Comcast INTERNET in Detroit

**Aerojoe** · February-19-14, 03:58 PM

Does anybody have just Comcast Internet in Detroit? Hows it working reliable? problems? Issues with Comcast? Our AT&T DSL is nothing but problems anymore and AT&T just does not care.

We changed to their VOIP last year and nothing but problems ever since.

I am thinking of going to Comcast for just Internet [[magic jack for phone) but remember all the problems I had years ago with Comcast cable before changing to Direct tv which I will NOT change from.

**Eber Brock Ward** · February-19-14, 04:36 PM

Just wasted an hour of my day with comcast customer service because there were 2 mistaken recurring charges on my account for $10 each.

Not happy with comcast, but all broadband providers suck.

**jt1** · February-19-14, 04:46 PM

Note to all: If you have issues with Comcast or ATT, use the live chat option as opposed to calling on the phone. The people on the phone never resolve anything, the people that 'chat' can typically resolve problems. Not sure why but that has been my experience with both.

**Aerojoe** · February-19-14, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by jt1

Note to all: If you have issues with Comcast or ATT, use the live chat option as opposed to calling on the phone. The people on the phone never resolve anything, the people that 'chat' can typically resolve problems. Not sure why but that has been my experience with both.

Kind of hard to use live chat when you don't have internet access. Hell no phone at this point have to call on cell.

They finally told me the line was stolen again might have it repaired by tmrw evening. Does Comcast line get stolen like the telephone line does???

**poobert** · February-19-14, 06:20 PM

I have Comcast and live on the eastside of Detroit. ATT doesn't offer fast enough service over here.

Anyway, Comcast has been reliable enough, as of late. My connection used to go in and out frequently up until about 6 months ago. They're the best of a bad situation.

That said, they're an idiotic company to deal with, as they always have been.

First, they named their internet "XFINITY" to shed the shittiness of the Comcast image, instead of making meaningful changes.

I cancelled my cable a while ago and boy was that an adventure. First, you call somebody in Durka-durkastan who relentlessly offers you everything and the kitchen sink to keep the stupid service you don't want. Hey, assholes, how about you just provide decent pricing up front instead of after I'm pissed off beyond consolation? So I have to call and barter with you to get a reasonable rate for services? What is this, a marketplace in Kandahar or a cable company?

The rebates and packages are endlessly confusing and nonsensical. You get a decent deal for 6 months [[or in some cases, years) until your rates jump astronomically. Of course by then you forget, get jacked up, go to cancel, and they repeat the process.

Not having any of Ms. Whoever's bullshit deals, I cancelled after going back and forth for a half hour. Then they send you through the draconian process of returning their shitty equipment. You have to drive it to some Comcast location, but not any location, and the hours are conveniently mirrored around times when non-crackheads are at work. In my case, the closest place was 30 minutes away, and it was some bizarre Comcast holding cell of some kind in Warren. Whatever.

They're bullshit, but they're essentially a Monopoly, and set to grow even more gigantic, evil, and unresponsive with this recent hostile takeover on the horizon, so you might as well just bend over and take it.

The installation guys have all been pretty helpful, though. They seem like couldn't give a shit less about Comcast bullshit though and just want to hook up your shit so they can go get high in the van and listen to Jefferson Airplane. They'd probably hook you up with free channels or something if you offered them dope, but I haven't tried yet.

**Aerojoe** · February-19-14, 06:57 PM

LOL yeah I have Directtv not changing that just getting tired of AT&T. They also keep stealing the phone line around 7 and queen area. Does anybody know if they steal Comcast cable too? I am just looking for something more reliable than AT&T

**mtburb** · February-19-14, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Aerojoe

LOL yeah I have Directtv not changing that just getting tired of AT&T. They also keep stealing the phone line around 7 and queen area. Does anybody know if they steal Comcast cable too? I am just looking for something more reliable than AT&T

Isn't stealing one's own phone lines illegal? And, if you want an all-satellite experience, have you tried or even heard of Hughes Net yet?

**trotwood** · February-19-14, 07:18 PM

I was with Comcast for years&it was a hit/miss love&hate relationship. In 2007-'08 I got a notice announcing the high speed internet coming to my area. I was rather thrilled as I was growing tired of DirectTv. Comcast gave me a wonderful introductory rate[[was good for 6-12 months IIRC)and fast install. I loved the service. Like Comcast or hate them they have some of the fastest internet I've seen. Long story short after a few weeks I noticed if I turned any of my televisions on[[Comcast cable too)the internet would cut out. After being put on hold off&on for over an hour they finally decided to send a tech out. That tech came to my house&told me he immediatley knew what the problem was.......I wasn't supposed to have Comcast high speed internet. It wasn't yet available in my area. My reaction was WTF????? He left. I called Comcast. I waited on hold for 45 minutes,got transfered,&waited another half an hour to finally be told the service indeed wasn't in my area. When I asked[[well yelled is more like it)why in the world the service had been installed if it wasn't in the area&HOW IN THE &$%# it had been installed I was told 'an overzelous rep looking to make a sale'. Had they not given me a HUGE discount on existing service I'd have told Comcast to kick rocks.
So to answer OP's question Comcast's internet is fantastic! Were it not for the ever increasing rates&the hit and miss customer service I'd have stayed with them. Unfortunately for Comcast[[not really;they're making tons of dough but fortunately for me I guess)one of their less than friendly tele reps ticked me off two years ago. I sent their equipment back,waited for my rebate[[they actually owed me money)and went to one of their competitors. I don't miss Comcast in the slightes.

