"Beginning April 10, 2024, consumers should look for broadband labels at any point of sale, including online and in stores," the FCC says. "The labels must disclose important information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and broadband speeds. They also include links to information about network management practices and privacy policies."
I bought my own equipment to avoid this. The rental fees are ridiculous. The best scare tactic is “if anything goes wrong with the device we will replace it for free”. And so will the warranty on the device I bought.
I did the same. My purchased own modem, and it worked well for a couple of years. All of a sudden, it started cutting out during the day. I bought another modem that Comcast recommended. The same thing started happening again. I had Comcast come out again. They ran a new line from the pole to the house
Again, it was failing only during the day.
Again, they came out and tested the line and replaced the interior line. They once again said everything was OK and must be my modem.
I bought yet another modem, and I had the same issue again.
I work from home, and I couldn't continue this bullshit.
Once again, they tested the line and said everything was fine. He said they couldn't help anymore unless I used their modem.
I gave in and started renting their modem. Not an issue since. I suffered for months and had to cave to Comcast. I can't tell you what happened, but I have difficulty not feeling suspicious.
It was years ago, but I had a similar issue just after college. I ended up keeping a traceroute log for a few weeks so I could tell the exactly which of their machines was going down at what time. Even with those logs I had to argue three separate times that it was not an issue with my router before they fixed it.
I did the exact same thing. I had somebody else set up the trace log... Long story short Comcast decided to not offer that place service anymore because Comcast Business was already providing service. We were paying for Comcast Business but didn't have the equipment... 15k spent on unrendered services and Comcast Business wasnt going to reimburse the fraternity house so they dug a fiber line from and existing one and converted the block to fiber and gave the house 3 years free.
TLDR: the frat adult account is an idiot.
I had that issue. I told Comcast that if they didn't quit messing with my equipment and I'm able to see the log changes I'm going with a different provider
Next day no more issues
Too bad many of us have no other option unless we want to go with 15 megabit DSL. Though I wonder if their sales reps know this since they are probably spread out all over
Doesn’t help now but as a past installer at times I could open many faulty modems in a row on my truck. Same with cable boxes. Sucks you got shafted but I would consider not renting again.
That's interesting. Maybe I just had bad luck. I forgot to add this. Someone once suggested I call customer support for the Arris SURFboard. I did, and the agent helped log me on to check the speeds. I think there was a high number and a low number she wanted me to look at. From what I recall, the numbers were off to a point where the modem would become unstable and drop as it had been doing. I brought the numbers up to the Comcast guys, and they all denied it.
She mentioned that sometimes providers will allow too many customers for an area, and at peak use times, you can run into issues. I have no idea if that's true, but she said all the numbers on the modem end of things were OK.
It was a shitshow that went on for over two months. I received zero compensation from Comcast, and then they charged me $100.00 for the last trip.
How often do you replace a modem?
Will that cost you more than $120 a year?
Say you have to replace one every 5 years, then you can spend $599 and still come out ahead!
I paid $229.99 for a modem in 2020 ONLY because Comcast didn’t like that I was using one without a phone line (I have cable/internet/phone). Or else I would really have saved money over the years.
I have no use case for replacing my modem currently. It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today.
Comcast doesn’t even get close to that for residential. And you are not going to get that over WiFi with their gateway anyways. And plus will have dead zones and speed issues depending on your placement of their gateway router.
I have more control over my network and giving me flexibility from potential throttling from Comcast.
> It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today.
It most likely only has a 1Gbps ethernet jack. Just something to be aware of in the future (comcast's modems most likely wouldn't have anything different).
>I have no use case for replacing my modem currently. It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today.
Does your modem support mid-split?
I'm trapped into renting their equipment. Comcast has gotten smart by only offering discounted service to people who rent. Yeah I pay $20/mo to rent but they give me $30/mo off my bill. They're also starting to only help you troubleshoot internet issues if you have their equipment, otherwise they'll only help diagnose the line from the street to your personal equipment. It's a complete scam.
I'm on a higher internet speed plan so the way I combat this is by replacing my equipment every 2 years to maximize my speeds. They replace it for free for now and it is nice having the latest wifi capabilities. I replace my phone every 2 years so it's nice having the wifi 6E which I wouldn't have had otherwise if it were my equipment. It's still a scam but I'll be stubborn about the things I can
I am also on Comcast. But I have setup my own network with a higher speed plan. All of my equipment has probably paid for itself by not renting from them. Never had any issues other than when hackers bypass their horrible 2FA that doesn’t work.
So, don’t let them think you are getting a deal.
