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  #16  
Old 2007-12-21, 04:01 PM
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Kstyle Kstyle is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul56 View Post
I asked what was acceptable usage and was told that Comcast does not divulge that information to it's customers,.

That is fuckin' insane. And I thought TWRR sucked. We pay 45 plus tax a month for what is claimed to be over 1 mb/s dl and 756 ul. Haaaahahahah!!! That's rich! They cap me at 600 kb/s dl and a pathetic 55 kb/s ul! So yeah, we're getting 8% of the promised bandwidth that we pay for.

I would love to get even half of that illusory 756. Anybody else deal with TW on this? I'm wondering if it's even worth it to flag my account. Is it a bad idea to use the T-word? ("Torrent? Sir, the police are on their way.") Maybe "video games" sounds better. Oh well, this will all come to a head soon enough as more folks get hip to p2p.

Great thread; interesting to see how this all plays out in the next years.

Would love to hear more on what everyone uses, is capped at, and pays for/gets.
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  #17  
Old 2007-12-31, 04:42 PM
ZepTALicA ZepTALicA is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

I got booted off of Comcast for the very same thing last Spring. My Comcast account rep was absolutely clueless (they kept telling me that the service was 'unlimited' even after the 'abuse' department had given me notice that they were going to cut me off). After getting warned, I tried to cut back on my usage, but since they wouldn't tell me exactly how much I was allowed to use, I really didn't know what was 'acceptable usage' to them. When my wife went into the local regional office and spoke to the regional manager, he simply said that there was nothing he could do to help because he couldn't override the decision of the 'abuse' department. My wife has filed grievances with our local city government and the Attorney General of California over this whole thing. Ultimately however I am glad to be out of the clutches of the Comcast Evil Empire (we switched TV to Dish Network and now get twice as many channels at a cheaper price).

Interestingly enough, when searching for another ISP, I was told by AT&T that they did not offer DSL where I live (which happens to be in the middle of a large metropolitan area). I was able to get a connection with Covad, however. It turns out that the Covad DSL, although listed at slower speeds than the Comcast broadband, is actually *faster* in practicality than Comcast was. The weird thing was, the party that set up the Covad line was....AT&T! Covad merely rents out the AT&T phone lines. Don't ask me why AT&T didn't sell me the DSL line directly. However, again, in the long run I feel better about not jumping in bed with another insane giant evil telecom.
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  #18  
Old 2007-12-31, 06:32 PM
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SundayDriver SundayDriver is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

I'm a little thankful that I have Cablevision with OOL.
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  #19  
Old 2008-01-02, 06:11 PM
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Jerm Jerm is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

I fear it will take some sort of organization accompanied by a class action lawsuit to at least bring this issue to light. I've not yet been been 'warned', but believe it's inevitable. They will continue to try 'pruning' their customer base to maximize their available bandwidth. To them, 1000 paying 'small time' users are worth far more than 10 online traders.
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  #20  
Old 2008-01-02, 06:32 PM
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eric182 eric182 is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Outerspace
Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Yeah that is bullshit, in my TOS with my ISP it says that you can't use excessive bandwidth. I don't think I use that much. I'm happy with Charter, but what would fix this is if cable companies had to compete because if they piss off their customers their competitors would get their business instead so they wouldn't want to lose customers.
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  #21  
Old 2008-01-02, 07:18 PM
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Kstyle Kstyle is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Jerm said it perfectly. They'd like to get rid of all of us! Just had my providers' tech guy over today, very cool dude who said they treat him like crap too. He was the first guy out of 10 in the company who admitted they do cap accounts. Very few ever run a speed test, and the supe claims I'm not "diligent" enough because it took me over a year to notice they're screwing me!! I'm paying for 512 u/l but have never got more than 60. And then the supervisor acts like he's doing me a huge favor for refunding two months' fees after me paying almost two years for 900% more pipe than they let me use!
And I know it ain't just me or my 'hood; a pal across town with my provider is also capped at 60. But he owns a software company and we are thinking of some interesting strategies in dealing with Goliath.
They are robbing us, it's that simple. Charging for 512 and delivering 60 is criminal, wouldn't everyone agree?
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Last edited by Kstyle; 2008-01-02 at 07:24 PM.
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  #22  
Old 2008-01-02, 10:13 PM
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Seth01 Seth01 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kstyle View Post
Charging for 512 and delivering 60 is criminal, wouldn't everyone agree?
It's utterly outrageous! These people really should be punished for their immoral behaviour & business practices.
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  #23  
Old 2008-01-02, 10:21 PM
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direwolf-pgh direwolf-pgh is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

