Sneaky Comcast Trick

[SuitablyTwisted]

What is wrong with Comcast?

http://www.spywareinfo.com/newsletter/archives/0504/11.php#comcast

If you have or are thinking about using Comcast cable for your internet service, there are some things you should be aware of.

One of the most questionable things about them is their bandwidth usage limits. If a customer uses more than a certain amount of bandwidth, Comcast sends a warning. If your usage continues to remain high, they will disconnect your service. While that is nothing unusual, Comcast goes about it in a very unethical way. Comcast refuses to state what that limit is. How are you supposed to comply with a limit if they won't tell you what that limit is?

Another thing Comcast did in the past irritated me very greatly. When AT&T broadband closed up shop, they transferred their existing broadband customers to Comcast. AT&T agreed to forward their customers' attbi.com email to their new Comcast addresses. However, Comcast informed transferring customers that they would not receive their email forwarded from attbi.com if they did not use Comcast's "transition wizard", a program designed to configure email and other settings automatically.

That never sat right with me. I always wondered why they felt the need to demand that customers run that software. Several months later, the reason was revealed. It turns out that by installing that "transition wizard", you were agreeing to a very questionable license.

The license gave Comcast the right to do a credit check on their customers and then to disclose (or sell) that information to third parties. The license seems to allow Comcast the right to open and read a customer's email without informing them. The license allows Comcast to install new firmware on their customers' cable modem without notification, regardless of whether or not they own the modem (many people buy their own modem). The license also prohibits a customer from joining any future class-action lawsuits against the company.

Funny how none of that was mentioned when they were telling customers who didn't install their software that they would not receive their attbi.com email.

All of that is old news now but I thought I would mention it along with Comcast's newest example of obnoxious behavior. Comcast will be providing new customers with a Linksys wireless router that contains features for which I really have to question the need. It will allow Comcast remotely to detect computers attached to the router, examine their network usage on the local area network (LAN), see how much bandwidth they are using on the LAN and even allows them remotely to deny those computers access to the router.

I say this is going too far. From the router's internet port to Comcast's internet servers is Comcast's business. Everything on the customer's side of the network is none of their concern. What possible reason does Comcast have for snooping into someone's LAN and even disabling a device?

I plan to move in the near future. I sincerely hope to be able to receive either DSL or cable internet wherever I move. However, I refuse to consider Comcast as an ISP. Comcast is too intrusive and their policies and behavior are too questionable for me to spend any money with them.

[zaphodiv]

Comcast is allowing excessive amounts of spam to be sent from home machines on their network.

[rainbowdemon]

Comcast is in my area. But I got SBC Yahoo dsl instead.

[hawkburn]

Comcast is in my area. But I got SBC Yahoo dsl instead.
Same here. I don't think I could live with limits, and SBC is great... not the best features in terms of extras (newsgroups, etc) but they never ask questions.

[isus]

i have comcast, and i've not yet recieved this letter. then again, i'm not the dumbass who goes and downloads every little thing i want. bandwidth costs money, forgive comcast for being a business and trying to make a profit. honestly... as for the router, who's gonna buy it? let me count the hands evrybody just raised. hmm, nobody. darn. you can have your dsl, i'll take my 3mbps internet and go watch a movie or 2.

[Ken17625]

Wow, and I thought I had it bad.

I feel for you.

[origin]

definitely true all ISP's are in the trade to make money and if there b/w usage is cutting into there profit margins, then that could possibly warrent a concern on there part. But then again like most others seem to be suggesting here just get a ISP that doesnt ask no questions other than did you pay you're bill this month? lol. so get some ISP who doesn't care about you (sounds wierd doesn't it?) and you will be set transfer all the data you want to! shiiiit I do :)

l8

[shawners]

I just upgraded my dsl to 3 megs.. it was to 1.5. now its 1.5 to 3 megs.. so im good with SBC dsl. I had a friend who couldnt use her same user name for her comcast email after sbc cable sold it to comcast. She had to use a new email address name. Like pattyo was taken during transition or something. I understand bandwidth cost money, but get serious.. You dont list the limit or give people information on what not to go over. So more would go over it. I think people with comcast need to document it, use as much bandwidth and keep track of how much you use and see what the limit is.

