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Hi there Dakka, I'm looking for some advice on internet service providers. My wife and I have been with AT&T for the past few years and our contract is due to expire soon and we're looking at possibly switching providers. I think the only other option in the area is Comcast. Satellite internet isn't an option.
To date we haven't been thrilled with the service we're gotten with AT&T. We signed up to a bundle with a rebate, when we pursued the rebate we'd be told that it would be processed in X weeks. After X weeks has passed with no rebate we phoned them and they said they didn't process it and that we were too late to get it now. Add in the problems we've had with the 2Wire hardware they provided (wireless connection dropping for no reason, sometimes staying off for hours at a time, slow down and disconnects when wire) and we're just about to call it quits with AT&T.

I'm just looking to hear some of the opinions on either AT&T or Comcast, whether we stick it out with the one we know or jump ship.

Thank you.

You'll get pretty polarized opinions for both sides. That being said, I my hate for Comcast burns with the heat of a thousand suns and I only wish I had a choice.

I would take a look at the actual features that you have for AT&T (Whole house DVR, channels, etc) vs Comcast. Customer service and billing are largely subjective issues.

Also, if you are thinking about cancelling, call AT&T and tell them. Chances are they will offer you a deal to stay.

Well that's like picking crap and crap. Aren't cable and internet providers almost universally listed at the top of customer dissatisfaction polls?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/10/13/these-are-the-companies-with-the-lowest-satisfaction-rating/#

AT&T is higher up than Comcast, and from personal experience, Comcast's service is terrible. It works fine sure. When it works. I think there's some guy at the Comcast office who liked turning my cable off at random for kicks.

prete - we're not really interested in anything other than the internet access. We just don't watch enough TV to justify paying for cable so we're probably going to switch to Hulu or Netflix for our entertainment.

LordofHats - yeah, I'm reminded of South Park and choosing between a giant douche and a turd

I wouldn't bother switching then. Get them to replace the faulty equipment and continue with AT&T.

 pretre wrote:
I wouldn't bother switching then. Get them to replace the faulty equipment and continue with AT&T.

On this note, while I've not had the fastest service with AT&T, I've NEVER had issues with their 2wire products... We had our first wireless router last for 5 years or so, the only crap thing was when we had to replace it we had to pay full price for it...

I had Comcast for a while and it was a nightmare to get it started.

I had called them several times to get my service started and with every operator I would get different requirements ($$$), and one couldn't even find my address in their records.

Finally I got them to relaize there is a house at this address and that it did not require any kind of special account since it was a residence.

Then my service was sporadic as was the speed. Several times while playing MMOs it would disconnect me and render my service unavailable. If I was playing an MMO it would slow everyone down who was connected to that network. I currently have Charter and have yet to run in to this specific issue.

Also, Comcast does not like Netflix on demand. Just research Comcast and Netflix to see.

 Alfndrate wrote:
On this note, while I've not had the fastest service with AT&T, I've NEVER had issues with their 2wire products... We had our first wireless router last for 5 years or so, the only crap thing was when we had to replace it we had to pay full price for it...

Its a 2Wire router that is causing most of our problems, we've tried every fix to no avail.

Just get it replaced.

1.) If you truly want to replace your ISP, you might want to crosspost this in Broadbandreports.com as you'll get wildly specific information to your region.

2.) If you don't want to replace your ISP, it sounds like you're using their equipment? That's a big no-no to begin with, and this advice is for everyone reading this thread, Go to Amazon.com and get your own router and/or your own modem. No one should pay $5 a month or whatever to an ISP for their lousy hardware. Either of those pieces of equipment will pay for themselves in 2 years, and chances are you'll be with your ISP for longer, yes? Besides, those are "as good as it gets" hardware, you can ratchet it down if you want, but those items will drastically improve your throughput and stability, especially if you use peer to peer type applications which often will use more TCP connections then crappy routers will provide (this is a software problem, not a hardware one!). For example, the default Linksys firmware on many models allows 512 open TCP connections; whereas if you patch it with Tomato (supported off the shelf in that Asus router), you can set the cap yourself but it's default is 8,200.

Not to mention the Gig-e ports and the wireless N.

 Ouze wrote:

Besides, those are "as good as it gets" hardware, you can ratchet it down if you want, but those items will drastically improve your throughput and stability, especially if you use peer to peer type applications which often will use more TCP connections then crappy routers will provide (this is a software problem, not a hardware one!). For example, the default Linksys firmware on many models allows 512 open TCP connections; whereas if you patch it with Tomato (supported off the shelf in that Asus router), you can set the cap yourself but it's default is 8,200.

To be fair, anyone who actually USES more than 512 TCP sockets at any time on their home network already does this (or has a virus).

Your earlier point is an entirely valid one though.

To be honest, I don't think that a wargaming forum is the best place to ask this.

I have the choice between Comcast, Verizon and a smaller company called RCN. In my experience, they all suck. Like, really really bad.

The best way to go if you have the option is to just switch to whoever is offering the best no contract deal and sign up. As soon as the deal pricing expires, call and tell them you want it extended and if they say no just cancel and switch to the next guy. I have comcast now.. if I call them and I'm not getting what I want, all I have to do is say "Verizon Fios" and I'm instantly transferred from the guy in India that's only trained to read off his screen to a manager who will give me anything I want.