  Mrfrench Member Username: Mrfrench Post Number: 15 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 69.136.146.194 |
Is there any alternative for high speed internet besides Comcast. Any other company that had a record with this lack of service, accountability and dishonesty would be out of business. Is there ANY OTHER CHOICE!!!! I live in Corktown. | ||
Jltyler Member Username: Jltyler Post Number: 243 Registered: 03-2005 Posted From: 69.212.34.58 |
SBC DSL is great for me havent had any downtime in over a year and a half. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 195 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
My Comcast is great. I connect at something less than their max of 6Mbs, though. About 3Mbs or so - or twice T1 rates. I did a 65 MB beta download from Sun in less than 8 sec a couple years ago. | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
I have WOW, and it's been pretty good to me. Way cheaper than Comcast too...I pay less than $100 for digital cable + HBO and 4MB internet. | ||
Chris_rohn Member Username: Chris_rohn Post Number: 200 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 68.73.199.142 |
You can't get WOW in Corktown. | ||
Matt Member Username: Matt Post Number: 999 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 24.221.73.42 |
You can't get WOW anywhere in the city, apparently. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 196 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
WOW is a good deal for Warren and vicinity. Is that 4MBs or Mbs? There's a speed difference of a factor of eight. (Message edited by livernoisyard on February 28, 2006) | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 886 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 198.208.159.20 |
its either DSL or Comcast....course with DSL you need the land line of course, if you already have one, go DSL for sure. I had earthlink DSL (uses SBC lines) and I never had a single issue with it. But, I just moved and ended up with comcast, not because I wanted to with all the horrible things I've heard about them, but because I don't have or need a land line in the new place. cable tv + cable internet is cheaper than cable tv + DSL + phone line Wide open West could be an alternative in the future but its out in the 'burbs and not servicing Detroit yet. (check with them just in case)...I've heard nothing but good things about them | ||
Skulker Member Username: Skulker Post Number: 3629 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.103.104.93 |
Comcast is the only cable based option for high speed internet in the City of Detroit. They have an exclusive franchise in the City. SBC (or other carrier) DSL is your only other option until WiMAx is readily available. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 888 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 198.208.159.20 |
what is WiMAx? city-wide wireless or something? | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 1652 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 129.9.163.233 |
WiMax is a new wireless internet technology. It's similar to WiFi with a much greater speed and range. The standard is currently being finalized and equipment is currently undergoing trials. The systems has a 30+ mile range and a throughput of over 14 megbits per second. It will make county wide WiFi projects obsolete. http://www.wimaxforum.org http://www.wimax.com/ WiMax is supposed to be available in Detroit from one of the Cell phone companies this spring. It might be a viable option to Comcast and DSL. (Message edited by ndavies on February 28, 2006) | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 11 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
Livernoisyard, my bad, 4Mbps for WOW | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 199 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
I knew. I might be tempted to move to Macomb County for that speed increase... | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 779 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
I have known many people who have had WOW and their service was very spotty, especially the internet. Very rarely did they ever get the max download speed and lots of outages. Although Comcast is a pain to deal with, their service is far superior to WOW, if you are in an area that gets it. | ||
Machoken Member Username: Machoken Post Number: 1132 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 207.145.38.104 |
What's the gripe about Comcast anyhow? I don't have cable TV, but I'm pretty happy with my high speed internet. I generally see speeds along the same lines as Livernoisyard (although I wish upload was a bit faster), and I don't experience a whole lot of downtime (probably less than 1% of the time: 1-2 days total per year, doesn't seem bad for a consumer level connection). Usually any interruptions in the connection is resolved by resetting my modem, and if that doesn't work the service is usually back up in a few hours after I call them, although I'm probably not the first call they receive about the outage. | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 12 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
WOW is also available in the Royal Oak vicinity, Ferndale for me. So no need to give in and go to Warren, S.H., et al.  | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 203 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
Warren's probably cheaper. I play softball with (mostly) Eastpointers twice weekly M & W mornings for 6 or 7 months/yr. | ||
Ro_resident Member Username: Ro_resident Post Number: 152 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 69.14.126.140 |
