Frekin Comcast

[never_retreat]

Anyone else here have comcast?
Well they forced us to get digital cable. They said if you didn't get the box you wont get past ch 23, well I wake up this morning and can't get past 23. They came by last week and dropped of the boxes and wanted to rewire. Well there idea of rewiring is just to nail it up the outside of the house and run it around the walls of the rooms. Not for me no way no how. I'm an electrician and wires go in the walls not nailed to
the outside. Fyi you have to upgrade the cable from rg59 to rg6 and try to get rid of the splitters. So I have one Tv done so far.

Now here starts the question section.
I thought I remembered reading a while a go that the .gov passed a law or something that said the cable companies had to keep the analog signal with the new digital so people would not be forced to use the boxes. (which they charge monthly for by the way)

And is there any way to turn this digital signal back to an analog one at one location so I can use my tv as it was intended. I hate having the extra remote, I can't use some of the features on my tv etc.

If all else fails can I buy my own boxes? These things are complete pos.

</end rant>

[Sindawe]

My HOA has Comcast, and we are still mostly analog at this point in time. One owner has gone digital since Comcast gave her the change over for free (the HOA buys cable in bulk).  Comcast has stated to us that we will have to switch over to digital w/in two years.  I'd love to find out more about this law/ruling, since from the brief examination of the specs, going digital will render my PC bases DVR useless.

Running coax cable around the rooms is NOT acceptable from my viewpoint.  I have jacks for cable in each bedroom (not that I use them, bedrooms are for sleeping or sex) and on the main level that were built into the home.

I think the current digital boxes convert the signal back to analog for older glass-teats, since my mother has Comcast digital at her place and the channel switching is done on the cable box, NOT the TV.

[thebaldguy]

Hey! Don't get me started! We got migrated from Time Warner to Comcast last year. Comcastic? I think not. Their motto should be "If you hated Time Warner, you'll hate us more!". Our cable internet speeds have dropped, and they have now taken four channels from extended basic to basic digital, forcing you to get a box. They also raised the prices on basic/extended basic/digital even when they take away channels. Oh, and just to put some icing on the cake, if you don't have any cable tv through them they raised your cable internet from $45 to $60 per month.

By the way, my first cable tv bill in 1988 was $10.95 per month. My extended basic today is almost $50. I have about the same amount of channels.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm just here to mock you all for paying for television.   

[Manedwolf]

I have their digital HD. Only the box on the living room HD is digital, it's an HD DV recorder. The other two TVs are analog signal, the basic channels.

I'm just here to mock you all for paying for television.

 

Yeah, well, sports in HD are a lot better than ancient broadcast stuff. You get what you pay for.

[Gewehr98]

Ok, this was funny as hell to me:

(not that I use them, bedrooms are for sleeping or sex)

My wife and I have hallway sex these days...

Monkeyleg should be familiar with the term, especially after ogling his sister-in-law's legs. 

As for the RG6 cable, I was required to use it when I was a Dish Network installer last year. RG59 doesn't carry the digital signal as well as RG6, and the latter has considerably better shielding, too.

We had a running joke about the "house wrap" technique of running the cables completely around the house from LNB to the rooms with televisions.  Depending on how many dual-tuner receivers the homeowner ordered, the "house wrap" made the home look like some sort of Faraday Cage.   

[Ron]

I have Comcast digital HD w/DVR, high speed internet and they also have my home phone.

My internet speed is brutally fast and the HD rocks.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm just here to mock you all for paying for television.

 
Yeah, well, sports in HD are a lot better than ancient broadcast stuff. You get what you pay for.

Then I mock you for wasting your time on sports. 

[Ron]

Then I mock you for wasting your time on sports. 

 

Firefly is on Saturday nights in HD on UHD channel 207, just started last week with episode one.

Just did a speed test

Fastest Download:
    22658 kb/s
Fastest Upload:
    1488 kb/s

[Manedwolf]

Then I mock you for wasting your time on sports. 

 

Firefly is on Saturday nights in HD on UHD channel 207, just started last week with episode one.

Just did a speed test

Fastest Download:
    22658 kb/s
Fastest Upload:
    1488 kb/s

Yup! It looks incredible. Plus there's Discovery HD, and PBS HD, which has NOVA and other intelligent shows in HD.

[Thor]

If you hate Comcast now, wait until you have line problems (cable plant stuff)  Comcast is against their techs becoming SCTE certified. (Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers) I've been fighting a plant problem with them for over a week. It's apparently an ingress problem. They sent a contractor tech out. All he did was run a new drop. That didn't fix the problem. I called again today. They'll send an in-house tech out in the a.m., but what they REALLY need to do is send a line tech out and get the plant fixed. The bad thing is that the problem starts around midnight and goes away after 0930. Can we say "broken or chewed shield on the main line" ?? a TDR or spectrum analyzer would find the problem right quick, but no, we have to take baby steps and inconvenience the customer for more than a week. I worked for the company long before Comcast bought it. The earlier companies, Continental & Media One really took the job seriously. Then AT&T bought it and I don't know from there.All Comcast seems to want to do is sell mediocre services and not worry about line maintenance and customer satisfaction. Hell, I can't even get them to adjust the channel to channel audio.   

Unfortunately, I had Qwest for my DSL/Phone when we first moved here and they were even MORE pathetic.

[Sindawe]

My wife and I have hallway sex these days...

Fine for you perhaps, but since the only hallway in my home overlooks the main level and has a clear view in/out the cloistry windows to/from the street, I think the neighbors with kids would tend to object.  Now the stairs however...

Fastest Download:
    22658 kb/s
Fastest Upload:
    1488 kb/s

Perhaps I should run a speed test on my mother's machine since she has Comcast.

