Xfinity Now
 

The monthly charge for the slowest internet has just gone up to $48 (it was $30 last year) so I looked for a better deal.

They are offering "Now" for $30 a month, no contract, so I decided that would work for me.

I tried switching on-line but ended up going round in circles. The Chat assistant was useless but I eventually persuaded it to give me an agent. After ten minutes the agent (Moses) said he had limited access to my account info so couldn't help me, and just cut me off. I fought my way back to another agent (I****a) who sounded promising and offered to cut my bill. After 30 minutes of idle chat she came up with an offer of $55!

I eventually found out that you can't have Now if you already subscribe for another service, so you have to cancel that, then wait a few days (without any internet) for the Now equipment to arrive.

I have scheduled an appointment at the Rolling Acres store and am hoping that they may have the equipment there so I can switch without interruption. Judging from the fact that the earliest available appointment is next Friday I think there must be a lot of people who have just had a rate increase and want to renegotiate.

Comcast never fails to disappoint with its lack of appreciation of its customers - I am "Platinum" but I suspect that's just to boost my ego as I don't see any benefits from having been with them for ten years. Sadly, no other choice in this neck of the woods.

Have you tried to make an appointment at their other office on Rt 441 in Leesburg, near Babettes furniture? I never do business with Xfinity on the phone or on a chat.

You might take a look at TMobile 5G internet.

- They used to have a 30-day free trial
- There is a store in Pinellas plaza
- I believe it is still $50/month with no contract required

*** Since it works over the cell system you need to have cell reception. It works well in my home in Hillsborough and I know it works well at the RV park at 44 and 75. But this is why the 30-day is valuable - you can bring it home and give it a try then return it if it isn't for you.

Very easy to set up. I changed the SSID and password on the TMobile modem and all my devices connected immediately.


I believe both Verizon and AT&T offer similar devices but I haven't looked into those.

Verizon option may be wonderful but alas, not available. I've been on waiting list for a year scanning the horizon for a new tower going up. Can't get any hint from them.

Thank you, rtg123. I have an appointment at the store in Rolling Acres next Saturday. Like you, I never achieve anything on the phone but the people in that store have proved to be very helpful over the years.

You can't use your own modem/router with Xfinity NOW. You need to get their Xfinity NOW kit which contains a cable modem router.

The reason for this is because with the NOW system they are using old refurushed cable modem/routers which they are providing to you. If you ever cancel the service you don't need to return the equipment.

I don't know for sure but I think Xfinity had tons of old cable modems/routers since they have upgraded their equipment. They also needed a basic internet service so that's how they came up with the NOW system. I'm not saying it's bad, just interesting to know the details. It seems $30 is about the lowest price for basic internet right now.

I agree, if you can get the fixed wireless service from T-Mobile or Verizon, that may be a better way to go for the long term.

Such a shame we have to waste so much time to save a little. I wasted over an hour a few weeks ago with Comcast....

Yeah I always dread the yearly Comcast negotiations! Have to say the store people will get you into a better plan than online or phone. I can usually get same service or a little better within $5 of current plan. But I have no “extra stuff”.

Yes, the need to use their modem/router is why I would have no internet while waiting for it to arrive, so I'm hoping someone has turned one in recently at the local store and I can just take it with me.

Now is billed as having no contract, and there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of times you can put it on vacation plan each year - their normal internet is limited to once a year.

It is currently $30 per month but prices "can" increase, for which we must read "definitely will" increase, but worth giving it a shot. If it doesn't work out I just cancel it (nothing to return) and sign up to the original internet - probably with a better deal than they are giving long-time customers!

"- probably with a better deal than they are giving long-time customers!"

You can count on it! :) You have to actually quit them so that they remember how much they loved you and want you back :)

A friend tried the Verizon offering but if you stream it doesn’t work well. If you just need internet it’s probably ok and I believe it’s $35.

The service should work but just remember you are getting the cheapeast most basic internet service that Xfinity can provide. Actually, I haven't seen anything cheaper from any company unless it's been subsidized by the government.

Please continue to provide updates on getting the equipment, the install and what you think of the service. I'm sure there are lots of people who might want to get this service.

There are a couple of youtube videos on this product.

Will do. If the store people can drop our current rate to $30 (which they have done twice before, although just for a year each time) we may go with that. If they can't then we shall switch to Now.

I don't know what "NOW" is. How do you get internet so cheaply? I would not complain if I had your bill. I recently went over my data allotment and also went to the store on 441. I asked why I am using more data when I live alone and haven't changed anything. I was told that if I stream, the streaming is getting better HD or something so I am using more data. Not being tech smart, I accepted this explanation. They adjusted my bill and gave me unlimited data, but it's certainly not as low as yours.