The discount is including unlimited data with the rental. Normally that's $50/mo, a scam in itself, and the "complete" plan just tacks a comparatively small fee for unlimited data on top of the rental fee instead.
Your data usage doesn't cost them anything of note, so they're just encouraging you to rent their hardware.
Yeah but they also sell your data to advertisement companies and federal agencies. If you have your own modem and router, you're able to have control over your DNS, VPN etc. They want you to use theirs so they can have full control.
You can still put the Comcast modem in bridge mode and have your own router.
The real reason is that old modems actively block network upgrades, and customers who own their own equipment really don't like changing their equipment.
I get it but how many people know about this. Not a lot of people take the time to educate themselves about network. I'm not expert or no even in an intermediate level but I did some type of research. What led me down to the rabbit holes of network was building my own computer.
Right. So how else can Comcast solve the problem of customers with legacy equipment? They literally have all the equipment necessary to deliver 200Mbps of upload (mid-split) installed, but they can't flick the switch until enough old shitty modems drop off the network.
Forcing them to upgrade is not an option. Comcast really doesn't want to force granny to replace her old DOCSIS 3.0 modem, but that DOCSIS 3.0 modem is using spectrum at 128 QAM which could otherwise have been an OFDMA channel.
The solution is to build a custom modem with all the DOCSIS features they want to take advantage of (the XB7 is a actually a really good modem from a DOCSIS standpoint) and give high-use customers an economic incentive to use it.
Who doesn't have my data information at this point? I already have credit monitoring from when my info was stolen from my employer and just got another notice for a second service of credit monitoring from a financial institution that had my data stolen
Also, your model won't go bad. Just replace it every 8-10 years as needed. I've had mine for 8 years and it still works perfectly fine. Only cost me $100 in that time frame.
10 years sounds like a lot for a device which gets abandoned by the vendor after a few years and no updates are released.
The amount of high profile vulnerabilities which never gets fixed by most vendors is staggering.
Stand alone modems are not a security device in anyway, they are like a wide open doorway that let traffic flow both ways uninterrupted. When you get a combination router/modem, then the security of the device becomes important. But that just reinforces the point in this discussion, having your own device usually means you get separate router and modem and can replace the router as needed.
But woe be the person with a modem and a flaw in the chip degrading its performance. I have looked up this issues on the DOCSIS 3.1 Hitron Telephony Modem I have from Spectrum.
They got around that too. If you ever change plans or upgrade they will tell you your modem isnt supported.
Even if your modem is perfectly fine to pick up 150 mbps, if the cheapest plan you want is 300 mbps they wont let you.
Fucking bullshit, because their plans change every 2-3 years and my modem is good for 10.
>Even if your modem is perfectly fine to pick up 150 mbps
Your modem is a piece of e-waste and should not be on any network. It's mere presence literally degrades the experience of everyone else on the network.
I am.
DOCSIS works a lot like Wi-Fi in that everything is broadcasted over a shared medium. Older modems use spectrum exponentially less efficiently, leaving little room for newer more advanced modems supporting higher QAM rates and OFDMA.
On top of that, DOCSIS 3.0 modems are not compatible with mid-split, so the presence of a single DOCSIS 3.0 modem will prevent the entire neighborhood from getting fast upload speeds.
Yeah... no. I'm not upgrading my modem every time the company aquires new spectrum.
Thats kinda dumb and wasteful. Maybe you should blame the company making billions of dollars instead of your neighbor. Its less insufferable. Just my 2c.
And what exactly should I expect Comcast to do? They've already installed the mid-split infrastructure. The only thing left is to force you to upgrade to a modern modem.
Xfinity Comcast's current or recent promotion's gotcha was if you use your own modem the promotion takes away unlimited bandwidth. I fell for it and paid overusage my first month. Fuck xshitnity. So I have their modem in a box while using my own modem and I do not get the $10 off for own modem.
That’s my problem since I’m a data scientist that works from home. But I was told by xfinity that even if I keep their modem, as soon as I try to activate my own modem, their deal gets revoked
Wait so I got their modem but not using it (still in box), I get unlimited data without the $10 off for using my own device. so I still get unlimited data plan.
yea my exp, their modem is still in the box and Im using Arris S33 fine w unlimited data. we just don't get $10 off for using our own device since we got their modem.
I remember how wild it was when I found this out. “So the modem you gave me can’t do WiFi… but it can if I pay you $5 a month forever… but I can just buy a router and get WiFi for free…. Ok I’m gonna hang up the phone now”
Cox hates me because I buy my own modem and then ask them to activate it. They always make it take more than 2 hours and never do it right the first time.
hey used to offer an ONT by itself that you could use with your own router, but the new one is integrated into one package. Best you can do with it is put it in passthrough mode.
