Submitted by speckz t3_10rq6ml in technology
Comments
aidenr t1_j6yby8a wrote
Having any monopoly necessitates being the worst one can be.
darkonark t1_j6yem9r wrote
A lesson easily learned from playing Hasbro's Monopoly
aidenr t1_j6yvax3 wrote
By the originally-alternate rules that were supposed to disgust players, drive them to the real rules, and show them the value of cooperative development!
darkonark t1_j6ywnk8 wrote
The real rules?
aidenr t1_j6z14nq wrote
Yeah originally it was a cooperative game with alternate rules to explore how awful it would be to fight over housing. Nobody found the intended rules to be fun so, by the time it was mass produced, they dropped the primary rule set.
SFWxMadHatter t1_j6zsaps wrote
The original rules weren't made to be fun. It was to show how awful late stage capitalism would be, then taken from the creator and turned into a "fun" game.
Valiantheart t1_j71sduu wrote
Is that not still the case? Ultimately to win the game one person winds up with everything.
[deleted] t1_j6z26qo wrote
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roo-ster t1_j6x1ifr wrote
I have my Frontier fiber installation scheduled for later this month. I'm positively giddy for my call to cancel Comcast once I know the new setup works.
No matter how many times they rebrand or try to bring people back, they're a shitty company and I'll do my damnedest to never give Comcast another penny.
SeaworthinessLeft88 t1_j6xow7j wrote
FIOS finally came to my neighborhood, and I was so happy to finally rid myself of Comcast for good (I cut the cord on TV nearly a decade ago).
Be prepared for an hour long process on the phone/chat, where they’ll try to salvage the result of their long term abusive relationship by escalating the cancellation request multiple times, offering uncompetitive plans with temporary rates, and trying to get you to sign up for more services, including cell phone bundling, when you’re just trying to cancel their shitty service that you’ve been stuck with for so long.
Oh, and they’ll start cold calling you repeatedly to try and get you back once it’s finally cancelled.
roo-ster t1_j6xty30 wrote
This confirms that it was an abusive relationship.
bparry1192 t1_j70il1s wrote
LPT, if you're ever trying to cancel Comcast, all you have to do is say you're moving out of the country. They stop asking questions after you tell them which one.
Vicariouslysuffering t1_j71bma7 wrote
Also notorious for not actually cancelling the service so watch and make a followup call noting the day you called the last time if they try and charge you. all over the net with people having issues of being charged after canceling.
cool_temperatures t1_j6xvmbx wrote
I think you may end up finding out the truth that as bad as Comcast is Frontier is worse. Good luck though.
roo-ster t1_j6yhyzd wrote
By cancelling cable service, at least I'm not giving a penny to Fox or CNBC.
If Frontier service is bad, at least I'm paying a third of what I was paying Comcast.
cool_temperatures t1_j6yl0qe wrote
I hear ya. I wouldn't want Fox or CNBC getting my money either. And it's great that it's cheaper for you. I just have a couple of friends that switched to Frontier from Comcast and I constantly hear about how the internet goes down all the time and how their customer service is horrible. One friend is in the process of going back to Comcast.
I personally have Comcast for internet only and it's rock solid for me. It hardly ever goes down and since I don't have cable TV, and own my own modem and router, I don't have to deal with their customer service much at all. I'm happy to pay slightly more for Comcast because the uptime is great and there are no headaches.
ISLAndBreezESTeve10 t1_j71rdh6 wrote
It sounds like you are due a cable (from pole to house) replacement soon, I’ve had 3 replaced in 12 years. The shit of it is, Comcast will run you around with checking every fucking thing except what the problem is…. Just tell them to replace the cable, there you go.
Imaginary-Bag6744 t1_j6zfq21 wrote
Understandable. Got to make due with what you’re given.
