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Make cable internet a utility.
That’s all you gotta do. Will solve 1000 problems and create 0, unless you’re Comcast.
Unless you’re Comcast… or someone who owns a lot of Comcast stock. And I’m pretty sure a lot of people in Congress own a lot of Comcast stock.
Wheeeeeeeeee rampant unregulated late-stage capitalism
My coworker’s wife works for a large consulting firm. He is barred from owning any securities, but fucking congress is not.
Rules for thee but not for me
Vested financial interest in the status quo go BRRRRRR
Disagree. Utilities are also a shitshow and have defrauded the consumer.
I’d prefer that a baseline level of internet service be defined (100mbps symmetrical max, 100ms latency or lower ) and allow local governments and communities to provide that level of service to their constituents. If a company wants to compete above those baselines, let them.
I’d also let the baselines be re-negotiated annually.
Do you have a source on utilities defrauding consumers? I don’t doubt it I’m just not aware of it.
See: pacific gas and electric
Just do a search for your local utility and “lawsuit”
I called my ISP after they bumped prices by $5/month (and told me a single time on the fine print at the bottom of the PDF e-bill of their shitty app). I threatened to switch to their competition and they told me flat out “no you won’t they’re not as fast and you’re not going to break even on setup fees for years”.
First, look into 5G competitors. They have higher latency but usually decent speeds. Unless you’re playing tournaments in competitive video games, they work just fine.
Then, call your ISP with a complaint, and say you’re considering moving over to that competitor. You have to actually be willing to make the move though, because retention lines are starting to care less and less about actually keeping you. I had one actually just say “okay done the line is cancelled.”
Be sure you actually call them on their bullshit though. “They aren’t as fast” may be true, but “I don’t actually need the speeds you’re offering 99% of the time.” “They have high latency” again may be true, but “I don’t actually use the internet for anything that requires an obscenely low ping.”
It’s annoying to have to do, but you can save money with it. And you may actually find a competitor you’re willing to make the move for, saving yourself some money in the process.
My choices are Verizon FiOS and Xfinity. I’d rather stay with FiOS than move to 5G because I do have some applications that benefit from 1% highs being <20ms ping. Plus when I looked at 5G the pricing was still around that $40-50 range for a decent line of service.
It’s just annoying because FiOS has a “2 year price guarantee” for new subscribers but is shafting my prices after 12 months. Xfinity is ~$5 cheaper but setup fees are ~$200 and I have to buy my own modem if I don’t want to pay the $10-20 rental fee. All that assumes Xfinity doesn’t raise their rates in 2 years.
When we moved into this house, the prior owners had a hookup to AT&T that was max 50 mbps for $50/month. We kept getting told that At&T fiber was coming “soon” to the area, but the truth is that we live in a neighborhood with a lot of old people who don’t need/know about fiber and there was no incentive for them to bring it to our street (the biggest kick in the balls was that it was available a couple blocks away). So we got a Comcast hookup that has served us well for a couple of years, for $75 a month (my only gripe of course being that we never got the speed we paid for). Well, they just upped the price by $5 a month and fiber has finally arrived in the form of Fidium, so we’re saying good riddance to Comcast as well.
This is probably the first time ever that I’ve had more than 1 viable option available to me, and the competition is probably why Comcast was cheaper for us than for my parents living in a Comcast only area. We have no brand loyalty, we’ll switch service the minute we get a better deal. But these companies are able to maintain their shitty practices because most people don’t have options.
People still watch Cable?
Its just called “the internet” now.
Oh! They have cable on the three internet now!
A lot of are locked in because of sports. Not a lot of competition in that arena sadly.
I would say it’s mostly tech illiterate people or people with enough money to not care about the cost. I’ve been watch NFL games for free for about 8 years
They’re broadcast on digital for years now. I’m shocked how many games you can watch. I think mostly you get your local teams only though, haven’t looked into it, because I don’t watch them.
I think only certain games are blocked, hell, I think even the
superb owlsuperbowl is broadcast.(Just had to leave in the autoincorrect for superbowl, thought it was funny)
How?
People under 50 watch sports?
Comcast has doubled my bill in 3 years. I was initially interested in AT&T Fiber, but it was pricey. Now they’re the same price and Fiber offers no data cap, 1TB down AND up (important for multiple video calls for multiple occupants simultaneously working from home). With price no longer a factor switching would be a no brainer. However, Comcast also has regular outages during core business hours which is almost catastrophic for the type of work we do, so there is almost no reason to stay even if the price were lower.
So why haven’t you switched yet?
Waiting for AT&T to install the line
They need to do a full in depth examination of their practices, tell them to spread em and cough.
