what to expect from Comcast/Xfinity

[MicRoDrafting]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

[Teed_Off]

Did you ask Comcast?

[tophcfa]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

What’s to expect from xfinity, that’s a no brainer. Expect the best, most reliable, fastest service available. On the other hand, also expect a bait and switch offer, with a very competitive initial price. Unfortunately, that price will go up significantly once the initial suck you in offer expires. Then expect the fact that you will be hooked on the service and will be in a forever endless loop of waiting on hold with their customer service to renegotiate a price that isn’t offered to loyal long term customers. Unfortunately, our only internet option besides satellite at both of our homes is Comcast. They know it, and price gouge us. I can’t blame them, that’s how it works. But competition is a wonderful thing. Good luck : )

[Pairadocs]

What’s to expect from xfinity, that’s a no brainer. Expect the best, most reliable, fastest service available. On the other hand, also expect a bait and switch offer, with a very competitive initial price. Unfortunately, that price will go up significantly once the initial suck you in offer expires. Then expect the fact that you will be hooked on the service and will be in a forever endless loop of waiting on hold with their customer service to renegotiate a price that isn’t offered to loyal long term customers. Unfortunately, our only internet option besides satellite at both of our homes is Comcast. They know it, and price gouge us. I can’t blame them, that’s how it works. But competition is a wonderful thing. Good luck : )

Expect what ? Comcast to bait and switch (or as they would say, no "switch", just a rate "adjustment"....lol ! So the attractive $99 mentioned is over $200 before you know it, fact of life everywhere any more. Yes, good luck.

[BillY41]

I am STUCK with Xfinity/Comcost and if you need any sort of assistance it is next to impossible to get a human and if you do it is after quite some time navigating the bot. I had Verizon but not offered in TV.

[biker1]

As already suggested, you should probably call them and ask. However, it doesn't make that much of a difference. The Xfinity trunk lines (for lack of a better term) are probably fiber but the last 50 feet to the house is coax. There are providers that will give you fiber to the house, depending on where you live. For example, Quantum Fiber (aka CenturyLink) offers fiber to the house is some areas of The Villages. Centric Fiber also apparently offers fiber to the house in some areas south of 44. Spectrum is also available in some ares of The Villages but they use, as far as I know, coax for the last 50 feet. There are also 5G cellular network based internet providers (AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon), but I digress. Regardless of whether the last 50 feet are coax or fiber, there is much more available bandwidth than you can consume, unless you are doing something extraordinary. One advantage of fiber to the house is that you will typically get a dynamic IP address to an RJ-45 ethernet jack in your house, which means you can plug any computer or router into that jack. With a coax for the last 50 feet, you will typically have to use a provided or approved modem/router to connect to a coax jack. Welcome to The Villages and I hope the move goes smoothly.

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

[Frank GSDO]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

Why are you looking at Concast?
If its your only option, suggest getting high speed internet only ($50ish/mth) and go to streaming.

[biker1]

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[retiredguy123]

I am STUCK with Xfinity/Comcost and if you need any sort of assistance it is next to impossible to get a human and if you do it is after quite some time navigating the bot. I had Verizon but not offered in TV.
You can go online and make an appointment for their store located near Best Buy on Rt 441. The people there are very helpful.

[JRcorvette]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

No and there is only one Fiber Optic line in the villages but it is not everywhere. I will note that Comcast is the worst company to deal with when it comes to customer service! Spectrum is so much better!

[MorTech]

Network Latency is the bottleneck...Doesn't matter if its fiber or coax.
100Mbps is more than enough bandwidth...Latency kills reliable speed.
Comcast Coax Latency is typically 30ms in TV. When I had Verizon FIOS, it was 3ms.

Centric or Centurylink fiber latency is typically, what?

[MorTech]

All the internet/cable customer service departments are awful. The turnover is huge. Being a customer service rep for a internet/cable provider has got to be the worst job...right up there with Microsoft and Apple. As people who have worked in a computer related customer service job say on their first day...Customers Suck!

[massachusettskid]

Look into YOUTUBE TV. I just got it streaming and live television for $89.00 a month. 125 channels just like the Comcast television.

[garykoca427@gmail.com]

We have found that going to the Comcast store itself is way better than waiting on hold for someone to pick up the call. The people in the store are much better to deal with.

