Questions About Comcast BB (Bell: house, neighborhood, living)

[Robyn55]

Well here I am with boxes - wires - etc. all over my office floor. I've had BB since I first moved here in 1995. First Mediaone - then Comcast. Then switched to Bellsouth DSL (now AT&T) when I wanted a home network - and Comcast didn't support home networking. Have been relatively happy with Bellsouth - but it occasionally has several hour long outages (which I hate). It's had 2 in the last 6 weeks or so. So I thought I'd give Comcast another try. Picked up the cable modem - and couldn't get it installed (perhaps a conflict between the existing Bellsouth connections and Comcast). Anyway - I have a tech coming out on Monday - and wondered whether it's worth my while to try Comcast. So I have a few questions.

How reliable is Comcast service? How often is the service "down" and for how long? I assume that with Comcast - unlike Bellsouth - when the service is down - you're "in the dark" (I can still use a dial-up connection with Bellsouth - it's slooooooooow - but it's better than nothing if I absolutely positively have to get something done by the end of the business day). Am I right? How easy is it to set up a home network with Comcast - and do they work well (note that longest distance between computers in our house is 80-90 feet - and one computer is a desktop with no built-in wireless receiver). Also - am I correct that Comcast still doesn't support home networking in the sense that when you're setting up your router - you're on your own? With Bellsouth - I have an integrated modem wireless transmitter that is 100% supported by Bellsouth (and reception is always perfect).

In any event - reliability is more important to me than speed (and the systems both cost about the same). So any personal experiences would be appreciated. Robyn

[wacktool]

IM in the JCP area and I have Comcast. I work from home as much as I can, I do find that every few weeks I lose connection for about 15 to 20 mins during the lunch hour and when I work late hours I notice sometimes around 3am it will go down for about 10 mins. I havent had a long outtage since comcast had DNS issues (im guessing 2 years ago), and that was nation wide. I love comcast compared to DSL, I just hate calling their useless customer service if I ever need to.

[wacktool]

oh side note, if comcast goes out during those 15 mins windows, I then dont mind DSL (from my neighbors open wifi :-P )

[yamahastar]

We have Comcast and prefer it to the other providers we've had in our area.

[travelingfood]

Robyn55. No ISP officially supports free "home networking." They want to up charge you for router and support services fee. With standard service, they just won't help you troubleshoot home networking related issues.
Home networking is simple as getting yourself a new router and set it up yourself, Comcast and Bellsouth does NOT need to know about this whatsoever.

Reliability really depends on your own neighborhood, the quality of the buried infrastructure. Factor in the quality of buried lines and distance to service, etc ...it's hard to tell you who's the most reliable.

Keep in mind, if you primarily use wireless connection and lose internet connection, there's the chance it's your own temporary hardware/software issue like signal dropping with the router and stuffs. I've seen many instances where internet "just came back on" when it's really the wifi signal recovered. Also, sometimes you just need to power cycle the modem. THEN you can start calling them to complain

[1970pelle]

We had comcast since moving here about 15 yrs.We switched to AT&T universe last fall.Much better.With Comcast every couple of weeks it was one thing or another.They claimed that we had old wires in our area,and they had no idea when they ever would be replaced.Waited for years.AT&T has so far kept up to its claims.

[Robyn55]

We can't get Uverse yet (we're close but not there yet). Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by wacktool

IM in the JCP area and I have Comcast. I work from home as much as I can, I do find that every few weeks I lose connection for about 15 to 20 mins during the lunch hour and when I work late hours I notice sometimes around 3am it will go down for about 10 mins. I havent had a long outtage since comcast had DNS issues (im guessing 2 years ago), and that was nation wide. I love comcast compared to DSL, I just hate calling their useless customer service if I ever need to.

Useless customer support with Comcast - or Bellsouth? Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by wacktool

oh side note, if comcast goes out during those 15 mins windows, I then dont mind DSL (from my neighbors open wifi :-P )

They must have an old system. Our last 2 Bellsouth setups/modems were password protected. I can't even connect a computer in the house without the password.

And Comcast used to be the same. I had neighbors who complained the computer in the kitchen wouldn't connect to the one in the home office - when I could log on to their system! FWIW - when I pick up the wireless systems around me now - they are all protected. So people have lived and learned. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by travelingfood

Robyn55. No ISP officially supports free "home networking." They want to up charge you for router and support services fee. With standard service, they just won't help you troubleshoot home networking related issues.
Home networking is simple as getting yourself a new router and set it up yourself, Comcast and Bellsouth does NOT need to know about this whatsoever.

Reliability really depends on your own neighborhood, the quality of the buried infrastructure. Factor in the quality of buried lines and distance to service, etc ...it's hard to tell you who's the most reliable.

Keep in mind, if you primarily use wireless connection and lose internet connection, there's the chance it's your own temporary hardware/software issue like signal dropping with the router and stuffs. I've seen many instances where internet "just came back on" when it's really the wifi signal recovered. Also, sometimes you just need to power cycle the modem. THEN you can start calling them to complain

Actually - I have not found that to be true. I've never used a router with Bellsouth. All I need is my modem. My modem has a little antenna that transmits a wireless signal. That is picked up by 2 notebooks with wireless - and by my husband's desktop via a wireless receiver the size of a pack of cigarettes that plugs into a USB port. And whenever we upgrade modems - maybe once every 3 years or so - we get a new wireless receiver for the desktop if necessary. Note that since I have never had a problem setting up network connections - I've never had to test tech support. But I do know that I only need one box - the modem - not a modem and a router.

I think that recycling "on and off" stuff is a crock. With my current modem (a Motorola Netopia) - there are a lot of lights. But when one light - the internet light - goes red - it means the DSL is down. When it turns green again - the system is up - and everything works without recycling the modem or rebooting the computers.

BTW - although I am mad at Bellsouth for these 2 recent outages - I am perhaps even madder at Comcast for forcing me to get some kind of cable box for every TV I have - even if they're the free DTA boxes (which only get me what I used to get without the DTA box - basic cable on the TVs on the porch and in the guest bedroom). I remember how happy I was years ago when we could finally plug TVs right into the wall. I look at all these decorating magazines - and all they show is a beautiful flat screen on the wall - and a Mac on a desk - not a wire in sight. Yup - that's exactly what my desk looks like - although the TV setups look better. I did a really good job of hiding wires here:

Flickr Photo Download: Living Room (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10505567@N07/919688347/sizes/l/in/set-72157605107797037/ - broken link)