I have had WOW internet since they rolled out service in Royal Oak. Apart from the first few months, service has been very reliable. Probably 95% of problems could be resolved by rebooting the modem. Of course, YMMV, depending on your location. | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 2033 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 66.92.210.2 |
Ever try AT&T or Starband? | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 207 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
In my case, repowering the Belkin firewall/router usually clears up any perceived slowness. So I repower everything once in a while - modem, router, and VoIP. | ||
Machoken Member Username: Machoken Post Number: 1134 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.85.155.145 |
Ah, VOIP - now that's a good tool to tell if your connection sucks. | ||
Mcpd1300 Member Username: Mcpd1300 Post Number: 63 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 68.42.175.57 |
When I lived in Harrison Twp I switched from Comcast to WOW! and loved having WOW. Super friendly customer care, anytime there was an outage, I called they not only fixed the problem promptly but they also gave me a downtime credit on my bill. Fantastic service. Now that I live in the City of Detroit, I'm stuck with Comcast. The television service itself periodically has that "pixelation" thats similar to satellite TV getting fuzzy (if that makes sense) but it usually clears up pretty quickly. I am annoyed by the UPLOAD capping rate of 30kbps, but my download rates seem to be just ducky. The other thing you need to take into effect, if you're getting slow downloads, is what is the upload speed of the server you are downloading from. | ||
Machoken Member Username: Machoken Post Number: 1135 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.85.155.145 |
Comcast will give you a credit too, if you ask them. It's not automatic, but they never give me a hard time about my request. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 258 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 68.2.191.57 |
Seriously, what tools do people here use to monitor their connection dynamically? I've been using "ping -t 216.127.80.118" in a DOS window but I'm sure there must be a better way. | ||
Mcpd1300 Member Username: Mcpd1300 Post Number: 64 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 68.42.175.57 |
ooh, I forgot to add that yes, VoIP is a fantastic way to determine if your connection blows. My VoIP is very touchy... though I tend to believe it has something to do with the server equipment I have here in my house that manages my voicemail and stuff. | ||
Islandman Member Username: Islandman Post Number: 88 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 68.42.171.59 |
There are plenty of different tools out there (and web sites), but they will take up bandwith by actively checking the line all the time. Better to do it periodically, and as was mentioned, recycle your hardware from time to time. | ||
Machoken Member Username: Machoken Post Number: 1136 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.85.155.145 |
You got QoS on that VoIP Mcpd1300? I was running a telephony server at work on a 384K T1 line (so uploads are the same speed as downloads) without a whole lot of trouble, and we hosted a web and email server too. (we're now up to 768K, which is still pretty slow...) The only thing that causes trouble is incoming www traffic, which is hard to police - so when people are on the phone everybody stays off the internet. But without QoS, VoIP was very rough. | ||
Noggin Member Username: Noggin Post Number: 50 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 71.227.102.104 |
I have also heard that people that have WOW available in their area can take those rates to Comcast to get a major reduction in their bill rate. | ||
Old_southwest Member Username: Old_southwest Post Number: 114 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 67.149.72.160 |
I've had WOW! for almost 3 years. It's always working, never a problem. Speed is fine. I have cable and 512K inet for $70 a month. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 3760 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 141.217.174.223 |
Comcast High Speed Internet and 99% excellent tech support. While SBC DSL has 99% terrible tech support. That's why Comcast still remains that totally monopoly in the cable and internet communications market and now they about to take over the phone market, by updating its phone service by using a cable line. WORD FROM THE STREET PHOPHET. For its COMCASTIC! | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 214 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
No real complaints - Only a few problems here with Comcast. One time, they sent an idiotic contractor crew over to disconnect me over a non-payment issue while I was away. Trouble was they went to the wrong house and street! My neighbor next door said these nuts could barely climb a ladder. More like the Two Stooges. Well, it got reconnected and I got a credit rebate that covered about a week's service for being off a day. | ||
Detroitduo Member Username: Detroitduo Post Number: 504 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 194.138.39.56 |
Danny must be off his medication again. Living in Brush Park, SBC-DSL is the best service we have had. It is fast and in 6 years, I think our service was down twice for 12 hours each. Although SBC is not the greatest customer service, they have always been helpful and gotten what we needed. Hate Comcast and glad we do not have to deal with those Bozo's. |
