Moving 2 Eastside - Is Comcast really THAT bad? (Seattle, Redmond: to rent, house)

[TonyG5003]

I am moving from Austin to the Seattle area soon, and I am trying to determine who has fast/reliable internet service.

Most likely, I will end up in the Issaquah or Sammamish area. I am aware that the Issaquah Highlands has its own fiber optic network with speeds over 50mbps.

Preferably, I would rather have TV/Internet from the same provider, much like I currently have TimeWarner in Austin. My current speed is 20 down and 2 up. I would like to have at least the same speeds, but ideally, the 50mbps and up would be better.

In researching Comcast, I came across all the Yelp postings about how horrible they apparently are, and this caused me concern. Can some Comcast customers in the Issaquah/Sammamish areas chime in to let me know if all the doom and gloom is real - or has your experience been acceptable? And, is the DOCSIS 50mbps and up actually available in Issaquah/Samamish?

Thanks!

[texastrigirl]

I live in that area and don't notice a problem with speed. Actually used to have TimeWarner in Austin as well

[Hemlock140]

I'm in Sammamish and have Comcast for phone, Internet and TV. Remember that the review websites get mainly posts from unhappy people, it gives them a sense of satisfaction to complain. Recently most of the plateau was upgraded to fiber optic and the speed is fine. I do recommend buying a Tivo. The DVR boxes provided by Comcast are total crap, and when you exchange it they give you one that someone else has returned and has the same problems. My daughter finally went with Tivo in her room after 5 Comcast DVRs in a month. Oh, and expect to spend 2 hours at their Redmond store waiting in line if you choose to go there to pick up or exchange anything.

[AuburnAL]

Yes.

I waited something like a month and a half for them to fix my cable once. I took a Friday off, and they never showed up. I called and the guy promised they be there Saturday. I sat around Saturday and nothing. Monday at work I got a call from the cable guy asking where I was. I asked him why he expected me to be there when we had no appointment that, and he said, "We have a 24 hour window." He at least had the decency to shut up when I pointed out it was three days after the appointment. My internet's been sporadic for months now, but I haven't had a Saturday off to get it fixed. Plus there's no reason to believe they would have come by to fix it by now. They flat out suck.

Why do capable companies even have guys working on weekdays? They should have all their guys out working at night and on weekends when most people could actually be home to ge their cable fixed. These guys always act like I'm some kind of punk since the only time they work that I can be home is Saturday morning.

Let me edit to say I'm in Alabama, but that was Comcast.

[TonyG5003]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

I live in that area and don't notice a problem with speed. Actually used to have TimeWarner in Austin as well

Ahh... then you know the circles I've run with TimeWarner. When I moved to Austin 4 years ago (Bee Cave) I never had any complaints, and wondered why so many people hated them. Well, then I moved to another house just 2 miles away, and it went down the tubes. Worse, one group doesn't know what the other is doing. It's frustrating, and I really try to give the benefit of the doubt.

Are you in Issaquah or Sammamish? I leaning towards Issaquah, but if fiber is only in Sammamish, it may make a difference in which house I choose.

Originally Posted by bisjoe

I'm in Sammamish and have Comcast for phone, Internet and TV. Remember that the review websites get mainly posts from unhappy people, it gives them a sense of satisfaction to complain. I do recommend buying a Tivo. Oh, and expect to spend 2 hours at their Redmond store waiting in line if you choose to go there to pick up or exchange anything.

Yes... I figured the Yelp posts were going to be heavily weighted to the negative, so I'm looking for more balance here. And thanks for the head's up on the DVRs and waiting at the Redmond store. I saw that warning somewhere else as well. I don't have the patience for that type of run-around.

[texastrigirl]

I am in Sammamish (very south end)...if I go down the street a bit I am in Issaquah. We chose our house because it is a half block from Pine Lake so we can walk down the street and pop in our canoe or kayak and watch the bald eagles fly

I have friends in Issaquah Highlands (newer area) and they do not complain about internet speed. I will ask around to see what others say.

[VeronikaW]

We used to live in the Issaquah Highlands. We had the fiber network for internet and Comcast for TV and phone. Comcast was terrible. Our phone and cable used to go out regularly. It was a pain. The IH fiber network however was awesome! We miss it!

[TonyG5003]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

I have friends in Issaquah Highlands (newer area) and they do not complain about internet speed. I will ask around to see what others say.

Thanks - I appreciate that!

Originally Posted by VeronikaW

We used to live in the Issaquah Highlands. We had the fiber network for internet and Comcast for TV and phone. Comcast was terrible. Our phone and cable used to go out regularly. It was a pain. The IH fiber network however was awesome! We miss it!

Hmmm... I may consider keeping my DirecTV equipment until after the move! I had it for a while earlier this year, but then TimeWarner fixed the issues (after many months). Haven't bought-out the contract yet.

Yes, I've read great things about the Highlands network. We're "slightly" interested in that area... but it may be a bit cramped for us. We'll be checking it out when were there starting Wednesday.

[AddyLaddy]

I'm living on the Sammamish plateau and have Comcast Internet, TV and phone. Had no Internet reliability issues in the last 9m or so. We get about 17Mbps download speed from the speedtest site with their standard service. The Comcast TV box is really awful though and I'm having to rent their modem for the internet+voice service at $7 pm which is annoying.

I'm thinking of dropping the TV and Phone and moving over to a VOIP provider as we can't even ring my cell phones or the Seattle office with their stupid phone service and that costs me $33 pm!

[TonyG5003]

Originally Posted by AddyLaddy

The Comcast TV box is really awful though and I'm having to rent their modem for the internet+voice service at $7 pm which is annoying.

I'm thinking of dropping the TV and Phone and moving over to a VOIP provider as we can't even ring my cell phones or the Seattle office with their stupid phone service and that costs me $33 pm!

I've been down the cable phone route before - not very reliable, so I understand your pain.

Thanks for the report on the internet connection - and there seems to be growing consensus that the Comcast boxes are to be avoided.