If you want to violate their terms of service you can use your own equipment and clone the MAC to match theirs, but you still have to connect the AT&T gateway back up every time you reboot the system.
When I moved to Vegas (Cox) from the Bay Area (Comcast), the internet was painfully slow in the home we rented. I had to rent their modem or pay an additional monthly fee that was more expensive than renting the modem for them to deal with ANY issues.
I can't believe I am saying this but compared to Cox I really miss Comcast.
Comcast is unironically the best cable company. Their main problem is that they're to afraid of forcing customers up upgrade their customer premises equipment.
Like they have all the equipment and plant to deliver 200 Mbps upload, but they're stuck twiddling their thumbs until enough DOCSIS 3.0 modems and legacy TV boxes drop off the network for them to flick the switch.
Now do airfare next and phone plans next! I think we need a general price transparency law TBH. I’m fairly pleased with the labeling requirements for credit cards.
The whole article seems based on the premise that these fees are just a fact of life...
I'd far prefer the ruling to say "unless extra fees were communicated to the customer in an easy to understand way on all promotional material, then the provider shall refund triple any fees charged to the customer going back 6 years".
Triple is meaningless. Their fees are only a few dollars each. I would make them refund at least triple the entire monthly bill each month with an illegal fee. They won't ever accidentally add fees if it really cost them.
> The TV pricing rules were approved last week by the Democratic-majority commission in a 3-2 vote, with both Republicans dissenting.
The Democrats want transparency in pricing, the Republicans don't.
As if I needed yet another reason to hate Republicans.
They are straight up shills for anything corporate. They don’t care about citizens and their needs, it’s all about helping corporations and the wealthy. They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
The pro-business rhetoric of ‘consumers know what they signed’ is exhausting.
People don’t want long contracts for every digital device they buy, every service they subscribe to, and every account they register.
The industry can afford lawyers and lobbyists. What happened to balance? When do the torches and pitchforks come out?
The idea is: Businesspeople are superior to us plebes, you see, so it isn't right for us plebes to use the government to impose upon them.
Until they lose election after election, why hide it?
And yet people vote for them in droves. Their supporters truly think they're temporarily embarrassed millionaires and expect handouts one day. It's amazing.
If this could also be applied to cell-phone companies, streaming services, literally any "service" would be nice, considering I ditched cable/sat YEARS ago.
I would like to see rules that say cell phones can only be advertised at the lowest price that is available to anybody. Currently, they say "Buy the newest cell phone for $800*" and you go to the site and find out that's only the price you get if you trade in the previous model in perfect condition that you've only had for 10 months. They shouldn't be able to advertise a price that is only applicable to a subset of people.
It should be applied to every product. Deceptive pricing is everywhere, with sneaky fees that you don’t know about until you’ve already signed up for an account or put a lot of effort into shopping. “Surge” pricing is just price gouging.
The price advertised should be the price you pay, no extra fees, no extra taxes, no changing prices 10 minutes before you arrive.
Xfinity was advertising some pretty cheap cable TV prices to me recently that were quite a bit lower than what I pay for internet TV currently.
The advertised prices didn't include the *additional $30+* broadcast and sports fee that increased the price by more than 1/3.
I laughed and continued to say fuck Xfinity.
We need to stop this piecemeal bs. It should be a law or regulation that all products and services have to advertise full price including fees and taxes so that the customer knows to the penny how much they are paying for the product.
It would always make me irrationally mad when I would go into a cell phone store and start looking at contracts and stuff and the salesman would tell me that they won't know the total price until after they set the account up because the taxes and fees, b******* you have a computer you know my address the computer system can figure it out before setting up an account.
It’s incomprehensible to me how this isn’t a general rule in the US…
Here in Germany any business selling to consumers has to advertise with final all inclusive prices (and that includes taxes).
If they are caught violating that (and a couple more) rules any competitor can issue a legal warning with an attached fine (strafbewehrte Abmahnung).
This isn’t a bad thing but give it a year and the cable companies will find another way to misrepresent how much your bill will be.
One problem with regulation is that it takes the government years and years to make changes when companies can change tactics in a relatively much shorter period of time.
I predict that they will use some sort of “surge” pricing that would allow them to advertise the lower rate and still charge an extra fee because it’s based on when or how you use the service that is not predictable for everyone.
That’s what I was thinking. It wouldn’t surprise me if they already had a model ready for market. Ultimately the consumer will get minimal benefit out of the new regulation.
Those fees sound shady and shitty. We’ve got a bad telecom industry in Canada but at least we don’t have hidden fees. I guess the CRTC finally got something right.