500 Kbps = 62.5 KBps

400 Kbps = 50.0 KBps

300 Kbps = 37.5 KBps

200 Kbps = 25.0 KBps

100 Kbps = 12.5 KBps

-mind your bits & bytes
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  #24  
Old 2008-01-02, 11:17 PM
mike1061 mike1061 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Seth
Kbps is different than KBps. The "B" is upper or lower case.
That's kilo bits and kilo bytes.
It took kme a while to get that straight too. Belive me no sales people I talked too knew.
Thanks Mike
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  #25  
Old 2008-01-03, 02:37 AM
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Kstyle Kstyle is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Well, I got a call from head office saying, "we think it's a line problem". He then said "we're sorry you're getting less than the advertised uploading speed, but in any case you should know that half of the 'peak' promised delivery is a good number."
Really? Then why not advertise that? In any case, another tech guy's gonna come over and test the outside lines. Ha! Bet he tells me they can't figure it out and maybe I should get another provider. Apparently it's a case of "packet loss", their catch-all term for "we're capping the shit out of your line". I get the feeling I'm one of the very few who does a speed test on his line. They assume that 99% of their customers will be happy with very little pipe, and they're right. God forbid someone should ask for what they pay for.
They did give me two free months so far, though, so that's at least some admission of guilt. We'll see how it all plays out.
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  #26  
Old 2008-01-03, 03:51 AM
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JupiterCoyote JupiterCoyote is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Comcast High-Speed Internet service tiers range from 4.0 to 16.0 Mbps download speed (maximum upload speed from 384Kbps to 768Kbps respectively). The speed tier received and pricing will vary depending upon the speed tier selected and the level of Comcast video service and/or digital telephone service (if any) received. Speed comparisons are for downloads only and are compared to (as applicable, to 56K dial-up, 768Kbps, 1.5Mbps or 3.0Mbps DSL). Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Many factors affect speed.

Equipment (including cable modem) is required and unless specifically included in the offer, must be rented at Comcast’s regular rates or purchased at retail. May not be combined with any other discount or offer. Prices shown do not include applicable taxes and fees. Service is subject to terms and conditions of Comcast High-Speed Internet Subscriber Agreement and Home Networking Amendment if applicable. For restrictions, minimum requirements and details about service and prices, call 1-800-Comcast. ©2007 Comcast. All rights reserved. Video Mail not compatible with Macintosh systems, and additional equipment is required.

Comcast Home Networking will let you connect up to 5 PCs (IP devices) to the Internet at one time. Computers using a wireless connection must be within 150 feet of the gateway. Certain devices using radio frequency (including 2.4GHz cordless phones and microwave ovens), may interfere with or disrupt Internet connections. Comcast Home Networking service is only available to Comcast High-Speed Internet customers. Please note: the File and Printer Sharing Interface neither supports interaction between Apple and Windows based computers, nor sharing between two or more Apple devices. Regular service and equipment charges apply. Equipment, including a Comcast Certified Home Networking Device which may be purchased from Comcast or leased at Comcast's standard rates (currently $5 per month) required. Leased equipment must be returned to Comcast if service is cancelled. Additional equipment may be required. You will have the ability to add four additional PCs for a total of five networked PCs per household. Wireless cards are required for additional connections beyond the first computers. Wireless cards may be purchased from Comcast (see rate card for pricing) or at retail. Installation charges are additional.


_____________________________________

I just wanted to put Bombcast's "FINE PRINT" in normal, italic, and bold text since they aren't ever going to do it...los bastardos

_____________________________________
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  #27  
Old 2008-01-03, 12:38 PM
gsocket gsocket is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

I can't resist chiming in on this one as I have received "2 strikes" already from Cablevision (basically the same as comcast since they provide "I/O" service)...

