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jetskier · 10-16-2006, 07:40 PM

Hi all,

We just installed broadband up at the lake and (yes) we have Metrocast. We looked at HughsNet and it is considerably more expensive than cable modem plus you need to invest in a separate dish (can not use your existing DirecTV dish). They are currently running an installation special for $299 (normally $599) and their professional plan (about 1Mbps) is $79/month. Soooo...this one is a bit pricey.

I do have a couple of interesting cable company stories. First (your favorite and mine) Metrocast. When we had our service installed it appeared to be working correctly. One week later, when we came up to the lake it would time out. I called Metrocast and they had me connect directly to the cable modem (phone in one hand and the laptop balanced on my knee). It would not work; they indicated that there was a regional outage which seemed strange since our neighbor's connection worked just fine. With their assurance of an overnight fix, we waited until the morning. Guess what? It did not work. At that point, I called again and went through the laptop on the knee and phone balanced on the shoulder sobriety test.

I was told that there might be an issue but they hung up on me. I called back and guess what (laptop on the knee...) and this time they indicated that there was a red alarm on my modem (well shucks, I had that one figured since I could ping it but not anything else). It turns out that their installer had not tightened down the coax connection and it was attenuating the signal. ARGH !@#$#!

Comcast is not much better. Last winter the snow plow dug up my coax cable and severed it. Comcast told us that we would have to wait until May for them to fix it.

But my best story is years ago. I worked for Bay Networks and I knew the guys building the Lan City modems (pre Motorola). I had one that died. I called Comcast and they agreed that the modem had died since they could not ping it. This was prior to their ability to do caller id to identify you. So, I was surprised that they knew who I was to be able to ping me. So, I asked them how they knew who I was. They said that they heard me call my wife Mary. At that point, I asked them how many cable modems they had in North Reading. The answer was 3.

Jetskier

10-16-2006, 07:40 PM	#13
jetskier Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Reading, MA and South Down Shores Posts: 851 Thanks: 57 Thanked 183 Times in 114 Posts	Metrocast etc Hi all, We just installed broadband up at the lake and (yes) we have Metrocast. We looked at HughsNet and it is considerably more expensive than cable modem plus you need to invest in a separate dish (can not use your existing DirecTV dish). They are currently running an installation special for $299 (normally $599) and their professional plan (about 1Mbps) is $79/month. Soooo...this one is a bit pricey. I do have a couple of interesting cable company stories. First (your favorite and mine) Metrocast. When we had our service installed it appeared to be working correctly. One week later, when we came up to the lake it would time out. I called Metrocast and they had me connect directly to the cable modem (phone in one hand and the laptop balanced on my knee). It would not work; they indicated that there was a regional outage which seemed strange since our neighbor's connection worked just fine. With their assurance of an overnight fix, we waited until the morning. Guess what? It did not work. At that point, I called again and went through the laptop on the knee and phone balanced on the shoulder sobriety test. I was told that there might be an issue but they hung up on me. I called back and guess what (laptop on the knee...) and this time they indicated that there was a red alarm on my modem (well shucks, I had that one figured since I could ping it but not anything else). It turns out that their installer had not tightened down the coax connection and it was attenuating the signal. ARGH !@#$#! Comcast is not much better. Last winter the snow plow dug up my coax cable and severed it. Comcast told us that we would have to wait until May for them to fix it. But my best story is years ago. I worked for Bay Networks and I knew the guys building the Lan City modems (pre Motorola). I had one that died. I called Comcast and they agreed that the modem had died since they could not ping it. This was prior to their ability to do caller id to identify you. So, I was surprised that they knew who I was to be able to ping me. So, I asked them how they knew who I was. They said that they heard me call my wife Mary. At that point, I asked them how many cable modems they had in North Reading. The answer was 3. Jetskier