Comcast vs DSL?

[311Hemi]

Anyone running Qwest DSL that has seen both and can offer any comparisons. I am sick of my crazy comcast bill and looking to move to a direct TV and qwest package.

I like the comcast service, just not the cost. Heck, to add an HD receiver box for a second TV they are charging me $16/month. That's $32/month just for HD service on two TV's.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I made the switch almost two years ago and am going to be switching back as soon as our contract is up. Qwest DSL is hit or miss. Sometimes, it works just fine, but other times it is so slow I can even check my Gmail. Must have to do with traffic because nights are usually the slow time. We had Comcast previously, and it blows away Qwest DSL.

Comcast has some killer deals now--Xfinity triple play for $90 a month for the first year, $110 the second year. Probably not available for existing customers, though.

[311Hemi]

Yea, it looks like $120 for that triple play with HD service, the $99 is non-HD service.

No HD fee or HD box fee, although it does not say if it includes a DVR for the $120 price. Still, that it a good amount cheaper than the $149 in two years for that service....basically the boat I am in now.

Dang, cable bill is equal to a nice boat payment.

Maybe I will keep comcast internet and get direct TV for HD, they have good prices at the moment as well.

[CJH]

I haven't had the DSL, just Comcast. Everything I have read says the signal is slower and not as stable. That being said, it really depends on what you plan on doing with it. Basic stuff I would think would be fine. Large downloads or streaming.........

[Ralph Wiggum]

The guy at my door last night said phone, 16 mb/s internet, and HD/DVR for $90 a month. I was planning on switching due to my unhappiness with Qwest DSL, and that deal is gonna pretty much guarantee it.

I have been quite happy with DirecTV, though. But my phone, internet, TV through Qwest/DirecTV isn't much cheaper than your Comcast price.

[Loose]

DSL is noticeable better than Comcast.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Wow, sounds like they (Qwest) is really going door-to-door since they were here yesterday too.

I like what Clark Howard says: if they are so good, why do you need a contract? Unfortunately you need one for service.

Now how can I get MY customers to lock in for two years with MY business??

[311Hemi]

The guy at my door last night said phone, 16 mb/s internet, and HD/DVR for $90 a month. I was planning on switching due to my unhappiness with Qwest DSL, and that deal is gonna pretty much guarantee it.

I have been quite happy with DirecTV, though. But my phone, internet, TV through Qwest/DirecTV isn't much cheaper than your Comcast price.

Dang, that's a very good price. I wish I could find something like that but with being a current customer of 5-6 year....they still would not work with me on a better price when I called earlier this week.

I assume that I may have to switch back and forth between TV services every couple years to keep the price down.....keeping cable internet service though.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I assume that I may have to switch back and forth between TV services every couple years to keep the price down.....keeping cable internet service though.

That's probably your best bet.

[Ralph Wiggum]

DSL is noticeable better than Comcast.

Are you kidding?

[SkunkedAgain]

I believe that DSL is dependent upon how many people in your local area are using/sharing the signal. Therefore, a lot of people on DSL in your area will slow down the service but it'll be great if nobody else is on. Cable internet is not affected by those around you so it's going to be consistently fast.

At least, that's how I understood DSL versus cable a few years ago. I don't know if that has changed.

[pureinsanity]

Comcast > ANY DSL

Plus direct tv sucks! Any storm, rain, heavy snow, or even thick clouds you can have no tv at all.

Run tell that homeboy

[Ralph Wiggum]

Comcast > ANY DSL

Plus direct tv sucks! Any storm, rain, heavy snow, or even thick clouds you can have no tv at all.

I agree with your first statement but not your second. In the past two years, I have had my DirecTV knocked out three times by weather--all pretty heavy thunderstorms. Never had an issue with snow or clouds. And never had an outage longer than 20 minutes.

[311Hemi]

Well, not an issue anymore. After 30 minutes on the phone with Comcast the guy was able to drop my bill significantly without losing any services. So, now I have HD service with two HD DVR's, and internet for about $115 (before tax/fees) for the next 12 months. Once I buy a cable modem it will be $110...so I can live with that.

It was $156 (175 after taxes/fees).

