Any alternative to Comcast cable internet? (Auburn: apartment, homes, buyer)

[xavier132487]

Oh, whoever said Earthlink isn't available in Atlanta is wrong... WE HAVE THE HEADQUARTERS HERE! LOL

One neighbor at home (Marietta) has cable internet through them, another satellite, and another DSL.

My dad in East Cobb has DSL from them.

So, it's definitely available in Atlanta.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by springgarden

Comcast charges $60/month for high-speed internet, $20 more than what we are paying now (Earthlink, not available in ATL).

I use Comcast here in Mableton, and we're only paying $45.95 for high-speed internet, but we're also a cable TV customer so we might be getting a break.

The tech support people I've talked to have mostly been idiots, but we've had two visits from field support (one to run a wire downstairs, and a second to figure out why we had such a noisy line and eventually replace it), and both have been positive experiences.

I run a mixed-environment here (Linux firewall and Linux, Windows, and OS/2 desktops), and none of those have been a problem.

[springgarden]

Earthlink cable internet doesn't seem to be available in Decatur at least, though they do offer DSL service.

[wbhurt]

DOWN WITH COMCAST!!! I've lived all over the U.S. and had comcast several different places. It's always terrible! Three different times now their shifty installers have tried to charge me a per room hook up fee when my house was already wired in every room to start with. One real bastard even went so far as to pull exsisting wires out and try to charge me to put them back!! Always check the wiring situation out before they get there. Don't trust their sales reps either. We called to get service in our most recent home-on the internet there was a deal for $19.95 for the first six months -highspeed internet only-seems like a good deal-the rep told us she had never heard of it, when i said, "its on your website" she said too bad. Several times while talking to them I got the impression that they were activlly trying to confuse me and get me to hang up so i wouldn't change my exsisting service. Also, theres a longer wait time to disconnect than to connect or upgrade. So, if you do need to disconnect or downgrade- when you call hit the prompt for upgrade and they'll get right to you. I loath comcast. They need some competition and we need some alternatives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by wbhurt

DOWN WITH COMCAST!!! I've lived all over the U.S. and had comcast several different places. It's always terrible!

I've had Comcast in two different states and other than the untrained and not so smart customer support people on the phone, the service has been very good and the products themselves are world class.

I guess opinions are like you know what....everyone has one.

[flyonpa]

Clear wimax (over the air internet) does internet for the ATL inside I285, and growing outside the I285.

[libramonkey]

Comcast customer service is the worst I have ever experienced. But their internet service has never been disappointing. I have not lost it once since I got it a year ago.

Except that when your modem freaks out while you are transferring 2 mb a sec which is exactly why u are paying for Comcast in the first place, you must rely on their support infrastructure in order to make your service work.... for a day or two before you do it all again.

That is unless you pay for high bandwidth but don't ever use it.

Further more is this a phenomenon of, "errors occur when things move too fast," or is it something more like, "hey, I don't like file sharing so I am gonna screw anyone who does high bandwidth data transfers, even legitimate users and take their money while I am at it?"

I don't mean to seem paranoid, just curious.

[AnsleyPark]

I had AT&T DSL for several years and experienced significant and recurring service interruption. Switched to Comcast cable Internet service 4 years ago and have been very pleased with the speed, service levels and, yes, customer service. I think bashing Comcast has become a group sport for no real reason (for the most part).

[samiwas1]

This is a way old thread, which explains why people were so excited about 6mbps.

Anyway...I've had Comcast cable internet now for 5.5 years. I have lost internet one time for more than a few minutes in that entire span. That's when a tree fell during a storm and took out a bunch of wires. Not exactly Comcast's fault, there. The only other times I've had problems are either very late at night, probably when they are doing maintenance/upgrades, and it goes out for 10 minutes or so, or when our neighborhood was growing very quickly and speeds would drop. One call, and someone would be out that day and it was usually fixed by the next day.

My speeds are almost always around 22mbps down and 3 or so mbps up, which is pretty damn good for residential internet, and I believe it's $45 on top of my cable bill...in fact, I think they are charging me for a lesser service than I am getting, but I would have to research that some more.

I do have to say that when I needed a CableCard installed in my TiVo, that was a ridiculous experience.

[AcidSnake]

Yeah, but you gotta understand that just because your situation with Comcast is okay doesn't mean that it will be the same for others. Comcast has a cable monopoly, just as AT&T is a telephone/tele-communications monopoly.

The customer service of these monopolies are hit & miss; depending on the area a customer lives at & how much profit a customer can bring them, these monopolies can either be totally helpful or totally not.

I've had great uninterupted service with AT&T right up until I decided to lower my costs. Then they turned from helpful to rude. I guess that's typical of a deregulated uncaring mega-monopoly corporation. So much for the invisible hand of the "freemarket"...

Now, I am in the midst of switching to Clear internet. Hopefully this will be a good move, as I am looking to keep my household costs as low as possible, and "naked" DSL for me does the trick.

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I had AT&T DSL for several years and experienced significant and recurring service interruption. Switched to Comcast cable Internet service 4 years ago and have been very pleased with the speed, service levels and, yes, customer service. I think bashing Comcast has become a group sport for no real reason (for the most part).