Comcast admits to degrading your Internet experience on clarkhoward.com

The nation's largest cable company has now admitted that it's purposely degrading your Internet experience when you watch a competitor's video online. At first Comcast was not forthcoming about its practices, but now the company has fessed up in a federal filing. Clark invites a Comcast spokesperson to come on the show and explain how they can justify their actions. Their excuse is that they're trying to make sure your Internet experience is reliable. Huh? Clark is really scratching his head over that one. What they're really doing is purposely conspiring against your good experience by forcing you to their content -- especially their cable service.

If you pay Comcast, who are they to be judge, jury and executioner and prevent you from accessing what you want online? This goes back to the issue of Net neutrality. For example, the phone company is required to complete your call as dialed; they can't decide that there's not enough revenue in the call for them and just disconnect you. Net neutrality does not permit it. Likewise, Comcast can't infringe on your rights. Congress will soon have hearings to discuss the Internet Freedom Preservation Act. Comcast is essentially deciding what speech you can and can't access. Clark knows that the cable providers are monopolies. Yet he's not aware of any of the other cable monopolies engaging in this despicable behavior. This has got to be stopped. If it's not, how soon will it be before the others try to engage in this funny business too? Clark has never feared media companies getting bigger, but there have to be some rules of engagement for capitalism and a cop on the beat.

What others are saying

If video killed the radio star then Comcast killed the analog TV ...
I just received a letter from them letting me know how much *better* my experience was going to be in the near future. On April 28th, they will be cutting off all analog channels except 3 – 30 and digital cable boxes will be required to receive the remaining channels that used to be on the expanded basic analog tier. The irony being that the majority of the remaining analog channels after that point will be available for FREE in HD via an antenna. They went on to say that they would be gracious enough to “give” me 2 converter boxes. In my house we only have 1 HDTV ready TV and the remaining TV’s are all analog. To continue viewing television as I had I will have to rent additional boxes from them. Even my HDTV ready TV really needs a cable box as not all digital channels are “in the clear” meaning a converter box is required to descramble them. In addition to that, for those of us that own a TIVO (or similar) guess what? They are only able to receive the analog channels so they too are largely useless without a digital cable box hooked up to them. That lifetime subscription that you paid TIVO … pretty much useless! So Comcast, tell me again how this is a *better* experience???
To me this is yet another way that Comcast is trying to increase their ARPU (average revenue per user) by putting the squeeze on their customer. Squeeze plays such as what Comcast is doing are NOT the way to accomplish this; you offer a quality product and educate your customers on its value so they want to subscribe. If you do this loyal customers are retained as compared to the bitter victims of squeeze plays that will leave as soon as they can find another option.
I will be firing Comcast as soon as I figure out what I can do for my internet service (hopefully Clearwire’s WiMax here in Atlanta soon. High Speed Internet can viable alternative to CATV as so many television shows can be streamed on the internet. You can even hook a computer up most newer HDTV’s to view on a large screen. Throw in an over the air antenna and you are set (with a digital-to-analog converter if you have old TV’s). HSI also allows you to take advantage of the cheap VOIP telephone services such as Magicjack, Skype, ViaTalk, etc.
By TickedOffAtComcast @ 04/16/09 09:56:51 AMreport abuse
FIRE THEM
We called to fire comcast 6 months ago and they cut our bill in half right down the middle for 6 months. Well that is over so I am turning in my cable boxes today. There are other ways to get entertainment and someone needs to send a message to these jerks that they can't treat us like this. Fire them and take control of your life again. You won't regret it.
By ERK624 @ 03/25/09 06:56:07 AMreport abuse
Comcast "SmartZone" Email
Recently Comcast switched it's email over to "SmartZone". I use Comcast for my job search, because I think it gives me a more "professional" appearance. The latest switch doesn't allow me to attach both my one page resume and references, because the two pages are "too big" for Comcast. I used to be able to get around that limit by cutting and pasting one or the other into the body of the email...now I can't. Thanks for nothing Comcast.
By Stone @ 02/20/09 03:16:08 PMreport abuse
Comcast trying to force people to digital tv packages
Some residents are are finding that there basic cable packages are shrinking and channels are being moved to digital only packages. Comcast is currently involved in several court battles after they moved basic channels to digital only packages. In North Georgia we recently lost the History Channel and the TV Guide Network. The NFL/Braves Bullpen is suing Comcast for moving the NFL Network from basic cable to a digital sports tier.
By Jason @ 12/15/08 06:54:18 PMreport abuse
comcast internet connection slowed down also
I was also watching a movie last night, and the movie stopped about 20 mins into it because the internet connection speed slowed down to hardely nothing. i called comcast and they told me to reset the modem also. The rep told me that they will soon also be limiting customers bandwidth to 250gigs to improve the connection during peek hours. So what does that mean to us who watch netflix or playstation 3 online. when I asked the rep, he said we would receive a warning letter and would be cut off once we reach 250gigs of download. How can comcast do this if we already have service??? I tried to look into switching but comcast is the only internet provider in my area, hopefully someone will try to compete with them, because I will be gone ASAP..
By robert @ 11/19/08 12:03:53 PMreport abuse
unbundle - increase your rates
i formerly subscribed to comcast tv/cable, but they were unable to deliver tv reliably (ie went dead during super bowl). after 10 seperate service visits (and 10 days off of work) i gave up and went satellite. so comcast increased my internet fee by $20. i called cobb county - they said, sorry, its a monopoly - ?whats a county to do?

