I'm gonna give Comcast/Xfinity some credit

[km1125]

.....

• You aren't going to get a courtesy call from cable providers asking if you want faster / better service at a lower price just because you are a good customer and pay your bills on time.

You've got to make the call. ...

^^^THIS

Yes, you have to make the call but more importantly, you have to actually say you're going to DISCONNECT if you can't get a lower rate somehow, and stick to your guns on that.

It also helps if you call at the right time. For Comcast, that's around the 20th of the month as that is when their financial cutoff is. They have to report numbers (maybe that's on the 22nd), so every person they can save during those last few days are actually more important than anyone they can save from the 22nd to the end of the month. They actually will release more options for their customer service reps to use to retain customers that aren't available any other time of the month. Those options aren't even available to regular customer service reps, just those that deal with customers who are actively trying to disconnect. Other companies do similar.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

.....

• You aren't going to get a courtesy call from cable providers asking if you want faster / better service at a lower price just because you are a good customer and pay your bills on time.

You've got to make the call. ...

^^^THIS

Yes, you have to make the call but more importantly, you have to actually say you're going to DISCONNECT if you can't get a lower rate somehow, and stick to your guns on that.

It also helps if you call at the right time. For Comcast, that's around the 20th of the month as that is when their financial cutoff is. They have to report numbers (maybe that's on the 22nd), so every person they can save during those last few days are actually more important than anyone they can save from the 22nd to the end of the month. They actually will release more options for their customer service reps to use to retain customers that aren't available any other time of the month. Those options aren't even available to regular customer service reps, just those that deal with customers who are actively trying to disconnect. Other companies do similar.

I talked to the Comcast rep on the 19th. That would make sense.

[kager]

.....

• You aren't going to get a courtesy call from cable providers asking if you want faster / better service at a lower price just because you are a good customer and pay your bills on time.

You've got to make the call. ...

^^^THIS

Yes, you have to make the call but more importantly, you have to actually say you're going to DISCONNECT if you can't get a lower rate somehow, and stick to your guns on that.

It also helps if you call at the right time. For Comcast, that's around the 20th of the month as that is when their financial cutoff is. They have to report numbers (maybe that's on the 22nd), so every person they can save during those last few days are actually more important than anyone they can save from the 22nd to the end of the month. They actually will release more options for their customer service reps to use to retain customers that aren't available any other time of the month. Those options aren't even available to regular customer service reps, just those that deal with customers who are actively trying to disconnect. Other companies do similar.

'That time of the month'.

You just jogged my memory on this... I forgot to mention that most companies do not pro-rate refund you on unused services. IOW, for example, if your billing-cycle ** ends on the 19th, and you call to cancel services on, say, the 21st, you still are billed for the full month forward. They are pretty rigid on that.

** Billing-cycle dates are not the dates on your bill! Best to call them and find out when your actual billing-cycle ends ahead of time. Then, once you have your alternatives in place (in case they don't throw out an offer you can't refuse, or you really are cancelling for certain) call to cancel a day or two ahead of that date to ensure that if you really do cancel services, it is effective before the end of the cycle and you won't be billed for them.

Just be prepared for the services you cancel to end immediately...

[km1125]

.....

• You aren't going to get a courtesy call from cable providers asking if you want faster / better service at a lower price just because you are a good customer and pay your bills on time.

You've got to make the call. ...

^^^THIS

Yes, you have to make the call but more importantly, you have to actually say you're going to DISCONNECT if you can't get a lower rate somehow, and stick to your guns on that.

It also helps if you call at the right time. For Comcast, that's around the 20th of the month as that is when their financial cutoff is. They have to report numbers (maybe that's on the 22nd), so every person they can save during those last few days are actually more important than anyone they can save from the 22nd to the end of the month. They actually will release more options for their customer service reps to use to retain customers that aren't available any other time of the month. Those options aren't even available to regular customer service reps, just those that deal with customers who are actively trying to disconnect. Other companies do similar.

'That time of the month'.

You just jogged my memory on this... I forgot to mention that most companies do not pro-rate refund you on unused services. IOW, for example, if your billing-cycle ** ends on the 19th, and you call to cancel services on, say, the 21st, you still are billed for the full month forward. They are pretty rigid on that.

** Billing-cycle dates are not the dates on your bill! Best to call them and find out when your actual billing-cycle ends ahead of time. Then, once you have your alternatives in place (in case they don't throw out an offer you can't refuse, or you really are cancelling for certain) call to cancel a day or two ahead of that date to ensure that if you really do cancel services, it is effective before the end of the cycle and you won't be billed for them.

Just be prepared for the services you cancel to end immediately...

If they stopped your services immediately but didn't stop the charges you should be VERY vocal about that. None of the companies that I know of would terminate your actual services but still charge you. They may not refund mid-billing cycle but they also should not cut off services until the billing cycle ends.

