High Speed Internet Providers

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

I'm looking to get high speed internet at my apartment. For some reason Verizon does not support DSL on my line, so cable is my only option. I see that we have both RCN and Comcast in Somerville so I was wondering if one was any better than the other. I am not interested in cable TV, just internet service.

Comments

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

I use RCN because

- they don't mind if you run servers
- they have a less aggressive censorship policy than Comcast (I've never heard of it being a problem)
- Comcast is an evil near-monopoly and I would probably support their competition even if they ate babies

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I live in Arlington and have had RCN in an old apartment and Comcast in my current place. Neither are perfect, but Comcast has been more reliable with my internet and shown better customer service.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

Comcast is pretty evil. and annoying. RCN is pretty unreliable. and flakes a lot.

Really neither is a good option. I went with comcast because it was more reliable. ~63 dollars on its own without any bundles. I don't recommend it. But I don't recommend either.

[findingthegirl.livejournal.com]

I recently switched to RCN from Comcast for internet only service and am now saving about 30 bucks a month. I tried to haggle, but Comcast will only give you a deal if you want to bundle a bunch of things. There's been no noticeable difference in speed or reliability since the switch.

[inahandbasket]

RCN's been rock solid for me, going on 2 years now. But they definitely feel like a second-rate operator, customer service is hit or miss, etc.

Comcast is kind of evil as a corporation, as mentioned in many of the comments here already, but their service is pretty good if you're just a basic web user or gamer.

[tequilamckngbrd.livejournal.com]

You're choosing the lesser of 2 evils. I've had both, but would choose RCN (which is what I use right now). RCN has been pretty reliable. I have my own home office where I work from home, I can't have my internet service interrupted. RCN hasn't been a problem, provides static IP addresses, and I have the 20MB download and 2MB upload plan.

[soong.livejournal.com]

I had RCN in Somerville and liked it.
I have Comcast because it's the only option in the telecommunications backwater of Medford and all signs I see point to comcast being more evil and less service. They are also stupid as tv+net is cheaper than just net (and costs more for less service than I had at RCN).

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I haven't had any issues with RCN. It's also much cheaper than Comcast.

[valadil.livejournal.com]

How about servers on port 80?

[arinamay.livejournal.com]

I have RCN and have been happy with it. We had one instance where the internet went out; they came out the next business day and fixed it in one visit. Other than that, it's been smooth sailing for two years.

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

same here. Been with them for 4 years now and have been pretty happy.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Hm, I don't know, I just do 22 and 443. It looks from testing just now like 80 is blocked.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Have you spoken to multiple actual human beings at RCN, or just checked availability on the web? Their web interface lies and they have crappy GIS.

(I had to fax them a copy of the deed to my condo for them to believe that my address existed.)

I can in no way recommend RCN's customer service, but I'm getting mumble Mbps for $30/month, so I don't really care.

[tequilamckngbrd.livejournal.com]

Customer service is hit and miss. One customer service rep I talked to in person at the office in Arlington was SUPER helpful. Once she knew my issues, she did everything she could to get me up and running again. Customer Support via telephone is bad for both RCN and Comcast, though.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah, I've only talked to them on the phone. They took 6 months and as many attempts on my part to get my first name right. (A completely different name, not a spelling quirk or homonym.)

[ron_newman]

If Verizon won't sell you their DSL, you may be able to get it instead from another company such as Earthlink, Galaxy (the one I use), or Speakeasy.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

I've used RCN for Internet service for 10 years and am happy with it. I could count the number of outages in 10 years on one hand. On the rare occasion I've had to call them for support, I found customer service to be satisfactory.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

I had to push back more than once on Verizon before they said 'oh wait, we can too do DSL on your line.' Similarly when I called a few other DSL providers.

Not that I have strong recommendations for Verizon either, but we've now used all 3 - first RCN, then Comcast (way back when it was MediaOne and then AT&T before comcast, in fact), and now Verizon. Verizon offered me a reasonable price on comparable performance and was able to give me a discount that did not involve paying for TV as part of my package when I didn't want it.

earthlink dsl an option

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

I have a dsl line for internet only thru Earthlink. It's speedy, affordable, and I'm basically happy with it. A few problems but I can deal: for setup they sent me a disk for PCs (I have a Mac) and it was unusable; tech support originates in another country and communication can be problematic; the filters they supply don't do a great job of filtering static on the phone line when you're on the phone and the computer simultaneously; sometimes when the phone rings I get kicked off the internet.

Re: earthlink dsl an option

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

Verizon claimed that I had no copper line, needed for DSL. When I questioned this they said that my line could have been replaced by fiber that may or not be Fios compatible. I am a bit suspect of that explanation as I had to talk to 4 people to even get that vague explanation. I'll contact some of the alternate DSL providers you all list but I wonder if I'll get more of the same. As far as cable, RCN seems to be favored by far by this group.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

my rcn service has been solid for two years and i've had good customer service on the two occasions i needed to call them. comcast was crappy - it seemed like they were constantly making technical changes internally without notifying customers that service would be affected: one day i could make in-bound connections, the next day i couldn't, etc. customer service was infuriating. it was hella expensive and it seemed like they were constantly calling me, trying to get me to "upgrade" to some cable package or other when i don't even own a teevee.

RCN

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

I have had RCN for a long time. They are better than they used to be. I notice major slowdowns at various times (like right after work 5-7). No long term outages though. Tech support + their web site == bleh but no different than most wacko corporations wanting to be a "portal".

One thing - if they sign you up with a "deal" - when it expires don't just accept the price bump. **CALL** and negotiate it down/an extension. That has worked for me for the many years now. A little push-back works wonders.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

i love our Speakeasy (http://speakeasy.net) DSL service.

• excellent uptime
• great customer service
• no shenanigans with port blocking or selective filtering

you won’t be able to get top speeds comparable to FiOS or Comcast, but our bandwidth seems sufficient for our household’s needs (server hosting, online gaming, Hulu etc.)

-steve

Re: earthlink dsl an option

[ron_newman]

You can probably buy new filters for not much money -- maybe at Radio Shack?

[dougo.livejournal.com]

I have Comcast and my port 80 is not blocked.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I have had RCN for almost 5 yrs now in Somerville and rarely have any issues.

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

80 and 25 are blocked. If you pay extra for a static IP, they are unblocked.

Have used RCN for 7 (cumulative) years in 3 Somerville apartments, and have had in total less than a day of downtime.

Re: RCN

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

When my promo in my current place expired, they actually proactively sent me a letter saying "hey, your promo is expiring, we're putting you on this other promo that's slightly less good but still nowhere near full price."