Amaya-hime t1_j6yyr2h wrote
Had Frontier as the only option in my small town for a few years until they sold our sector off to Ziply. The best thing I could say about Frontier was that they weren't Comcast. They certainly weren't amazing by any stretch, but they were better than Comcast. Never had an issue with throttling on Frontier like I did with Comcast.
[deleted] t1_j70137y wrote
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Amaya-hime t1_j710x8y wrote
We paid for 24 Mbps and pretty much always got 18-20, usually more like 20; next tier down was 16 Mbps. Also, it was the only gig in town unless you went with satellite. Your situation would be really sucky though. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.
V0nzell t1_j71s7p5 wrote
Frontier ran a service loop of fiber on the distribution pole in my back yard. I called Frontier and they say they are not installing fiber yet. It had been almost a year. Next thing I know time-comca-trum let's me know they see bad signal from my modem and need to fix it. I ask the guy what's going on. He says they are gearing up for synchronous speeds. Funny that was not an issue before the possible competition.
Imaginary-Bag6744 t1_j6zfll8 wrote
> Frontier
Yeah, fiber is great, but good luck with Frontier as a service provider. I had them for a decade.
slumpsox t1_j6x8pgp wrote
I am still waiting for a comcast alternative for internet. I should have access to fidum fiber at some point, no timeline though. It will be a happy day when i can tell Comcast to get lost.
DBDude t1_j6xblsb wrote
Starlink is going to hurt them even more for their rural expansion. "Sure, we'll run a cable 500 feet to your house, for $10K." "Fuck you, I'm going satellite."
29681b04005089e5ccb4 t1_j6xgmbt wrote
Meanwhile rural co-ops are running fiber hundreds of feet from the road to houses at no cost (with a 3 year service commitment)
DBDude t1_j6xqjoo wrote
The fun part about that is the coop running the river is probably hooked up to Comcast anyway.
[deleted] t1_j6xy3mf wrote
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400921FB54442D18 t1_j6xgwm7 wrote
Which is why big ISPs and conservative voters hate municipal and co-op ISPs.
4077 t1_j6xwbf2 wrote
soCiAlISm Is KiLlInG mY pRoFiTs!
KingStronghand t1_j6xttux wrote
Windstream is running fiber for no cost and no contract commitment I believe. If you can get fiber through them I recommend it. We are working our way down the east coast installing fiber infrastructure in rural areas.
jmatach t1_j6z7da2 wrote
Because fiber cost next to nothing for hundreds of feet. Coax cost $80,000 per mile. 500 feet with all the electrical components would cost approximately $7500. Then it’s about $150 to the install (labor for tech roll) $200 for the modem and wire and another 150 to bury the new service drop. So the cable company would have to spend 8 grand to get $60 a month. And who’s to say the new customer wouldn’t cancel after 3 months?
29681b04005089e5ccb4 t1_j6z9kf9 wrote
Perhaps Comcast should work harder on switching everything over to fiber in that case so they can remain competitive in the ISP market.
jmatach t1_j6zdsju wrote
Agreed, my company is doing it they should too
KingStronghand t1_j6xtjck wrote
I work for Windstream and we are running fiber to rural areas for free. Windstream seems like they are trying to fix their horrible reputation. I've had the fiber at my house for over a year and it's been great. I get 1gb speed download and upload. If you can get fiber through Windstream Kinetic I recommend. 1gb is around $90 a month I believe in my area. It's not a fiber fed copper system either. It's actually true fiber.
This is with no contract either I believe. If you don't like it then you can cancel it.
DBDude t1_j6y3nzg wrote
Say we have a person living on his property, and his house is half a mile from your nearest Windstream connection. If you run fiber to him, he's going to be the only one on that service. Windstream will actually spend that money to run the line for free? That is amazing.
The only time I've seen free runs is when a bunch of unserved households together ask for the service, so that the ISP knows it'll get a greater income for that expense.
KingStronghand t1_j6yjlhj wrote
In my area yes. We will get you service as long as you are within 2000 to 3000 ft of the nearest fiber terminal. Now if you are way out there AND you do not feel like waiting to get fiber then I'm sure you can buy your way up to the top of the list. That's way above my pay grade though.
