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Hey all, hope this isn't a repeat post. Didn't see anything in SH/SC, IYG, or A/T, so I figured I'd post this here. I just moved to a new town, and I'm looking to set up home internet for the first time. I'm not sure how to find reliable information on what ISPs are available in my area, which offer the best deals, which are the best rated/most reliable, what modem/router/equipment to get, how to avoid necessary charges, etc. According to broadbandnow.com, Sonic is the highest rated ISP in my area by a long shot. Why are Xfinity and ATT so poorly rated? Is it possible to haggle with ISPs over costs / services? Any tips or advice for a first-time buyer? I'm sure I could throw money at Comcast to take care of everything, but I'd like to keep costs as low as possible, and I'm worried the bigger ISPs will nickel-and-dime me. Also maybe we could turn this thread into a general ISP / home internet thread or something. Thanks!
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Nov 17, 2016 05:36
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If you want cheap go with a lower priced one. If you want quality I'd go with a cable provider in the area. Probably Comcast.literally this big posted:Why are Xfinity and ATT so poorly rated? One of the big and consistent complaints is that they hire foreign phone operators (who don't speak English as first language and work overnight). This leads to a LOT of confusion for customers without much technical knowledge. The big companies do this because they can hire twenty workers in India/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia for the cost of one US worker. Also, people like to complain. Review sites are a slog to read through. literally this big posted:Is it possible to haggle with ISPs over costs / services? Any tips or advice for a first-time buyer? Yes, but the haggling comes in more when you threaten to leave. All the big places give introductory rates. You can usually lock into perpetual one/two year agreements if you call them when one expires.
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Nov 18, 2016 00:12
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literally this big posted:Why are Xfinity and ATT so poorly rated? Internet is a government authorized monopoly. They suck because there's no reason for them not to. They used to have some very small fear that if they sucked *too* bad someone would pull their monopoly and award it to someone else, but even that is unrealistic anymore.
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Nov 18, 2016 05:52
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drat, that paints a grim picture. So are the big providers really that much worse / less reliable than the local provider that has twice the customer approval rating? I mean, I guess that's best examined on a case-by-case basis, but do local provders tend to provide better service?
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Nov 21, 2016 01:47
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literally this big posted:So are the big providers really that much worse / less reliable than the local provider that has twice the customer approval rating? Those are two very broad questions. It's estimated that ~290 million people use the internet in the US. IMO the giant companies get a bad rap. I've heard plenty of good/bad stories about the giant companies as well as the local small ISPs.
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Nov 21, 2016 06:16
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literally this big posted:So are the big providers really that much worse / less reliable than the local provider that has twice the customer approval rating? I mean, I guess that's best examined on a case-by-case basis, but do local provders tend to provide better service? But when problems do happen, they're often difficult to get solved. There's also the whole introductory pricing/"your bill goes up by $25 after a year" problem, and providers are often wishy-washy on what exactly is the cheapest plan and how much it's going to cost down the road. Yes, in most cases you can get a better deal (or rather, maintain your current deal) if you call and complain. It's easier to rant about it in a one-star review though. There are a few non-incumbent/competitor ISPs around. Many of them started as dial-up ISPs in the 90s and were able to purchase access to subscriber lines under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, but a lot of them went bust in the early 00s and the telecom act itself has been weakened. There's also a few places that have Google Fiber or municipal ISPs. Where they exist they tend to be pretty good. These ISPs actually want and compete your business, knowing that if they're awful you're going to just go to big cable anyways. People who subscribe to them do usually like them and want to spread word so the ISPs stay profitable and stick around. The downside to these ISPs is that, even where available, they may be constrained by aging technology, e.g., DSL-based ISPs that don't have access to fiber.