[InfidelSerf]

We have Comcast.. and I just checked.. the one cable only(no box) tv goes up to channel 77
The main tv has a DVR.

I've had all three majors(Time Warner, Dish, Comcast) in the past several years.
I have to say Comcast has been the best as far as service is concerned.  (and that's not saying much)
They are all overpriced.

We just recently dropped HBO and other movie channels in favor of upping the broadband to a 10Mb connection (ooh baby I love it)
And added a home phone line when we made that change.  They came out and switched out the modem.
The one thing that really bites is that now I can no longer spoof my MAC address.  Which is how I used to be able to change my IP whenever I wanted.
I'm still trying to figure out how to get back to having a spoofable MAC.

Honestly though we hardly even use the cable tv connection since I can download all the TV shows I'm interested in. (Including MotoGP in HD )
About every 6 months I call up and complain to them about the cost and they readjust the monthly fee to the 6 month introductory price.

Other than price my primary complaint about them is the fact that I HAVE to press 1 for english whenever I call them. 
Unlike other systems where I refuse to press a button for english and just wait until it rolls to an operator.  Their system just loops
and pressing 0 etc doesn't bypass that frekin option.

[atomd]

Yup, Comcast is horrible. They bought out our cable company here and raised the rates 3 times in 3 months. I've only had them for a year now but I've had nothing but problems. When I moved they overcharged me for my installation. Then my first bill came and they overcharged me for my service. It took months and a dozen or more calls for them to fix the problems. Their cable internet is slower than my previous company too. Dealing with them on the phone is a nightmare. I've had several different services in the last few years and I have to say they are just about the worst. My family members in ME and PA have ALL had at least one problem and received very poor customer service from them within the last 6 months. Not a good track record.

[InfidelSerf]

ALL had at least one problem and received very poor customer service from them within the last 6 months. Not a good track record.

LOL  I challenge you to show me a major cable company that doesn't fit that bill.

[atomd]

LOL  I challenge you to show me a major cable company that doesn't fit that bill. Tongue

I'm sure they are all pretty bad. That doesn't make it excusable though. I had Verizon DSL for over 6 years without having one problem. Not even one. Can't say that for Comcast as an ISP and I've only had them for around a year. I also paid far less money for Verizon although I can't get that where I now live. As far as TV and cable internet goes, they have had more technical problems than any other provider I have ever had combined. Some tv problems go on for months at a time. Oh well. Maybe one day there will actually be competition and customer service will improve. Ya right. hehe

[MechAg94]

When I moved last year, I get set up with AT&T for phone, phone DSL, and Dish Network.  My DSL is 3500 to 4500 kb/s (I think that is the right units), and I have a line powered phone.  Dish Network has been great.  I do have a few interruptions here and there when a thunderstorm parks above me, but the total down time is no worse than cable companies.  It normally is only a few minutes.  The phone DSL is around $30/mo, but that is with the phone/TV/internet package.

When the Dish Network guy hooked up the dish, he just ran it into the attic.  All the cables were already run from there.  It is easy to switch things around.  Only thing I need to do now is dump the 2nd receiver and some pay channels to bring the total cost down.  I think mine is around $50 for expanded basic package.

[Vodka7]

Just did a speed test

Fastest Download:
    22658 kb/s
Fastest Upload:
    1488 kb/s

Just to clarify these awesome looking speeds--I forget the name for it, but Comcast has ridiculous burst speeds for the first minute of any transfer.  After a minute, you resume your normal capped service.  So, yeah, a speed test that takes less than a minute will show you the max speed of your modem (or close to it, your modem is probably a 24mbps model), but normal usage won't come anywhere near that.  Upload speeds are miserable at 384k.

Here, we have an option of 6 or 8 mbps, I stick with 6 because the price jump to 8 is insane.  I've had it for just over a year, no problems except for the price jump when they bought out Time Warner.

[Thor]

The first two weeks, I spent THREE hours on the phone with the tech for Qwest DSL. It was a bad modem. Being intermittent, they were unwilling to exchange it. I can't say I've spent that much time on the phone with Comcast. I WILL say that Comcast's customer service and attention to detail really sucks. Their head end techs (that's where all the satellite receivers are) really leave a lot to be desired.

The in house tech figured out the problem. My tap output was at some 30 dBmv. Even with drop and splitter loss, that's still a bit much. He said he was going to turn it over to the line techs. Hopefully, this will be fixed soon. Apparently, I have a line amp someplace that just starts screaming when it cools down.

[Gewehr98]

Sindawe,

You need to go look up "hallway sex".  It's not what you think it is.   

[InfidelSerf]

LOL Gewehr98    I looked it up  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hallway+sex

*language warning*

[roo_ster]

Our physical cable has remained the same, though the name has changed,

AT&T was first.  They were right heinous.  We had no choice, being (phone) fiber to the curb & outrageous DSL rates.

Comcast bought AT&T and LIFE WAS GOOD.  No problems.  I had no reason to call customer service.

Then, Time Warner came to town.  INstant PITA, though not as bad as AT&T.

My cable modem downloads are good, until my neighbors start downloading goat porn and suck all the bandwidth.

[Sindawe]

My deepest sympathies Gewehr98.  Anymore I bail before a relationship gets to that point. 

[Gewehr98]

Hey, nobody gets naked during hallway sex, so the number of people offended is minimized, windows or no windows!   

[never_retreat]

I see we all missed the questions I had at the bottom of my post. Anyone have any ideas?

And is there any way to turn this digital signal back to an analog one at one location so I can use my tv as it was intended. I hate having the extra remote, I can't use some of the features on my tv etc.

If all else fails can I buy my own boxes? These things are complete pos.