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scottcampbell

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 7, 2017
343
812
Another year of huge price hikes, "you rolled off your promotion," and trying to charge me more for the same service.

I'm definitely ready to cancel, but wanted to get some thoughts from the forum as well.

Anyone else ditched Comcast and been glad? Anyone regretted it?

I'm thinking of going with CenturyLink - a little cheaper, guaranteed price for life, a little slower download and a little faster upload.

So far what I don't like about CenturyLink is they're trying to gouge me on a modem—$150 for an Action-Tech Q 1,000 which looks like it goes for about $35 online.

TLDR: Am I right to switch from Comcast to CenturyLink? What's a good modem/router to buy for a 100mbs plan in a 1 bedroom apartment with several devices? Thanks!
 

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,579
8,919
I did a thread a while back giving advice on how people could save on their internet bills.

While I have no experience with CenturyLink, I have been using Comcast for a few decades now. Here is a link for CenturyLink approved modems. Other might work too, they might not be listed.

Anyone else ditched Comcast and been glad? Anyone regretted it?
I have ditched Comcast many times since 2011 when I had a second ISP, FiOS move into my area.

I switch back and forth, usually at least once a year, but sometime a few times within a 12 month period. I do this to always get the "new customer" promotion. Both Comcast and Verizon consider a new customer as someone that has not had service in over 30 days.

I am not sure this would be an option for you, but if you are truly looking to always get a good price, this might be the way to do it. The one thing I would suggest if you try this method is to have your new ISP's service up and running before you cancel your old one.

Even just trying to cancel your service to switch to another ISP could get you a good deal, my thread I posted actually stated that I do not even bother trying to negotiate a better deal do to it being a hassle in the past, but in the past year, it seems both Comcast and Verizon are both being more cooperative when it comes to trying to keep an existing customer. So, this might also work for you.

$150 for an Action-Tech Q 1,000 which looks like it goes for about $35 online
The ISPs always over charge, even worse is when a customer is renting a modem. You would probably find a much better deal online. I recently bought my parents a DOCSIS 3.0 Surfboard modem for $12 shipped to my house.

a little slower download
I think that many people over pay for higher speeds that they never really use nor need. A friend of mine a few years back was bragging about the high speed internet he had, I forget the speed, maybe 300Mbps up and down. He was paying three times the amount I was paying for my much slower internet.

I asked him what he did with his internet and his answer was pretty much Netflix and WoW. Just a big waste.

From talking around, I know there are a lot people that are paying way too much for speeds they would never be able to take advantage of.

All the ISPs advertise their speeds with statements like "good for 8 devices", which is very misleading.

a little faster upload
This is one of the biggest complaint I have of Comcast versus my other option which is FiOS. Comcast's upload speed is too low. A few months back, I switched from FiOS to Comcast 60Mbps download speed for $29.99 a month. I was very annoyed with the slow and un-advertised upload speed of 5Mbps. I have a Plex server, and that is just way too slow.

I called to complain on the same day that I got my service set up, and I told them that the 5Mbps upload was too slow, and that they should advertise it. They apologized and offered their 300Mbps download speed, which included a still slow, but twice as fast 10Mbps upload speed for the same price of $30 a month.

Maybe you could try the same thing if you stay with Comcast.
 

Banglazed

macrumors 603
Apr 17, 2017
5,003
9,456
Cupertino, CA
I had Comcast for 5 years and ditched them since they regularly do maintenance during the night without any notice. To get better download speed, you will need to purchase a docsis 3.0 modem rather than to lease their outdated ones. Depending on where you live, there may be better alternatives like in my area. Sonic Internet started providing 1GB fiber in my area for $60 including landline which was a much better deal and reliable internet. If you choose a cable internet provider, it is better to purchase docsis 3.0 modem compatible with your ISP or a combo package modem + router.
 
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scottcampbell

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 7, 2017
343
812
I did a thread a while back giving advice on how people could save on their internet bills.

While I have no experience with CenturyLink, I have been using Comcast for a few decades now. Here is a link for CenturyLink approved modems. Other might work too, they might not be listed.

I have ditched Comcast many times since 2011 when I had a second ISP, FiOS move into my area.

I switch back and forth, usually at least once a year, but sometime a few times within a 12 month period. I do this to always get the "new customer" promotion. Both Comcast and Verizon consider a new customer as someone that has not had service in over 30 days.