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Jan 8, 2017 04:51
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ExcessBLarg! posted:But when problems do happen, they're often difficult to get solved. There's also the whole introductory pricing/"your bill goes up by $25 after a year" problem, and providers are often wishy-washy on what exactly is the cheapest plan and how much it's going to cost down the road. Yes, in most cases you can get a better deal (or rather, maintain your current deal) if you call and complain. It's easier to rant about it in a one-star review though. A lot of it is also that a lot of people don't really understand how the Internet and ISPs work, so you'll get people giving the ISP one-star reviews about things that aren't the ISPs fault at all. Grandpas complaining about how slow their internet is while using an old version of IE with half a screen full of toolbars on an old Dell that's still using Windows XP, etc. This might more be a thing when looking at negative reviews of smaller ISPs, though. I went over a lot of them when looking at options for my parents house and a lot of the complaints boiled down to "old people don't know how the internet works".
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Jan 8, 2017 05:25
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Comcast has reasonably fast service for a (somewhat) reasonable price. Outside of that, their supplied equipment is hot garbage, and if you have any issues, expect literally the worst customer service experience imaginable. Also, I'm in a continuing argument with them over whether the Motorola modem I own is stolen or not, since it used to be on a different (closed) account. gently caress Comcast with a rusty fork.
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Jan 9, 2017 00:19
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Zogo posted:If you want cheap go with a lower priced one. If you want quality I'd go with a cable provider in the area. Probably Comcast. Comcast has a terrible reputation even compared to its competitors though? Zogo posted:Those are two very broad questions. It's estimated that ~290 million people use the internet in the US. IMO the giant companies get a bad rap. Having lived in both the US and elsewhere, the big US internet companies get a bad rap because they suck a lot.
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Jan 9, 2017 01:58
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Jeb Bush 2012 posted:Comcast has a terrible reputation even compared to its competitors though? All the big companies have lots of detractors. All the other ISPs in my area have awful upload/download speeds. And also in the winter months I see people climbing up on their roofs to clean their dishes so they can get reception again. Two big pluses for Comcast. Jeb Bush 2012 posted:Having lived in both the US and elsewhere, the big US internet companies get a bad rap because they suck a lot. You won't find me complaining. I've been lucky and have had solid internet for the last dozen years or so.
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Jan 9, 2017 05:39
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MrYenko posted:Comcast has reasonably fast service for a (somewhat) reasonable price. Completely agree. I could pay $20 less per month for slower AT&T service, but once you've had Comcast speeds it's hard to go back. I've heard Sonic is starting to run fiber optic in SF, so maybe that'll be a decent option down the road.
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Jan 9, 2017 19:35
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Jeb Bush 2012 posted:Comcast has a terrible reputation even compared to its competitors though? The problem with Comcast is sometimes access to that service (if you're in the boonies on aging infrastructure), the pricing of it, or anything around support issues. Equipment is a separate problem and not one confined to Comcast or even cable in general. Basically Motorola (now Arris) makes reliable standalone cable modems, but "gateways", DVRs, are a total mess across the industry.
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Jan 10, 2017 13:49
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Overall the quality of Comcast's service is actually pretty good. Above par for cable companies, but most of big cable has figured out by now how to make their network infrastructure work. Absolutely agreed. It's just doubly annoying that when you finally get through the first three or four layers of garbage support, there actually are people that have the ability to help you, but you have to act like a complete cock-bag on the phone to actually get to someone who will do more than ask you to power-cycle your modem.
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Jan 10, 2017 14:44
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Equipment is a separate problem and not one confined to Comcast or even cable in general. Basically Motorola (now Arris) makes reliable standalone cable modems, but "gateways", DVRs, are a total mess across the industry. God forbid broadband providers just give you a modem, and let you set up the rest, though... No, you must use our super-lovely all-in-one device! No, we're not going to help you copy network settings over from your old one (not an issue for me, but a huge issue for less technically literate people who then call me to fix everything).
