[Hidden-tech] Comcast outrageous

[Phil Innes]

Dear David,

Commiserations, but one tech visiting us said with disgust that Comcast buys the cheapest gear they can, and that's about the size of it. Then either Comcast or the user gets to pay for endless tech support. 

Comcast is a self-regulating agency and there are no other objective standards on which to make a complaint or even base an agreement — even so, other outfits are worse.

A strange situation where billions are spent on connectivity which fuels the economy and there are no standards nor arbitrators, like the early days of software. It's all wild west cowboy stuff. 

Cordially, Phil 


Phil Innes
Publisher
Vermont Views Magazine
www.vermontviews.org
(802) 254 9722



On Dec 7, 2013, at 3:08 PM, DAVID SPOUND wrote:

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> 
> 
> Hello --
> 
> I just spent nearly 3 hours on the phone with Comcast. As some of you may know, Comcast is requiring customers who have older modems to upgrade. The modem upgrade is "free".
> 
> But the new modem did not work properly out of the box, hence the tech support. It took hours because the first two tech support reps with whom I spoke did not speak English well. Very frustrating.
> 
> One of the "features" of the new modem seems to be that it will not work with my Apple Extreme wifi base station. The modem has its own built in wifi, but I need to keep using my Apple router because I have a wide range of Apple devices that depend on it. Even my printer is connected to the Apple router. Without that, I cannot print.
> 
> Comcast is insisting that I pay $79.95 for their "Signature Support" through which they tell me my Apple router can be enabled on their network. After finally speaking with a more friendly and helpful tech support rep, I have learned that there is a feature on my new modem that needs to be disabled (bridge mode) so that the Apple router can work. This cannot be done by the regular tech support team. They don't have access to this feature. Only the Signature Support people have this capability. I need to pay $80 for this.
> 
> This seems outrageous. My old Comcast modem works fine and the Apple router works fine with it. It seems that Comcast wants to prevent any devices on their network except those that they have specifically approved/configured. I'm OK with that, but not with paying $80 to make something work that has worked fine for years (when I use the old modem). And I am also annoyed because Comcast is requiring me to replace a modem that is working fine.
> 
> I seem to have no choice because the old modem is supposedly going to be disabled by Comcast.
> 
> Has anyone in our Hidden Tech community experienced this issue? If so, how did you handle it?
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> David
> 
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