After Covid hit alot of government money went to ISP to expand the fiber network. The government wants as many ppl on a high speed network in case we have to lock down again. So Windstream isn't exactly spending the money if that makes sense. Windstream isn't the only company to receive money. If your ISP is garbage, start calling the PUC on these assholes. I can tell you from being a technician and a lineman for Windstream, though they have listened to complaints over the years and they want to build a better reputation. I used to hate Windstream internet with a passion. I wouldn't recommend our DSL/Copper service to anyone. I'll tell you to go to Comcast if you can't get fiber through Windstream. Personally i would go without internet rather than give comcast another cent.
Windstream fiber>everything else I have seen so far. Especially for the price.
You can get 1GB upload and down for a little over $90 a month.
DBDude t1_j6ylvd9 wrote
That's good news. Glad to see at least one of the landline companies is actually serving its customers.
KingStronghand t1_j6yydkh wrote
Yeah Windstream is trying right alot of wrongs they committed. They have a long way to go but I highly recommend them if you can get fiber.
Yoyo805 t1_j701bir wrote
So, I live out in the boonies and WS is the only option. We're currently on 30mbps and I can't check to see if fiber is available at my location on their website because we're... already their customers. Odd decision, but okay.
I start hammering in random addresses also on my street to find one it lets me work with and we're locked into either 15 or 30, and we already have 30.
Who at WS should we contact for fiber expansion to see when/if they plan on rolling it out here?
KingStronghand t1_j726qch wrote
If you call into the retail store for your area/state they should be able to tell you.if you Google Windstream retail store for your state you may be able to skip the 1800 number and go straight to them. If not the 1800 number is your best bet but I'm not a big fan of the 1-800 number. I think the retail stores provide better customer service. Feel free to DM me if you need help. It may take me a little while to respond since I'm working at the moment. I'll ask my boss if I can't answer your questions.
AEN-K0NG-S3X1 is my referral code for ws. You may be able to get a deal or promotion if you mention the code. I do commission from the code. The fiber builds are supposed to go on for the next 10 years I believe. So don't give up hope if it isn't there yet.
And no i didn't pick the sexy Kong referral code lol. WS randomly generated it. I like to think our programmers have a sense of humor lmao
dirtyjose t1_j6xcpnv wrote
Hope you live in a rural area without trees or weather then lol
DBDude t1_j6xqno0 wrote
They work great in bad weather, and as far as trees go, put it on your house.
dirtyjose t1_j6xqsg3 wrote
Ah yes, certainly no tall trees in rural areas.
DBDude t1_j6xybz3 wrote
I have lots of tall trees around me, but the clearing around the house allows plenty of line of sight to the sky. If the trees were closer I’d put it on the house.
This isn’t like traditional satellite. You can have multiple satellites in view and it’ll pick the best one.
dirtyjose t1_j6xzft2 wrote
Glad you've had better luck with it than residents here.
DBDude t1_j6y4h34 wrote
I don't need it, but I certainly have plenty of places to put a dish.
Also, remember that Starlink isn't fully built out yet, many more to come. They've already launched four batches just this year, over 200 of them.
elijahsmith2006 t1_j6x78pu wrote
Good....their Customer Service is just TERRIBLE!!
Vzdubz t1_j6xey7v wrote
Good. It’s only been twenty years since they’ve needed to get a damn clue.
400921FB54442D18 t1_j6xgp7q wrote
Too bad, so sad. Let them go suck on a coax connector.
emotionalfescue t1_j6xgkbn wrote
I had Hulu running over Xfinity Internet and was pretty happy with it. It was fairly reliable and the price was reasonable, even using their wireless router. I was on autopay so I usually didn't check my bill, but when I did I noticed that Comcast had raised my rates, by a lot. When I asked online the answer from their bot was "Your bill for this month reflected the same rates that were in place last month."