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Jan 10, 2017 17:13
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PT6A posted:God forbid broadband providers just give you a modem, and let you set up the rest, though... No, you must use our super-lovely all-in-one device! No, we're not going to help you copy network settings over from your old one (not an issue for me, but a huge issue for less technically literate people who then call me to fix everything). I know Verizon's all in one device serves the guide info to the cable box. This is accomplished this with a proprietary protocol rather then having the set top box connect to normal wifi. They wouldn't be able to get as many people to pay for an official router otherwise. Though I'm surprised they don't offer a TV-guide-only box and a bring your own router convenience fee to suck money out of nerds.
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Jan 10, 2017 21:25
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One thing that blows about ATT UVerse is that you cannot get a modem or just put the UVerse gateway into a bridge mode where it just acts as a dumb modem.
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Jan 15, 2017 22:39
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MrYenko posted:Absolutely agreed. It's just doubly annoying that when you finally get through the first three or four layers of garbage support, there actually are people that have the ability to help you, but you have to act like a complete cock-bag on the phone to actually get to someone who will do more than ask you to power-cycle your modem. Yeah, I think this is the biggest issue I've run into. When I moved I had to cancel and sign up for service again at my new house for some reason. I signed up for the exact set of services Inhad at the old place and when they came out to do the install they couldn't get my internet service working. I had an internet add-on on my account that I've been using for years that apparently no one at Comcast was able to figure out how to activate. I spent days on the phone arguing with tech support reps that the add-on I was paying for was an actual thing that Comcast sold (they would look, see it on the account and tell me that they don't actually do that). On day 3 I managed to find someone that knew how to enable it and I was up and running in minutes. There's no recourse for lovely treatment, no accountability for the shitheads I spent literal days of my life arguing with. I stay with Comcast because my only other option is DSL from ththe phone company that's equally incompetent and delivers 1/25th of th speed at the same price. When everything works, it's fine, but god help you if it doesn't.
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Jan 16, 2017 06:53
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In my area Comcast is doing a "test run" where they are putting a data cap on my line like it's a loving cellphone. gently caress YOU. $10 a gig if you go over. This test run is highly likely to spread to everywhere else so keep that in mind too. Again, comcast is the fastest but also pieces of poo poo. EDIT: I realize that this is put in place because of declining Cable TV subscriptions as people move to streaming options, but it still pisses me off. I pay something like $80 a month for internet already and I'm not shelling out an extra $50 a month for unlimited data. Ugh.
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Feb 9, 2017 00:23
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TheJetCityFix posted:In my area Comcast is doing a "test run" where they are putting a data cap on my line like it's a loving cellphone. gently caress YOU. $10 a gig if you go over. This test run is highly likely to spread to everywhere else so keep that in mind too. Again, comcast is the fastest but also pieces of poo poo. Yea the worst thing about Comcast isn't their speeds, which is actually quite good, its their fees. When i moved to my new apartment I settled for their basic TV/Internet combo for $69 a month. After all their fees, not taxes, FEES, I end up paying $90 a month. I don't even get HD channels. It's ridiculous. But they're literally the only option for my apartment complex so its pay up or lol no internet for you. At least their network is really fast, and like I said, the service has been reliable.
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Feb 9, 2017 00:49
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Some providers might have an 'unlisted' or custom package that are priced similar or even for less than a regular one. With a few less channels you could get tenfold the internet download speed and higher upload speed, that they'll give you if you specifically address the details of it or bring it up. Although I don't know how it relates to outside of where I am, Shaw in Canada has something similar to this I believe.
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Feb 9, 2017 23:40
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The only advice I have is to buy your own cable modem (don't rent it from an ISP, you'll recoup your $9/month cost pretty quickly) and get a good router that supports flashing to custom firmware like https://www.dd-wrt.com/site/ or http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato or something. If you don't feel comfortable with that sort of thing then I guess just suffer through Linksys or try and find a friend that will help set you up. Use WiFi encryption and don't broadcast your SSID unless you need it. More and better tips can be found in Serious Hardware / Software like The Home Networking Megathread. As far as ISP choice goes, you are completely at the mercy of your local providers. Don't give comcast any equipment back without getting a loving receipt back in your hand.
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Feb 11, 2017 03:56
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