Alternatives to comcast - Internet only....

[derekmcwilliams.livejournal.com]

Im moving to the area this weekend and I spoke to comcast today about transferring my service, however it looks like the internet service from comcast is going to cost me ~$70... Obviously Im not eligable for any offers because Im an existing customer (what gets me is that surely existing customers should get the cheapest rates assuming the pay on time etc... ie... for being a good customer! ????)

So, I'm interested to know what internet service people are using and how much it costs a month?

Thanks all....

Comments

[ron_newman]

RCN, Verizon DSL, Galaxy DSL, Earthlink DSL, Speakeasy DSL, probably some other DSL companies that I don't know the names of. I've tagged this post; click on the tag to see earlier discussion of this topic.

[derekmcwilliams.livejournal.com]

Thanks Ron, I couldnt see the internet tag for looking... Im moving onto Day street and according to the RCN website they don't provide service to my apartment... Is that true for areas of Davis Square or am I missing something (again!)

[soong.livejournal.com]

I had RCN where I just moved from in Somerville, and it was good and $40/mo. But RCN isn't where I am now just across the line into Medford where there is only Comcast. I think RCN is a lot better and you should call them and make sure they don't service that street and can't wire you up.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

It means your landlord is getting paid off by Comcast. Seriously.

I have RCN at a fairly low speed and it's like $25 a month or something. If I had to give Comcast $70 a month, I'd shoot myself in the eye. I had one of those paid-off landlords, and I got Verizon DSL (only slightly less bad, and much slower) because I couldn't bear the thought of dealing with them again.

[ron_newman]

I live on Day Street, and RCN definitely serves this street. I get their ads all the time. They are required to serve every residence in Somerville.

[gravitrue.livejournal.com]

There is at least one block of Broadway in Winter Hill where RCN cannot do installs; I'm not sure if it is pole space or what, even the sales rep trying to sell it to me couldn't find out the details of why it's a problem, but as of two years ago, it wasn't doable.

[ron_newman]

Was any part of the property actually in Medford? The city line runs very close to that street in some areas.

[gravitrue.livejournal.com]

Nope, at least 2-3 blocks from the line, and not just one property; at the very least, it's the whole block, both sides. It was given to the sales guy as a range of street numbers. And we tried twice, about four months apart, once by calling RCN, once with a door to door rep, same answer both times.

It's gotta be an infrastructure thing, but I can't figure what it could be except for maybe pole space issues.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The website is wrong, then. RCN provides service to every household in Somerville.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily DSL, though. You might have to do cable broadband depending on whether or not the DSL line extends to your building.

[ron_newman]

RCN is a cable company -- I didn't think they did DSL at all.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

They do offer DSL, but perhaps not in Somerville? (I'm in Cambridge myself, so don't know what RCN offers for Somerville.)

[gravitrue.livejournal.com]

As I noted further up the thread, there's at least one block of Broadway in Winter Hill that as of 2006, RCN could not provide any service (cable or DSL) to.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Don't forget that DSL isn't available in some parts of Somerville. Ward 7 comes to mind.

I believe the phone lines in these neighborhoods are served by DLCs, and don't go directly to the central office. The DLCs are too old to support DSL, but too new to replace.

[ron_newman]

Even if Verizon doesn't offer DSL to your neighborhood, another company might. In my case, Verizon doesn't but Galaxy does.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

How is that possible? The way I understand DSL works with CLECs is, they can rent a cage in the central office and set up their equipment, but I didn't think they had access to DLCs.

Unless yours was a situation where you had copper to the central office, but Verizon simply didn't have a free port on their DSLAM ( their end of the DSL modem ) st the time you ordered.

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to call the other providers and see what they have to say.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I get a good deal from Comcast every year by threatening to leave. Seriously, give it a try. Say you might switch to RCN. Make 'em sweat.

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

I do this with RCN every six months or so. I stick a note in Outlook about a week or two before whatever discount package I have with them is about to expire and call them up. I always tell the person that someone from Comcast just contacted us about whatever great deal they've currently got as an intro. Then, I say how much I love RCN. I tell them I want to stay and ask straight out if they have any kind of promotions. They ALWAYS do. I can usually get $30-40 off the generic pubished package rate for phone/internet/nice cable.

It used to work in Cambridge with Comcast, too. I'd just threaten to go to the Dish network there. . . Give it a try. You can totally get that $70 down.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

schpahky is right - the modern business culture is to take advantage of unaware/lazy customers, not to keep existing customers happy in ethical ways. That's why Telecomms/Big Banks/etc. keep raising rates and throwing in hidden fees - they know it's wrong, but they also know 95% of people won't call them on it. Do yourself a favor and call both your telecomms and credit card companies, hit them with the details of a competitor's plan and tell them your leaving, and then watch then scramble to bring your rates down to a legitimate level again.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

I live just two short blocks from Day Street, and happily use RCN. They have different bandwidth tiers, all reasonably priced, and happily will give you a fixed IP address for some small monthly fee. It works out well.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

I've had similar issues with comcast and moves. I lived on Dover St right near day and couldn't use RCN because my building is comcast only. It happens but it's frustrating.

I have found when I move it's better to cancel your service and then sign up as a new customer at the new address.

Additionally, there is a lower speed comcast internet package that is still fast and usable and half the cost of their full highspeed.

Additionally if you have a blog and go complain there or on sites like twitter and a blogs that get picked up by digg etc, you will likely have a person contact you who can help, this has been their trend lately - monitoring blog that mention them.

[ron_newman]

again, i think RCN is required by the city to serve every residential unit in Somerville.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

Apparently the FCC ruled on it in Oct of November of last year. I moved in sept of last year and can only relate my experience at that place on Dover. Not sure if there are loopholes or not. I wouldn't be suprised if there were, my landlord found a loopholes for everything.

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

Speakeasy is not the cheapest but, in my experience, their service level more than made it worth it. The price was less than $70 (maybe $50 or $60).

[bonzaineko.livejournal.com]

I'm moving into a new apartment in Cambridge. RCN said there was no service there, so we've signed up for Verizon. It's $30 a month and will be activated soon, so I can't tell you how good it is yet, but it's definitely worth looking into!

[masswich.livejournal.com]

We have RCN and have a good deal - $18 a month for relatively slow cable modem internet. We have to agree to a one year contract and sign up for the promotion every year. Once it expires I have to wait until I have not had it for a month and then I can sign up for it again. For that one month I pay about $30.

I live in Ward 7 and got a real runaround by Verizon about DSL. Suffice it to say that when they sign you up for DSL and start charging you for it they sure make sure they actually provide it where you live.

[nuns.livejournal.com]

How come Comcast internet is going to cost you so much? I pay $58/month and that gets me both internet and basic cable TV.

[constantinum.livejournal.com]

there are lots of tips to use internet effectively with given tangible speed, check for search engines for tips, after thant try checking speed (http://www.ip-details.com/)