NEVER MIND Frontier Fiber Optic Internet NEVER MIND

[Pat Riot]

NEVER MIND - Thank you for looking. 

 

My wife and I have Comcast Xfinity. The service is very good and we commonly see download speeds of 650-700 MBPS and upload speeds of 20-25 MBPS. For streaming videos and the use of 2 smart phones it’s pretty darn good…

Except recently our bill went from $50 per month to $102 per month. 
We decided to check out Frontier and their system in my town is all Fiber Optic. I was signing up this morning when they discovered  my credit is frozen. Oops, forgot about that. So I hung up and unfroze the credit agency Frontier uses as primary. Once done I called back.

That’s when the hassle began.

I called and there was a 25 minute wait. I opted for a call back when it was my turn. About 20 minutes later their system called me back. I answered and the automated system started telling me I needed their App. I declined. The system asked for my new account number. As I was punching buttons to enter it I bumped the “End Call” button. 
Sonofa….

I called back and was told the wait was 25 minutes. The system asked if I wanted to download their App and proceed from there. I said “No”. They thanked me for my call and hung up. 
This happened 3 times!!!

I was pretty ticked, but I decided to take a shower and decide what to do about this. Cancel or try again. 
 

So I decided to ask my Pards here in the Saloon.

Is Frontier worth my time. It’ll save me $45 a month. But I have to be honest. We have never had a major issue with Xfinity. Saving $45 might be adding a true PITA to my life. 
 

What say you?

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Cant answer about frontier. I have Fidium fiber, way faster than xfin/comcast and cheaper and customer service friendly. And upload speed equals download, not that I use it much.

 

id do it just to tell comcastto put it where the sun doesn’t shine.

[Pat Riot]

12 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Cant answer about frontier. I have Fidium fiber, way faster than xfin/comcast and cheaper and customer service friendly. And upload speed equals download, not that I use it much.

 

id do it just to tell comcastto put it where the sun doesn’t shine.

I only have Comcast Xfinity, Frontier Fiber and Breezeline available. Comcast in CA was a PITA in Sacramento (2010-2013) but here they’ve been great. 

[bgavin]

Pat,
You have to play the Xfinity Rate Game yearly at bill increase time.

Me:  I have a problem and I need your help.
Him:  What can I help with?

 

Me:  I'm a pensioner and Xfinity just doubled my bill.
Him:  You had a promotion plan that expired.

Me:  I understand, but really need your help and expertise.
Him:  How can I help?

 

Me:  I need your assistance in finding me another plan, but one that expressly lets you keep your commission for finding me a new plan.
Him:  (now firmly in my corner).  Let me see what I can find.

 

Eventually he will come back with a plan that offers a faster performance, for only a few additional dollars.
This is as good as it gets.
You thank him so much for his help, and ask if this new plan will let him keep his commission.

One sore point with these guys is the are the "piano player" that gets shot by angry customers.
If you express concern for his commission, you have made a friend.

 

This has never failed me.
I have to play The Rate Game every year with Xfinity.

[Pat Riot]

Well, we just spoke with Xfinity and told them we were leaving unless they discount our rate. They did. We’re happy. Screw Frontier and their cumbersome system. 

[Pat Riot]

12 minutes ago, bgavin said:

Eventually he will come back with a plan that offers a faster performance, for only a few additional dollars.
This is as good as it gets.

Exactly what we did. Thank you. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

When I had Charter/Spectrum I would call them about reducing my bill and they would find something that was good for two years. With comcast they would find something that cost more but they said it was a better deal.

 

now I don’t have Comcast.  Yeah I miss the World Series but I like the $235/month better.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Well heck.  I'm late to the party.

 

I was going to suggest I have had excellent relations and service from Xfinity.  Super reliable.  At one time had miserable results with providers that promised the moon but were a ROYAL PITA to do business with.  Have also done similar with Xfinity agents to dodge the ubiquitous rate increases.  I will without doubt, stick with Xfinity.

[John Kloehr]

I typically live in a place where there are two good providers. Currently have Spectrum Fiber and it is the best I have ever had. After the $50/month promo ended, it went to $71.99/month and I did not do my usual tactic, my other options are T-Mobile (sucks)* and StarLink (gave up my spot on the wait list as I got Spectrum). Where I am, there are no other viable options.

 

But let's back up a couple years, typically Comcast vs AT&T. Comcast was better than AT&T but AT&T was good enough for me. After the annual intro rate, I would call and tell them I wanted to cancel my service. Why? The price went up and I was going to switch to <the other one>.

