QUESTION on COMCAST as an ISP and Phone Service Provider

[InspirationalSheila]

Hi -

I'm wondering if anyone here is using Comcast for Internet service and phone service. If so, are you satisfied?

Because they are working on an upgrade in our community they are also selling packages with phone and internet service which will cost me about $50 less/month than my current bill with Bell South/AT&T, plus the initial cost for a router. I currently have no need for a router. (The fee for cable tv is included in my monthly Homeowners' Assn fees.)

My main computer is a MacIntosh and I want to make sure also that I would have no challenges with Mail coming into my INBOX. Right now I have a challenge with Hostgator on SENDING mail using mail.hostgator.com.... also on some email addresses with incoming mail. i've been too involved with other things to spend time with techs at Hostgator, who were not familiar with the MAIL program I use with my Mac (not .mac) ... the one that came with the computer, similar to the program that came with my Windows VISTA. One long call with Hostgator on it ended in no satisfaction on my part AND I simply use mail.bellsouth.net to on my addresses.

Bottom line to the long story is that I want to make certain switching from AT&T to Comcast for Internet and Phone Service would be a wise move.

Thanks for anything you can offer.

[angienewton]

Sheila,
We have Comcast and they are OK. We recently did a lot of negotiating of fees with them and are much happier now but I imagine if AT&T offered high speed in our area we would probably jump on that but for now Comcast will work.

Sorry I can't really be of much help!

[LeighaBaer]

Hi Sheila,

I was with Comcast for several years before I moved to an area serviced by TimeWarner. I never had a problem with phone or internet but my cable TV needed to be rebooted frequently. Other than the price, I can't really complain about their service as I was basically a happy customer for the most part.

Hope that helps a little.

Leigha

[WAHumor]

Hey, me too, Leigh!

On the cable TV rebooting, that is.

Really urks the wife...


Dan

[Lynn Terry]

I was thinking of switching too, but I havent yet. They offer a good price for the all-in-one (phone/tv/internet) and I hear the internet is much faster than DSL.

As for your email & hostgator, I always use their incoming mail server - but have always had to use my ISP's outgoing mail server (SMTP). It never worked using hostgator's outgoing mailserver. At least not with my ISP. So that may be the issue?

[InspirationalSheila]

Interesting to know about the outgoing mail server with Hostgator, Lynn. I thought it was me. Given that's the case I will call HG tomorrow to see if they've had any issues with Comcast as an ISP.

Angie, Why would you go with AT&T if high speed internet were available in your area?

Thanks also, Leigha and Dan for your responses.

Insofar as Comcast for TV, we have no choice in that in our community AND our Board negotiated a great package in our new contract with them. We will be getting a huge package for the next year for no additional cost to us.

[Lynn Terry]

I wouldn't worry with HostGator over it. I had the exact same issue with other hosts in the past - it's more an ISP issue. I would simply set your email up like you are supposed to, except use the ISP's outgoing mail server (SMTP) instead of HostGators. If you aren't sure what it is, you can get it from the FAQ at your ISP's website - or call their customer service number and ask (website is faster *grin*).

[frameofmind]

Sheila,

I've been with Comcast for years and I can't say I really have any complaints other than the price.

Since there's really no other choice for high speed internet in my area I've stuck with them out of necessity but the service has been extremely dependable.

I had an issue getting everything working at first and I have to say the technical support people were excellent. They stayed on the phone with me and walked me through every step until I had everything working properly.

Good luck!

Diana

[MaryGallagher]

I've been using comcast for over 5 years with good service and price. Always managed to get a very sweet deal when renewing every couple years. I have had the bundled voip phone, cable and internet for the past 2 years and recently renewed for the coming 2. Wanted to make sure to get the best price for the basics, which comes to $33 for each service per month. I feel very spoiled having the fast download & upload speed... and it was even better when the Internet service was $14.95/mo. a couple years back!


As far as service, there have been 3 incidences where the phone went down, 2X for internet and 1 for cable TV, over the past 2 year period. I have a few challenges setting up my email too, similar to what's been mentioned, and it usually has to do with my hosting account settings rather than comcast.

best,
Mary

[InspirationalSheila]

Thanks, Mary.

What I will be getting is 2 phone lines (I have 2 #s now) with full features, unlimited long distance, including to Canada and Internet service for $78/month. I also have a cell phone with AT&T which is bundled and will go up to $39.99/month. I know two phone lines, plus, seems silly but one is on my business cards and web sites and the other, my "home", is attached to my different services, family, etc., plus the front gates in our "secured" community.

