has COMCAST internet and phone and Cable?

[Steve F]

This was the last straw with AT&T....Last month my debit card expired, I got a new on in the mail just prior and activated it, no problem.  I didn't realize that AT&T needed the expiration date on my automatic bill pay to make the debit on my account, so all of a sudden, my AT&T phone & internet were shut off....WTF!  I called them up, and got that straightened out, and they debited my account for the amount due, all done over the phone.  Yesterday, while going over my bank statement, I see a debit for AT&T for TWICE what was due!  The B@st@rds double billed me, for what I already paid PLUS this month's.  Then, I'm going through the mail, there's an envelope from AT&T.  I open it up, and there's a "disconnection notice" saying that I have to pay them before service is interrupted!  They really need to get their Sh!t together.  They have no problem taking money out of my bank account!!!!!  Now, I'm thinking to switching to COMCAST for everything, but would like to hear from you folks first.
I'M PISSED!
Steve F

[Industrial Rat400f Killer]

We've got it here. The DVR requires an upgraded cable so it addeds up but I can't lever live without the speed of the internet connection.
We're thinking about canceling phone and tv and just hooking the computer up to the tv to stream tv shows from Hulu, netflix and wherever else we can get the shows we like. Most of the shows we watch are available online for free.

Our cable bill is is kind of high.

[Industrial Rat400f Killer]

Oh yeah where did you get this gauges in you avatar?

[Steve F]

Oh yeah where did you get this gauges in you avatar?

J.C. WHITNEY.  I made the anodized alum cylinders to mount them.

[Industrial Rat400f Killer]

Hmm, wonder if they'd work on my 400.

[Bob Wessner]

We have Comcast for Internet and TV. I've considered including phone, but just can't bring myself to write that big a check to one place yet.  In addition, I'm having a hard time giving up the old POTS line. It was the only thing that worked during the northeast blackout a few years back.

[MacM2010]

I have Comcast for internet and T.V., and the service is fine.  No complaints, no applause. 

However, your billing woes will not be solved by switching - Comcast did the exact same thing to me when I got a new card, even after assuring me (over the phone) that everything was taken care of. 

[Bob Wessner]

i keep a U.P.S. on my router and phone switch so if the power goes out I still have phone

My issue was not so much local power loss, but the cable system. They only "guarantee" so many hours after a power failure in their network. The POTS is low draw with their own back-up system that remained up for the entire blackout. I need to get over that I guess. 

[Bob Wessner]

its the new millenium...phone and power is no longer a guarantee

get with the times man

Ah, the difference between 27 and 65 rears it ugly head in yet another way. 

[Bob Wessner]

you old timers...just because you pay for a service you expect to always be available when YOU want it...what about the power company...what about what they want...did you ever think about that...well did you? i bet you didnt

Self-centered SOB aren't I? 

[Steve F]

We have Comcast for Internet and TV. I've considered including phone, but just can't bring myself to write that big a check to one place yet.  In addition, I'm having a hard time giving up the old POTS line. It was the only thing that worked during the northeast blackout a few years back.

Well, supposedly with Comcast, the total bill for all three, phone internet and cable would be only $30 more than AT&T Phone and internet, so I'd be money ahead.  I'll have to read the fine print really, REALLY close before I decide to switch over, just in case they have some "introductory price" or "for a limited time" and then the prices jump.
The idea of a UPS for the phone is an interesting idea, something that I hadn't thought about.  I have one down in the basement that needs new batteries, so no problem there.
WTH is "POTS"  Public Owned Telephone System? (guessing here).
Oh, and another thing with AT&T...I have their DSL, and works "OK" for the most part.  Problem is, if someone in the house decides to make a phone call (Incoming calls too) I loose the internet connection for as much as 2 minutes.  I hate it when my wife decides to chat on the phone 
Steve F

[PJ]

its the new millenium...phone and power is no longer a guarantee

get with the times man

Yes the phone kinda is, it doesn't require power from the utility company.

[fuzzybutt]

we got rid of cable (time warner) back in early 2004 after the severe ice storms we had here knocked all the wires on my back yard down. cable was just plain out, thank god that the power lines, though on the ground, were still intact. took 26 days for time warner to come take care of me which wasnt the issue as there were lots of folks worse off than we were but the fact that they REFUSED to credit the time we were without cable on our bill. i went to satelite (directv) and havent looked back since. turns out that cable is around 2.5 times more expensive in our market than satelite as there is only 1 cable company that serves our area thus no competition and they can do whatever they like. plus i'm not paying their pole rental to SCE&G which is really high i understand.

[BobbyR]

I debating to switch all three to the Optimum cable or Verizon FIOS, they keep hounding me with better deals. It would be $150 for everything including DVR. Two year price for FIOS and One for Optimum.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I switched to Comcast internet and phone last July after Sprint Broadband Direct shut down. Phone has been great. No problems. Internet OK BUT the Smart Zone email service is dumber than #$%*. Often times I get pix blocked going and coming. Sometimes I can not reply to an email. I called numerous times. "We'll get back to you within 72 hours" Yeah right #$%*s. Didn't happen. I ASSUMED it was my sytem. I jacked around so many settings I'm surprised my system still works. I'm not a computer genius thats for sure but I tried. Got pissed off one time too many. Finally got in touch with a nice rep. She acknowledged that their Smart Zone is actually flawed so I've named it Dumbass Zone. She said she had the same issues and perhaps I should stick with Comcast just use a different free internet provider. Shes uses GMail so I have begun the conversion to that. Guess what.... No more problems. Last nice lady I spoke with also acknowledged the problems and gave me a free 3 month bump to 8mb service from 4mg. That my friends is VERY sporadic on the download side but the uplaod has increased considerably (not that I need the quick uploads!). Last straw! I was just informed that my phone company, Qwest, has completed our fiber optic network in our neighborhood. 12mb downloads cheaper than Comcast's 4mb. I'm in for that real soon and I'll use my free Gmail account and hopefully will not switch emails again (thats just ignorance on my part thinking I HAD to use email from my provider). Use Comcast with caution my friends.  Oh yeah, I've been using Dish for many years and have been very satisfied.   

[Bob Wessner]

Jerry,

I wasn't familiar with Smart Zone even though I have Comcast. Perhaps because we don't have  phone service. Even with the phone service, is using Smart Zone a requirement? Since we are considering adding the phone service, I'm curious. Could you just use your existing eMail client, contacts, etc. and let your own phone handle messages?

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Bob,

The Smart Zone is Comcast's "updated" email service. Guess they're rolling it out at different times. I didn't have a choice, it just showed up. Glad I can be the guinea pig for you ha ha. Doesn't really have anything direct to do with the phone service. I learned my lesson about not having an independent email account. If you have an independent email account you don't have to use one from your internet provider nor do you have to switch if/when you change internet providers. That was a real PITA.

I use my oldest computer with WIN95 for my answering machine. It has software on it that would run communications for a small business. I like having messages forwarded to my cell, etc. I just set the Comcast to 8 rings in case my computer doesn't pick up in 5 rings. But with the Comcast you can retrieve messages from any computer.

[Bob Wessner]

Ever tried to use your cell phone after a wide spread, prolonged power outage or a major crisis?  Yes, I know, I'm a pessimist, but we tend to be better prepared. 

[Bob Wessner]

Actually, I was referring to the towers. Not all have back-up power and they don't handle really high volumes of traffic very well, particularly in urban areas. Probably all those dad blamed teens texting.