[tophcfa]

Look into YOUTUBE TV. I just got it streaming and live television for $89.00 a month. 125 channels just like the Comcast television.
We are strongly considering YoutubeTV, but are trying to determine one key thing before signing up and are wondering if your experience can help. Are you able to seamlessly stream at two separate locations? We split our time between the Villages and our home in Massachusetts throughout the year and want a service that doesn’t limit where we can utilize the service. Also, there are occasions when one of us is at each home. Can we both stream from separate locations simultaneously? Any first hand experience would be greatly appreciated (it’s next to impossible to actual speak to a customer service representative and our questions are not adequately addressed in the on line frequently asked questions).

[wsachs]

All the internet/cable customer service departments are awful. The turnover is huge. Being a customer service rep for a internet/cable provider has got to be the worst job...right up there with Microsoft and Apple. As people who have worked in a computer related customer service job say on their first day...Customers Suck!
I worked at Apple for over 10 years after retirement. Why are the stores so busy? Because people get great service for a great product. And service over the phone is the best there is. Online help is also great. I have a 7 yr old iMac and when I have problems it usually takes me less than 10 minutes to get a return phone call with a specialist.

[Spokenite]

We have YouTubeTV 6 months here and 6 months up north. You cannot stream from 2 different locations at the same time without using a VPN and "faking" your location. However you can make a location change (a move) twice a year and use one account. Works great for us.

[RoadToad]

Look into YOUTUBE TV. I just got it streaming and live television for $89.00 a month. 125 channels just like the Comcast television.

YOUTUBETV is a streaming provider; they do not provide the underlying internet connection.

1st thing needed is an internet service provider.
2nd-ly are streaming providers/content providers.

You'll, firstly, still need Spectrum or Comcast or CentryLink, etc to provide the actual internet trafficing.
Then, secondly, YOUTUBE, Hulu, Netflix or whomever for content.

Comcast bundles connectivity and content; but you can use them solely as the internet connection provider and get content elswhere.
Comcast internet (only) is like $50 @ mo. for connectivity to 85 Meg basic service. That is more than adequate speed for streaming.
THEY WILL TRY TO UPSELL YOU; just say NO. (If you run your own Server platforms, you will need more upload speed and are a separate issue))

For TV bundles, Hulu+Tv, or Tubi, or YoutubeTv are amongst the many candidates.

[Tomptomp]

Yes. I did use my YoutubeTv service at location here and up north at the same time. I don’t know if they “allow” it but it works. I dropped them for a different reason, but I am thinking of using them again. Hulu does not allow dual location.

[RoadToad]

You can go online and make an appointment for their store located near Best Buy on Rt 441. The people there are very helpful.

Good advice;
Or just walk in and get in the queue. Typically less than 30 min wait.
The Corp sucks but these people help you, mostly.

[RoadToad]

Yes. I did use my YoutubeTv service at location here and up north at the same time. I don’t know if they “allow” it but it works. I dropped them for a different reason, but I am thinking of using them again. Hulu does not allow dual location.

The YoutubeTv login screen explains that the service is intended for different viewer Profiles all at the SAME HOUSEHOLD.
BUT, if you select the "I live here" option, it lets you proceed.
(Not sure if there is a limit to this or not.)

[retiredguy123]

The YoutubeTv login screen explains that the service is intended for different viewer Profiles all at the SAME HOUSEHOLD.
BUT, if you select the "I live here" option, it lets you proceed.
(Not sure if there is a limit to this or not.)
YoutubeTV allows up to 6 household accounts, and up to 3 simultaneous streams.

[HoosierPa]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

Have had Comcast & now Spectrum. Both are great. We are paying $39 / month for 1GB for 2 years(supposedly ) - no contract.

Go for price.
If one goes up, switch to the other.

[Sully2023]

You can go online and make an appointment for their store located near Best Buy on Rt 441. The people there are very helpful.

Four months ago I went to the 441 location, waited 90 minutes and when I inquired about any specials was told sorry. When I said another provider was offering internet services for half the price he didn’t care if I switched. So I left. Was just informed they are raining my monthly rates by $4 per mont for just internet services. . I’m switching to the other carrier now.

[TomSpasm]

If you have the extra $100 bucks a month, go with ComCast. If you don't, then you get the inferior product of YouTube TV for $100 bucks less. At least that's my experience. At some point, I'll go back to ComCast when they offer a special.