I am not sure this would be an option for you, but if you are truly looking to always get a good price, this might be the way to do it. The one thing I would suggest if you try this method is to have your new ISP's service up and running before you cancel your old one.

Even just trying to cancel your service to switch to another ISP could get you a good deal, my thread I posted actually stated that I do not even bother trying to negotiate a better deal do to it being a hassle in the past, but in the past year, it seems both Comcast and Verizon are both being more cooperative when it comes to trying to keep an existing customer. So, this might also work for you.

The ISPs always over charge, even worse is when a customer is renting a modem. You would probably find a much better deal online. I recently bought my parents a DOCSIS 3.0 Surfboard modem for $12 shipped to my house.


I think that many people over pay for higher speeds that they never really use nor need. A friend of mine a few years back was bragging about the high speed internet he had, I forget the speed, maybe 300Mbps up and down. He was paying three times the amount I was paying for my much slower internet.

I asked him what he did with his internet and his answer was pretty much Netflix and WoW. Just a big waste.

From talking around, I know there are a lot people that are paying way too much for speeds they would never be able to take advantage of.

All the ISPs advertise their speeds with statements like "good for 8 devices", which is very misleading.


This is one of the biggest complaint I have of Comcast versus my other option which is FiOS. Comcast's upload speed is too low. A few months back, I switched from FiOS to Comcast 60Mbps download speed for $29.99 a month. I was very annoyed with the slow and un-advertised upload speed of 5Mbps. I have a Plex server, and that is just way too slow.

I called to complain on the same day that I got my service set up, and I told them that the 5Mbps upload was too slow, and that they should advertise it. They apologized and offered their 300Mbps download speed, which included a still slow, but twice as fast 10Mbps upload speed for the same price of $30 a month.

Maybe you could try the same thing if you stay with Comcast.
Thanks for taking the time to write this super-thorough response, I really appreciate it. :)
 

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,466
6,563
US
Dropped Comcast/Xfinity cable a few months ago in favor of DirectTVnow via AppleTV. Not perfect, but gets the job done well enough -- and I get TV service at home and our weekend/vacation place too for the one bill.

For internet we recently had AT&T fiber come available and switched over. Unlike Comcast, uplink speeds are same as downlink. Seeding a 400GB cloud backup service goes pretty quick at 950Mbps uplink speed. :)
 
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colodane

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2012
1,046
482
Colorado
I'm working on ditching them completely but not there yet. Just moved into condo a few months ago. Did get the Xfinity internet service which, so far, has been good. Reliable and fast enough (50 Mbps) and $50 per month. But did get rid of their TV when I moved. Now am using YouTube TV and am VERY pleased with it. All the channels I want, reliable, good DVR, and easy access on Apple TV box, iMac and iPhone. $40 a month. Definitely a big improvement over Comcast cable.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,001
5,470
192.168.1.1
Used to live where I could get FiOS or Comcast. Chose to get FiOS and was very happy. Had 75 Mbit/s symmetric for a reasonable amount per month, plus good quality TV.
Moved to a new state and stuck on Comcast currently. TV goes out constantly, I pay for gigabit service (download; 30 Mbit up) but only get half that on a good day.
Fortunately, Ting fiber should be hitting my area within a year, so when they do... Buh-bye Comcast.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,432
9,289
If you sign up for CenturyLink service online you have to buy their modem. But if you walk into a CenturyLink store, they'll give you the modem for free. At least they did for me two months ago.
 
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gollum

macrumors regular
Jan 29, 2007
176
60
NKY
Comcast is the worst company I ever had to deal with.
It's a long drawn story but the jist of it is a elderly family member of mine switched to satellite so I took her equipment in to cancel but they kept charging her even after several phone calls by me to fix it, at one point they conned her into paying a big part of the bill over the phone so now they had more money they owed back to us.
Part of the problem is they have a corporate policy that whoever takes the cancellation it counts against them so they won't follow through with it. I even had the receipt for the equipment.
Absolutely nothing worked on my end getting it canceled and her refund until I posted on their Facebook page how they were screwing over an elderly lady...it got fixed in about 2 days and a few weeks later finally a check in the mail.
(Keep this in mind in case you run into a similar problem)
 
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