Go to Xfinity Rolling Acres- 1.2G for $65/mo for 2 years.

Try switching to Quantum (CenturyLink) if you have fiber at your home. If not, try T-mobile using 5G. I have been using fiber from CenturyLink and now I upgraded to Quantum and am very happy. Great speeds… upwards of 800Mbs download speeds. They have a 500Mbs rate as well and I believe it is guaranteed for life. I have heard good things about 5G service as well. Add a battery to the 5G modem and you have WiFi even when power is out to your phones and tablets.

No thank you. That would be $800 more than I pay and almost $400 more than a number of people have mentioned here.

The NOW service has no data cap. I guess with the speeds they are providing with this service there is little possibility of anyone reaching the data cap.

True unless you caught that $35/month 1Gbs, no time limit, service that Quantum offered during December. Now that I think about it, that was a great deal and although I got many signed up, there still were some that didn't go for it that wished they did. Maybe they will offer it again next year. Just like the NOW service this $35/month Quantum service was NOT an offer but price for life. The only caveat is you can't suspend or change the service in any way or you loose the price. I think the Xfinity NOW service will probably stay at $30 for a long time if they get a lot of customers. Also, I think they are trying to manage subscriber losses in areas where Xfinity was the only choice but now it's not. I was at a Villagers home in Duval yesterday and they had Quantum installed in their area last year. Bonita Villas had it installed this year so as time goes on, people in the Villages are getting more choice which is good. Unfortunately, for Xfinity, these new NOW customers eat into their regular full price paying customer base so I'm not sure how the business model works for them.

Bad guess.

I don't use 100Mbps (probably more like 20Mbps) and I don't stream more than about four hours per day but I can come close to 1TB in a month. More hours streaming would easily put me over the 1TB limit on Xfinity's regular service.

Whenever I want to speak with an agent I say “retention”. If that doesn’t work I say “disconnect”. It works every time. They manage to find a better package for me every time without getting a huge jump in cost. It is important to call several days before your service renews. If you don’t you can expect a substantial price increase. I simply mark my calendar in advance so I don’t forget. Good luck.

If you haven't already, try going into one of their stores and having a tech check to see if you can get it. When my Xfinity internet service went to over $100 a month, I checked the online sites for Verizon, T-mobile, and AT&T to see if I could over the air internet. All 3 said that my house was not in their service area.

We have AT&T phones and my internet service worked great, so I couldn't understand why I couldn't get it for the home. I went into the store at Brownwood to check and the salesman said that the service was available in my area and signed me up for it. When I got home, I connected the modem and then started using the over the air internet. We unplugged the Xfinity box and used AT&T for the next few days to try it out. Then I took the Xfinity equipment to Rolling Acres and cancel my service.

There have been a few times when the TV has frozen, but this was resolved by turning the Roku off and back on so that it reconnected to the wifi.

Then why do you think there is no cap on the cheapest service and a cap on the regular priced service?

Here is the link:

NOW Internet - Affordable Internet

One monthly price with taxes and fees included. No annual contracts. Just great internet with a consistent connection — backed by the Xfinity network.

WiFi equipment included
Unlimited data included
Set up and self-install in minutes
Flexibility to pause and resume your service

With no contract, I suspect they can change the price and put on a data cap whenever they like, but for now it looks like a good offer

My guess: Those that are likely to spend a lot of time on the internet or rely on the internet have already purchased the "regular" Xfinity plans that have the caps. Those that are purchasing the NOW plans that don't have caps today are new to the internet or just want it for email or downloading Kindle books. This is Xfinity trying to gain entry into a new set of customers and the no-caps language is marketing.

I suspect things will change and more people will switch to the cheaper plan. When that happens, the cheaper plan will become more expensive and caps might be put in place.

That's if there isn't already some fine print that says your speeds could be lowered if you exceed a certain number of GB in a month. "Lowered" and not "capped" or "extra charge" means they would still be able to advertise no caps while effectively limiting usage.

Interesting.

I would think those who want basic internet would change to this service and there could be a lot of people making the switch to keep costs low and only get the internet bandwidth that's needed. They could also be doing what Quantum did a while back. Offering a very cheap, low speed service and then increasing the price a little once some critical mass were on the service.

If you look at it from a technical view, the NOW service, except for the equipment, rides over the same cable lines, switches and servers as the regular priced customers. Maybe they get less priority at high usage times but I would think the cost for transport should be about the same. Maybe they can offer a cheaper price because they are using refurbished equipment that they would have otherwise discarted? I would think when the service price gets low enough, the margin is so small that it's not cost effective for them to offer the service?

It will be interesting to see what happens.

So, I found a better internet offer than Xfinity Now.