[XtraNtnse]

I use Road Runner, never had any problems with them whatsoever.

[d3ft0n3s]

well if i had to use that router, id buy another one that had NAT support. problem solved.

[cjules13]

I hate Comcast. I got ripped off by them for about a year. One thing you didn't mention is their ridiculously high prices.

Only use Comcast if it is your last choice.

Oh, and Comcast has been gleefully cooperating with the RIAA and MPAA. Not even a whimper of respect for their customer's privacy, just handing over IDs and IPs en masse...

[fujow]

I've been using comcast for about 3 years. I go on news groups download gigs of stuff and never received anything from them. I brought my router from staples and i do not install any of the comcast software. I also have my firewall blocking them.

[isus]

in the past 3 days of uptime, i've downloaded 1.4gb. x10 for 30days, and you have 15gb. i've not gotten a letter from comcast. cjules: your information is flawed, no isp has been "gleefully cooperating" with the riaa or mpaa since the verizon/riaa ruling stating that the isp did not have to give up names. nobody has to give up an address, if someone sees you sharing, hey they have a number, comcast doesn't have anything to do with that.

you morons who don't like comcast mostly because you download an average hard drive every week or two. that's stupid as hell, and if you don't like comcast for that, fine. i don't use anything from comcast, bought the modem and wireless router on my own. never had to install any of the comcast software.

[rainbowdemon]

I just upgraded my dsl to 3 megs.. it was to 1.5. now its 1.5 to 3 megs.. so im good with SBC dsl. I had a friend who couldnt use her same user name for her comcast email after sbc cable sold it to comcast. She had to use a new email address name. Like pattyo was taken during transition or something. I understand bandwidth cost money, but get serious.. You dont list the limit or give people information on what not to go over. So more would go over it. I think people with comcast need to document it, use as much bandwidth and keep track of how much you use and see what the limit is.

I'm still getting 1.5 meg from SBC Yahoo. It's enough for me. Especially after having a 28kbs dial-up for 3 years!!

[cjules13]

cjules: your information is flawed, no isp has been "gleefully cooperating" with the riaa or mpaa since the verizon/riaa ruling stating that the isp did not have to give up names. nobody has to give up an address, if someone sees you sharing, hey they have a number, comcast doesn't have anything to do with that.
bullshit dude. More people have been sued on Comcast than any other ISP - even weighted for population... don't make me go through the math. They haven't even tried to oppose the suits, only Verizon and SBC have. They've been a bunch of "yes men" for the RIAA and send out letters for the MPAA like no tomorrow. I know, I received my share.

Plus all that stuff beside, THEY HAVE RIP-OFF PRICES. Highest by far in my area. Virtually pathetic - I don't know how they stay in business. Not to mention their "transistion wizard" mentioned above which I had to deal with and was equally shady.

While you're sitting on Comcast paying 15-20% more for the same thing I have now from their competition, and you're receiving your RIAA notice, I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Comcast sucks.

(Look at their laughable on-screen menu for their digital cable. It's the Fisher Price version of Baby's First BB Cable) :black

[Burd]

Here's a thought: maybe it depends upon what area you're in? If you're in an area that overall is using a lot of bandwidth, then those who are high users are going to cause a drain. If you're in an area where only a few are big users, and the overall system is not being taxed, then the company probably will say nothing. That's probably why they don't tell you the limit. They want flexibility. But, on the other hand, knowing big corporations, I don't doubt for a minute that they could get greedy. What's been described here--if true--makes them sound like control freaks (just like the RIAA, huh?) I've had Comcast for a while with no problems. However, the minute I do start having problems, it won't take me long to switch.

[fujow]

Only Noob's Get RIAA letters.

[thewhitrbbit]

I have comcast, it's my only choice because of where I live.

I've never had problems, they have good service, few outages, most outages happen during storms when the power is out so it doesn't matter. I have my own network so I dont have to worry bout their network and I just plug in my comcast net, i dont use any of their wizards of customizations.

[cjules13]

I'll give them credit for not going down and having decent speed, but if you get the chance and go with someone else, you'll notice a difference. The wizard conversion tool was used for attbi customer who were forced to switch to Comcast - so not everybody needed to do it.

