Comcast is making me want to shoot myself...

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 7:53 pm

Well, it is! Ever since I have built my machine, I haven't been able to play games online smoothly. I have now just given up on online gaming completely. All my friends used to call me so we could all join a game and whoops some ass in CS, but it has been a LONG time since I have done anything with them.

I've spend hours on the phone talking to the techies and their people have been out here twice and they still haven't fixed the problem. It goes down at an average of once every other day (anywhere from 5 minutes to the rest of the day). Web browsing is starting to seem rather slow and I state again, I can't play games online.

Now you tell me, if I can't browse quickly and I can't play games fuildly, what the heck is the point of having cable? I'm starting to think to go back to 56k and netzero (since it's free) to save my parents $55 a month. This is just ludicrous! I mean, I have netzero already downloaded and I have signed up. All I gotta do is call comcast to tell them to cancel our account.

In this situation, what would you do? I really hate giving up broadband for downloading purposes (all it's really good for anymore) but I think I could live with a 56k again. I would rather be playing games soothly at 200ping than playing games choppy at 60 ping (it's EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING! --happens anytime of day, any server).

I'm just confused on what to do. I thought about going with DSL, but I figured I would wait till my parents remodeled the house (in spring) Maybe then I can get the lines ran throughout my room and all. I dunno, you think I should give comcast another shot or should I quit and never look back?

Solstice · Post by **Solstice** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 9:01 pm

If your internal phone lines are relatively new, a DSL installation would be quick and easy. No need for a new line.

Also, many cable carriers charge a penalty fee for cancelling service before your contract expires. Make sure they know you are receiving sub-par service and refuse to pay any fees.

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 10:19 pm

Wow that is really a bummer I have Road Runner cable service and can not imagine going back to 56k modem. I have heard about a lot of probems with comcast and $55 is a lot I only pay $40 I think I would raise hell with them and see if they cant get the problem solved because I think you will be disapointed if you go back to a dial up modem. You should also check out what will be involved getting DSL Good Luck

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 4:19 pm

Hmm, penalty fee for canceling. Never thought about that. I've done about as much as I can do. Performance with my cable is so inconsistant. Some days it's terrible, other days it's alright. There have even been a *few* days to where I could play online. You don't understand how sweet that was, heh.

I'm gonna look into DSL since I don't really know what all is involved. A guy I know has DSL right now and he only gets about an average of 50kb/s download (where as I get about 100-300 depeding the server) so I dunno if I want to go that road or not. I'll have to experiement I guess.

MasterChen · Post by **MasterChen** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 6:10 pm

Tranz, by all means GET dsl if it's an option. Argue all you want about which is better, but the overall consistent speed victor is dsl. Cable is great too (I have it) but it has it's drawbacks. For one thing, the shared bandwidth. That could be causing your spikes too. I had this problem for 6 count em' 6 frikkin months before they did anything, and it was horrid. I had shaky, laggy, 600 ms ping, and it was worse than 56K. I pay $39.99 a month for 512/128K 2 way cable, and my download speeds range from 35-55K with it usually 44+. I'm okay with it, but now that my cable operator has hooked up with @home, I dont know if I should be happy or sad

Anyhow, get dsl if you can. Even if the overall download is smaller, the benefit of your own line and not sharing, and if your close to the central office, will be more than worth it imo.

Ladies Man · Post by **Ladies Man** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 6:21 pm

you say ever since you built your machine....... was it fine before then?

Fuzzboxvoodoo · Post by **Fuzzboxvoodoo** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 6:45 pm

yo get satalite.

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 6:57 pm

Ladies Man - It's hard to tell. I had cable for about a month or so before I sold my main machine (K6-2 400). It seemed fine then from what I remember. Then I sold my machine to start saving up for my new one (athy 700) I was on my parents machine in the meantime (P-150) so needless to say, I didn't even try playing games between that 4 month period of saving up and building my new machine. So it happened sometime within 4 months, heh. Sorta hard to pinpoint when the problem started.

It's wierd, like I siad, some days it's good, others its terrible. Today seems to be a good one for once. I tried both Q3 and CS and it worked alright. I'm sure it'll suck again tomarrow though.

I'm gonig to look into DSL. If it's as good as you people say, I can't go wrong. I don't really know what companies provide it besides http://www.speakeasy.net. I'm 11187 feet away from the service station. I hear anything past 18k feet is too much.

Here's the beef:

<li>Package/Speed - Essential Edge Basic 608/128 RADSL
<li>Install - Free*
<li>Hardware - Free*
<li>Monthly - $49.95
<li>Includes - 2 POP Email, 1 Dynamic IP, WebMail
<li>* Price is after rebate(s) and/or discount(s). Prices are for bridged DSL connections. Routed connections cost more.
________________________________________
Now, with DSL do you need an ISP or do they supply one ?(like @home does?) Above is just one choice I have. If I decide to do this, I'm definitly going to look at all the possiblities to see which is cheapest, etc.

[Edited by Hipnotic_Tranz on 12-19-2000 at 06:59 PM]

MasterChen · Post by **MasterChen** » Tue Dec 19, 2000 7:04 pm

With DSL, you need to be within like 20,000 FT' of the Central Office. It's hard to tell, but look for a dsl providers site and input your phone# and info and it will tell you. Second, it's just like cable. They intsall it, and you are up and running. You use a nic adapter, and it goes over phone lines. But I believe they install another line for just the service and not phone calls. It is always on, and you never need to dial up. You also use a modem just like a cable modem. Very similiar yet provided you get good dsl service, and are close to the Central Office, you will be golden.

I think their are different packages like

ADSL

SDSL

and more.

Not sure what advantages each has, but check http://www.speedguide.net and read up on it.

Good luck!