Hi all -
Probably like a lot of people on the list, I depend on my home internet connection for many things including my primary job, and the numerous side projects I work on.
I'd really a appreciate a connection that would have a shorter response time if something were to go wrong. Unfortunately, I just moved and now I'm out of the service area of my previous provider, who was actually able to compete with Comcast (FTTH). Now I'm stuck with one option.
I really don't plan on spending more than a year where I currently am, so I don't want be locked into a contract for more than a year, especially with Comcast's crap termination fee (75% of the remainder on the contract).
I called and talked to a sales rep, who was just a kid, and an arrogant one at that. He knew of the monopoly for a decent internet connection in my area, so I had little bargaining power.
The offer he gave me was: minimum 2 year contract, with a $99 installation fee, and his "supervisor" "approved" a $300 Visa giftcard if I agreed to this. The other option is a 1 year contract, with a $199 installation fee, with no giftcard. This is for the 50Mbit option, and he didn't seem to care about my counter offer to bump it up to 75Mbit if he waived the install fee.
Come on...$199 to plug in a modem. The address already had Comcast before I got there...
Is there anyone out there that has ideas about how to waive or lower that installation fee while only having a 1 year contract?
I've worked with Comcast Business on <10 installations for clients,
and the only time I was able to get installation charge concessions
was on a long-term agreement (3 years minimum). This is in an area
where they have active competition with an ILEC.
brandon
Phil,
Comcast does have a residential fiber tier that leverages their metro ethernet network. https://www.comcast.com/505
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3595673618.png
- Will
Damn, interesting. Though for my needs, I'm more interested in the response time for service than all out speed.
I'd also be surprised if they offer that in my state.
Where are you located? Usually you can get an okay DSL connection as a
backup and that would be better than most of the SLAs from big
companies*. Alternatively you could get a wifi or USB LTE dongle for a
secondary connection. Of course that may not be available in your area,
but I've gotten LTE in surprising places.
* The problem with the SLAs being that they won't restore your service
in 3 days, they'll just credit you the full price of your dinky
circuit. The good news is if your inside wiring is clean then you
probably won't have too many outages on cable. Ask your neighbors if
their Internet is reliable.
I have a cable based business in my residence.
There is no SLA with the standard business class service. However, I have typically seen about a 4 hour response time during the week for a tech and never any longer than the next day.
As far as install fees and such, the only way to get it waived, as others have mentioned, is a 3 year contract. Lower fee for 2 year contract and full install fee for 1 year contract. Good deal with the Visa Card as I have never heard of that being offered before.
You get the saem "up to" BS as residential and if you want static IP's with that, be prepared for a required $12.95 equipment rental fee on top of the monthly price, static IP price, and tax.
Robert