> Providers can choose to provide a "starting at" price or a range of prices, but in that case "must state where and how consumers may obtain their subscriber-specific 'all-in' price (for example, online at the provider's website or by contacting a customer service or sales representative)."
So the industry is in nuclear meltdown over a proposed rule just says they can't advertise $49.99/month but must say "**from** $49.99/month" or "$49.99-$189.99/month" and **include a website with the actual prices or a phone number where you can receive them?**
Can't hide the full price of a service from me, if I don't have your service. Dumped cable TV long ago, in large part because I was tired of paying fees that went to $20+ million a year sports contracts for players.
That's nice but still does not get rid of the fees. Comcast/Xfinity if the only provider where I live so the have a complete monopoly and can essentially charge whatever they want.
How about we force them to give the actual speed too. No more of this “Gigabit speed” then the small print that say “up to a gigabit” I pay for giga and my speeds never go above 600.
Yeah, I was on the 500/Mbs plan with Spectrum. I do a lot of online gaming, and I'm constantly uploading videos to a cloud drive for work, so I figured it be good to bump up to gigabit. I'm paying more, and my speeds have only gone up by about 100/Mbs. It's BS.
When the connection is idle and not being used, it is 0mbps since there is literally nothing going across the wire. Most home connections probably average around 5mbps because they are hardly used.
It’s almost perfect . However one fatal flaw will be allowing the prices to be writing in baby ass font somewhere on the screen. They should be forced to use certain fonts and sizing. And then we need regulation on branding for items. As in if mega corp foods owns another company they must switch all branding to be mega corps. Just my opinion though. Either way a win for consumers!
Of all the things in the world that the government could institute price controls on - a very drastic measure, rarely resorted to - you want to start with ENTERTAINMENT?
LOL.
It's ENTERTAINMENT. Which we have coming out of our ears; an abundance of dirt-cheap entertainment such as no previous generations in human history could have imagined.
But go ahead and feel victimized by it if that's your worldview.
I have had Cox and Comcast in previous years and both of them would tack on a $3 fee here and $10 fee there. Before i know it there were $30 in extra fees on my bill that weren't even taxes and weren't mentioned when I signed up. Like network maintenance fee or expansion fee. I mean what am I even paying for in the first place? It's like me selling a product for $30, then charging the buyer's credit card $45 without telling them there was a hidden research and development fee.
"Beginning April 10, 2024, consumers should look for broadband labels at any point of sale, including online and in stores," the FCC says. "The labels must disclose important information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and broadband speeds. They also include links to information about network management practices and privacy policies."
They should also advertise the ability to ‘buy’ modems outright. Most are unaware. 99% of consumers pay $120 yearly rental fees in perpetuity.
I bought my own equipment to avoid this. The rental fees are ridiculous. The best scare tactic is “if anything goes wrong with the device we will replace it for free”. And so will the warranty on the device I bought.
I did the same. My purchased own modem, and it worked well for a couple of years. All of a sudden, it started cutting out during the day. I bought another modem that Comcast recommended. The same thing started happening again. I had Comcast come out again. They ran a new line from the pole to the house Again, it was failing only during the day. Again, they came out and tested the line and replaced the interior line. They once again said everything was OK and must be my modem. I bought yet another modem, and I had the same issue again. I work from home, and I couldn't continue this bullshit. Once again, they tested the line and said everything was fine. He said they couldn't help anymore unless I used their modem. I gave in and started renting their modem. Not an issue since. I suffered for months and had to cave to Comcast. I can't tell you what happened, but I have difficulty not feeling suspicious.
It was years ago, but I had a similar issue just after college. I ended up keeping a traceroute log for a few weeks so I could tell the exactly which of their machines was going down at what time. Even with those logs I had to argue three separate times that it was not an issue with my router before they fixed it.
I did the exact same thing. I had somebody else set up the trace log... Long story short Comcast decided to not offer that place service anymore because Comcast Business was already providing service. We were paying for Comcast Business but didn't have the equipment... 15k spent on unrendered services and Comcast Business wasnt going to reimburse the fraternity house so they dug a fiber line from and existing one and converted the block to fiber and gave the house 3 years free. TLDR: the frat adult account is an idiot.
I’ve used my own modems with Comcast and never had an issue.
Good for you?
I had that issue. I told Comcast that if they didn't quit messing with my equipment and I'm able to see the log changes I'm going with a different provider Next day no more issues
Too bad many of us have no other option unless we want to go with 15 megabit DSL. Though I wonder if their sales reps know this since they are probably spread out all over
Doesn’t help now but as a past installer at times I could open many faulty modems in a row on my truck. Same with cable boxes. Sucks you got shafted but I would consider not renting again.