Just got an offer in the mail from Spectrum:

$20/month, up to 100Mbs download Max, 10Mbs upload Max, no contract, no tax, no fees, No data caps, 2 year price guarantee! According to the mail piece you have to be a "preferred customer" to get this deal. Not sure what that means but that's the only caveat.

So, If you only want to pay for the internet speed that you need and nothing more, this is the package to get.

It looks like Spectrum and Xfinity are fighting over which will be the cheapest and get customers. I wonder if we will see $10/month for $50Mbs or maybe $5/month for 25Mbs soon?

Problem with switching to a different provider is that you will lose your comcast.net email box. So many of my accounts use my comcast.net email address as my ID, I might get locked out of banking, ordering and other necessary accounts if that address goes away. Even cancel Xfinity FAST, wait 3 days and order NOW internet might cause this problem. How many here have switched from Xfinity FAST to NOW and how did you do it? Can they do it at an Xfinity storefront?

Skip

I left Xfinity a year ago and I know my @comcast.net address still works.

Don't worry about loosing your Comcast e-mail since in my experience, I've know a lot of people who left Xfinity and still have their Comcast e-mail working. I agree, there are a lot of companies who Will disconnect your e-mail but Comcast is not one of them. Not sure why. Maybe they hope you return and it's a good way to keep their name in front of you.

Also, you shouldn't be using an email account for all your important needs from a company that is area specific. What happens if you have to move somewhere in the future where you can't get Comcast? So, it's best to get a Gmail or other non-area specific e-mail address so you and your children don't have issues in the future.

Oh, I agree with you. But years ago when they were set up, they automatically made your email address your Log-In ID. You can change your password but not your ID. Sorta, Catch-22.

Skip

Please do, it would be good to know that it's still there - but usually inactivity of 1 year may delete the mailbox.

Skip

Understood, but don't let the e-mail prevent you from getting the service you want because it won't be disconnected based on everyone I know who's switched away from Xfinity.

It still works. (sorry, I should have updated my post last night).

***** It turns out I left only one year ago, not two (I'll fix that as well). I have my mail set up to check that account daily and perhaps that is enough to keep it active.

I wouldn't worry about your comcast.net address being turned off but I would recommend using a more generic email to avoid this concern in the future. Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail have been around a long time and I'm sure there are others.

No one on this forum has switched from Xfinity FAST to (cheap) NOW by going to the Comcast Storefront? Looking for your experience doing this.

Skip

Yes, see the Xfinity NOW Redux thread

Regulated
 

It’s shameful what we go through with cable companies. The Cable companies lobby the politicians by purporting that “competition” will make the services cheaper. As my Dad used to say hogwash!

I have never been a fan of regulation but Cable/streaming cellular and access to the internet are necessary like water and electricity today. I have developed a considered opinion that maybe it’s time to regulate this industry. What say you?

I don't believe this industry will ever be regulated.

These days in order to get out of the cable company price increases is to go with an internet provider like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Quantum Fiber or Centric Fiber then stream TV either by using your smart TV or streaming stick like Roku, Amazon, AppleTV, etc.. Or you can put a TV antenna on the roof and get whatever free TV is available in your area. Or use any combination of the above.

The problem with the cable companies is they have a lot of overhead providing TV content. So many people have "cut the cord" that cable companies now try to bundle your TV and Internet with cell phone service. All this might sound good, and it can be but the price they offer is almost always a 1 or 2 or 3 year offer meaning it will go up and they tell you that. I don't think this is ever going to change until the cable companies focus on Internet like the rest of the industry because as time goes on, more and more people are going to be streaming vs getting TV from the cable company. I can't tell you how many Villagers talk about paying $200, $300 and more for Xfinity and Spectrum and are just paying the price for whatever reason.

I know not everyone here in the Villages has a choice of internet providers but if you can get fiber internet, it will be almost the cheapest and the most stable priced. If you can't get fiber try one of the fixed wireless services from Verizon, T-mobile or AT&T where it's offered. Since they are a phone company, they will bundle your cell phones and the internet to get you a good price. For most people you will get enough bandwidth from a fixed wireless service as long as you are close enough to one of their towers. Fortunately, they let you try the service and if it doesn't work you can return it.

I would not go with DirectTV or Dish unless you need special programming because they have long contracts.

Is this satire?

Competitive pressure is the only way to lower costs...Getting the Gubbermint even more involved will just increase costs. I am signing up for the $20 Spectrum deal to get another Internet provider terminated at my cabinet. As soon as I can get a $35 deal from Quantum, I will do that. 3 internet providers to switch between if I don't like someones service. Internet provider customer service is bad at all companies...The turnover rate is even far worse than McDonalds. I would jump out a window before completing my first week :) I would rather boil rocks for soup than do that job.