Fortunately FIOS became available in my building, so I signed up. During a trial period when I was carrying both services, Comcast must've gotten word from their ops folks that I had stopped using them because they started texting me offering 50 percent off my service. Once I was satisfied with FIOS, I gathered up my Comcast gear and carried them to one of their local offices. That's the best way to cancel, then it's a fait accompli with no opportunity for "let's make a deal".
Queue_Bit t1_j6y45lo wrote
Wow you're telling me that in the age of mass inflation, the first thing people are getting rid of is the one service that is one where 40 percent of airtime is ads?
[deleted] t1_j6x0e43 wrote
Our household hasn't had cable TV in years, better part of a decade at this point, but Spectrum has been, sadly, the *best* ISP we've had. And we've had Google Fiber and T-Mobile 5G in the past 3 years. So maybe they've found their niche as both Google and T-Mobile failed miserably.
And I'm so sick of "Up to 1Gb"...either it gets 1Gb or it doesn't. It's fucking binary. If you're advertising 1Gb, you need to deliver. Especially when they trot out bullshit like, "That's not intended for Wifi...only direct Ethernet connections." Who still connects home computers physically anymore aside from networking nerds like me? And even then I'm still maxing out at like 600Mbps.
andrewreaganm t1_j6xc3vv wrote
What went wrong with Google fiber?
Vzdubz t1_j6xf2dt wrote
It’s expensive and hard to run fiber all over
andrewreaganm t1_j6xfbfx wrote
Not sure if you read what I replied to haha.
They said that the Google fiber they had installed in their house didn’t work for them, and I wanted to know why.
contingency_option_4 t1_j6xiisv wrote
> It's fucking binary.
So is understanding or not.
KingStronghand t1_j6xv2x3 wrote
I work for Windstream and we guarantee up to 1gb to your modem. Wifi 1gb isn't guaranteed. That would be a nightmare to maintain a 1gb speed wirelessly. You would be surprised at how many homes are already set up for direct ethernet. all I have to do is put an end on a cat5 cable and plug into an ont.
If you're hardlined in and still not getting full rates u need to call the isp.
If you have Windstream Kinetic in your area call them. Windstream was a shitty company but I think they are actually trying to fix their reputation. We are currently building our fiber infrastructure out over the next decade to bring 1gb fiber to rural areas.
I've had 1gb fiber service for the last year and have never had any issues yet.
I'm a technician.
Ev3nt t1_j6ybhcc wrote
Dude only wifi6 can handle 1gps or more in ideal conditions with devices that support it and that goes down the drain mighty quick when you add devices or have any walls in between. Wifi6 hardware isnt cheap currently. Wired is the only realistic reliable way to go if you want your full speed. Plenty of youtube tutorials on how to crimp your own ethernet and there is benefit with taking as many devices off wifi as possible making it faster for the rest. Even when wifi reliably hits 6gb/s, the 10/100gb/s wired hardware will be better. Wireless just sucks that way, only real compromise to get full speed wirelessly is if you can send an ethernet run to each room and wire wifi6 accesspoints in each of those rooms.
Kurotan t1_j6ylakd wrote
I don't understand advertising 1gb when most people are just going to get the cheap 250 or whatever plan.
TheKert t1_j6x3r8z wrote
You love to see it
PassengerStreet8791 t1_j6yvw90 wrote
Comcast gonna go for that “You only get internet when you buy cable” strategy soon.
ghaelon t1_j6xokab wrote
We lost x amount of subscribers this year guess we need to raise our rates again. why do people keep leaving? we're the only cable service they have...
FlyingCockAndBalls t1_j6ycit7 wrote
good. fuck em. Fuck cable companies, and fuck monopolistic IPs.
drjenkstah t1_j6ykh6j wrote
Sure wish there was competition in my area for Comcast. As it stands now there’s nothing comparable in regards to internet speeds other than CenturyLink and I don’t want to go back to them after having their service when they were known as Qwest.
