I read this week that Comcast is raising its rates almost 6%. I have Comcast cable and high-speed internet. My bill is $141 monthly. The internet part of that is almost $50.

Now I understand that commercial about Comcast that plays that song, Who Let the Pigs Out? Anyone see that ad? I think Comcast is acting like greedy pigs, lol.

Is there an alternative? Usually, only companies with a monopoly act this arrogant. Are they the only show in town or what?

To my knowlege, Comcast is a monopoly. Such is life with the recent legislations that have been passed. It only took them a few years to get everything they wanted and more.

You might try Direct TV. They arent cheap either, and they always have teasers that you would need to pay more money for. They are better, though, I think, than Comcast.

Originally posted by Kitt
To my knowlege, Comcast is a monopoly. Such is life with the recent legislations that have been passed. It only took them a few years to get everything they wanted and more.

You might try Direct TV. They arent cheap either, and they always have teasers that you would need to pay more money for. They are better, though, I think, than Comcast.
Thanks. Dumb question alert: Does Direct TV handle internet? If not, what would I do about that? Also, is Direct TV a satellite type thing? I live in a townhouse and don't know what's allowed.

These questions are not all for you Kitt, lol. Any help is appreciated by anyone. :)

I have Directv and I am very happy with my service. They do have internet service called Direcway. I do not have that plan. I use Verizon with DSL plan for my phone and internet service.

Originally posted by Janice
is Direct TV a satellite type thing? I live in a townhouse and don't know what's allowed.

Yes it is a satellite type thing but it really a small and unobtrusive dish. My folks had restrictions on what TV service they could use in their townhouse, so your questilon about that needs an answer. Ask your mangagement. I would guess that by this time Direct TV has overcome that obstacle and have become available to most condo and townhouse residents.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
I have Directv and I am very happy with my service. They do have internet service called Direcway. I do not have that plan. I use Verizon with DSL plan for my phone and internet service.

I have Direct TV and use Verizon as well. I'm happy with the setup.

Direct TV is great(although it goes out almost everytime there's heavy rain or snow). DirecWAY apparently sucks. It's satellite internet and if you go from cable to it, it feels like dial-up because the signal has to go from your computer to the satellite and then back again. I was at my uncle's house(he has it) and it was painfully slow. I don't know if it was just the time of day(late afternoon) or what.

It's pretty awful how quickly Comcast was able to get most of the country by the balls when it comes to cable service. They've grown so much in the last ten years that it's impressive, yet sickening.

The cable industry here in Spokane has been kind of a soap opera as of late. We had Cox for over 20 years, until TCI took over in about 1997 (they traded Cox for a few markets). A few years later, TCI was bought out by AT&T, and a few years after that, "AT&T Broadband" was swallowed by Comcast.

Originally posted by Brent88
Direct TV is great(although it goes out almost everytime there's heavy rain or snow). DirecWAY apparently sucks. It's satellite internet and if you go from cable to it, it feels like dial-up because the signal has to go from your computer to the satellite and then back again. I was at my uncle's house(he has it) and it was painfully slow. I don't know if it was just the time of day(late afternoon) or what.

Yah, I've heard satellite internet is horrible. First, you will lose the connection when ever your TV is out.

Also, the speeds aren't great. I think the max is like 768K down/64K up. That's if you go with the 2 way. If you go one way your upstream is fed through a standard dial-up modem, which maxes out at 48K with V92.

The lag shouldn't be a problem unless you are playing games, in which case you can just about forget it, your ping won't get any better than 200ms.

Originally posted by Kitt
To my knowlege, Comcast is a monopoly. Such is life with the recent legislations that have been passed. It only took them a few years to get everything they wanted and more.

You might try Direct TV. They arent cheap either, and they always have teasers that you would need to pay more money for. They are better, though, I think, than Comcast.

We have had Direct TV for about 2 years and we like it so much better! Except when it snows.(like last night) The dish got clogged up with snow and my husband had to get up on the roof during the storm to clean it off! It goes out during heavy rain also but that usually doesn't last long! We have Comcast here too and they are constantly raising the rates. They are a monopoly in my area. I vote Satillite!:wave:

Originally posted by Janice
I read this week that Comcast is raising its rates almost 6%. I have Comcast cable and high-speed internet. My bill is $141 monthly. The internet part of that is almost $50.

Now I understand that commercial about Comcast that plays that song, Who Let the Pigs Out? Anyone see that ad? I think Comcast is acting like greedy pigs, lol.

Is there an alternative? Usually, only companies with a monopoly act this arrogant. Are they the only show in town or what?

:lol: Dish Network did a commercial with the cable pig.

I happen to be highly satisfied with Dish Network. I don't know about satellite internet though.

Originally posted by AKA
The cable industry here in Spokane has been kind of a soap opera as of late. We had Cox for over 20 years, until TCI took over in about 1997 (they traded Cox for a few markets). A few years later, TCI was bought out by AT&T, and a few years after that, "AT&T Broadband" was swallowed by Comcast.

Ours went the same route except for the beginning and the end.

Hawkeye Cablevision...TCI...AT&T...AT&T Broadband...Mediacom.

Mediacom is our monopoly. My aunt has that and personally, I think the picture sucks.

Hawkeye CAblevision?
(Has picture of Hawkeye Pierce running a cable company)

Originally posted by Devastation26
Hawkeye CAblevision?
(Has picture of Hawkeye Pierce running a cable company)

:lol: That would have been more fun.

Iowa is the hawkeye state, hense the name.

I have Comcast. Although it is a little pricey, the speed of it has gotten me spoiled, so i just bite the bullet and pay their over-priced service. :(

There is no reason that you would have to or choose to use the broadband service that Direct TV provides. I have Direct TV but use Pacbell's internet service. So if you aren't so convinced that Direct TV provides the best in that regard, then just go with the TV service only.

OMG that's too expensive!!!:eek:
I have SBC and use their DSL service for less than $30 a month. My cable provider (Charter) offers internet too but for about $20 more

Originally posted by Kitt
There is no reason that you would have to or choose to use the broadband service that Direct TV provides. I have Direct TV but use Pacbell's internet service. So if you aren't so convinced that Direct TV provides the best in that regard, then just go with the TV service only.

That's what I did. I looked into their internet service, but I got a better deal with Verizon.