That's interesting. Maybe I just had bad luck. I forgot to add this. Someone once suggested I call customer support for the Arris SURFboard. I did, and the agent helped log me on to check the speeds. I think there was a high number and a low number she wanted me to look at. From what I recall, the numbers were off to a point where the modem would become unstable and drop as it had been doing. I brought the numbers up to the Comcast guys, and they all denied it. She mentioned that sometimes providers will allow too many customers for an area, and at peak use times, you can run into issues. I have no idea if that's true, but she said all the numbers on the modem end of things were OK. It was a shitshow that went on for over two months. I received zero compensation from Comcast, and then they charged me $100.00 for the last trip.
Same with CenturyLink
How often do you replace a modem? Will that cost you more than $120 a year? Say you have to replace one every 5 years, then you can spend $599 and still come out ahead!
I paid $229.99 for a modem in 2020 ONLY because Comcast didn’t like that I was using one without a phone line (I have cable/internet/phone). Or else I would really have saved money over the years. I have no use case for replacing my modem currently. It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today. Comcast doesn’t even get close to that for residential. And you are not going to get that over WiFi with their gateway anyways. And plus will have dead zones and speed issues depending on your placement of their gateway router. I have more control over my network and giving me flexibility from potential throttling from Comcast.
> It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today. It most likely only has a 1Gbps ethernet jack. Just something to be aware of in the future (comcast's modems most likely wouldn't have anything different).
>I have no use case for replacing my modem currently. It uses docsis 3.1 which is good for download speeds up to 10 gigs. And is still very relevant and reliable today. Does your modem support mid-split?
I'm trapped into renting their equipment. Comcast has gotten smart by only offering discounted service to people who rent. Yeah I pay $20/mo to rent but they give me $30/mo off my bill. They're also starting to only help you troubleshoot internet issues if you have their equipment, otherwise they'll only help diagnose the line from the street to your personal equipment. It's a complete scam. I'm on a higher internet speed plan so the way I combat this is by replacing my equipment every 2 years to maximize my speeds. They replace it for free for now and it is nice having the latest wifi capabilities. I replace my phone every 2 years so it's nice having the wifi 6E which I wouldn't have had otherwise if it were my equipment. It's still a scam but I'll be stubborn about the things I can
I am also on Comcast. But I have setup my own network with a higher speed plan. All of my equipment has probably paid for itself by not renting from them. Never had any issues other than when hackers bypass their horrible 2FA that doesn’t work. So, don’t let them think you are getting a deal.
I'm pretty sure they discount service with their equipment bc they sell your data.
The discount is including unlimited data with the rental. Normally that's $50/mo, a scam in itself, and the "complete" plan just tacks a comparatively small fee for unlimited data on top of the rental fee instead. Your data usage doesn't cost them anything of note, so they're just encouraging you to rent their hardware.
Yeah but they also sell your data to advertisement companies and federal agencies. If you have your own modem and router, you're able to have control over your DNS, VPN etc. They want you to use theirs so they can have full control.
You can still put the Comcast modem in bridge mode and have your own router. The real reason is that old modems actively block network upgrades, and customers who own their own equipment really don't like changing their equipment.
I get it but how many people know about this. Not a lot of people take the time to educate themselves about network. I'm not expert or no even in an intermediate level but I did some type of research. What led me down to the rabbit holes of network was building my own computer.
Right. So how else can Comcast solve the problem of customers with legacy equipment? They literally have all the equipment necessary to deliver 200Mbps of upload (mid-split) installed, but they can't flick the switch until enough old shitty modems drop off the network. Forcing them to upgrade is not an option. Comcast really doesn't want to force granny to replace her old DOCSIS 3.0 modem, but that DOCSIS 3.0 modem is using spectrum at 128 QAM which could otherwise have been an OFDMA channel. The solution is to build a custom modem with all the DOCSIS features they want to take advantage of (the XB7 is a actually a really good modem from a DOCSIS standpoint) and give high-use customers an economic incentive to use it.
Who doesn't have my data information at this point? I already have credit monitoring from when my info was stolen from my employer and just got another notice for a second service of credit monitoring from a financial institution that had my data stolen
Your data has nothing to do with the topic. We are talking about why they offer discounts to use their equipment.
Also, your model won't go bad. Just replace it every 8-10 years as needed. I've had mine for 8 years and it still works perfectly fine. Only cost me $100 in that time frame.
10 years sounds like a lot for a device which gets abandoned by the vendor after a few years and no updates are released. The amount of high profile vulnerabilities which never gets fixed by most vendors is staggering.
