Comcast or Earthlink for Cable Modem? (Houston, Sugar Land: rent, pricing, bill) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

marklbucla · 01-30-2011, 07:53 PM

I've just about had it with Windstream's crap. I am supposed to be on the 6 MB plan and am back to getting less than a half meg just about this whole weekend.

Is anyone on either Comcast cable modem or Earthlink Cable Modem in the Sugar Land area? How do you like it, and how reliable is it?

SLoriginal'71 · 01-31-2011, 12:08 AM

I am in the Sugar Land area. I use Comcast for internet and cable. I have been using them for about 2 yrs and have had no trouble what so ever. They have provided good cable service and my internet is fast. I use their middle of the road internet service called performance. They have an office conveniently located in Sugar Land off of Hwy 90. Customer service there is great from my experience. I highly recommend Comcast.
Hope this helps!

marklbucla · 01-31-2011, 06:59 AM

How often do you have outages or periods where it gets pretty slow?

RVD26 · 01-31-2011, 07:16 AM

TV service for Comcast sucks, but I do have to admit their Internet service has worked just fine for me almost a year now.
It's 100x better than what I had before (En-touch).
Just make sure you get your own modem and get a good router.
I don't think I've had maybe one or two short outages since I've had service.
Don't really recall having really slow service.

nimbusdog · 01-31-2011, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marklbucla

I've just about had it with Windstream's crap. I am supposed to be on the 6 MB plan and am back to getting less than a half meg just about this whole weekend.

Is anyone on either Comcast cable modem or Earthlink Cable Modem in the Sugar Land area? How do you like it, and how reliable is it?

Earthlink uses Comcast to provide its service, so you're essentially getting the same thing either way. The only difference is who you pay and who you call for tech support. I use Comcast and have no problem with them. I think they've improved their service a lot the last couple of years. And their internet service is 10X better that DSL. Having said that, if you ever have to use their customer service or billing department, it's not the greatest - but definitely improved over what it used to be.

SLoriginal'71 · 01-31-2011, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marklbucla

How often do you have outages or periods where it gets pretty slow?

I have not experienced any outages or slow times with Comcast. My 2+ yrs with them have been good. Any time I have dealt with customer service, I go to the Sugar Land office. They know what they are doing and are very courteous. If you have promo pricing for something with them, when it expires they will work with you to try and find a way to lower your bill back down.

I guess the only thing I could say negative about Comcast is about their DVR cable boxes. They can be glitchy at times. Not really a big deal. If you have a box that is giving you problems they will exchange at no cost. I don't use their DVR any longer. I have a Tivo dvr and just rent a comcast cablecard. Awesome setup.

The other big positive with Comcast is that you are not required to sign any contract. So if for some reason you do not like them then you can cancel at anytime with no penalty.

nimbusdog · 01-31-2011, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLoriginal'71

I have not experienced any outages or slow times with Comcast. My 2+ yrs with them have been good. Any time I have dealt with customer service, I go to the Sugar Land office. They know what they are doing and are very courteous. If you have promo pricing for something with them, when it expires they will work with you to try and find a way to lower your bill back down.

I guess the only thing I could say negative about Comcast is about their DVR cable boxes. They can be glitchy at times. Not really a big deal. If you have a box that is giving you problems they will exchange at no cost. I don't use their DVR any longer. I have a Tivo dvr and just rent a comcast cablecard. Awesome setup.

The other big positive with Comcast is that you are not required to sign any contract. So if for some reason you do not like them then you can cancel at anytime with no penalty.

I'll agree about their DVRs. They are really pieces of junk. I've got a Tivo as well, and Comcast's DVRs really don't compare when it comes to functionality. Their UI just sucks. But Tivo keeps getting more and more expensive, and it's hard to justify the cost. Comcast is testing an app now that lets you control your cable box/dvr from an app on your phone/iPad, etc. It let's you browse the cable listing on the app and then use it to tune to that channel or schedule recordings. It's not yet available in Houston, but should be soon.

azinwood · 01-31-2011, 07:32 PM

just be sure you are on the 6Mb/s plan and not the 6MB/s plan. 6Mb/s is around 0.75MB/s which is close to what you are getting.

On a comcast blast (20Mb/s) I get around 1.8-2.0MB/s when theoretically i should get 2.5MB/s down. This is in Katy, BTW.

marklbucla · 03-27-2012, 10:55 AM

I wanted to bump this up to see if things are still good with Comcast. I'm about to leave Windstream because of their pricing. The service has been alright lately.

RVD26 · 03-27-2012, 06:37 PM

Yep, things are still good with Comcast.
Like I mentioned previously, just make sure to get your own equipment and not the refurbished crap they give you.