Comcast: We Sped Up Your Internet... Oh, No, Actually, We Didn't

from the it's-comcastic dept

Fri, Aug 20th 2010 2:15pm — Mike Masnick

Ah, Comcast. Apparently the company sent an email to a user telling him that they had boosted the speeds on his broadband connection (which Comcast is trying to rebrand "Xfinity"), only to email him again a couple days later to admit they didn't really mean that. I guess it's nice that they were willing to 'fess up about making the mistake, but it still seems a bit mean to pull the rug out from under customers that way:

Of course, if the initial email was titled "Great News!" shouldn't they have titled the second one "Bad News!"

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Filed Under: broadband, speeds
Companies: comcast

28 Comments

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RD, 20 Aug 2010 @ 2:48pm

Well, thats hardly surprising...
Thats ComCrap for you. Hands down the worst major broadband provider in the USA. They will sell you down the river EVERY chance they get. My service would go out/down frequently, and they NEVER, not once in FIVE YEARS, gave me a credit for ANY of it, even after promising they would. I had it logged in their system that I should have gotten around 3 months worth due to all the outages, missed service calls, and so on, but their excuse? "Oh we cant give you that credit, that has to be handled by the LOCAL OFFICE, and they get to determine approval." Right. And thats not even mentioning the atrocious speeds ('up to' bullshit), ridiculous lag/latency (600-1500ms, really?) and absurd upload speed (256-384k, seriously? in the 21st century???) that makes things like VOIP all but impossible on their system. A system, by the way, that they not only oversell (shared line), not only REFUSE to reinvest to upgrade, but that they then punish their customers by fraudulently instituting BW caps while selling the service as "unlimited." They really should be sued out of existence or sanctioned or something, they are pretty much criminals and scumbags.
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Ragaboo (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 2:53pm

lol
Of course, if the initial email was titled "Great News!" shouldn't they have titled the second one "Bad News!"

That actually would have earned my respect on account of the lols.
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jjmsan (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:03pm

Comcast new name but same bad service
At least Opps. Seriously, are there any goood providers out there?
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Ron (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:13pm

Please CHeck
The E-mail was erroneously sent to a bunch of users, including me. However, it states that it refers to customers that have Ecconomy service. Unfortunately, they sent it more than just users at that level. It was an obvious error; all you had to do was read the message to see that it did not apply to you. So, what they are guilty of here is not doing a good job of filtering their address list.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:20pm

Original working title
Got the same emails...my internet isn't even with comcast anymore. Second email's subject was "Apology regarding Aug. 14th email" while slightly less professional and a little long I like the original working title better "Bad News: We lied to you again and won't be doing anything to try to improve our service since we know almost none of you have any other options"
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wrstarr, 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:21pm

Aye
On the other hand...I didn't get an email, but my internet speed increased from 16mbps to 20mbps with the Xfinity re-branding.

Comcast still sucks...
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Greevar (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:24pm

Re: Comcast new name but same bad service
No.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:25pm

Re: Please CHeck
I'd grant them this, if they weren't a freaking INTERNET PROVIDER. Get the hang of email already!

I absolutely dread calling Comcast for anything. Put off calling them for 3 days when my wireless network decided to up and rename itself for no reason, rendering my laptop internet free. I had an inkling of what I could do but couldn't make it gel and I swear it was the pure apprehension of calling them for advice or a solution that muddled my brain to the point that when I did call them, and their solution was to unplug/plug the router (which I freaking did already), and this did nothing, and they referred me to Netgear since this was an insurmountable issue they'd NEVER experienced...

I guess that apprehension kept me from simply googling the problem until after that call, and the fix - renaming and redetecting my network - took all of 10 minutes (including a screwup on my part here and there).

Other than FIOS, I have no alternative in these parts, and I'm not sure about them either. I'd have to have a daylong installation, change all my addresses, yadda yadda...I just feel defeated so I read instead.
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TtfnJohn (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:27pm

Re: Please CHeck
We don't know that the person that alerted Mike to this isn't an economy service user, do we?

You're right, read the message though.

And they did terrible job in filtering their address list. Back to Grade 8 Intro to Marketing for Comcast.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2010 @ 3:30pm

Re: Re: Please CHeck
Addendum:

I was able to google from the perfectly functional comp hardwired for the net.

Also: I got the impression that since I've got an older modem/router combo unit, they'd rather me rent newer equipment than help me out with a simple software problem.
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Double fail, 20 Aug 2010 @ 4:19pm

Re: Please CHeck
I actually got two versions of both emails - one for Economy service and one for Blast! service. I received two apologies also.