[frayedends]

I have Comcast up here in Massachusetts. They have not been an issue since I have internet only and pay rack rate of $80. It wasn't an intro price and I haven't had all the bait and switch issue I had back when I used them for tv.

Youtube TV doesn't have NESN for those in Massachusetts. Just an FYI, FUBO does carry NESN in Mass.

[Justputt]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??

They just had a major security breach of customer data, as a side note. If you are moving into a newer area, they are all pre-wired for Centric Fiber (modem, router, Wi-Fi) before you even move in (it's actually active before you close and set up your account), so zero delay in getting service from the second you close on the house. Their 1G service is only $65/mo, far cheaper than others I saw (no contract). If you want TV packages like you'd get from Spectrum, those are a bit higher, but between Netflix (which my wife insists on), Amazon Prime (free to Prime members), and a very reasonable YouTube TV package, we saw no need to go a more traditional route. And, if you want it, they support service much faster than 1G.

[biker1]

///

[Sully2023]

They just had a major security breach of customer data, as a side note. If you are moving into a newer area, they are all pre-wired for Centric Fiber (modem, router, Wi-Fi) before you even move in (it's actually active before you close and set up your account), so zero delay in getting service from the second you close on the house. Their 1G service is only $65/mo, far cheaper than others I saw (no contract). If you want TV packages like you'd get from Spectrum, those are a bit higher, but between Netflix (which my wife insists on), Amazon Prime (free to Prime members), and a very reasonable YouTube TV package, we saw no need to go a more traditional route. And, if you want it, they support service much faster than 1G.


Interesting that you mentioned the Comcast security breach. I only found out because I went to the website. They never notified me I needed to change my information. Btw - that security breach got so much information on me! Unbelievable! I froze my credit reports.

[retiredguy123]

///
It's interesting that these streaming services are not enforcing their own rules. It would be very easy to do. Last year, Netflix warned that they were going to enforce their household rules and offer a low cost alternative for people outside of your household. But, so far, they have not enforced anything or even offered a low cost option. Amazon Prime allows 2 adults in a household to share their Prime benefits, but, for non-video purchases, they must also provide access to their credit card. You can store multiple credit cards, but you cannot prevent the other adult member from using your card.

[rsmurano]

Set a couple of things straight. Comcast/spectrum is an all copper network I doesn’t matter if fiber is used somewhere in its network path, the copper network is compromised and the more network traffic, people using the network at the same time, performance will tank.. Copper networks might have decent download speeds but that all have higher latencies and very slow upload speeds. Also, it doesn’t matter which network provider you use, you will not get a rj-45 connection, fiber or no fiber. Most people will just use wifi which is slow.
If you can get fiber to your house, this will be the best network you can get and probably at the cheapest cost.
Also there is at least 2 fiber companies that offer internet, the newest company is for the newer areas south of 44.

[Pinball wizard]

Set a couple of things straight. Comcast/spectrum is an all copper network I doesn’t matter if fiber is used somewhere in its network path, the copper network is compromised and the more network traffic, people using the network at the same time, performance will tank.. Copper networks might have decent download speeds but that all have higher latencies and very slow upload speeds. Also, it doesn’t matter which network provider you use, you will not get a rj-45 connection, fiber or no fiber. Most people will just use wifi which is slow.
If you can get fiber to your house, this will be the best network you can get and probably at the cheapest cost.
Also there is at least 2 fiber companies that offer internet, the newest company is for the newer areas south of 44.

To slightly disagree...

The Quantum fiber offer of 500mbps up and down comes with up to four wifi "pods"
Each of the pods has 2 rj45 (ethernet) connections. True that you are still limited by wifi speeds to the pods. The wifi speed to my phone, which is in my front office while the pod is in the living room, is 398 down and 169 up.

What I also did, which was quite easy, was to take the telephone cables and change the plug and wall plate to RJ45 and put a $25 switch in the low voltage box where all of the phone cables go and the Quantum modem is there. This gives me ethernet to every room in my house. My ethernet speeds are 495 down and 949 (yes 949) up. My speeds are measured by speedtest.net.

[biker1]

Not true. QuantumFiber (aka CenturyLink) gives you an RJ-45 jack in the wall with a dynamic IP address somewhere in your home that you specify (typically where you want your router). In my case, the connection to the wall jack is via cat5e cable (in the walls during construction) from the RJ-45 jack in the QuantumFiber box in the low-voltage panel in the garage. Most people will plug in a Wi-Fi router but you could plug in a computer or a VoIP phone.