Every time I think to cut down to one, it seems like too much of a hassle. I think I've used that word another time here also. Will have to look at that.

[busymomma]

This will also depend on your area and the cables already running in your area. We had a rough winter here in the NW and I was only down once for about 3 hours. We switched from our local phone company because when it flooded in the southern part of the state (frequently) we would be out of internet as well.

I've been very happy with them for the last 6ish months. I've called customer service a couple of times and they were EXCELLENT!

Mary, good to know I can renegotiate a deal again when this one is up ;) I will be all over that. Maybe I can get free HBO/showtime from it. lol

[AskJamesHolmes]

I switched to the all in one solution with Comcast and now have phone, cable, and ISP on one bill, saving about $200 and quite happy. I work full-time from home and I am on computer several hours per day - wireless 100%!

On many days my daughter is on her desk top upstairs wireless, my wife is on her lap top wireless in the den and I am on my lap top wireless in my office with no bog down or slow down. I have had zero down time and excellent customer service getting my wireless network set up. I guess you can tell I am sold on them :)

[angienewton]

Angie, Why would you go with AT&T if high speed internet were available in your area?

We would go with AT&T because all we ever had with Comcast is problems. Phone and Internet going out mostly on a daily basis. They FINALLY after a year figured out that they installed something wrong. Needless to say we got some credits for that but it was just one issue after another with them. And every time I had to call it was like well you know if we come out and it's not our issue, there is a fee blah blah. Can you tell Comcast frustrates me? :D

Since we renegotiated prices and they fixed the issue, so far no problems *knock on wood*

BUT we just switched from Verizon to AT&T for cell phone so why not use the same company for everything right?:)

[lindastacy]

I'd recommend talking to people in your area about the service because it can vary widely. Ask friends and neighbors about customer support, down time, and speed. My understanding is that when you are on a shared service, speed can vary depending on how many people are using it. You might have super Internet speed in the middle of the night, but during peak hours it can slow down considerably.

One thing that always bothered me about the package plan is that if the cable goes out you're completely unplugged - you have no Internet, no TV, and no phone. I just can't tolerate being that unplugged. :D

I switched from Comcast cable to DSL years ago to get faster, more reliable service and much better customer support. (NOTE: I said years ago so support and service may have changed since then, but I was so unhappy that I won't go back unless I have no other choice.) My DSL service isn't one of the big names.

[InspirationalSheila]

Thank you all for your additional input. I did agree to make the change and have until installation date, 8/7, to cancel. Good suggestions on checking with other people in the area. I did check with a neighbor who has been using their phone service for a year and is quite satisfied.

She does not use the computer to the extent I do. I think I'll take my laptop to her house and check out the speed. I did bring it to the clubhouse. It seemed slower. The Comcast people said it was an older set-up than I would be getting. Wondering as I type if that even makes sense. I will check further.

Thank you all so much.

[Michelle Steiner]

Hi Sheila,

I was with Comcast for several years before I moved to an area serviced by TimeWarner. I never had a problem with phone or internet but my cable TV needed to be rebooted frequently. Other than the price, I can't really complain about their service as I was basically a happy customer for the most part.

Hope that helps a little.

Leigha

Comcast is owned by Time Warner.

[InspirationalSheila]

Thanks for this important feedback. I certainly wouldn't mind some robust filtering on the more than a couple of hundred, at least, pieces of junk, junk, junk mail that's coming into my addresses each day.... well none of them are comcast, so that wouldn't make a difference.

Bottom line, I don't want my mail to be blocked and as I'm writing I'm thinking my mail goes out with my email addresses from my sites, so would it make a difference whether I'm using Bell South or Comcast?

[lindastacy]

Sheila, I think the problem is not with you sending mail from Comcast, but getting it delivered to you when you use a Comcast email address. I have the same problem Mel mentioned; much of my email to Comcast (and some other ISPs) bounces (and I'm not completely blocked; it's just that their filters are set really high). There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to get my messages delivered to customers because of their ISP email filters.

If you are routing your email through your hosting company's email servers then having Comcast won't make a difference. But if you're using Comcast's email server then you might run into difficulties (I know you can use an ISP outgoing email server and still have your return address listed with your domain name. I don't know if it's possible to receive email that way).

[Regina]

I've been with Comcast for years and I can't say I really have any complaints other than the price. Diana
I use comcast too but in my opinion they are way too high. I love the speed of comcast so I think I'll stick with 'em ;)