[Bigbartguy]

I called Comcast a couple of years ago and they said they couldnt do anything about my HUGE monthly bill. I went w/ Directv/Qwest/etc and saved over $70/month. Comcast then called me and offered me a big discount to stay.....I told them it was too little, too late.

sounds like maybe theyve changed their thoughts on this subject

[311Hemi]

I called Comcast a couple of years ago and they said they couldnt do anything about my HUGE monthly bill. I went w/ Directv/Qwest/etc and saved over $70/month. Comcast then called me and offered me a big discount to stay.....I told them it was too little, too late.

sounds like maybe theyve changed their thoughts on this subject

I had called last week and the comcast rep I spoke with was arguing with me that they were cheaper than direct TV, and wasn't too willing to work with me on it. He said the only thing they could do was lower my current package to a cheaper package. He was also quoting prices for direct TV service that were incorrect as far as lease fees. I had to let him go cause he was irritating me too much.

I thought I would try one more time today and the guy I spoke with today helped me without any issue and no hesitation...it just took a little time on the phone. I made it very clear to him from the begging that I was looking to see if he could lower my bill at all before I made the switch to another provider. To make it even more clear I told him I was planning to keep Comcast internet. Once he said my internet bill would go up $15 without cable service I told him I would have to cancel that and move to DSL. I told him Direct Tv's offer ($50/month) for the first 12 months and he was able to work something out.

[Jim Almquist]

I believe that DSL is dependent upon how many people in your local area are using/sharing the signal. Therefore, a lot of people on DSL in your area will slow down the service but it'll be great if nobody else is on. Cable internet is not affected by those around you so it's going to be consistently fast.

At least, that's how I understood DSL versus cable a few years ago. I don't know if that has changed.

I think you have them backwards

DSL is always one speed and about 1/10 as fast as cable. With Qwest I would always average around 1.325 Mbps for download and .75 Mbps for a upload. I now have Mediacom cable and average 1150 Mbps down and .88 Mbps up. The more users with cable the slower it gets. The best way to think about it is that it is a water pipe and has only so much pressure and the more people using up bandwidth the less pressure you will have and the slower your speeds.

[pureinsanity]

Theoretically, traffic from other users doesn't slow down a DSL connection. DSL runs over a phone line to a switching station. As long as you are within a certain distance, you shouldn't have problems. As you get farther away from the switching station, your connection gets slower.

In comparison, other users can slow down a cable connection. Everyone in a block of houses shares the same cable line. Less bandwidth is available when more people are using it.

Now, the problem could be an overloaded router server at your provider. It might be getting bogged down with connection requests. But your provider would have to confirm that.

[Loose]

Are you kidding?

Nope wish I still had the performance tests to prove it.

[delcecchi]

DSL can be better if you do a lot of uploading. Cable gets a lot of speed by distributing boxes that cache content in the neighborhoods. That doesn't work for uploading. So cable tends to be fast down, slow up. My cable the other night was 10 Mb/sec down and 1 Mb/sec up on one of the speed check sites.

All that stuff about weather bothering satellite tv seems hard to believe. We have dish at Lake Vermilion and it has, in the summer, only gone out during real frog strangling, cow on a flat rock rainstorms.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I would sure hate to miss the weather radar during a severe storm because of satellite tv!

[delcecchi]

You can get the weather radar on the internet at weather.gov or at a number of private sites like wunderground

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

You can get the weather radar on the internet at weather.gov or at a number of private sites like wunderground

Not when we are all hunkered down in the basement.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

The guy from Qwest just stopped by (again). I give him high marks for tenacity.

He claims the new dish has a broader reception cone (32" vs 4"), tracks 4 satellites and is also Teflon coated so the snow (sorry) falls right off of it. Still think it would be an issue in a storm though. If the whole sky is filled with storm clouds it doesn't matter how many satellites you have IMO.

Don't think I will be switching because we are very please with our cable service. The internet is smoking fast! Need to do some more digging into it though.

[Jim Almquist]

We have (had)DirectTV and the larger HD dish seemed to have less rain fade and outstanding picture quality. We switched to Mediacom because we will pay $20 less the first year and the same price the 2nd year as what we were paying for DirectTV and that includes the DVR with the HD package along with the cable modem. It really was a no brainer and soon the land line will be gone and that will save another $50 a month.