8 ms·

If this was another ISP, I might be irritated, or even angry. But I can't work up the effort. I mean, this is Comcast we're talking about. Even by the very low

If this was another ISP, I might be irritated, or even angry. But I can't work up the effort. I mean, this is Comcast we're talking about. Even by the very low standards of ISPs, they're pretty nasty and generally unpleasant. What did you expect?

pzxc 10y ago
Because TimeWarner and Cox are just as bad on customer service, and AT&T/Verizon are losing marketshare fast and may become obsolete. (DSL being behind the curve on bandwidth and fiber not available in 99% of areas) At this point I'm starting to think the best shot we've got is if Tesla swoops in and saves the day with very-low-earth-orbit satellite internet service. Even that's not a guarantee because who knows how they'd operate as an ISP, maybe no better than what we've already got. Add onto that the fact that attempts at net neutrality are being rolled back and we may face the prospect of internet slow lanes, and the picture may be getting very bleak.
- JoshGlazebrook 10y ago
  ATT is deploying FTTH in some areas where Google Fiber is at. I know here in Austin their 1Gbit fiber is available in quite a number of apartments (including mine). Verizon isn't really expanding FIOS anymore. But overall, ATT and Verizon are selling off their legacy DSL lines and are focusing on fixed "5G" being the next step in home broadband. And then of course both have their wireless subsidiaries where they are pushing people to so they can charge $$$ per GB.
paulddraper 10y ago
I have no love for Comcast. But I don't see how Century Link is any better.
manyxcxi 10y ago
I love to bag on Comcast/Xfinity as much as the next guy, but, honestly, I would lump all of the cable and DSL companies together at the bottom of a latrine as far as customer service and 'value' go. However, I'd be willing to bet that in most areas Comcast is probably your most reliable and fastest choice- unless you can get fiber, then always do that. I was spoiled in Portland for years with Verizon (then later Frontier) fiber. When I moved to Seattle I was shocked that the best I could do was Comcast. After 5 years with them I had one incident that involved an actually shitty customer experience that was saved by one of the best customer support experiences I've ever gotten anywhere (thanks Joe in Seattle Comcast Tier 3 tech support). I've been using my own modem since before it was cool, so I never got hit by the monthly rate hikes or the 'free wifi' hotspot you can't disable. If I didn't have fiber in my area now I'd begrudgingly get Comcast (if only just for internet) as my next choice.
- bluejekyll 10y ago
  > I was shocked that the best I could do was Comcast. I can't help but feel that all of the providers are at this point happy to not compete with each other. It's expensive to build out infrastructure, and where they don't compete, they can charge more. This feels like there should be a monopoly case against all of them for effectively being in league with each other, even if there has been no explicit agreement. On top of that, states like Tennessee blocking cities from expanding their own networks to help reach those who only have one provider? And the providers trying to argue that 10mbits is broadband?! I'd like to see that where this is barely competition, municipalities take over. But, that doesn't necessarily mean much as in SF we've passed two resolutions for city wide wifi, and it's basically a sham.
- pyromine 10y ago
  You know there's a certain irony that I would never ever use a modem that I can't turn off the XFinity wifi crap, but I absolutely love having the ability to use other people's XFinity wifi. I pretty much have access to free wifi everywhere because of it, even spent two weeks in my new apartment mooching off someone else's wifi until I could get fiber installed.
  - cynwoody 10y ago
    The xfinitywifi access points I've come across (just about everywhere I go) are unsecured but not free. You need an account before they'll handle your traffic. IOW, useful to Comcast customers but nobody else.
    - douche 10y ago
      That is sort of the whole point, for Comcast.
  - phil21 10y ago
    I know if I were a comcast engineer having to read these posts continually I'd likely end up having a coronary. You do understand the "XFinity wifi crap" has absolutely zero affect on you whatsoever, with the exception of the 50mw or whatever power draw that extra SSID takes right? If so, why do you hate it so much? It's an amazing idea - on Comcast owned CPE create a network-wide wifi network before you hand off to the customer. It affects that customer's traffic in absolutely no what whatsoever any more than anyone else on the neighborhood cable segment would. In exchange for $.50 worth of power a year, I now gain access to a city-wide network of rather surprising density. I fail to see a downside. I'm very curious why you think this is remotely a problem. I hate on Comcast more than the average guy, but the absolutely incorrect FUD they get on this product even on HN where folks should know better is beyond puzzling to me.
joe_the_user 10y ago
So basically you're saying that once an ISP gets enough, you stop complaining? Giving every other service provider an incentive to reach the convenient place of no expectations.
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  This is just what we've come to expect from them at this point. I'll still complain, but I can't really work up the energy to get seriously mad about it.
douche 10y ago
Comcast is still better than any of the other isps I've dealt with. Admittedly, that's not a high bar - the other option in this area is Time Warner, which makes Comcast seem like fine wine next to Colt 45.

