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Unfortunately, there's still a time lag for this to take effect. I recently moved across town from somewhere where Comcast was my only option (and I had gigabit

Unfortunately, there's still a time lag for this to take effect. I recently moved across town from somewhere where Comcast was my only option (and I had gigabit) to a neighborhood where I had the option between Comcast gigabit and another gigabit fiber provider. The latter had no data cap, free install, free gifted equipment, symmetric gigabit (as opposed to Comcast's 80 Mb/s upload), no contract, and was $25/month cheaper (with a lifetime price lock). I called Comcast to complain and try and avoid paying the ETF (it was at $180 because I signed a 2 year contract) with some kind of benefit: remove my data cap, drop my rate, something. They wouldn't budge an inch. Told me I was already getting a promotional price from them and that the data cap (which I'd already hit 2 out of their 3 grace overages) was non-negotiable. Switched to the alternative provider, and I can't be happier. Looking forward to Comcast dropping their rates and/or data cap, but I'm hoping that I never have to be their customer ever again.

lunias 7y ago
I wish there was an alternate provider that I could switch to... without a massive reduction in throughput.
- bdickason 7y ago
  Have you checked AT&T? I live in Santa Cruz (a small city) and was surprised to find that they wired my neighborhood for fiber last year. Price is competitive with Comcast and it’s been solid since I signed up a few months ago.
  - lunias 7y ago
    Just checked. Sadly, not available. I can have Comcast, Century Link (Century Link's maximum offering in my area is 1.5 Mbps), or satellite. I live 20 minutes outside of Minneapolis in the suburbs... If I lived 10 miles closer to the city I could have fiber. It's just a matter of time, but I hate having one choice.
    - checkyoursudo 7y ago
      Some years ago I used to drive regularly on new Hwy 10 to and from 35W (back then 610, I think) and I'd always see this massive Centurylink billboard advertising fiber, in maybe Mounds View, Fridley, Columbia Heights area. I had friends who lived around there with this awesome broadband connection. Meanwhile, best I could ever get from them a couple of miles away was maybe 25 (maaaaaybe 50) mbps DSL, and that would crap out constantly. For years and years. As far as I know, the area where I lived still isn't upgraded.
- jyrkesh 7y ago
  Isn't it incredible how just having one additional firm to compete makes so much difference in the customer experience?

lunias 7y ago

I wish there was an alternate provider that I could switch to... without a massive reduction in throughput.

bdickason 7y ago
Have you checked AT&T? I live in Santa Cruz (a small city) and was surprised to find that they wired my neighborhood for fiber last year. Price is competitive with Comcast and it’s been solid since I signed up a few months ago.
- lunias 7y ago
  Just checked. Sadly, not available. I can have Comcast, Century Link (Century Link's maximum offering in my area is 1.5 Mbps), or satellite. I live 20 minutes outside of Minneapolis in the suburbs... If I lived 10 miles closer to the city I could have fiber. It's just a matter of time, but I hate having one choice.
  - checkyoursudo 7y ago
    Some years ago I used to drive regularly on new Hwy 10 to and from 35W (back then 610, I think) and I'd always see this massive Centurylink billboard advertising fiber, in maybe Mounds View, Fridley, Columbia Heights area. I had friends who lived around there with this awesome broadband connection. Meanwhile, best I could ever get from them a couple of miles away was maybe 25 (maaaaaybe 50) mbps DSL, and that would crap out constantly. For years and years. As far as I know, the area where I lived still isn't upgraded.
jyrkesh 7y ago
Isn't it incredible how just having one additional firm to compete makes so much difference in the customer experience?