this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
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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".
I feel like the fact an ISP can just flatout say that should really scream oligopoly issues. Not just the fact the other company is just as bad, but the fact that they (the competitor) is fully aware that the switch is too costly to do.
Utility must become an internet
I have Spectrum and they essentially told me the same, since Frontier is now available in my area. Unsure if it’s true or Spectrum is bluffing. Can anyone here comment on Frontier or the difference between the two? Getting older and I can’t say I keep up with ISP’s as much as I should.
Nah. You can enter your address on frontier and they will tell you the max speed you can get. Over here, cable spectrum is more expensive than frontier fiber.
Really? I had no idea, but Spectrum is more expensive here, at $79 a month. I can’t imagine the monthly average for Frontier is worse.
Yeah, just check on frontiers website and compare the speeds and pricing. I think they have promotions right now for holidays. Just swapped over, $65 for 1GB speed.
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.
For me, unless the 5g has truly unlimited usage, data caps (even slowdowns) would be a bigger deal than the latency.
One provider in my area does 1Gbit truly unlimited, the other has 1Gbit but with 1.2TB caps (which we would probably hit each month)
That’s a good point as well, and people should likely check their own current cap as well, because a lot of people don’t realize they have a cap already.
In my town, I used T-Mobile Home Internet for a bit. The speed increase was great for a bit, even tho I liked to game. But after a point, the internet was congested from 3 PM to 10 PM. It was wonderful for the first 3 months, and then I had to constantly call the IT/Networking department. Imaging calling them twice a week, every week, and going through 3 router swaps, and a minimum of 20 minutes of phone tag, from September 2022 to February 2023.
"You said that last week."
"Okay, it's past november. It's still slow. My phone has no issues with data or calling."
"It's now close to Christmas, and it's even worse."
"Yet again, its still slow. Why does my phone still work just fine?"
"It's february and still shit."
"Then why can I use my phone just fine?"
"So I'm paying $50 a month to get the bottom of the last barrel?"
So now I'm back to using copper wires because at least it only gets slower during heavy wind, not people wanting to download songs and spy on their children when I'm trying to just relax after work.
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.