DingGratz t1_j6ynhht wrote
I estimate they will go out of business between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. but somewhere around 7:30 p.m. actually.
oldcreaker t1_j6yt9r5 wrote
It's no surprise. I see what basic cable is like at my mom's house. The quality of content is just so much worse than when I cut the cord mid 2000's. It's unwatchable. And wicked expensive.
VincentNacon t1_j6y87bw wrote
Good. I hope it's hitting Spectrum too, they have been spending so much money into advertising that it has gotten so damn annoying now.
BartFurglar t1_j6y8txx wrote
I’ve never had any of the regular outages or customer service issues that I often read about online when Comcast comes up, but I still cancelled their service recently because they charge way too much for what you get. Where they really get you over time is the equipment rental fees.
I have century link fiber where I live so I switched to that for only $55/month AFTER taxes/fees and that gives me 550 Mbps up/down. That’s more than enough bandwidth for several simultaneous 4K streams. There is no equipment rental fee for the modem.
I also signed up for Directv Stream (via my Apple TV boxes) for ~$70/month that includes all the traditional TV channels I actually care about.
All told, getting rid of Comcast is saving me close to $200/month and there is not a single thing I’m missing out on.
goldfaux t1_j6yqw79 wrote
I've had comcast and cox. They are essentially the same money grabbing companies. I just cut cox 3 years ago because my internet went from 300 Mbps uncapped for $65 to 300 Mbps uncapped for $95 per month. The cap wouldn't allow my family to stream endlessly and we have 3 google nest camera. Plus I was paying around $250 for internet and cable TV package. Switched to another company in my area offering Gigabit fiber for $60 per month for life. So much better. Cable TV is becoming worthless and isn't worth more then $35 per month. Plus I get 33 channels OTA for free. I spent a one time $200 payment to get a large antenna installed in my attic. Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, and Paramount Plus (~$50) + Gigabit Fiber ($60) = $110 per month.
[deleted] t1_j6x82c5 wrote
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snacksy13 t1_j6xku5m wrote
Wow, that website is really stuck in the 2010s
[deleted] t1_j6xqu5y wrote
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-B001- t1_j6yfb9b wrote
Good. I'm not a fan of that company!
backtrack1234 t1_j700h42 wrote
How do I find out if I can have the fiber?
Rude-Opinion-3711 t1_j704zaw wrote
Whatever forces these shitheels to provide better Internet service at a bare minimum is fine by me.
ComputerRound3376 t1_j70agei wrote
I recently discovered there’s a independent internet company installing fiber around my city that guarantees identical 1 GB speeds for both up and down. They’re also like $60 cheaper than the Gig internet I get from Xfinity/Comcast. Soon I’ll be switching to that too. We just can’t keep paying these high prices with dismal results. I.E. With Xfinity I can get close to 1 GB down, but definitely not 1 GB up, moreover in order to get those speeds I had to “pretend” to be a business. SMH
Technical_Sir_9588 t1_j70q6b1 wrote
Worst customer service. Will never try to be competitive and lie to you. Only when you're no longer a customer will they try to work with you. Unfortunately I'm stuck with them for internet.
dungone t1_j70r6p3 wrote
But wait I thought everyone on Reddit was going to cancel their Netflix and go back to Comcast.
brokemybackmountain t1_j712bqo wrote
Comcast is the devil
Silver-Eye-472 t1_j71q87v wrote
Worst monopoly ever totally dishonest scammers.
firedrakes t1_j71qmg6 wrote
i laugh when people think comcast is awful.
centurylink. is the worst. so bad. the company change its name 3 times now.
DFHartzell t1_j71rfez wrote
That’s OK, they can raise prices and do stock buy backs. There are literally no rules for a company this size.
darkonark t1_j6wx3n3 wrote
Having a territorial monopoly can only help so much when your organization tries it's best to be the worst it can be.