expatdoc

civilservant

If WIndstream services your area, avoid it like it's a zombie trying to eat your face...

tom169

Not had any more issues with TWC/Spectrum now ATT fiber as I did with companies in the UK.

celticgrid

I would avoid Spectrum. But as you say, all as bad as each other from one view or another. At least it appears you have a choice.

Rete

Had Verizon many years when living in New York and they were great to deal with. The issue is fiber optics. Not all buildings are wired for fiber optics and without it you can't use Verizon. Their website might say one thing but the rep says another. Talk to other tenants or the superintendent and see if the building has been rewired for fiber optics.

Currently have Comcast and it is the pits. Service is lousy and the packages are super expensive here in Mississippi giving you less than what you get in New York City area. I'm comparing New York Verizon and Cablevision service and package deals. Friends in SC and NC have Spectrum and hate them.

If you can untangle the Verizon issue, I would go with them. They are spot on with sending repairmen for problems and their package deals are good.

steveq

Yet I have Comcast, and can't fault the line speed or their service ! Its got to be down to your "particular" service provider and their people.

Rete

There is no service operators for Comcast on the weekends here, either in person on a Saturday or on the phone. You are told to call back on Monday morning. When you are lucky enough to get through to someone the Indian accent is so strong neither myself nor my husband can understand them. When you have trouble with the converter box, you need to bring it back to them and they hand you another one. We watched while they take yours and drop it into a container and the customer service rep in the next window took our broken one and gave it to someone else to take home. I don't call that good service. We have had to bring boxes back sometimes 4 times before we got one that worked. It took them three attempts to close husband's account and open mine while they still billed us both and we only had one account. We have Comcast because it is the only game in town outside of Direct TV.

expatdoc

dj6372

Had Time Warner/Spectrum when we lived in LA, telly was fine but t'internet was pretty slow, I believe it was because of the age of the building we lived, have since moved to Atlanta and we had the choice of AT&T or Comcast, picked Comcast only because they appeared the best of the worst!

Had a few issues getting setup, but that was due to the apartment complex being brand new, had our box replaced with a new version, but since that they have been pretty good, t'internet is ultra quick and I've not seen any throttling back, they are pretty spendy, but then I spent a fortune in the UK for Sky.

Rete

And I have found this to be just the opposite with any other company other than a cable company. I had Verizon in New York for over a decade and was always extremely happy with their services and customer services.

expatdoc

mrken30

I think service may vary depending on region. I have never been able to fault Comcast service. They have always been very responsive. As for cost, yes, they cost a tiny bit more, but the equipment and service is light years ahead of my other option, Frontier.

zzrmark

We're on Spectrum, slow but it works most of the time, pretty much as expected from a service that still delivers using a co-axial cable, absolutely extortionate just like their competitors but the same could be said about US mobile companies too.
Welcome to the land of advanced technology. This week I paid three cheques into my bank account, reminded me of my birthdays back in the 1970's! ...And I really love pretending to be a caveman cooking over fire on wet summer afternoons (that's every summer afternoon in Florida), rolling out the BBQ because the thingy in the kitchen that heats stuff up doesn't have a grill.

penguinsix

US telecommunication's policy is generally designed to create two ISPs in an area, one from the telephone company and one from the cable tv company. In most cities, these are your two main options, with sundry other smaller shops or 'piggyback' providers operating over one of those two lines (i.e. they provide the service but utilize the big telco or cable tv provider's actually lines to do so, just adding another layer of bureaucracy to your setup).

As such, your choices are really quite limited.

In many areas you can get a month-to-month contract. You might want to give one provider a try and see how it works, jumping ship to another if you are frustrated.

HDWill

It's interesting how the enormous resources poured into telephone infrastructure and later cable TV infrastructure in the 20th century have evolved into the current internet landscape. I'd like to learn more about how all this evolved - how public and private money co-mingled, and how policy varied across different countries. Any good books out there?