**Bigb23** · February-19-14, 08:10 PM

I'm with Comcast cable and ATT Dsl. So I get the best of two HUGE screw ups.
I just got off the phone with Att after spending an hour just today trying to rectify major problems going back to November. Three hours total with twelve different people. And I'm not even close to done.
In this case, there are no lesser of two evils.
They all are corporate crap dealers.

**Don K** · February-19-14, 08:13 PM

Used to have Comcast cable and internet plus MCI telephone. switched to ATT for everything last summer to save more than $100/month for 2 years. Yeah it was a PITA to return the Comcast cable box to Royal Oak, but they disconnected everything no problem and got the final bill right.

MCI, OTOH, was a major problem. Three times they blew off ATT's request to turn over my phone number, it took 4 months to sort everything out, and they never did get the final bill right. I will never deal with MCI or Verizon [[MCI's owner) again.

ATT has been fine. Phone works, internet is great, and cable is fine [[even has the west coast feeds for Showtime, Starz, and TMC that Comcast dropped a while back). And the ATT CSRs I dealt with were all US based and got on the phone to MCI with me while we were trying to get MCI to release my GD phone number.

**Bigb23** · February-19-14, 08:22 PM

Oh - I just got a Roku 3 internet TV unit to maximize my problems even further. God I love punishment.

**jackie5275** · February-19-14, 08:53 PM

I don't know if WOW is available in the city, but I have it here in Dearborn. I also had it when I lived in Lincoln Park. I've never had any problems. The pages load fast enough for my satisfaction. If you can get WOW, I 'd recommend them. We had Comcast at work. The internet seemed to go down nearly every other day for several hours. When you have to deal with fed & state agencies via internet only, it really delays your work. They eventually switched to AT & T which is a lot better there. I still like WOW though.

**Spartan** · February-19-14, 09:08 PM

All ISPs suck in their own way. I've never had any problems with Comcast aside from the price [[which is still as good or better than any others) and occasional customer service annoyance [[which happens with just about any large corporation).

**Cliffy** · February-19-14, 10:49 PM

Comcast provides a good product but its pricey but you can play phone games with them after the promotion is done. At the end of the day, most of these providers are about the same price without a promotion.

**Thruster315** · February-19-14, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Comcast provides a good product but its pricey but you can play phone games with them after the promotion is done. At the end of the day, most of these providers are about the same price without a promotion.

I've had Comcast before. One of the things that I've always ALWAYS have hated though is the lack of customer support from Comcast specifically. They've never gotten that right. The shift to Xfinity was so shallow in regards to shedding that image. Different name but same service.

So when [[not if) things go bad with Comcast, you have to deal with dopes and asshats at the other end of the line. They don't seem to care or resolve things at all. They eventually do but at what sort of grief are you going to have to deal with to get resolution?

Like Jackie said earlier, at least with a company like WOW [[again, not sure if you can get it or not)- there's some sense of humanity at the other end of the line when the sh!t hits the fan. I have no idea why companies like Comcast don't understand the concept of customer service. Even when I finally decided to cut ties with Comcast, I gave them an opportunity to keep me [[better package? prices? faster speed? more shows?) and they treated me like dirt. They actually made it easy to leave them.

So i do think there is a slight difference- and that just has to do with customer relations. WOW has it right and Comcast is notorious.

**sypo** · February-19-14, 11:45 PM

I've tried a bunch of ISPs living near downtown:

Comcast: clueless customer service frustrated me to the point of insanity so I switched my broad band to....
AT&T: could not get my invoice right and customer was terrible so I dropped them and with no other broadband options switched to....
Verizon: slower hot spot and absolutely worst customer service ever so I walked from my contract and did without a home Internet until.....
Virgin Mobile: good customer service but slower connection speeds

Virgin is the only one I would recommend but saving four hours of my time per month by not having to talk eighteen customer service idiots with no results is worth more the high speeds to me.

**EastsideAl** · February-20-14, 03:21 AM

Telephone cable is being stolen a lot around the city. My Dad's phone has been out 3 times in the last month because of it. Old style phone cable has a lot of copper, more than Cable TV coaxial and certainly fiber optic cable contains.

**Scottathew** · February-20-14, 07:24 AM

I hate Comcast. I use WOW, but unfortunately they're not willing to try to do business in Detroit.