 

If they continued the intro rate, I stayed on, otherwise I switched. Repeat in another year. With these details, some services got wise and established a 2-year look-back for a previous account. If you have three viable options, then go with that rotation. I also only get Internet, I am not switching my Verizon (best) phone service and have no use for cable channels. Just Internet.

 

This strategy depends on where you live and what your options are. It is not that difficult to swap equipment and reset WiFi names and passwords, I have never needed extra "professional" installation services beyond providing the physical connection. With Comcast, I used my own router, just needed the cable modem.

 

Don't use this strategy if your only other option is not viable, like unlimited Verizon Internet. Where I live, this would be barely viable, only good for basic service in an outage of primary service. By extension, Dish is not viable for me so I can not use its offers as leverage. But if you have a viable alternative, politely going through cancellation and switching saves a lot of money over time. The politeness may get a continuation of the previous deal, and if not, don't burn the bridge; you may be switching back in a year or two.

 

* T-Mobile had potential with the 5G service. But the 5G tower was too far away for a connection. The 4G tower near me has a problem and parts have been on back-order for years. But it did provide a stop-gap minimum viable Internet service until Spectrum got in the area. And StarLink would still be more expensive though is now an option for function, just not price.

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

Well heck.  I'm late to the party.

 

I was going to suggest I have had excellent relations and service from Xfinity.  Super reliable.  At one time had miserable results with providers that promised the moon but were a ROYAL PITA to do business with.  Have also done similar with Xfinity agents to dodge the ubiquitous rate increases.  I will without doubt, stick with Xfinity.

I truly do like the service we get from Xfinity. We were disappointed when we moved here and found out the only game in town was Comcast Xfinity. After we started their service I would check the download rates using an app called “Speedtest”. Day and night we get fantastic download speeds. Plus we rarely have an issue and if we do it’s remedied in minutes. 
I am glad we stuck with them. 

[John Kloehr]

4 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

I truly do like the service we get from Xfinity. We were disappointed when we moved here and found out the only game in town was Comcast Xfinity. After we started their service I would check the download rates using an app called “Speedtest”. Day and night we get fantastic download speeds. Plus we rarely have an issue and if we do it’s remedied in minutes. 
I am glad we stuck with them. 

I use https://fast.com but same difference. If Comcast was available, it is good enough but the numbers I get with Spectrum fiber rock! Not as good as on frozen winter nights, but my numbers right now are:

 

 

I have seen numbers close to 400 on nice days, have rarely seen anything below 100 which is still better than what I often got from Comcast (which was still fine). When numbers are below 40, then it is time to ratchet video streaming down from 1080P to 480 or even less.

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

I use https://fast.com but same difference. If Comcast was available, it is good enough but the numbers I get with Spectrum fiber rock! Not as good as on frozen winter nights, but my numbers right now are:

 

 

I have seen numbers close to 400 on nice days, have rarely seen anything below 100 which is still better than what I often got from Comcast (which was still fine). When numbers are below 40, then it is time to ratchet video streaming down from 1080P to 480 or even less.

I took this just a moment ago. This is the highest up load I have seen in a while. Cropped to remove ads. 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I never trust one result….

 

 

[Pat Riot]

6 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

 

I never trust one result….

 

Dang! Those are some fast upload speeds. Are you an online gamer?

 

One is good enough for my needs. I operate at the speed of gun forums and searches. My wife operates at the speed of funny animal videos. 

[bgavin]

Remember, the limiting factor of the data rate is WiFi, not a LAN connection.

WiFi is FAR slower than a LAN connection.

I keep my router in the front room, line of sight to the TV set.
Despite the WAF factor grumbles about a visible LAN cable, I use that on the TV.

Streaming over WiFi is much slower than LAN.
If one is streaming 4k content, you want want the extra bandwidth.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

My speeds were not Wi-Fi. 
}}}

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

With Google fiber, I get the same speeds as Marshal. I send large files regularly, so upload speed is as important as download. 
 

How is the Xfinity signal delivered? Cable, fiber optic, etc?

[John Kloehr]

1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

With Google fiber, I get the same speeds as Marshal. I send large files regularly, so upload speed is as important as download. 
 

How is the Xfinity signal delivered? Cable, fiber optic, etc?

My Comcast was always cable.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

My Comcast was always cable.

Does your stance on gun control also depend on terrain?

[John Kloehr]

15 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Does your stance on gun control also depend on terrain?

 That sounds like an obstacle, so yes.

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

How is the Xfinity signal delivered? Cable, fiber optic, etc?

Cable

[bgavin]

Fiber in the street, cable to the house.

[Eyesa Horg]

We just got a free upgrade to 100mbps from an independent company. Fiber right into my basement. Ethernet to my modem and Bluetooth from there.