Comcast Triple Play

[Larry Frank]

I have been looking at my bills for phone, internet and cable. I am currently using DSL so I have a landline and it has worked OK.

I just looked at a comparison of the costs to use Comcast for the phone, internet and cable and the cost is considerably less than what am I paying now. The only real downside is that my email address will change but I can keep my old phone number.

As with any such service, there is some who get very good service and others who have had nothing but problems. I am looking for what others experience with this type of combined service.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Comcast supplied all three for us for a good while - till we realized we were wasting $ on the land phone, and cancelled that in favor of just the 2 cells. Still have cable + internet via them.

I don't think there is anything inherently more risky from the combined than from any one of the options. You should probably check with your neighbors to see if anyone has the cable or internet service, and see how things work for them.

In our residential neighborhood within the city of Atlanta, my guess is that Comcast service is not too bad.....my expectations are probably muted by cynicism a bit. There have been occasional outages - mostly brief - but when something is dead-dead [like my cable modem a few years ago] the "next available service tech will be sometime after 11:30 am 3 days from now" is very annoying.

Lesson learned: keep the cust service phone number somewhere other than just relying on looking it up on-line, because when on-line is down...............

[Rich Stewart]

I have the triple play. My bill is 154.00 a month. Somehow, when they add 33+33+33 they get 154. It's ok to get just one bill. You have to call them every year or so when the promotional period expires and renegotiate, but they will always give you a new promotional rate. Also, when the power goes out the phone doesn't work. I guess that could be a bad thing if you had to call 911 or something. I don't use internet in my house very much so I called to cancel that and just keep the phone and TV. The price went UP 40 dollars.

[Bill Huber]

As you said, some have good and some have bad.
In the Dallas / Fort Worth area we have Comcast, Fios, Charter and Uverse. I talk to a lot if different people from all over the area and the only one I hear anything bad about is Charter.

I don't have Comcast but I do have AT&T Uverse which is somewhat like the others. I would tell you to look at the cost of Comcast internet and TV and then see about Vontage for your phone.
With AT&T I have my internet and TV but I could get a 500 minute program from Vontage cheaper then I could get all 3 from AT&T. I have yet to use the 500 minutes.

[Belinda Barfield]

I made the switch to Comcast Triple Play about a year and a half ago becuase of a great promotional rate. As Rich said, you have to negotiate for new rate every so often or the price goes through the roof. I have a landline because for some reason my parents have trouble hearing me on my cell. I'm old school and really like having a land line and don't like that when the power is out I don't have one, that's the one drawback with Comcast. When we had to evacuate during hurricane season several years ago a cell was useless as all you got was the "all circuts are busy" message. My trusty landline allowed me to get in touch with my family.

[Zach England]

Does Comcast offer MLB extra innings and Big Ten network outside of the midwest?

Those are the only two reasons I have kept directv.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Does Comcast offer MLB extra innings and Big Ten network outside of the midwest?

Those are the only two reasons I have kept directv.

Zach - Dunno about MLB, but we signed up for Big Ten-Eleven-Twelve here in ATL a few years ago [whenever it first started] on Comcast. I happen to be married to the world's biggest NCAA men's basketball fan - horly after we got married, I went to grad school @ Mich State - she loves B-10 basketball - it's on every night of the season.

One big bonus - BTN doesn't employ Dick Vitale.

Her top 5 teams:
1) Mich State
2) U of M's opponent
3) Duke's opponent
4) lower-ranked team in Big Ten conference games [loves upsets]
5) lower-ranked team in non B10 game with one or more ranked teams [loves upsets]

Many nights, I just read a book. I'm a fan, but for cryin' out loud...........

[Zach England]

I get BTN on directv, but when my dad tried to watch it onhis dish network it says "only available in...and lists a bunch of midwestern states. It is mandatory for both him and me after July 1 when Nebraska becomes a member.

I'll have to check on MLB. That is an absolute deal breaker for me. I MUST get 8 baseball games each night.

[Pat Germain]

I have talked to many people who signed up for this plan. They all told me the same thing. No matter how many ways from Sunday you ask, "What will be the total price?", you never get an accurate number. It looks like you'll save money until you get the actual bill. Only then do you see the extra fees, taxes and service charges.

Thus, if you like the idea of getting one bill, and you think you will be happy with the service Comcast provides, go for it. But if your primary purpose is to save money, I wouldn't bother.

FYI, I've had Comcast internet service for over ten years. My connection has been very reliable and mostly high-speed. During the few times I did have a problem, it was difficult to find anyone with a clue. Once you got someone on-site, they could usually fix the problem. I just have to talk to clueless individuals to get someone on-site and that can take a few days.

[Brian Elfert]

I pay about $150 a month for Qwest DSL, Qwest phone, and Comcast cable. Comcast wants $150 a month for Triple Play not including about $20 in fees. Comcast's latest scam is they lock you in for two years, but the rate is only $99 a month plus for the first year. I bet anything they won't give you any promotional rate for the second year since you are locked in.

I'm not happy with Comcast since they just raised my rate by almost $5 a month this month.

[Mike Henderson]

This is a bit off topic, but I've always wondered how many people make a deal with their subdivision neighbor and share one Internet access line. The 802.11n wireless offers high speed and good range. Two people who live fairly close to one another could sign up for fast Internet access, maybe 15Mbps, and connect it to a wireless router. The neighbor would be given the wireless access key and would be able to tap into the wireless. With a high speed line, they probably wouldn't affect each other's access. It certainly would be no worse than wireless access at a place like Starbucks.

And for people living in an apartment building or a condominium this would be very easy.

Have you ever heard of anyone doing this?

Mike

[Chris Damm]

The day I got fed up with Comcast and turned in my equipment, there was a line of over a dozen people doing the same thing! Consumers Reports rated them one of the 2 worst tv and internet providers. We had them for years and the cable modem was fast (when it worked). Their prices seemed to go up $5-10 every other month and the services was lousy.

[Curt Harms]

This is a bit off topic, but I've always wondered how many people make a deal with their subdivision neighbor and share one Internet access line. The 802.11n wireless offers high speed and good range. Two people who live fairly close to one another could sign up for fast Internet access, maybe 15Mbps, and connect it to a wireless router. The neighbor would be given the wireless access key and would be able to tap into the wireless. With a high speed line, they probably wouldn't affect each other's access. It certainly would be no worse than wireless access at a place like Starbucks.

And for people living in an apartment building or a condominium this would be very easy.

Have you ever heard of anyone doing this?

Mike

Is it done? Probably but I'm pretty sure it violates the TOS. The other concern I'd have letting someone else use my internet connection is if they were big-time pirates. Having to prove it wasn't ME that downloaded a bunch of illegal software or music when my I.P. was involved wouldn't be my idea of a good time.

[Myk Rian]

The only real downside is that my email address will change but I can keep my old phone number.

Get a yahoo e-mail account, or one of the other free services. That way you'll never have to change it again.

[Todd Trebuna]

I have insight, triple play. The down side is the power outage problem. I am pretty sure if you have a landline phone, it will still call 911, but have never tried.
Other than that. I have had to renegotiate a couple of times as well, as they try to get you, when the promo rate expires. Apparently it is a good practice to make your profit on the backs of your faithful customers.