I found their customer service to be horrid the couple times I had to use it. I use Wide Open West now and they have identical service for $20 cheaper a month with no complints so far!

[Cydor]

Comcast send me two notice for downloading the newest movie screeners from Bittorent,witch they say the MPAA maid them to notify me about it....their service is the best i have come across, they never complain about me using way to much Bandwidth.

The only problem i got with them is that they will Sale you to RIAA and MPAA in the heart bit....i'm switching to SBC next month though, because i don't need this bastards to sale my privet info to any one who needs my info!

[isus]

bullshit dude. More people have been sued on Comcast than any other ISP - even weighted for population... don't make me go through the math. They haven't even tried to oppose the suits, only Verizon and SBC have. They've been a bunch of "yes men" for the RIAA and send out letters for the MPAA like no tomorrow. I know, I received my share.

Plus all that stuff beside, THEY HAVE RIP-OFF PRICES. Highest by far in my area. Virtually pathetic - I don't know how they stay in business. Not to mention their "transistion wizard" mentioned above which I had to deal with and was equally shady.

While you're sitting on Comcast paying 15-20% more for the same thing I have now from their competition, and you're receiving your RIAA notice, I'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Comcast sucks.

(Look at their laughable on-screen menu for their digital cable. It's the Fisher Price version of Baby's First BB Cable) :black
ripoff prices? barely. we pay $90 a month for what looks to cost you $100 something.

i haven't recieved an riaa or mpaa notice, so i guess i'm not as ridiculously stupid as you. so i'll be laughing right now since you already got the letter.

[cjules13]

ripoff prices? barely. we pay $90 a month for what looks to cost you $100 something.

i haven't recieved an riaa or mpaa notice, so i guess i'm not as ridiculously stupid as you. so i'll be laughing right now since you already got the letter.
I got the generic MPAA letter that doesn't mean shit really that everyone else got, and besides, I left Comcast long ago.

Now, if your 17-year-old punk-ass wants to start a flame war calling names, I suggest you stfu and do it through pm so I don't have to keep on embarrassing your wanna-be ass in public. If this is how you counter argue with someone and this is your level of maturity, I suggest you give mommy back your college money she gave you and you settle for just completing HS. While you're sitting in detention you can ponder this...

[isus]

I got the generic MPAA letter that doesn't mean shit really that everyone else got, and besides, I left Comcast long ago.

Now, if your 17-year-old punk-ass wants to start a flame war calling names, I suggest you stfu and do it through pm so I don't have to keep on embarrassing your wanna-be ass in public. If this is how you counter argue with someone and this is your level of maturity, I suggest you give mommy back your college money she gave you and you settle for just completing HS. While you're sitting in detention you can ponder this...
17 year old punkass?

nice try, guy, but work on your math. i'm 18.

and you say you're going to embarass ME?

at least i can do the simple math that says you're 29.

either way, check your facts before you start trying to spread bullshit.

"While you're sitting on Comcast paying 15-20% more for the same thing I have now from their competition, and you're receiving your RIAA notice, I'll be laughing all the way to the bank."
i use comcast, and a bunch of my friends use comcast (anyone else is still on dial up) and we all share a healthy amount. and guess what? none of us have recieved mpaa or riaa letters.

i've already proven your price points wrong by simply looking at my bill, and i do believe comcast is constantly running a "get your first 6 months for $30" campaign, so it would be even less.

and then there was that part about how comcast is just a bunch of "yes men" for the riaa and mpaa... and you came to this conclusion after you got ONE mpaa letter. good job!

so if you want to try to embarass me, come up with some decent math skills. the whole college/detention thing is so pitifully lame i'm just going to ignore and await your next "BUT I'M RIGHT! STFU!" post.

[cjules13]

at least i can do the simple math that says you're 29.
heh, check again - and eat your words...


i've already proven your price points wrong by simply looking at my bill, and i do believe comcast is constantly running a "get your first 6 months for $30" campaign, so it would be even less.
Don't you mean your mom's bill that she pays for you? lol.


and then there was that part about how comcast is just a bunch of "yes men" for the riaa and mpaa... and you came to this conclusion after you got ONE mpaa letter. good job!

so if you want to try to embarass me, come up with some decent math skills. the whole college/detention thing is so pitifully lame i'm just going to ignore and await your next "BUT I'M RIGHT! STFU!" post.No I didn't. I got it through research of who's suing who, and what ISPs, and what ISPs are the most prevalent. And the fact that there hasn't been a single press release about Comcast opposing anything whatsoever about the RIAA campaign.