Set a couple of things straight. Comcast/spectrum is an all copper network I doesn’t matter if fiber is used somewhere in its network path, the copper network is compromised and the more network traffic, people using the network at the same time, performance will tank.. Copper networks might have decent download speeds but that all have higher latencies and very slow upload speeds. Also, it doesn’t matter which network provider you use, you will not get a rj-45 connection, fiber or no fiber. Most people will just use wifi which is slow.
If you can get fiber to your house, this will be the best network you can get and probably at the cheapest cost.
Also there is at least 2 fiber companies that offer internet, the newest company is for the newer areas south of 44.

[dpmers]

I live in Piedmont, have Centurylink 1Ghz internet, fiber terminates in my office. $65 mo total for life, now they charge $70.
We've not had any issues or disruptions to this service. We stream YouTube TV, been doing this for about 4 years.
Highly recommend.

[Topspinmo]

SEASONS GREETINGS
We are moving to the Village of Piedmont in mid January, and
we are wondering if Xfinity has upgraded to FIBER-OPTIC ??


You can expect large monthly pay out the little to no support.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Expect what ? Comcast to bait and switch (or as they would say, no "switch", just a rate "adjustment"....lol ! So the attractive $99 mentioned is over $200 before you know it, fact of life everywhere any more. Yes, good luck.

It's $50 at my house for 200mbps, which is more than most people will ever need. Every year around 2 weeks before the contract expires, I call them to tell them I want the new $50/month deal. They give me a hard time, I give them a hard time, and 20 minutes later I have my new $50/month contract for another year.

I do the same with the phone company every couple of years when I notice the bill's gone up. I just call them and tell them I have no contract and want the current special that includes only the features I want, and nothing more.

[MorTech]

Have had Comcast & now Spectrum. Both are great. We are paying $39 / month for 1GB for 2 years(supposedly ) - no contract.

Go for price.
If one goes up, switch to the other.

Playing one off the other is really the easiest way to get the lowest price...And both use cable modem so purchase a CAX80 or certified equivalent.

[MorTech]

" If you are moving into a newer area, they are all pre-wired for Centric Fiber (modem, router, Wi-Fi) before you even move in (it's actually active before you close and set up your account), so zero delay in getting service from the second you close on the house. "

I was wondering when TV was going to do this :) Do you know the price of their lowest price/speed base service ?

[dougjb]

Here is what you can expect from Comcast:

Endless and repeated billing issues that never seem to be resolved even though you spend hours on the phone with their so-called "customer service". I have NEVER not had a billing issue with them in the 30 some odd years that I have had the misfortune of dealing with their monopoly.

Fortunately, now, there are some more choices. I will NEVER do business with this company again and warn everyone I know to steer clear of them!

[Stu from NYC]

We have had xfinity for the four years we lived here. Price reasonable when we moved in but every year a large increase. Now reached a point where we are not hppy with cost and when I called to complain they offered me a 5% reduction. Asked them where we return the boxes and lady on the phone obviously could care less.

Had a problem with voice remote and could not believe how hard it was to find a phone number to contact them. Never did fix it and mostly find shows manually.

We are looking to change and expect to do so shortly.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

We have had xfinity for the four years we lived here. Price reasonable when we moved in but every year a large increase. Now reached a point where we are not hppy with cost and when I called to complain they offered me a 5% reduction. Asked them where we return the boxes and lady on the phone obviously could care less.

Had a problem with voice remote and could not believe how hard it was to find a phone number to contact them. Never did fix it and mostly find shows manually.

We are looking to change and expect to do so shortly.

You know there are xfinity/comcast stores scattered around the Villages. You can just bring your remote in and they'll swap it out for a new one after confirming your account.

Also try what I've been doing, ever since Comcast was a thing - even up north.

You tell them, just 2 weeks before your contract expires, that you want the new deal. To find the new deal, go to their website but do NOT log in. Instead, enter the address of any home in your neighborhood you know that is currently vacant/for sale (it means it's an address that doesn't currently have service). Then check for special introductory deals at that address.

They'll tell you it's an introductory deal, not for existing customers. Tell them that's fine, you'll just cancel your service. Since you're only 2 weeks out from the expiration of your current contract, there's no penalty for cancelling early. But tell them you will cancel - and then call them back to sign up as a new customer, thus qualifying for the introductory deal that you wanted them to give you.

