During a switch from a corporate setup to my personal connectivity, I had both Comcast Cable and Verizon DSL going. It was a nice opportunity that you just don't come across so often, so being the geek I am, I tested. I found DSL to be significantly faster (concurrent tests of two machines sitting next to each other hitting the same independent performance measurement website). As was previously said, cable performance will depend greatly upon your neighborhood's usage, and my guess is that there is a lot of cable users around us here in downtown Amherst (ever see the commercial. Then during a move I ran into serious customer service problems with Verizon. I told them to forget it and switched to Crocker. I must say that in my 25 years as a software developer I've never come across better customer service than I've received from Crocker Communications. It's just that you know that if you run into problems, you'll have a sincere, knowledgeable customer service rep on the other end of the phone who can fix the problem. I get their level of service and performance for about $5 more than Verizon. If you do decide to stay with Verizon, one caveat: do not use their email system. As was posted here previously, Verizon tends to block email sources on a whim and gives the customer few options to stop this - and does not even notify the customers! I just received a check for $19.51 from a class action settlement from a few years ago when Verizon decided arbitrarily to block all incoming emails from Europe because *they* thought Europe was the source of too much spam! I still am amazed just thinking about it. Buy Local, superior service, high performance. Buy Crocker. Regards, Baer -----Original Message----- From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of B. Kimo Lee Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 8:38 AM To: Hidden Tech Discussion List Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] Re: Comcast Phone Services Hi All, I've been using Verizon DSL for a number of years now (3 mbs) and have basically been happy with the service. I did have Comcast Internet at home, when I moved my office out of my house for couple of years. At that time I had problems with Comcast and an Airport base station that I used as a bridge from my Linksys (wired-only) router. As mentioned in previous posts to this topic, Comcast's DHCP server wouldn't send an IP to the Powerbook, so my ex-wife lost wireless access. But with Verizon I have only had one or two problems that required a tech support call, and they were able to re-configure remotely and get me back online quick. Recently, I helped a neighbor switch from Verizon to Comcast. She didn't want anything to do with Verizon re: their willingness to allow the government access to their lines (USA today). So off to Comcast for Internet and SunRocket for VoIP. So far, Comcast has been problematic. She keeps losing Internet service, which requires the standard reboot process of modem, gizmo (SunRocket) and router. Quite a pain, and they haven't been much help in solving whatever is causing it. One good thing is she gets a 5.2 mbs download speed. SunRocket quality is good, though when I call her, she says there is a slight echo. None when she calls out. She was able to keep her existing phone number and she got a great deal $99 for the first year, prepaid, unlimited service with full features and Canada, too. Regular price is $199/year. And you can take the gizmo and a phone and plug in anywhere there is Internet service and take calls from your phone number. One last note... I think that a big part of people's technical problems with Comcast may be due to poor quality coax cable in the home/office network. The coax cable that Comcast provides for their digital television is super heavy duty and my hunch is that if some of you are like my friend and are using leftover coax found in the garage from a previous installation, that may be causing the loss of service problems. We are going to get Comcast to come out with new cable so we can replace the old stuff. Best, Kimo On Oct 10, 2006, at 7:22 PM, Will Loving wrote: ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group, you must be counted to post . ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area. I live in South Amherst and have been very pleased with my switch from Sprint long distance to Comcast Digital Voice for both our house line and my business phone. The signal is much stronger and clearer than what I had with Sprint or ChoiceOne before that, and I once again have a stutter tone when there is waiting voicemail, something Sprint did not offer. We have a few occasions when the line appears to 'reset', meaning it drops the call and goes immediately to a dialtone. It's happened maybe a half dozen times in the last 18 months. The cost is between $40 and $55/month depending on whatever other services you purchase and includes unlimited calling in US and territories plus all features such as caller ID, three way calling, forwarding, multiple mailboxes, 911, etc. Long distance to Canada is 0.05/minute, UK = 0.08/minute, etc and you can get a second line with unlimited calling for $10 without features or $20 with all features. Installation includes a backup battery unit which keeps a current on the line for power outages - approx 9 hours of talk time, much more on standby. In doing my research on phone options before trying Comcast's service, I talked with a couple of technicians about how Comcast does this service. Unlike a 'normal' VOIP service like Vonage or AllTel, Comcast does NOT convert the signal to IP packets directly from your phone and send them over you internet connection. Instead, the phone signal runs over the Coax cable upstream a ways where it is THEN converted to packets. I assume this explains the difference in sound quality between my phone service - which is excellent - and friends who have Vonage or other VOIP services. Vonage requires that you have internet service of some sort and it sends out over that connection. Comcast Digital Voice does not require that you also have internet service, though they do discount each service the more you get. By the way, for those of you who have non-home-based offices, be aware that if you purchase Comcast Business Internet for your office (home offices and bars excluded) they throw in Standard cable TV as well. It's not cheap and you might get a better deal with DSL for static IP internet, but it's something to be aware of. Will Loving on 10/10/06 4:12 PM, Chris Duncan, GISmatters at duncan at GISmatters.com wrote: ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group, you must be counted to post . ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area. This discussion is of particular interest to me at this time. I have been using Verizon DSL for 2+ years in Amherst and have essentially no complaints. I have found the service to be reliable and "as advertised" in all respects, and customer service to be adequate and available. We are about to move (home office included) up the road a mile or so, and there is no DSL available at the new address, so it seems our only option is going to be Comcast. I'm wondering if responders to this thread could further indicate whether there's anything they recommend during the order and setup of Comcast service to minimize problems. For example, maybe the last chance I'll have to get any customer service is when they come to set it up (as I'm told they will)... anything I can do to maximize use of that opportunity and make sure things are going to run smoothly? Any special configurations or service plans from them that will give me less grief than some of what's being reported here? Also, I'm considering a bundle from Comcast that includes phone service... pros/cons on that service? Thanks, Chris -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- DEDICATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. - Developers of StudioSchool Pro - Professional FileMaker Pro Database Development For Non-Profits, Business, and Education ----------------------------------- 7 Coach Lane Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA Tel:1 413 253-7223 (GMT -5) Fax:1 206 202-0476 will at dedicationtechnologies.com http://dedicationtechnologies.com http://studioschoolpro.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- _______________________________________________ Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list. 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