Silly ISP Debate

[FarmerPete]

So my promotional period with Comcast just ran out.  I was paying $41.50 (after fees) for a 25mb internet that includes HBO/HBOGo & their Streampix streaming.  The price went up to $61.50 now.  I really don't want to pay $61.50.  The only other provider is ATT with their UVerse, and I hate that they have large install charges, data caps, and forced modem rental charges.  Hell, I've got all of my old equipment from UVerse from 1yr ago, but they'll still charge me $7 a month to use it.  I called up Comcast like I normally do, and they offered me the same package I had before, $41.50 for 24 months with a 24 month contract.  Typically, I'd be all over that deal.  The problem is, there is a company in town that's laying fiber for fiber to your home setup.  They're charging $50 a month for 1000mb service with no caps.  While I hardly use 25mbps and could probably do okay with 6mbps, I do like the idea of supporting a local company that's trying to provide Google level services.  Even if they ended up going belly up, I can always switch back to Comcast or ATT in a few days, so the risk of failure is slim.  The problem is, they are still a predicted 3-5 months out from my neighborhood.  It's been selected and they are going through the permit process now.  They've already lit up the neighborhood across the way, so I can't see too much of an issue.  The trick is, do I pay $20 extra for 3-12+ months in the hope of paying $9.50 more than I could pay with Comcast to get way more speed than anyone needs?

From my checking, Comcast charges $50 for 6mbps service, so I could cut the bill down a bit if I was willing to give up 19mbps in speed & HBO.  Most of what's on Streampix is available via Hulu, and I can live without the few things that aren't.  I really don't watch much HBO.  Just GoT and a movie every now and then.  I could do $40 for 3mbps, but paying $10 is worth it for HD streaming.  Currently, Comcast has no data caps in my area.

[Future Lazy]

If principal is more important than money, spend $61.50/mo on Comcast for 3-5 more months to the tune of up to $100 more than you would have spent if you take their re-up of the $41.50 offer... Switch to the Underdog ISP at that time.

Is the underdog with an extra $100 to you, in the grand scheme of things?

[RFAAOATB]

Like charity, never underestimate the intrinsic value to your satisfaction of "Fuck Comcast".  Perhaps switch to UVerse until fiber comes to your neighborhood.

[Daley]

Like charity, never underestimate the intrinsic value to your satisfaction of "Fuck Comcast".  Perhaps switch to UVerse until fiber comes to your neighborhood.

The same can just as easily be said of AT&T as it can Comcast. I say switch to the cheapest Comcast package you can tolerate (HD is overrated, it does nothing to improve the writing), wait out the fiber install and fly the double deuce to two of the worst comms companies in America.

[NICE!]

Whatever you do, I'm 100% on board with you supporting a local company that is laying down fiber and not capping data. Good for them, vote with your wallet.

As such, do whatever you have to do to bridge the gap until their service is available for you, then give NBC/Comcast/Universal/GE/Rockefeller/Democratic Party the double deuce, as IP said.

I do disagree (somewhat) with IP on HD. It is lovely, especially for sports & games. GoT? It is nice but I'm not convinced it is a deal-breaker.

[FarmerPete]

Whatever you do, I'm 100% on board with you supporting a local company that is laying down fiber and not capping data. Good for them, vote with your wallet.

As such, do whatever you have to do to bridge the gap until their service is available for you, then give NBC/Comcast/Universal/GE/Rockefeller/Democratic Party the double deuce, as IP said.

I do disagree (somewhat) with IP on HD. It is lovely, especially for sports & games. GoT? It is nice but I'm not convinced it is a deal-breaker.

The problem with UVerse is that as of my last argument with them 2 years ago, they wouldn't let you buy a modem unless you had an internet only setup.  If you sign up for an internet only package, they charge $150 install fee.  Going online, they don't seem to have any method to not rent a modem from them.  Their promo prices are virtually the same as Comcast, but with a $7 rental charge and a $100-$150 install charge, they become worse.  They also seem to require 12 month contracts to get promo prices now. 

I've been much happier with Comcast than UVerse.  Comcast rolled out data caps and then removed them. I'm currently at 412GB this month for my data usage.  That number is crazy high, because I've been seeding a backup of all of my movies over to Crashplan a bit at a time.  I've got 3TB of files.  If I had a company with a data cap, I would have just limited that to the 100gb of personal data (pictures/home videos/documents/etc).  With ATT, I don't think I could do much beyond our current streaming without hitting the cap if it's 150gb.  I probably watch 42 minutes a night max myself (a little more obviously on the rare occasion that we watch a movie), but my wife watches a lot more during the day.

