Another Comcastic story

The other day Comcast made us an offer that was too good to pass up. They offered their upgraded high-speed internet service (up to 16 Mbps) for no additional cost for 6 months. Pretty good, eh? It was enough to make me call customer service and ask for it.

At first, the customer service rep didn't even know what I was talking about even though I was reading the words directly from the mailer. He eventually figured out what I was asking for and told me that he had made the change to my account. A modem reboot was all I needed to get the speed boost.

No such luck. Prior to the reboot I was getting 4 Mbps download and 750 Kpbs upload (not bad on the upload!). After the reboot, the speed actually slowed slightly to 3 Mbps, while the upload was untouched.

Was it my cable modem? Did I not leave the modem off long enough when I rebooted? I did find that my D-Link DCM-202 cable modem isn't totally compatible with Comcast. However, after downloading and applying a firmware upgrade from the D-Link Web site, I managed to get 6 Mbps from the modem. That's still a far cry from the 16 Mbps promised, and I'll be trying to determine why the speed is hobbled.

If you are wondering about my testing methods, I have checked the speed using www.dslreports.com, www.speedtest.net, and speedtest.vonage.com. I performed my tests with my laptop connected directly to the cable modem without an intermediate router or switch.
I also tweaked my network settings according to DSLReports' recommendations.


To be continued.... once I learn more from Comcast.

A message for Comcast's marketing department

I have a great idea for Comcast's marketing department: stop sending me glossy leaflets on a daily basis. The way I figure it, they must spend at least $10 per month getting the word out to me, an existing customer. Instead of trying to milk more money out of me year after year, just keep my cable rates steady. The latest glossy brochure offers digital cable for just $10 more per month than what I'm paying. Yeah, how about giving it to me for no additional money like a similar brochure a few weeks offered?

I've written before in this blog about the slowly increasing price for video cable service from Comcast. While it's true that an increase a few dollars a month won't kill my entertainment budget, it will leave a very bitter taste in my mouth. That same mouth is now chomping at the bit waiting for Verizon to finally lay FIOS they have been promising over the last couple months. Even when FIOS gets here, I'm not sure I'll drop Comcast immediately since I rely so heavily on their cable modem service for my tether to the outside world. But once Verizon has proven itself as a reliable ISP, Comcast can say goodbye to this subscriber.

Two Reasons Why Comcast Sucks

Right now Comcast high speed internet is my only reaonsable choice for broadband connectivity. DSL is not available in my neighborhood, and FIOS is a distant dream. As a result, I have subscribed to Comcast's since the day I moved in back in 2003. I will say that the 6 Mbps service is relatively zippy and stable. They have been slowly boosting the speed of their high speed service while keeping the price about the same. That's where my satisfaction ends...

Complaint #1: Cable (video) prices keep increasing. I still have the same standard (non-digital) cable plan as I had when I moved in three years ago. The cable rate has crept up four times in few-dollar increments from $42.30 to $52.20. How can a company justify a 23% increase over 3 years when the service they are delivering isn't patently different? Oh... right... they can justify it because they are Comcast and they don't really care about customers because they are a monopoly. Comcast is toast once Verizon's FIOS comes into this area. Comcast's new rate of $52.20 is a tough pill to swallow for what they are offering, especially in light of how little TV Kate and I actually watch.

Complaint #2: Comcast's anti-spam policy includes blocking e-mail from an entire domain if some of the e-mail coming from that domain looks spammy. They have blocked NCEMSF's incoming mail three times since late November. Each time I was able to get them to unblock it by filling out a Web-based request form. Who is Comcast to decide e-mail from what domains should be delivered? And why don't they notify the domains that they have decided to block? E-mail administrators who actually care will take the time to submit an un-block request. Fraudulent domains won't care and won't submit the request.