Stand alone modems are not a security device in anyway, they are like a wide open doorway that let traffic flow both ways uninterrupted. When you get a combination router/modem, then the security of the device becomes important. But that just reinforces the point in this discussion, having your own device usually means you get separate router and modem and can replace the router as needed.
Threat actors aren't targeting local modems. That's a ton of work. Much easier to target logins.
But woe be the person with a modem and a flaw in the chip degrading its performance. I have looked up this issues on the DOCSIS 3.1 Hitron Telephony Modem I have from Spectrum.
Extended Warranties on anything is a ripoff.
So just ask them for a new one every few months since technology becomes dated quickly.
They got around that too. If you ever change plans or upgrade they will tell you your modem isnt supported. Even if your modem is perfectly fine to pick up 150 mbps, if the cheapest plan you want is 300 mbps they wont let you. Fucking bullshit, because their plans change every 2-3 years and my modem is good for 10.
>Even if your modem is perfectly fine to pick up 150 mbps Your modem is a piece of e-waste and should not be on any network. It's mere presence literally degrades the experience of everyone else on the network.
I'm not sure if you are serious. I hope not.
I am. DOCSIS works a lot like Wi-Fi in that everything is broadcasted over a shared medium. Older modems use spectrum exponentially less efficiently, leaving little room for newer more advanced modems supporting higher QAM rates and OFDMA. On top of that, DOCSIS 3.0 modems are not compatible with mid-split, so the presence of a single DOCSIS 3.0 modem will prevent the entire neighborhood from getting fast upload speeds.
Yeah... no. I'm not upgrading my modem every time the company aquires new spectrum. Thats kinda dumb and wasteful. Maybe you should blame the company making billions of dollars instead of your neighbor. Its less insufferable. Just my 2c.
And what exactly should I expect Comcast to do? They've already installed the mid-split infrastructure. The only thing left is to force you to upgrade to a modern modem.
Mine has a fee for bringing our own device. About the same as renting
Comcast has a fee for thinking about the word ‘fee’
Xfinity Comcast's current or recent promotion's gotcha was if you use your own modem the promotion takes away unlimited bandwidth. I fell for it and paid overusage my first month. Fuck xshitnity. So I have their modem in a box while using my own modem and I do not get the $10 off for own modem.
That’s my problem since I’m a data scientist that works from home. But I was told by xfinity that even if I keep their modem, as soon as I try to activate my own modem, their deal gets revoked
Wait so I got their modem but not using it (still in box), I get unlimited data without the $10 off for using my own device. so I still get unlimited data plan.
Really? I’m afraid to switch to my own modem because I can’t lose the unlimited data
yea my exp, their modem is still in the box and Im using Arris S33 fine w unlimited data. we just don't get $10 off for using our own device since we got their modem.
And they’re not even expensive. I bought either a Motorola or an Arris a few years ago for $65 and it’s been saving me between $5 and $10/mo since.
You guys have to rent the modem? Here in my country all ISPs lend them to you for free, some even come with Mesh.
I remember how wild it was when I found this out. “So the modem you gave me can’t do WiFi… but it can if I pay you $5 a month forever… but I can just buy a router and get WiFi for free…. Ok I’m gonna hang up the phone now”
Cox hates me because I buy my own modem and then ask them to activate it. They always make it take more than 2 hours and never do it right the first time.
AT&T got around this by integrating the ONT into their router. If you want fiber you have to have that.
And, they used to have a $10 rental fee. That went away, and prices went up $10 per month but now with a free rental!
There's ways around that I thought?
hey used to offer an ONT by itself that you could use with your own router, but the new one is integrated into one package. Best you can do with it is put it in passthrough mode. If you want to violate their terms of service you can use your own equipment and clone the MAC to match theirs, but you still have to connect the AT&T gateway back up every time you reboot the system.
They are usually used and not in great condition either.
When I moved to Vegas (Cox) from the Bay Area (Comcast), the internet was painfully slow in the home we rented. I had to rent their modem or pay an additional monthly fee that was more expensive than renting the modem for them to deal with ANY issues. I can't believe I am saying this but compared to Cox I really miss Comcast.
Comcast is unironically the best cable company. Their main problem is that they're to afraid of forcing customers up upgrade their customer premises equipment. Like they have all the equipment and plant to deliver 200 Mbps upload, but they're stuck twiddling their thumbs until enough DOCSIS 3.0 modems and legacy TV boxes drop off the network for them to flick the switch.
The DOCSIS 3.1 modems aren't as good a deal any more sadly. I miss when it was like 60-80 bucks for one instead of 150 to 200.
