PCA Forums

Anybody else see this?

My bill when up a LOT a few months ago. They are now charging for a $3 rental for DTAs (the first two were free for a while). My "Performance" Internet went from $42 to $51 (and yeah, they bumped the speed a bit), and they now charge a whopping $7 a month for a modem (I have always owned my own modem).

Keeps going up. If you don't need the bandwidth (heh... anyone one this forum probably wants MORE bandwidth) then you could switch to the "Economy" plan which used to be $26 a month (probably more now).

beware Comcast loves to charge rental fee's on equipment you own . they hit me like that for a while .wife was just paying the bill and never asked me about the fee on the bill .they will not go back more then 6 month on credit when a error is found. another time we just got cable and the box I signed up for should of had a recorder in it. I watch so little tv and never gave a shit about recording anything . then one day we seen something went and hit record . we found out are box was not equip .called and got a 6 month credit .and the girl tossed in like Hbo or showmax one of them anyway for free for so long .after paying them for like 2-3 years for equipment we never had. then add the extra taxs to you don't think about. that time it was part of are package bundle.

<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2854946482"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/2854946482.png" /></a>

Try dividing my speed by $60 month and comparing them to yours....

There was an article that Verizon is abandoning the copper lines on Fire Island and other places whacked by Sandy...in part because the only source for parts is now Ebay....lol for those of us on old copper.

beware of another trick played by Comcast . you are told to return a rental unit to there office or ship it back to them. after you have done so and even have a receipt you turned it back in .they will keep billing you and claim they have no record of you doing so. they may even make you fax them a copy proving the equipment was turned in. more I speak to local friends and neighbors Im hearing the same bull shit as I have had in the past.

is there any really logical reason why you can't by your own TV Cable Box . you /they have to send a serial and mac address in to Comcast or your cable service suppler to bring you your service . they have you rent them from them. if they say rent from me or no service then it should be rent it or buy one as a second option.

Reno: well you do have some options, but they involve spending some money on hardware. Instead of a box, rent a cablecard from them for $1.50 a month and buy a cablecard compatible TV, or a Tivo, or do like me and use a media center pc with a cablecard tuner.

Most of us probably have a spare PC or laptop lying around.

Cablecard lets you "bring your own box".

didn't know about the cablecard .

Some info on CableCards here: http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-su ... ablecards/

Some info about installing them on a Tivo here: http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/135

Unfortunately I think the idea of CableCard ready HDTVs died - I can't find any doing a casual Google search so your two options would be a Tivo or Media Center PC with a CableCard tuner.

Also refer to the post I made recently about my recent purchase of a USB CableCard TV tuner for my Media Center PCs: http://pcabusers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54814

I've been using Media Center PCs as my DVRs for 10 years now. However up until recently I still rented a box from Comcast for each PC and then connected the box to the computer through a tuner card, and the computer controlled the box with an IR emitter that simulates the cable box's remote control codes.

The CableCard tuner let's me eliminate the boxes entirely.

I'm a techie and I love media Center, but the least painful route would be to buy a Tivo. Tivos make Comcast's DVRs look like crap. Only thing is that Tivo has a monthly subscription for the channel guide ($15 I think). No fees for the channel guide in Windows Media Center - it's free.

I don't know much about them, but I have friends who have them and I've played with their units when visiting. Some Tivos here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... words=tivo

A good article here: http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/10/the-g ... xperience/