[RickFLM4]

Once upon a time (2020 and earlier) when there was a price increase or “expiring special offer” for internet service, I could just call the provider, ask for a better price and get one without much effort. Not so in 2021. Both Comcast and AT&T effectively told me “fuck off the party’s over.” Anyone else notice internet price increases this year? I guess it’s no different than anything else now.

[upstatedoc]

I have my cable/Internet on auto pay. Probably should go look at it…

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

I have my cable/Internet on auto pay. Probably should go look at it…

Yeah I do too but noticed the bumps in prices.

[mapleleaf1773]

Yea the last 3 years my internet cost went from $85 and change to currently $100.95 - same plan and they have limited downloading to 1.2 tb's a month which started early this year.

Needless to say I'm very disappointed at comcast

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Yeah I do too but noticed the bumps in prices.

Yeah, but you're not a doctor...

[chassis]

Yes. xfinity (Comcast) has the cute practice of cancelling you from your service when you "transfer" service to a new address. In practical terms you are cancelled, but your personal information is still in the system. Then you can "choose from available offers" which means you re-establish service at the prevailing market price. It's a crap practice.

[bayarea328xit]

My pricing with xfinity in the bay area is $70/mo for 1 Gbps with 1.2TB cap, $30/mo additional if you want unlimited data.

I'm using my own ARRIS Surfboard S33 - $200 on Amazon.

Xfinity will slowly increase the fees until you complain; when you do, they give you a special deal for 1 year.

P.S. - the terms I listed above is the most recent deal (renewed last week). Previously, I was paying $100/mo for ~ 600 Mbps (unlimited).

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

My pricing with xfinity in the bay area is $70/mo for 1 Gbps with 1.2TB cap, $30/mo additional if you want unlimited data.

Xfinity will slowly increase the fees until you complain; when you do, they give you a special deal for 1 year.

P.S. - the terms I listed above is the most recent deal (renewed last week). Previously, I was paying $100/mo for ~ 600 Mbps (unlimited).

Interesting you were able to get them to give you a deal by complaining. I haven’t had luck this year with either Comcast or AT&T for 2 different plans. I’m paying $131 / mo. for Comcast gig and gateway with unlimited data. I guess I shouldn’t complain about AT&T giving me the same for $60, although it used to be $40 for the past 2 years and is barely used.

(I used my own gateway for a long time but kept having problems with devices like our thermostats dropping off the network so I relented and got the Xfinity gateway.)

[Reborn_]

I also had no luck a few months back with cox. Makes sense since the demand is high with covid.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by mapleleaf1773

Yea the last 3 years my internet cost went from $85 and change to currently $100.95 - same plan and they have limited downloading to 1.2 tb's a month which started early this year.

Needless to say I'm very disappointed at comcast

It used to be capped at 1TB until earlier this year. My current Xfinity contract will expire in a few months and I'm thinking about switching to something else. AT&T laid down fiber in my neighborhood a couple of years ago and it's true fiber as opposed to what Xfinity offers. My current download speeds are theoretically 1gig range but upload is severely limited to about 45mbps. Not so with true fiber which is symmetrical meaning download/upload speeds are the same. Seems AT&T is pretty aggressive with their pricing so it's tempting.

My problem is I'm a sucker and have a Triple Play plan with Xfinity so the price is reduced. Considering cutting the cord and trying something different such as Hulu TV for television since I already have a Hulu plan but not a full blown one with access to all the TV channels. The Triple Play plan includes a landline which I don't need but it's a wash because of the discounts the package provides.

I recently discovered Xfinity has an app that allows streaming access to everything which I've found really convenient. It's in Beta stage now but works really well. I have found this useful with streaming devices including Roku equipped TVs I have in additional rooms and don't require a "box" or "adapter" from Xfinity that costs more $$.

I'm afraid by the time I piece everything together that I really want, it ends up costing not much less than what I have now. No matter what, all of the big players have you by the balls if you want full service of anything.