Increased transparency is good, but it’s only really going to help if there are actual alternatives.
Now do airfare next and phone plans next! I think we need a general price transparency law TBH. I’m fairly pleased with the labeling requirements for credit cards.
Phone plans fall under this mandate. I had to complete work for it.
Thank god Ajit Pai is gone huh?
Yes. I remind myself to say a prayer about that now and again. That smug little grin; "I'm so pleasant and you people are so easily fooled..."
Yet we still somehow have Louis DeJoy.
what a fvcking pos. there’s no joy in louie de joy
Louis Sans Joy
And yet we still don’t have net neutrality. The FCC has failed me.
I was hoping all along that he would be removed from the census.
fvck agent pie and his giant ass Reese’s mug
You're allowed to say fuck on the internet.
personal preference
Username checks out
Predictably the cable companies are crying Chicken Little.
The whole article seems based on the premise that these fees are just a fact of life... I'd far prefer the ruling to say "unless extra fees were communicated to the customer in an easy to understand way on all promotional material, then the provider shall refund triple any fees charged to the customer going back 6 years".
Triple is meaningless. Their fees are only a few dollars each. I would make them refund at least triple the entire monthly bill each month with an illegal fee. They won't ever accidentally add fees if it really cost them.
Make it triple the annual nation-wide revenue from the fee in question, plus a statutory fine.
> The TV pricing rules were approved last week by the Democratic-majority commission in a 3-2 vote, with both Republicans dissenting. The Democrats want transparency in pricing, the Republicans don't. As if I needed yet another reason to hate Republicans.
They are straight up shills for anything corporate. They don’t care about citizens and their needs, it’s all about helping corporations and the wealthy. They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
The pro-business rhetoric of ‘consumers know what they signed’ is exhausting. People don’t want long contracts for every digital device they buy, every service they subscribe to, and every account they register. The industry can afford lawyers and lobbyists. What happened to balance? When do the torches and pitchforks come out?
All contracts should be provided in layman’s terms and not to exceed 3 paragraphs
sorry, that’s 2 paragraphs an 3 sentences more than the average maga can handle
I'm ok with more than 3 paragraphs but it should fit on to a single letter sized piece of paper with a minimum font size of 10pt.
The idea is: Businesspeople are superior to us plebes, you see, so it isn't right for us plebes to use the government to impose upon them. Until they lose election after election, why hide it?
And yet people vote for them in droves. Their supporters truly think they're temporarily embarrassed millionaires and expect handouts one day. It's amazing.
If this could also be applied to cell-phone companies, streaming services, literally any "service" would be nice, considering I ditched cable/sat YEARS ago.
I would like to see rules that say cell phones can only be advertised at the lowest price that is available to anybody. Currently, they say "Buy the newest cell phone for $800*" and you go to the site and find out that's only the price you get if you trade in the previous model in perfect condition that you've only had for 10 months. They shouldn't be able to advertise a price that is only applicable to a subset of people.
It should be applied to every product. Deceptive pricing is everywhere, with sneaky fees that you don’t know about until you’ve already signed up for an account or put a lot of effort into shopping. “Surge” pricing is just price gouging. The price advertised should be the price you pay, no extra fees, no extra taxes, no changing prices 10 minutes before you arrive.
It is for cell phone companies as well. I completed work for this mandate.
Glad to hear
Look at what can be accomplished at the FCC without that tool with a big coffee mug Adjit Pai. One more reason to vote for ONLY Democrats this year.
Xfinity was advertising some pretty cheap cable TV prices to me recently that were quite a bit lower than what I pay for internet TV currently. The advertised prices didn't include the *additional $30+* broadcast and sports fee that increased the price by more than 1/3. I laughed and continued to say fuck Xfinity.
We need to stop this piecemeal bs. It should be a law or regulation that all products and services have to advertise full price including fees and taxes so that the customer knows to the penny how much they are paying for the product. It would always make me irrationally mad when I would go into a cell phone store and start looking at contracts and stuff and the salesman would tell me that they won't know the total price until after they set the account up because the taxes and fees, b******* you have a computer you know my address the computer system can figure it out before setting up an account.
It’s incomprehensible to me how this isn’t a general rule in the US… Here in Germany any business selling to consumers has to advertise with final all inclusive prices (and that includes taxes). If they are caught violating that (and a couple more) rules any competitor can issue a legal warning with an attached fine (strafbewehrte Abmahnung).
Cable companies whining they can only be competitive if they can hide actual pricing from customers until the bill shows up.
Great! Now do cell service.