The part that got me the most upset about ATT was when they came to fix some line issues, the repairman decided that he would sever the old DirecTV wire where it goes into the house.  He just cut the thing in two.  That wouldn't have been a problem, except that I had removed the DirecTV dish off it's mast and attached an antenna to the old satellite mast.  I then connected the old satellite coax cable to the antenna.  I can kind of understand why he cut the cable, but since I didn't have ATT TV and the cable didn't mingle with anything ATT at all, he really should have asked before he started cutting cables.  The cable clearly wasn't part of the ATT install, and it was pure vandalism in my view.

I'm not worried about losing HBO and Comcasts Streampix.  The only real thing Streampix did was aggregate the content in one place.  The only content it seemed to add that I can't get else ware for free is the History Channel shows.  If I can't watch those for free, I just wont.  For GoT, I'll either buy it outright or watch it at a friends if I care that much about it.

[JLee]

So my promotional period with Comcast just ran out.  I was paying $41.50 (after fees) for a 25mb internet that includes HBO/HBOGo & their Streampix streaming.  The price went up to $61.50 now.  I really don't want to pay $61.50.  The only other provider is ATT with their UVerse, and I hate that they have large install charges, data caps, and forced modem rental charges.  Hell, I've got all of my old equipment from UVerse from 1yr ago, but they'll still charge me $7 a month to use it.  I called up Comcast like I normally do, and they offered me the same package I had before, $41.50 for 24 months with a 24 month contract.  Typically, I'd be all over that deal.  The problem is, there is a company in town that's laying fiber for fiber to your home setup.  They're charging $50 a month for 1000mb service with no caps.  While I hardly use 25mbps and could probably do okay with 6mbps, I do like the idea of supporting a local company that's trying to provide Google level services.  Even if they ended up going belly up, I can always switch back to Comcast or ATT in a few days, so the risk of failure is slim.  The problem is, they are still a predicted 3-5 months out from my neighborhood.  It's been selected and they are going through the permit process now.  They've already lit up the neighborhood across the way, so I can't see too much of an issue.  The trick is, do I pay $20 extra for 3-12+ months in the hope of paying $9.50 more than I could pay with Comcast to get way more speed than anyone needs?

From my checking, Comcast charges $50 for 6mbps service, so I could cut the bill down a bit if I was willing to give up 19mbps in speed & HBO.  Most of what's on Streampix is available via Hulu, and I can live without the few things that aren't.  I really don't watch much HBO.  Just GoT and a movie every now and then.  I could do $40 for 3mbps, but paying $10 is worth it for HD streaming.  Currently, Comcast has no data caps in my area.

Have you confirmed that the 24 months is a contract, and not just a 24 month promotion price? I just got two years discounted with Cox ($59.99 for 100Mbps) but it isn't a contract, just the duration of the promotional rate.

[Threshkin]

Have you considered going cold turkey and dropping internet for the interim?  You might discover that you don't need it at all.

You could also as your neighbor if you could use their internet for a few months for a smaller payment.

[FarmerPete]

Have you considered going cold turkey and dropping internet for the interim?  You might discover that you don't need it at all.

You could also as your neighbor if you could use their internet for a few months for a smaller payment.

I work from home one day a week currently, plus I am on-call 1/4 of the time.  The working from home saves me a 14 mile each way trip, and being on-call grosses me ~$700 each week/month.  Both require having a reliable internet connection.

Have you confirmed that the 24 months is a contract, and not just a 24 month promotion price? I just got two years discounted with Cox ($59.99 for 100Mbps) but it isn't a contract, just the duration of the promotional rate.

According to the retention specialist, it has a prorated ETF.  I didn't get the specific dollar amount on that.  I'll have to call back and see what it is and do a cost comparison to see when the break even would be with discount vs ETF payment.  At the time, I was heavily trying to get a shorter contract.  She wasn't budging or offering shorter term deals.

[Threshkin]

I work from home one day a week currently, plus I am on-call 1/4 of the time.  The working from home saves me a 14 mile each way trip, and being on-call grosses me ~$700 each week/month.  Both require having a reliable internet connection.

If you are working from home and on call you should ask your company to pay for the internet connection.

[James]

I work from home one day a week currently, plus I am on-call 1/4 of the time.  The working from home saves me a 14 mile each way trip, and being on-call grosses me ~$700 each week/month.  Both require having a reliable internet connection.

If you are working from home and on call you should ask your company to pay for the internet connection.

Can't hurt to ask, but I would be surprised if they agreed...

But as a requirement for your work make sure you are deducting the cost on your taxes...

I would drop to the lower package and wait for the local service. If there is no charge to change packages, try a month on the lowest package and see how it goes, you can usually go up in package really easily and quickly if needed.