The above description is kind've a mess but I'm not going to go through it all and edit it for tidiness.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

It used to be capped at 1TB until earlier this year. My current Xfinity contract will expire in a few months and I'm thinking about switching to something else. AT&T laid down fiber in my neighborhood a couple of years ago and it's true fiber as opposed to what Xfinity offers. My current download speeds are theoretically 1gig range but upload is severely limited to about 45mbps. Not so with true fiber which is symmetrical meaning download/upload speeds are the same. Seems AT&T is pretty aggressive with their pricing so it's tempting.

My problem is I'm a sucker and have a Triple Play plan with Xfinity so the price is reduced. Considering cutting the cord and trying something different such as Hulu TV for television since I already have a Hulu plan but not a full blown one with access to all the TV channels. The Triple Play plan includes a landline which I don't need but it's a wash because of the discounts the package provides.

I recently discovered Xfinity has an app that allows streaming access to everything which I've found really convenient. It's in Beta stage now but works really well. I have found this useful with streaming devices including Roku equipped TVs I have in additional rooms and don't require a "box" or "adapter" from Xfinity that costs more $$.

I'm afraid by the time I piece everything together that I really want, it ends up costing not much less than what I have now. No matter what, all of the big players have you by the balls if you want full service of anything.

The above description is kind've a mess but I'm not going to go through it all and edit it for tidiness.

We have Comcast in FL and AT&T in NC. AT&T is fine, but as much as I hate to admit it, Comcast (with their gateway) is better / faster and more reliable. Maybe it’s location specific, but that’s been our experience FWIW. As noted above, AT&T is cheaper though.

We dumped DirecTV after many years and went full streaming with YouTube TV for half the price. I’m still ahead even if I add in Netflix and Hulu. It took me a while to actually do it but once I did we never looked back. If you want package deals, AT&T has those too for internet/phone/TV.

Now I just need to get around to dumping the office and home landlines…

[bayarea328xit]

One thing to keep in mind with using your provider's hardware is that the hardware may be configured to share bandwidth with others. For example, I know that if my broadband connection goes down, I can join an Xfinity WiFi network in my area with my Xfinity credentials. To me, it makes sense that this WiFi network might be served by my neighbor's Xfinity router.

Not that it matters too much; however, this may be a reason for them to really push you to use their hardware.

Anyone have insight on this?

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

We have Comcast in FL and AT&T in NC. AT&T is fine, but as much as I hate to admit it, Comcast (with their gateway) is better / faster and more reliable. Maybe it’s location specific, but that’s been our experience FWIW. As noted above, AT&T is cheaper though.

We dumped DirecTV after many years and went full streaming with YouTube TV for half the price. I’m still ahead even if I add in Netflix and Hulu. It took me a while to actually do it but once I did we never looked back. If you want package deals, AT&T has those too for internet/phone/TV.

Now I just need to get around to dumping the office and home landlines…

Yeah as much as I've been wanting to cut Comcast/Xfinity, they have stable and consistent service which is important to me. I did see that AT&T offers packages as well so I'll need to give it some thought. I don't like being forced to use AT&T's hardware (gateway) however if opting for their fiber service. I like my router and will have to set it up to work with the gateway because there's no way I'm going to rely on the shitty gateway with their modem/router setup. I'm happy with my existing Netgear Nighthawk router.

[mapleleaf1773]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

Yeah as much as I've been wanting to cut Comcast/Xfinity, they have stable and consistent service which is important to me. I did see that AT&T offers packages as well so I'll need to give it some thought. I don't like being forced to use AT&T's hardware (gateway) however if opting for their fiber service. I like my router and will have to set it up to work with the gateway because there's no way I'm going to rely on the shitty gateway with their modem/router setup. I'm happy with my existing Netgear Nighthawk router.

I also had their triple play and cut the cord. Now only internet with them. I have hulu (with ads), Disney plus, espn + (package deal) along with Netflix and hbo max and I'm still ahead of what their triple play was costing me (after the promotional timeframe). I have my own modem and router as well.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by mapleleaf1773

I also had their triple play and cut the cord. Now only internet with them. I have hulu (with ads), Disney plus, espn + (package deal) along with Netflix and hbo max and I'm still ahead of what their triple play was costing me (after the promotional timeframe). I have my own modem and router as well.

