Internet/Computer guru's need your advice

[BigJim13]

Just got the mail and there was an ad from Comcast for their internet service. They are advertising $30/month for 12 months and download speeds of up to 15 mbps and upload speeds of 3 mbps. I didn't know how fast our computer is so I found a test to run online and came up with our speeds: download speed of 738 kbps and upload speed of 129 kbps.

If I switch to Comcast is that an upgrade? It seems like it would be as I'm thinking that there are what? 1000 kb's in a MB? Is my math correct on that one?

Does anybody have comcast internet? Being in Southern Vermont we are pretty limited for internet options....

 

[warbirdlover]

PM sssmokin on that since he has comcast. That is the only one available up "nort" by him. I've had roadrunner and now att cable. Those two (I believe) are the fastest there is. I found this...

With present cable technology, a residential cable Internet connection provides you with download speeds between 4 to 6 Mbps. By comparison, cable Internet is roughly 70 times faster than a 56K dialup connection in most cases. Major cable providers, such as Comcast and Time Warner, also offer premium packages with download speeds between 8 to 16 Mbps, but they will cost you a little bit more and aren't available everywhere.
In 2008, Comcast came out with PowerBoost™, a fiber optic enhancement to their current cable Internet connections. This pushes max downloads speeds up to 20 Mbps in certain areas. Speeds will vary, but a PowerBoost™ account is much faster than DSL at present.
Since your residential digital cable TV provider will be the same company that can supply you with broadband cable Internet service, consumers have the opportunity to bundle Internet access with their digital cable television and digital phone service. You can often get a discount when you bundle all three of these broadband cable services together, so always check with your provider to see if they have any such current deals.
It's important to remember that you just don't have a lot of choice when choosing a broadband cable provider. It has to go through your existing cable provider's system. The main choice for high speed Internet will always be either your current phone company for DSL or your cable TV provider for cable Internet. Despite the lack of options in choosing a provider, broadband cable Internet remains one of the fastest, most reliable systems for delivering an "always on" high speed Internet connection to your home.

Mine is 5.79 Mb/s download and 0.95 Mb/s upload. Here is a site to test your speed. Speed is also determined by how many users are on the system. When I first got RR years ago it was lightning fast. As the word spread and everybody went to it the speed went down considerably.

Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

 

[thekid65]

That's defo a large improvement over what you have BigJim. However...if you read the fine print, you'll not that it will say that it wont guarantee 15 mgb service and that speeds will very during peak usage times. Also, be prepared to be a$$-raped when your 12 months are up (I'm sure you'll be required to sign a min 24 month contract) as your internet bill will double at the least. And also keep in mind that the $30 they quote you isnt going to probably include $6-$8 worth of taxes/fees, ect. AND add to that the cost of renting a cable modem (typically $5/month)...or you could go out and buy one for somewhere around $100-$150.

Edit: I pay for 7 meg service, which is plenty for my needs..but really only average 5.

 

[BigJim13]

That's defo a large improvement over what you have BigJim. However...if you read the fine print, you'll not that it will say that it wont guarantee 15 mgb service and that speeds will very during peak usage times. Also, be prepared to be a$$-raped when your 12 months are up (I'm sure you'll be required to sign a min 24 month contract) as your internet bill will double at the least. And also keep in mind that the $30 they quote you isnt going to probably include $6-$8 worth of taxes/fees, ect. AND add to that the cost of renting a cable modem (typically $5/month)...or you could go out and buy one for somewhere around $100-$150.

Edit: I pay for 7 meg service, which is plenty for my needs..but really only average 5.

Good points, after I posted I did a google search for reviews on their service. To say the least it was not impressive. From what I can tell Comcast may just have the worst customer service of any company in any industry anywhere. Also I think I would have to pay for installation since we currently don't have cable, we have direc TV. I'm thinking for what I do on the internet, I may just stay put with my DSL.

 

[thekid65]

Yeah, I forgot to address that. I participate on several message boards, and Comcast is a major player out here in the PNW (although, not in Idaho), and I've seen a lot of beeeeotching about them. And really, unless you're a big-time gamer, or download a lot of movies/songs on the internet...15 megs is overkill.