Strike one came in the way of throttling by bandwidth back to the point where my vonage service was unable to work... after trying everything to get it back up and talking to their tech support, those idiots finally realized that they had throttled me. Not only did I not receive the courtesy of a call but it took several calls and a total of over an hour of hold time for them to realize that the problem was that they had fucked me over on purpose... So after a patronizing warning and me trying to figure who it is at comcast that I was going to seek out and beat to a slow bloody death, they un-throttled me.

Strike two came in the way of a phone call - the courtesy was probably because I switched over to their phone service... again, a fun-filled screaming match with their poor clueless operator ensued (I know it's not their fault but it sucks to be the bearer of bad and ridiculously unfair news)

So, yes - my ratio sucks because I can only leave a torrent open for an hour or risk the "3rd strike" and get my service cut off all together. This was the best recommendation I was able to find on how to avoid exceeding their mysterious limits since they of course won't tell you how much is too much. This is what really pisses me off - how the fuck can I avoid going over your stupid limits if you don't tell me what they are???? Why is this considered proprietary?

Then of course there is the issue of them trying to jack my bill up by $40 or so (not an exaggeration) every 6 months which happened again yesterday. What a wonderful way to say happy new year to your customers. Apparently my "promotions" keep expiring. If anyone else runs into this situation all you need tell their customer service rep that you want to stop your service. You will be connected to their "retention" department and they will kiss your ass and give you new "promotions" to get your bill back to normal... took me a while to get through, but well worth saving $40 a month.

So, why am I still with them? Because they are all that's available! I'm counting the days until fios comes to my town though... then it's the final farewell to those awful monopolistic ass clowns
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  #28  
Old 2008-01-04, 09:51 AM
mike1061 mike1061 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Re: Got the call from Comcast !

Well, I for one check my up speed all the time. I use Azureus and in the bottom right corner is a total speeds counter. I'm watching it constantly, to make sure I'm uploading as much as possable, if not I add or change torrents. I monater it so much I know eexactly how much up bandwidth I can use before the rest of the family can't surf the wed. I set my up limits to that point.
Thanks Mike
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  #29  
Old 2008-01-04, 12:10 PM
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Kstyle Kstyle is offline
welcome to the water ball
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: planet earth
Re: Got the call from Comcast !

"If anyone else runs into this situation all you need tell their customer service rep that you want to stop your service. You will be connected to their "retention" department and they will kiss your ass and give you new "promotions" to get your bill back to normal... took me a while to get through, but well worth saving $40 a month."

So true. I've found that if you're willing to stay calm, keep asking for a supervisor, and then ask for his supervisor, and state your case clearly with the occasional mention of blogging and letters to editors, large corporations have a way of giving you whatever you ask for, sometimes even more (five years ago I spent a total of maybe four hours on the phone over a month and Ma Bell gave me 180 bucks back off a year's worth of bs bills. 45 bucks an hour, fair wages, and tax-free! Of course, it was my money in the first place...).
Only one in ten thousand people at most ever have the balls to fight back and demand what they pay for, be it bandwidth, whatever, so it's worth it. Plus, the feeling of beating Ma Bell, etc at their own game is a mighty good one!
We're only completely fucked when no one will stand up and fight for what's right anymore.
Ron Paul for Comcast CEO!
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  #30  
Old 2008-01-04, 01:47 PM
gsocket gsocket is offline
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Re: Got the call from Comcast !

The trick for Cablevision, at least in my case, was actually not even to bother with supervisors. I did speak to one who cut a few things off my bill but then patronized me about how they are a business that is providing a service in exchange for money... Thank you Mr. Harvard MBA!

It wasn't until I spoke to the "retention" department that the food gates opened up. My sense was that the supervisors were there to solve problems with customer service but the sole purpose of the retention department is to talk customers into not canceling their service.

I totally agree though Kstyle - customer service and business practices will continue to become more laughable unless more people start fighting back against the bull shit.
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