I don't have Economy and I don't know what Blast! is.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2010 @ 4:23pm

Re: Well, thats hardly surprising...
But tell us how you really feel...
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electraglide, 20 Aug 2010 @ 5:24pm

Comcast blatant lies
I received 2 copies of the email saying I was being upgraded from 1 to 1.5 Mbs. Funny, I was paying for 16 Mbs and Blast. Soooo....how are you going to screw me next. We had a "planned but unannounced" service outage in late July for about 10 hours. Several days ago we had an unplaned outage lasting 24hours. No phone or broadband, but TV worked. No explanation can be given and they are "considering and adjustment". I was hoping this was the long awaited update to Docsis 3, but the firmware in the ATDMA still reads 2.0. They are condescending, dishonest ba*stards. By the way, where's my Netbook? You know, the one you promised back 2009. I am being patient like you asked.
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Sal, 20 Aug 2010 @ 5:34pm

Re: Well, thats hardly surprising...
I actually had a good experience with comcast. I didn't experience any of the latency or outages. I guess I'm in the one part of the country with decent comcast service.
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Haapi, 20 Aug 2010 @ 6:05pm

Comcast not bad around here
My Comcast is over former Time-Warner infrastructure and I have to say I'm pleased with my internet speeds, and their service response in my area (Minneapolis-SW).

I am certainly not peeved enough about it to switch to Qwest and Direct-TV.

We are finally being switched (forced) to go digital on the basic channels, which is going to screw with my MythTV setup. Aargh.
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minijedimaster (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 7:35pm

Re: Well, thats hardly surprising...
I'm with Sal on this, I actually have had Comcast for internet for the last four years and have had only minor issues. Even though their level 1 support personnel are recruited from the "special" school, they have been responsive to me for support issues.

As far as speed goes, I get between 20-25Mb down and between 3-4Mb up from them consistently (with the option to upgrade to a 30Mb or 50Mb line). How long ago did you have service from them?
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minijedimaster (profile), 20 Aug 2010 @ 7:38pm

Re: Re: Re: Please CHeck
Why would you call Comcast for support with a Netgear router?
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Coasty (profile), 21 Aug 2010 @ 12:03am

Re: Aye
Well, to be honest, you only think you're getting 20Mbps service. I say this because I've been paying Comcast for that level of service, but in point of fact I've been extremely lucky the last seven months to get even 8Mpbs.

Why do I know this? Well, after finally noticing that my average speed was much slower than 20Mbps, I spent 3 months doing hourly speed tests tracking my actual average speed. It turned out my average speed was in the range of 7.5-8Mbps. A major portion of the problem was the modem Comcast had installed. The standard Arris modem was just not capable of adequately handling 20Mbps speed. After complaining about this to tech support last week I finally got a tech (who actually knew her job, or cared about it), that installed an upgraded version of the Arris modem which resulted in noticeably faster download speeds.

Unfortunately, whether or not you can get this upgraded modem depends VERY much on just how good your Comcast tech repairman really is. I can tell you that ping speeds, at sites I regularly test at, have gone over the last week from an average of 150-200ms to 20-40ms, which is quite a significant improvement. I'm still testing to see what that improvement translates to in terms of Mbps speed.

So, as a note to Comcast subscribers, if you're paying for the higher level speed packages (16-20Mbps) and having speed problems, make sure Comcast installs a modem capable of actually handling those speeds.

I should mention that I'm rather lucky in that almost all the other people on my node are extremely light Internet users. The node consists of a series of close together senior housing apartment complexes whose tenants pretty much only watch TV. So, problems of maximum node Internet use are virtually non-existent, which pretty much means any problems with speed are solely due to Comcast hardware problems.
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Coasty (profile), 21 Aug 2010 @ 12:23am

Re: Comcast not bad around here
Gads... I can't think of anything Comcast can screw up so bad as to make me want to switch my phone service, or any other service, back to Qwest.