Tell them - you can do it that way, or they can save themselves time, energy, and inconvenience, by simply giving you that deal right then and there over the phone.

They *might* say that "previous subscribers ineligible" and you can then say no problem, you'll cancel anyway, and go to Spectrum (or whatever else is in your area). At that point they'll cave and extend your existing deal (which is ALWAYS the deal you'll find for new customers) another year.

As I said - it's around 20 minutes of inconvenience, for another year of lowered prices. When we moved in, we were paying $50/month for 100mbps. We're now paying $50/month for 200mbps. This is our 4th year living here, we're going on year 5.

[Stu from NYC]

You know there are xfinity/comcast stores scattered around the Villages. You can just bring your remote in and they'll swap it out for a new one after confirming your account.

Also try what I've been doing, ever since Comcast was a thing - even up north.

You tell them, just 2 weeks before your contract expires, that you want the new deal. To find the new deal, go to their website but do NOT log in. Instead, enter the address of any home in your neighborhood you know that is currently vacant/for sale (it means it's an address that doesn't currently have service). Then check for special introductory deals at that address.

They'll tell you it's an introductory deal, not for existing customers. Tell them that's fine, you'll just cancel your service. Since you're only 2 weeks out from the expiration of your current contract, there's no penalty for cancelling early. But tell them you will cancel - and then call them back to sign up as a new customer, thus qualifying for the introductory deal that you wanted them to give you.

Tell them - you can do it that way, or they can save themselves time, energy, and inconvenience, by simply giving you that deal right then and there over the phone.

They *might* say that "previous subscribers ineligible" and you can then say no problem, you'll cancel anyway, and go to Spectrum (or whatever else is in your area). At that point they'll cave and extend your existing deal (which is ALWAYS the deal you'll find for new customers) another year.

As I said - it's around 20 minutes of inconvenience, for another year of lowered prices. When we moved in, we were paying $50/month for 100mbps. We're now paying $50/month for 200mbps. This is our 4th year living here, we're going on year 5.

I played that game with the retention dept and than a muckemuck higher up the food chain and got nowhere. Doing research think I can get a lot more for less with others.

BTW they sent me two new remotes and same problem. Found two techs in the area explained problem and they had no clue what might be going on.

[frayedends]

Just an FYI on the above post about getting the new deal, you may need to delete your cache/cookies before you can find the new deal. I tried that before and the cookies showed them I was not a new customer and I couldn't find the new subscriber info. Deleting history fixed that issue.

In addition: Take screen shots of everything included in the deal. Have them handy. When I was a subscriber in MA I had a deal which included local sports (NESN) and a bunch of HD channels. After 3 months they removed those and told me it was an introductory for 3 months. That was absolutely not true. My deal was for 2 years. Well I had no proof and the deal was no longer offered. Couldn't find it anywhere.

Anyhow I haven't had any problems with them after switching to internet only.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I played that game with the retention dept and than a muckemuck higher up the food chain and got nowhere. Doing research think I can get a lot more for less with others.

BTW they sent me two new remotes and same problem. Found two techs in the area explained problem and they had no clue what might be going on.

Around my neighborhood, xfinity is the best I can get. The only other options are AT&T internet "Air" (which is horrible) for $55/month, or 3 (yes, THREE) mbps for $55/month. Spectrum is not available at my house.

I wouldn't switch at all. But xfinity doesn't have to know that. So far it's worked every year.

[DrMack]

We had X Finity in NH. I wouldn’t recommend it. Hopefully we enjoy the fiber service in Dabney.

[Brighthouse]

If you live anywhere south of CR 466A, Spectrum has the cheapest option for the price. New customers can get internet for 29.99/month for 500Mbps, price is guaranteed for 2 yrs. Its $10 more for their gig. Its only available through the local door to door rep, Lysander Jimenez. His number is 352-239-3538. He has tons of reviews on Nextdoor Neighborhood App.

[Pinball wizard]

Network Latency is the bottleneck...Doesn't matter if its fiber or coax.
100Mbps is more than enough bandwidth...Latency kills reliable speed.
Comcast Coax Latency is typically 30ms in TV. When I had Verizon FIOS, it was 3ms.

Centric or Centurylink fiber latency is typically, what?

Just now, 4ms. 514mbps down and 949 down. $50/mo.