Yeah I may cut the cord and just keep the Internet service. I have Hulu without ads. I couldn't stand having to watch commercials! It's worth the extra money for me, lol. I also have Netflix and of course Amazon Prime. Just so much to watch and too little time.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

One thing to keep in mind with using your provider's hardware is that the hardware may be configured to share bandwidth with others. For example, I know that if my broadband connection goes down, I can join an Xfinity WiFi network in my area with my Xfinity credentials. To me, it makes sense that this WiFi network might be served by my neighbor's Xfinity router.

Not that it matters too much; however, this may be a reason for them to really push you to use their hardware.

Anyone have insight on this?

I’m pretty sure I was able to opt out of that when I set up their hardware, but maybe I’m wrong. Not too worried about it out here in the suburbs. Might feel differently in a city. Their gateway works well, much better than the Arris I spent $300 on.

[TiMSport]

I only use my own hardware and got away from "renting" Xfinity's gear. I realized how much money I was throwing away each month. Adds up quickly.

Some of the things in my bill are maddening such as "Regional sports fee" which is $10.25. I mean WTF is that? In addition there's "Broadcast TV fee" for $19.45. "Franchise fee" for $6.65.

I'm guessing if I get on board with Hulu TV or YouTube TV those fees are non-existent.

[zx10guy]

I guess I'm the lucky one with Comcast. I called earlier in the year due to an issue with my mother's service (which I pay for). After determining a tech would need to come out, I asked about any possible discounts for both my mom's service and mine. The customer service rep was very nice and got me some decent discounts. With my own service, I was able to upgrade from 400Mbps down/10Mbps up to 1Gbps down/20 Mbps up for a few dollars less than what I was paying for my previous tier. $89.99. I also signed up for unlimited data with an initial free trial which I think was for 5 months. I logged in to my account to see if I could remove that from my service at the 5 month mark and saw a note that Comcast is suspending the data cap for my service area. At some point, I need to call Comcast to see when the suspension is going to end and to remove the unlimited data.

If you want to talk about an awful ISP, just be glad you don't have Mediacom. Frequent service outages. And what I know is them applying packet shaping where streaming with my Slingbox somehow has constant buffering while Youtube flies through with no issues. I wish I could switch ISPs, but in the area where vacation home is located, Mediacom is the only game in town. I can't even get DSL. My only other option is to go satellite. Hoping T-Mobile eventually spins up their home Internet service soon.

[mapleleaf1773]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

I only use my own hardware and got away from "renting" Xfinity's gear. I realized how much money I was throwing away each month. Adds up quickly.

Some of the things in my bill are maddening such as "Regional sports fee" which is $10.25. I mean WTF is that? In addition there's "Broadcast TV fee" for $19.45. "Franchise fee" for $6.65.

I'm guessing if I get on board with Hulu TV or YouTube TV those fees are non-existent.

Correct, those damn fees go away...I hate those fees as well.

[Hawkeye]

I'm on Century Link Fiber 1Gb for $65 a month, price for life guaranteed to not increase.

Hulu, Netflix and Disney are free with my cell phone service I believe.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I'm on Century Link Fiber 1Gb for $65 a month, price for life guaranteed to not increase.

Hulu, Netflix and Disney are free with my cell phone service I believe.

I get Hulu for free with my Sprint plan....for now. I talked to T-Mobile about the inevitable transition. The equivalent plan they presented is worse than what I'm getting currently. I lose the 50GB of data per month on my hotspot and I lose Hulu for free. Just as I thought with any merger, the final product you get is worse than what it was before. Look at DirecTV when AT&T took over.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I'm on Century Link Fiber 1Gb for $65 a month, price for life guaranteed to not increase.

Hulu, Netflix and Disney are free with my cell phone service I believe.

That’s a great deal, especially guaranteed not to increase.