**Honky Tonk** · February-20-14, 07:42 AM

I had Comcast a few years back, [[in Detroit) and it was problematic. Internet connections came and went. They're solution was to "reboot the modem". So, you'd be posting nonsense on DetroitYES!, the connection would drop, you'd shut down their modem, wait 10 minutes, turn it back on, then log back in. They replaced the modem once or twice, no change. Comcast were the ones that did the actual wiring, and it was fairly new. I had AT&T, [[not Uverse), and it worked a lot better. Now I hear from friends that they're having issues with AT&T. So I don't know what advice to give you. I currently tether off of my cell, and THAT works fairly well. [[T-Mobile)

**Zacha341** · February-20-14, 08:10 AM

I ditched Comcast over a decade ago. I just do a Roku box and stream stuff thru my ATT Wireless. I have a Netflix account so it's much cheaper than cable though less options, but then Comcast is not all that re. line up. I got tired of paying and paying and... poor service and rude folks on the phone re. the problems.

**DJ Tom T** · February-20-14, 09:00 AM

Comcast customer service is pretty bad. The pricing games it plays are stupid - i have to call every 6 months like clockwork, spending at least 15-20 minutes on the phone, to get a "new" "promotional" rate. The regular pricing rates are RIDICULOUSLY high. Overall, a terrible company IMO.

However:

The Comcast Internet product is HANDS DOWN the best consumer internet you can buy right now. Blows away anything WOW, AT&T, or any of the satellite companies have to offer BY FAR. My dad has AT&T and is constantly amazed when he comes to my house at how fast my internet is compared to his. Heard this from many others as well. I am a heavy bandwidth consumer, Comcast is easily able to keep up with my needs.

The service also is pretty reliable, at least here in Lafayette Park anyway. And the on site home installation/troubleshooter techs I've dealt with so far have all been very helpful.

Bottom line - if actual product quality matters to you, and you're willing to put up with a little inconvenience to get it, go with Comcast. If you're willing to compromise quality for price, there are definitely many better options.

**JBMcB** · February-20-14, 09:26 AM

If you work for one of the big 3 you may get a discount on Comcast business internet. That's what we have at home - just internet with no TV or phone. 25Mbs down / 5Mbs up with no cap and premium support for $40/month - which is pretty fantastic. We use Ooma for phone and it works pretty well. We also have Amazon Prime and Netflix - that along with a roof antenna gets us all the TV we want.

I've never had to deal with Comcast support, it just works for us. I work with a bunch of ex-Comcast support guys who say that email support usually works much better than phone support, if your internet is working well enough to get email working.

There are other options - if you work for a non-profit you can see if you can get internet through Merit, who provides internet for governments, non-profits and educational organizations. They are usually much cheaper than anyone else, but your speeds won't be quite as high. There are a bunch of DSL providers - the best of which is Speakeasy - but they are kind of DIY as far as non-connection support goes. DSL is slow, but usually a bit cheaper than cable.

**SDCC** · February-20-14, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by DJ Tom T

Comcast customer service is pretty bad. The pricing games it plays are stupid - i have to call every 6 months like clockwork, spending at least 15-20 minutes on the phone, to get a "new" "promotional" rate. The regular pricing rates are RIDICULOUSLY high. Overall, a terrible company IMO.

However:

The Comcast Internet product is HANDS DOWN the best consumer internet you can buy right now. Blows away anything WOW, AT&T, or any of the satellite companies have to offer BY FAR. My dad has AT&T and is constantly amazed when he comes to my house at how fast my internet is compared to his. Heard this from many others as well. I am a heavy bandwidth consumer, Comcast is easily able to keep up with my needs.

The service also is pretty reliable, at least here in Lafayette Park anyway. And the on site home installation/troubleshooter techs I've dealt with so far have all been very helpful.

Bottom line - if actual product quality matters to you, and you're willing to put up with a little inconvenience to get it, go with Comcast. If you're willing to compromise quality for price, there are definitely many better options.

-------------------------------------------
Took the words right out of my mouth, nothing beats the Speed of Cable, out here in San Diego we have Cox Cable
Your Speed Result:
Download Speed: 30383 kbps [[3172.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 19395 kbps [[2424.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Grandpa has ATT, he switched over last summer, he lives right next door, he averages around 2 or 3 Mb's, as opposed to cable which consistently downloads @ 25 - 35 Mb's.

No comparison what-so-ever...

With all this said, Grandpa and grandma are satisfied with their ATT account, they only do light web browsing, never download anything and are satisfied with their connection...
The ATT bill is $125.00ish, including one land-line, direct TV, and the wickedly fast ATT internet connection.

My cable bill is $220.00, including two digital telephone lines, 3 Contour receivers [[the new boxes), HD cable and internet...

**Downriviera** · February-20-14, 06:07 PM

I've had CommunistCast for years.

**Jimaz** · February-20-14, 06:59 PM

I've never had much to complain about with Comcast but I sure do hear a lot of complaints from others. They are kind of pricey.

I was a bit annoyed when they dropped internet newsgroup services but I understand that's become an obscure niche so, I understand. There are alternatives.

We don't watch much TV so we cut back to the minimum Comcast delivers. Now we have vast swaths of accessible channels that just say "you don't subscribe to this channel" interspersed with islands of semi-decent channels that we can receive. I can deal with this annoyance but why should I have to? We have the technology, Comcast. Let's use it.

Am I missing out on anything by not knowing or caring what "Xfinity" even means? It seems kind of like The Weather Channel assigning names to storms. Who cares?