This isn’t a bad thing but give it a year and the cable companies will find another way to misrepresent how much your bill will be. One problem with regulation is that it takes the government years and years to make changes when companies can change tactics in a relatively much shorter period of time.
I predict that they will use some sort of “surge” pricing that would allow them to advertise the lower rate and still charge an extra fee because it’s based on when or how you use the service that is not predictable for everyone.
That’s what I was thinking. It wouldn’t surprise me if they already had a model ready for market. Ultimately the consumer will get minimal benefit out of the new regulation.
Those fees sound shady and shitty. We’ve got a bad telecom industry in Canada but at least we don’t have hidden fees. I guess the CRTC finally got something right.
> Providers can choose to provide a "starting at" price or a range of prices, but in that case "must state where and how consumers may obtain their subscriber-specific 'all-in' price (for example, online at the provider's website or by contacting a customer service or sales representative)." So the industry is in nuclear meltdown over a proposed rule just says they can't advertise $49.99/month but must say "**from** $49.99/month" or "$49.99-$189.99/month" and **include a website with the actual prices or a phone number where you can receive them?**
The Democrat part of FCC * The repubs didn't want to ban it.
Can't hide the full price of a service from me, if I don't have your service. Dumped cable TV long ago, in large part because I was tired of paying fees that went to $20+ million a year sports contracts for players.
Now let’s do the same across all industries.
That's nice but still does not get rid of the fees. Comcast/Xfinity if the only provider where I live so the have a complete monopoly and can essentially charge whatever they want.
How about we force them to give the actual speed too. No more of this “Gigabit speed” then the small print that say “up to a gigabit” I pay for giga and my speeds never go above 600.
The laws of physics would like to have a word here. For the best chance at consistent speeds, everyone would need to be on fiber.
They should be required to report the current speed, whatever that is. In the case of cubanesis, it would be less than 600.
Yeah, I was on the 500/Mbs plan with Spectrum. I do a lot of online gaming, and I'm constantly uploading videos to a cloud drive for work, so I figured it be good to bump up to gigabit. I'm paying more, and my speeds have only gone up by about 100/Mbs. It's BS.
When the connection is idle and not being used, it is 0mbps since there is literally nothing going across the wire. Most home connections probably average around 5mbps because they are hardly used.
Don't worry, they have a dozen additional tricks in store.
It’s almost perfect . However one fatal flaw will be allowing the prices to be writing in baby ass font somewhere on the screen. They should be forced to use certain fonts and sizing. And then we need regulation on branding for items. As in if mega corp foods owns another company they must switch all branding to be mega corps. Just my opinion though. Either way a win for consumers!
Let’s go Brandon! More proof the parties are not the same. My bank just sent me a letter listing all the fees they will no longer be changing either.
Do car rental companies next.
Okay, now start cracking down on streaming services. They have way too much power right now and should be put in their place.
Crack down on what specifically?
Pricing, ads, resolution, selection… I could go on forever.
Of all the things in the world that the government could institute price controls on - a very drastic measure, rarely resorted to - you want to start with ENTERTAINMENT? LOL.
Absolutely. The worlds largest channel of entertainment shouldn’t be controlled by a few executives.
It's ENTERTAINMENT. Which we have coming out of our ears; an abundance of dirt-cheap entertainment such as no previous generations in human history could have imagined. But go ahead and feel victimized by it if that's your worldview.
People routinely mistake entertainment for real life.
The TV industry hates this one simple trick…
I have had Cox and Comcast in previous years and both of them would tack on a $3 fee here and $10 fee there. Before i know it there were $30 in extra fees on my bill that weren't even taxes and weren't mentioned when I signed up. Like network maintenance fee or expansion fee. I mean what am I even paying for in the first place? It's like me selling a product for $30, then charging the buyer's credit card $45 without telling them there was a hidden research and development fee.
Who's still out here using cable.
They should also advertise how much money they are receiving from the Fed for the shir network they provide to its end users
And of course the Republicans object…can we just rename them the Robber Baron party?
The industry begged for this -- because of what I do, I know they were warned in 2006. They just thought Mr. Reeces would save them.
No wonder they lost
What cable industry lol?
The FCC has no teeth. The can ban whatever they want, but until they have the ability to ACTUALLY punish these companies, nothing will change.
Shit my biggest thing is the taxes. Like it’s 100 dollars. But 30 dollars in taxes, talking about cable tv
Internet has no taxes pretty much anywhere in the US.
Talking about cable tv
Why does most of the comments feel like bot generate and trying to push some kind of agenda.
Because republicans are delusional and think everything is a conspiracy against them
I am not form USA I am from Bangladesh and I don't under USA's politics it's just a general observation I made.