However, I do agree that you should understand what your billing cycle is and have that conversation with the rep when you have them on the phone so there are no surprises.

[kager]

My self-purchased modem is an early 2010's model, so I'm actually only able to get 1/3 of my actual allotted internet speed right now. (300 mbps internet reaches my house, but my modem only sends 100 mbps to my router.)

I purchased a new modem from Best Buy a week ago, which should arrive in a few days. I'm hopeful it'll make a big difference!

I'd be interested to know the model number and how it works out for you. I'm nearing time to upgrade myself...

I don't think Spectrum charges for cable modems anymore - and may even throw in a router or modem/router combo on some plans - so the trend for their customers has definitely been away from BYOD. Why pay extra if you don't need to? Let the the provider handle the support and upgrades... Geeks and gamers are the odd ones out, I'd guess.

I prefer (require) the flexibility afforded by owning my own, though, and have always used Motorola cable modems (used to be Surfboard by name) with good success. MB7420 employed here for the last few years does a great job, but only supports speeds up to 686mbps... a limit I hope to eclipse within the next couple of years.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

My self-purchased modem is an early 2010's model, so I'm actually only able to get 1/3 of my actual allotted internet speed right now. (300 mbps internet reaches my house, but my modem only sends 100 mbps to my router.)

I purchased a new modem from Best Buy a week ago, which should arrive in a few days. I'm hopeful it'll make a big difference!

Cannot speak for Spectrum, but for folks with a 4K/2160p/UHD TV, please be advised the X1 set-top box from Xfinity with model number X1Gv3 is only capable of handling a 1080p signal.

To receive 4K content from apps accessed through the box - such as Netflix, Peacock or YouTube - or from live programming (believe it or not - some network programming is now transmitted in 4K format), you will need to switch out the X1Gv3 box for the smaller X1Gv4 box. This can be done free of charge.

The new box does not have a channel or time display on its front face. It also does not have a digital optical audio out port. The latter trait may be an issue for folks who have an older home theater receiver that is incapable of accepting an HDMI signal or folks who cannot pass 5.1 audio straight from their TV to their home theater receiver.

What's nice about the X1Gv4 box is it produces FAR less RF interference than the X1Gv3 box. The horrible interference I used to get on the FM dial from 89.7 MHz to 90.1 MHz from my old X1 box is now gone!

I got that Comcast letter a few weeks ago. The problem is their customer center is closed, so I am not sure how they want me to drop off my old box. Besides, it is a pain to hook it up.

By the way, I found out that my contract with Comcast did NOT expire on November 22nd like the gentleman told me. My bill says it is expiring Christmas Eve.

After reviewing my options with Wow(they are ending TV) and AT&T, I am just going to bite the bullet and get that starter triple play package for $151 including taxes. I don't have a choice. AT&T was offering a slower internet package with a similar TV offering for the same price. Plus, I know their service sucks. I hated then back when I bought my house and had my home phone through them.

[kager]

Thanks, MW.

Nice. Looks like your new modem supports voice, and is fully Xfinity integrated.

I don't need the voice capability... I had my eye on the SB8200, but am going to wait a bit for Spectrum (or another vendor, if they ever show up around here) to play catch-up to the Gbit level (& maybe prices to go down) before I pull the trigger on a 32x8 modem...

[kager]

Sounds like you got a nice bump in performance. You'll rarely get a true reading of what your ISP is providing you by wireless tests, though... wired Gbit end to end (with no other traffic on your LAN) will give you the best performance numbers & closest gauge of how well they are delivering what they promise...

Your router's performance, the number & type of other wireless clients on your network (and what they are doing) will also impact performance. I actually had to segment off to another router/subnet a recently-added wireless camera / security system, because it was just killing basic ops on computers / phones / tablets on the house production WiFi network that I naively installed it on 1st. Once I dedicated a router to service just the cameras/controllers and moved them there, it was back to smooth sailing everywhere else.

Mesh routers are quite common now... depending on the implementation, they can be great performers _and_ saturate all 4 corners of your space with a good signal, sted of just the latter.

Anyway, sounds like Santa got to the MW network early, & you're happy with it... enjoy!

[Deleted User 15475]

I will have to see what sort of router I have, if I recall it's around 5-6 years old, Which seems a bit dated. The Modem which I currently possess belongs to my internet provider. I've considered purchasing a new router and modem, to see if my speed increases.

[km1125]

Just curious what you guys are actually seeing as total incoming bitrates when you're actively streaming stuff to multiple devices, especially including some 4K in the mix. How many simultaneous streams to you have running?

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

Xfinity offered a new replacement modem, but I just don't want to mess with it in case I screw it up with installing it and what not. I do know that I get tired of the constant drop outs to my Firestick. But maybe that is because I use the Firestick for YouTube streaming.

The odd thing is that my tablet is more reliable than my Fire stick. My computer also has issues.

It's just me here so you would think I would have no issues, but that is not the case.