pzxc 10y ago

Because TimeWarner and Cox are just as bad on customer service, and AT&T/Verizon are losing marketshare fast and may become obsolete. (DSL being behind the curve on bandwidth and fiber not available in 99% of areas) At this point I'm starting to think the best shot we've got is if Tesla swoops in and saves the day with very-low-earth-orbit satellite internet service. Even that's not a guarantee because who knows how they'd operate as an ISP, maybe no better than what we've already got. Add onto that the fact that attempts at net neutrality are being rolled back and we may face the prospect of internet slow lanes, and the picture may be getting very bleak.

JoshGlazebrook 10y ago
ATT is deploying FTTH in some areas where Google Fiber is at. I know here in Austin their 1Gbit fiber is available in quite a number of apartments (including mine). Verizon isn't really expanding FIOS anymore. But overall, ATT and Verizon are selling off their legacy DSL lines and are focusing on fixed "5G" being the next step in home broadband. And then of course both have their wireless subsidiaries where they are pushing people to so they can charge $$$ per GB.

paulddraper 10y ago

I have no love for Comcast. But I don't see how Century Link is any better.

manyxcxi 10y ago

I love to bag on Comcast/Xfinity as much as the next guy, but, honestly, I would lump all of the cable and DSL companies together at the bottom of a latrine as far as customer service and 'value' go. However, I'd be willing to bet that in most areas Comcast is probably your most reliable and fastest choice- unless you can get fiber, then always do that. I was spoiled in Portland for years with Verizon (then later Frontier) fiber. When I moved to Seattle I was shocked that the best I could do was Comcast. After 5 years with them I had one incident that involved an actually shitty customer experience that was saved by one of the best customer support experiences I've ever gotten anywhere (thanks Joe in Seattle Comcast Tier 3 tech support). I've been using my own modem since before it was cool, so I never got hit by the monthly rate hikes or the 'free wifi' hotspot you can't disable. If I didn't have fiber in my area now I'd begrudgingly get Comcast (if only just for internet) as my next choice.

bluejekyll 10y ago
> I was shocked that the best I could do was Comcast. I can't help but feel that all of the providers are at this point happy to not compete with each other. It's expensive to build out infrastructure, and where they don't compete, they can charge more. This feels like there should be a monopoly case against all of them for effectively being in league with each other, even if there has been no explicit agreement. On top of that, states like Tennessee blocking cities from expanding their own networks to help reach those who only have one provider? And the providers trying to argue that 10mbits is broadband?! I'd like to see that where this is barely competition, municipalities take over. But, that doesn't necessarily mean much as in SF we've passed two resolutions for city wide wifi, and it's basically a sham.
pyromine 10y ago
You know there's a certain irony that I would never ever use a modem that I can't turn off the XFinity wifi crap, but I absolutely love having the ability to use other people's XFinity wifi. I pretty much have access to free wifi everywhere because of it, even spent two weeks in my new apartment mooching off someone else's wifi until I could get fiber installed.
- cynwoody 10y ago
  The xfinitywifi access points I've come across (just about everywhere I go) are unsecured but not free. You need an account before they'll handle your traffic. IOW, useful to Comcast customers but nobody else.
  - douche 10y ago
    That is sort of the whole point, for Comcast.
- phil21 10y ago
  I know if I were a comcast engineer having to read these posts continually I'd likely end up having a coronary. You do understand the "XFinity wifi crap" has absolutely zero affect on you whatsoever, with the exception of the 50mw or whatever power draw that extra SSID takes right? If so, why do you hate it so much? It's an amazing idea - on Comcast owned CPE create a network-wide wifi network before you hand off to the customer. It affects that customer's traffic in absolutely no what whatsoever any more than anyone else on the neighborhood cable segment would. In exchange for $.50 worth of power a year, I now gain access to a city-wide network of rather surprising density. I fail to see a downside. I'm very curious why you think this is remotely a problem. I hate on Comcast more than the average guy, but the absolutely incorrect FUD they get on this product even on HN where folks should know better is beyond puzzling to me.

joe_the_user 10y ago

So basically you're saying that once an ISP gets enough, you stop complaining? Giving every other service provider an incentive to reach the convenient place of no expectations.

qwertyuiop924 10y ago
This is just what we've come to expect from them at this point. I'll still complain, but I can't really work up the energy to get seriously mad about it.

douche 10y ago

Comcast is still better than any of the other isps I've dealt with. Admittedly, that's not a high bar - the other option in this area is Time Warner, which makes Comcast seem like fine wine next to Colt 45.