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Comment by rconti | Hacker News Reader

I already have to subscribe to Comcast's "basic" cable (which is what used to be called lifeline; it has nothing my antenna doesn't, not even the History Channel/Discovery Channel type stuff that used to be on 'basic).

The reason is that they charge me less when I'm also willing to be a TV 'subscriber'. TV+Internet is cheaper than Internet alone. The cable box just sits in its cardboard box in the attic, I still use my antenna because the quality is better.

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> TV+Internet is cheaper than Internet alone

Not true. Check your bill. TV+Internet might be cheaper when only counting the base rate of TV, but when you get TV you also get tons of fees piled on. FCC fees, Local Cable Access fees, Franchise fees, Cable Box fees, Taxes, etc. It will be different depending on where you live, but when I added up all the fees it added almost $15 extra per month just for basic cable.

It's still cheaper to just pay extra for internet without cable TV and get an OTA antenna.

Not necessarily untrue. TV+Internet is cheaper for me with my status as a current customer with Verizon FiOS.

Depends on where you are. Even with all of the fees included, I still come out cheaper with the TV+Internet bundle.

It really depends on the market. Comcast's prices and service can very significantly based on your zip code. That's why they require you to put in a house number before they'll even let you look at plans or prices. Also, if you put in an address without Comcast service in your neighborhood you'll get very different offerings than if you use your own address.

Used to be 90$ ish a month for years. Then they forced us into a promotional thing that ran out. And now the bill is 150$ a month for tv+internet+landline.

The option to just outright buy internet doesn't exist in their plans. Didn't give me any other options.

Theifs. Liers. Con artists.

I'm so fucking done with Comcast I'm building up a blueprint to help my town get community owned fiber access.

Everything I keep running into says don't. It doesn't work. It costs to much.

I hope it costs to much. I want Comcast to burn in hell for eternity.

I hate that they want to bundle SIP telephony. I arranged my own and pay about $5/month.

Google fiber is in town so prices are ok for data. I set out to get 10 mbits/sec service, the least I could buy was 50 mbits for $35. Apparently I'm getting 75 mbits now.

I was paying for 20 mbits for years and only getting 5 the entire time.

Only until 2017 did I actually start receiving the advertised speed.

Are they the only provider in your area?

Every year when my contract is about to expire they tell me my rates will be increasing from $60 to $90/mo., I call in and say I want to cancel and go to CenturyLink unless there is a comparable retention offer, and they continuously offer me a similar rate if I sign a new contract. It takes about 5 minutes, though I wish I didn't have to jump through hoops.

In a competitive market, they will do this for me within 2 calls usually with no escalations.

My friends in places where there is no other option go all the way up the chain with no results, since their threat to leave has no teeth.

It was crazy observing the difference in customer service when I moved to a major metro.

What I'm trying to say is that I agree that they suck, but they do subsidize the cities with higher fees in the country, and also that haggling is important.

> [comcast] do subsidize the cities with higher fees in the country

That may be true, but cities also cost less to serve than rural areas. Less density means that equipment serves fewer customers, each customer requires more cable to serve, technicians need to travel further between calls (or you need more of them), etc.

I've gotten around that recently by just cancelling my account and then having my girflfirend subscribe. We have Charter and their policy is that if you haven't been a customer for a certain amount of time (6-9 months) you count as a new subscriber.

You bring up a good point I hadn't thought of. I can't say for sure because I don't have an identical bill for internet-only without a TV package.

However, in Redwood City, CA, here is what my bill shows for additional fees:

Broadcast TV Fee: $7.00

FCC Regulatory Fee: $0.08

Franchise Fee: $2.03

PEG Access Support: $0.55

Local Utility User Tax: $1.49

State Sales Tax: $0.23

So, $13.10 in fees vs ?? in fees and ?? in additional costs to have Internet without Cable TV.

Your statements aren't true, at least in my market. It's cheaper for me to keep the cable box in the closet than have cable alone, fees included.

>> TV+Internet is cheaper than Internet alone

> Not true.

It can be. I had Internet-only service with Comcast for $65-ish/month. One day they called me up and offered TV+Internet for $55-ish/month, plus 12 months at a rate lower than that. I thought it was a scam at first, but I tried it. It was in fact a legit offer.

Same for me. When I said I don't need the TV box, can you just not ship it to me, they were really confused. Said its automated so they can't not ship it.

Its now in my closet still in the box.

Frontier did that to me with their router. I run all ubiquiti gear and don't want their junk (or any fees they may charge me for "renting" it). They forced me to take it even after I refused to be paying. Year later haven't been billed for it yet. Such a waste. I have a feeling one day they'll try to use it as an excuse to bill me a lot.

I've returned my Comcast cable boxes in the past, but then they just ship you a new one because they notice you don't have any equipment on your account. It doesn't cost me anything, but when I lose it and later cancel service, you can bet i'll be charged for it.

We canceled service and returned our Comcast box to the local office once a local WISP became available. A week later, a bill arrived in the mail charging us for the box. Apparently, the billing system doesn't first check the equipment return system and it took 45 minutes with Customer Service for the barely trained CS agent to figure out how to go off script and recognize the equipment was indeed already in their possession. After years of being over charged for under performing service, I can only hope for more WISPs to spring up and eat Comcast's lunch.

It's probably wishful thinking, but I hope Elon saves us with SpaceX broadband.

Request a CableCARD. They legally have to provide one, and in some cases may give you a small "customer owned equipment" credit.

I started this way, but I've actually upgraded the line to HD. And I got HBO for an extra $1 a month. I rarely use the actual cable box, but watch everything on the Xfinity TV website.

It doesn't cost much more than subscribing to an online TV service and has a pretty good selection at the basic channel tier.

Just to warn people who might have a different situation, sometimes cable companies say something along the lines of "$19.99 bundle!" And in the small print it says each, so it's actually $60 for phone, internet, and TV.

Return the box, it's billed sperately

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