Go finish your pop-tart and get to class, that's the bell ringing.

[isus]

heh, check again - and eat your words...
Don't you mean your mom's bill that she pays for you? lol.
No I didn't. I got it through research of who's suing who, and what ISPs, and what ISPs are the most prevalent. And the fact that there hasn't been a single press release about Comcast opposing anything whatsoever about the RIAA campaign.

Go finish your pop-tart and get to class, that's the bell ringing.
(dammit). alright you got me on the first one. we both need remedial math classes.

doesn't matter who pays the bill, it's still only $90.

http://mikesejournal.com/archives/002609.php it doesn't need to be usa today or cnn to be fact.

and i don't have to be in class... i did dual enrollment, and my csc120 final was yesterday, so no more college until this fall.

matched to your order of paragraphs.

[cjules13]

(dammit). alright you got me on the first one. we both need remedial math classes.

doesn't matter who pays the bill, it's still only $90.

http://mikesejournal.com/archives/002609.php it doesn't need to be usa today or cnn to be fact.

and i don't have to be in class... i did dual enrollment, and my csc120 final was yesterday, so no more college until this fall.

matched to your order of paragraphs.
I forgive you. Now don't mess with me again :aim

I took my C++ class in '95 - it was a bitch. Watch out for the sequel class, if it's anything like mine half the class will be weeded-out by midterm. Good luck and thanks for the article...

[isus]

I forgive you. Now don't mess with me again :aim

I took my C++ class in '95 - it was a bitch. Watch out for the sequel class, if it's anything like mine half the class will be weeded-out by midterm. Good luck and thanks for the article...
i'm not even so sure i want to be a computer programmer anymore... sure i like playing on computers, but do i want to PROGRAM them for the rest of my life?

[cjules13]

i'm not even so sure i want to be a computer programmer anymore... sure i like playing on computers, but do i want to PROGRAM them for the rest of my life?I had that choice too and decided I didn't want to sit in a cube and hash code all day. A lot of it is very interesting and it really is the meat of today's products. It pays well but it's a job that can be easily outsourced and moved around. On the other hand, there's some software jobs that will forever be rock-solid in the US. Defense being one of them and anything else that has valuable intellectual property. I went the EE route and now that I have my Masters, I'm really glad I made that choice. I get a lot more hands-on stuff, lab work, and a lot of flexibility doing many different things. And yes, even as an EE, I sit in a cube and hash code sometimes, but really only 10% or so of the time. By the time you get through your C class, which I have a feeling you'll be taking next semester, you should know enough to make your decision.

At my work we get undergrads coming through a lot where I just give them tours of what I do and show them what my job is about. Then I let them go talk to the ME's, and then the CS dudes, and then they have more informaton about choosing a major. Big companies in your area would probably help you out with something like that.

[isus]

Big companies in your area would probably help you out with something like that.
that's a contradiction... i live in god's shithole. we're lucky to even have cable tv (one of my friends is still using a modem because he lives in the middle of nowhere, not even cable tv). the biggest company within a half-hour drive is probably wal-mart.

either way, lots of time to decide. then again, i may also be questioning what i want to major in because i don't feel like i'm learning it the way i wanted to... i wanted to learn all about gcc and unix compiling and blah blah blah. instead i got into a college (for dual enrollment) where everything is microsoft and next year i'm gonna have to change gears because umbc (the real college) uses unix.

i dunno. i don't care really. all i want is the money ;-)

[ccc1005]

I've been using comcast for about 3 years. I go on news groups download gigs of stuff and never received anything from them. I brought my router from staples and i do not install any of the comcast software. I also have my firewall blocking them.
How do you do this, I thought with the new Giganews or whatever we have you are limited to 1 GB/month of downloads.

[LordNIkon]

I use Road Runner, never had any problems with them whatsoever.

Same Here, Its Been Great. I have no opinion on Comcast. I have heard they're Good and they suck. I read countless stories as well from both sides.