Qwest is the only utility I've ever used (and that covers 50 years), whose service was so bad, whose executives so blatantly lied, and thoroughly made me so angry that for a while I actually entertained the notion of applying a baseball bat to a random senior executive or member of the board of directors. While it was a very entertaining thought, common sense did finally prevail. Even PG&E, though God knows they tried hard, wasn't as bad as Qwest.
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BearGriz72 (profile), 21 Aug 2010 @ 12:41am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Please CHeck
"modem/router combo unit"

The device was probably supplied by ComcASSt, and if that is the case it IS technically their problem. However that does not necessarily make them the best choice for support. I do PC technical support and I can't even begin to count how many times an ISP (not just Comcast) has referred a customer to us saying it MUST be a problem with the computer and it was either a network issue on their end or something that basic troubleshooting could resolve (Like rebooting both the Computer & Modem) in under five minutes.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2010 @ 6:04am

As long as you allow the basic services (Electricity, Phone, Internet) to be available for profit you will get screwed. These 3 services should be included in the Bill of Rights in the US because they are now as important as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and should be available as non-profit services.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2010 @ 10:21am

Re: Re: Please CHeck
First off, unless this router was provided by Comcast, why on earth did you call them?

Also, you're one of the lucky few to be able to get FIOS, but you instead choose to complain about Comcast? Why?
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Aug 2010 @ 7:48pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Please CHeck
You are correct, the unit even has 'Comcast' printed on the side.

My point, perhaps made badly, was that my complete buggedness caused by the mere idea of calling them for help on this issue (a feeling based on prior experiences, btw) may have fogged my brain to the point that something as simple as Googling wouldn't penetrate my apprehension, lol.

Also, I had an issue several years ago (wireless adapter drivers up and uninstalled themselves - yes, a Comcast provided adapter!) that the CSR solved easily and, with no prompting, then guided me through the exact same process for renaming a home network that I couldn't remember or find in any Comcast documentation anywhere for this current problem.

But this current problem was beyond the CSR, who told me they were 'phasing out' my type of unit, which is still quite functional. It was a simple fix I'd gotten from them years ago but eludes them now. Sigh.

Google FTW.
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WarrenG, 22 Aug 2010 @ 11:16am

It's not even close
We provide IT services to small businesses in the Portland area, and probably around 90% of our customers have Comcast Internet service. Over the last 4 years it has been for the most part rock-solid. I don't know if that's the difference between business and residential service, but we have had a great experience so far. Prices are very reasonable on the business side. When we can tell a customer that they can get 8x the speed for 1/8th the cost by switching from a T1 to a basic Comcast connection, that conversation goes very well for us. To have Comcast then provide a good quality service on top of that makes things that much better. We will recommend Comcast to our customers whenever it is available to them. Blows away the competition hands-down.
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Shawn, 22 Aug 2010 @ 12:57pm

Reality
There are always a ton of complaints about cable ISP's service levels, and what I find to be the reality 90% of the time is this: Poor in premise wiring/software issues tend to be the issue. Your ISP doesn't fix your in premise wiring for free... thats YOUR problem of course. There ARE about 5% of cases where the wiring issue is in the ground, and its just not worth the money or time for comcast to dig huge holes to fix on households internet, and thats unfortunate, but from experience, many many customers are just not really that bright, and expect the company to repair their house for them because they subscribe to internet/CDV service. Get real.
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Max Nicks (profile), 22 Aug 2010 @ 2:03pm

Instead of sprouting a bunch of whiny crap, I just ran various internet speed tests against my Comcast connection. You can do so yourself by googling "Internet Speed Test" I ran 12 tests and the results were very consistent to what I ran 2 weeks ago. My connection is a standard Comcast Internet Connection. I refuse to use their Cable TV (30 Mbps +- 2Mbps, upload 2.26 Mbps =- 0.5Mbps, ping 20 ms (every time), jitter 7 ms (every time). I also ran 4 tests against a server in Anchorage, Alaska which is 3,986 miles away from my location. These results were: ping 121 ms (avg), jitter 0 ms (every time), packet loss 0% (every time), download 11.24 Mps +- 1.4 Mbps, upload 2.18 Mps +- 0.5 Mbps. To me, that's all pretty excellent, especially when Comcast only promises me speeds UP TO 16Mbps. I can'
t recall the last time I saw any speed as slow as 16Mbps. I live in an apartment that does not have fiber optics to the curb. Just the same cable that's been hanging for the past 10 years. No, I don't live in the boonies.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2010 @ 5:31pm

Re: Comcast new name but same bad service
Wide open west. highest costumer satisfaction in the midwest for a reason.
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Chris Wathan, 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:17pm

RE: The person with the flaky Netgear
That is NOT Comcast's fault or issue. If a product you acquired separately screws up it is not THEIR fault. Talk to who made the screwed up device.
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