Tired of Comcast (1 Viewer)

[Gregg_M]

Ok guys I am fed up with comcast. What are my choices. Is satellite the way to go. If so then who's system. Let me hear it all. I do have a hd capable TV and willing to spend money to get it done right. Thanks for all the replies.

Gregg

 

[Robert_J]

Do you have a competing cable company in town? Other than that, it's either Dish (E*) or DirecTV (D*). Go to each of their web sites and look at the programming options. They are close but there are a few differences. Do you want the NFL Sunday Ticket or HD-Net? Pick D*. Do you want more movie channel choices or Discovery HD? Pick E*. D* has more receiver choices like DirecTivo or HD receivers with DVI interfaces. E* has choices from basic recievers to HD to PVR models. The software is a little more basic but still very functional. To get HD channels, you will need two dishes with E* or one 18"x24" dish with D*. Some people don't like to their house to look like a dish farm with two or more dishes mounted to it. With a little more info and some specific questions, we will be able to help you make a decision.

BTW, I have a DirecTivo and a Hughes E86 HD receiver and they both work great.

-Robert

 

[Jeffrey Chin]

Gregg, what do u find wrong w/ Comcast?

Please specify is problem is w/ digital cable or cable modem high speed services

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I believe the only competing cable company in SE Michigan is Wide Open West (formerly Americast). They are available as an alternative in several areas, including my town. While they do offer cable modem Internet service, they have no current plans for offering HDTV. Comcast is supposed to be offering HDTV "sometime in 2003".

 

[Gregg_M]

Firts of all I am tired of the poor customer service and billing issues with comcast. I would like to get movies that have 5.1 surround sound. The so called digital service gets me a few more channels and their programmign guide (not much) THeir internet is running well. I want better choices in programing and the ability to do HDTV. There is no competing cable company here in my town.

gregg

 

[Justin Lane]

Comcast is a total joke as far as billing goes. They recently had a promotion for 3 months at 19.95 a month and free installation. Seeing this deal, my 84 year old grandmother decided to reconnect her service becuase her OTA reception was poor. Needless to say, when she received her first bill, they charged her full price for two months plus installation. All in all it was close to a 90 buck overcharge for the first month.

So I call Comcast up for her, and my call gets answered in Buffalo, NY when she lives in Southern NJ. They tell me to just pay the full bill and they will get around to crediting her account eventually (make take 3-4 months the guy says). Apparently they send the adjustment request to the local office, but you can't directly talk to the local office regarding billing.

What a joke, I tell him she will only pay what the deal stated, then he tells me they may shut off service. I bet Comcast does this to all new subscribers hoping some forget the promotion, and just allow them to overcharge. She just brought over this months bill and they have still yet to adjust her bill properly.

If I wasn't such a big Sixers fan (Comcast Sportsnet carries almost all of their games) and their was another broadband provider in my area Comcast would have been gone in favor of the dish long ago.

J

 

[JoeDelan]

I am fine with Comcast...
had a few issues got them all worked out.
Got HDTV, got 5.1 on HBO and Showtime Which I had with Digital, as long as hey broadcast it.
Going to Direct or Dish will not give you more 5.1 it's all up to the Channel not to the Cable company.
I can understand the Billing problem for causing problems but as for choices here in Alexandria, Va we have alot of them...

 

[Jeffrey Chin]

Comcast digital cable signal gets kinda screwy when it rains, but not nearly as bad as RCN (analog)
As for Comcast high speed cable, leave cable modem on at all times. Otherwise, your cable modem will have to handshake w/ Comcast servers to grab an IP, since it is DHCP. In theory, this should be fast, but as I learned the hard way, it's not always the case.
They have a 'monopoly' in my hood as well.
I pay 50 for basic dig cable and 40 for high speed internet.
I did the promo Aug'01 when they had $100 rebate on cable modem + first 3mo of all premium channels free + first 3mo of high speed for 19.95/mo.
They get u addicted to the premium channels, then they light you up for 17.50 PER premium channel afterwards...

 

[Rob Lloyd]

I was tired of Comcast in CT. I canceled my over-priced service and installed DirecTV. Been 2 weeks and it's great so far.

 

[Bill Leber]

Maybe Comcast's service is different in VA, but here in Indiana, and many other states, Comcast's set top boxes do not have a digital audio output, therefore, it's impossible to get 5.1 surround. They have "stereo matrix" for ProLogic, but no Dolby Digital. So it is up to the cable company AND the networks.