no kidding - no embellishment. honestly, i would feel better if they just sent a letter that says: gotcha, suckers!
By gfv @ 10/28/08 10:22:13 PMreport abuse
Comcast Bundle Increase 2
I had the same problem where my bill just went up 10%. Called Comcast and they said the bundle was up and that is what i had to pay.

I asked what could be done and they said "nothing". I said i would look for other service and they said the could start the disconnection process now and would i like to be transferred.

Sounds to me Comcast needs some competition. They can charge what they want and there are not too many other choices.

Why do our city Governments allow this practice of no competition???

I will look at other Voip, but if you do not have cable, they punish you by raising your internet bill.
By RD @ 10/10/08 05:06:44 PMreport abuse
Comcast bundle price increase
The initial bundle service cost about $130. After a year, the plan is no longer available for current customers. In order to stay a customer one would have to either downgrade services or pay for the new plan of $160.

There are other options to lower the cost of TV, cable internet and phone outside Comcast.
Why would Comcast not honor a existing customer with the same discount of a new customer? It looks like a new Comcast customer is treated better than a established customer. It looks like established customers have to subsidize the cost of new customer for Comcast.
Comcast has a fixed cost after the installation is complete. Why the extra $$ for old customers?
By D. @ 10/08/08 11:50:51 AMreport abuse
Comcast Bundling to Save $
We switched to Comcast from AT&T-too many details to write here. I also took photos of severely botched install-3 Contractors here 9 1/2 hrs-STILL couldn't hook up all home systems
By Linda Z @ 09/03/08 10:34:16 AMreport abuse
Comcast Hilarious Excuse
I called Comcast on August 1, 2008 to report that the line that feeds from the power pole across the street to my house in only about 6 feet of the ground. Vehicles are hitting the cable and it is a hazard. Comcast refused to come out to repair the wire unless I am home. When I questioned them about why I need to be home in order for them to repair the hazard, they could not give me an answer. I asked to speak to the supervisor to get my point across with no avail. Lastly, I called the non-emergency police phone number today to report the hazard. Maybe they can get it repaired. I plan on calling comcast again this evening and recording the phone conversation to post it on youtube. I think it will make for a few entertaining minutes. :-)
By Andy @ 08/06/08 10:12:55 AMreport abuse
Comcast Customer NO service
Tried all week to get a tech out to our house. One showed up it rained and he left. No we are scheduled a week out. Tried calling and was put on "death" hold.
By Mr. Babcock @ 08/01/08 01:11:42 PMreport abuse
Services Eroding
Two years ago we took advantage of Comcast's Bundled Services Plans. Services in our bundle are for internet, phone and cable. What we paid for and received two years ago seemed fair and a very good deal - and the services were outstanding. All of that has changed and what we pay today far exceeds what is available elsewhere in the marketplace. Even worse, our services have decreased to such a point that on some days we have no services - eg. Internet - slow, have had days when the Comcast system is 'down' altogether; Phones - incoherent calls, dropped calls, inability to make outgoing calls, some days no phone service at all; Cable -
shows being watched suddenly get scrambled, available stations not available, some days no cable at all. We've called for service so many times but Comcast continually makes excuses and blows us off. They have sent out repair people however they tell us nothing is wrong with our service. At this point we give up on Comcast. We are now looking to move to other service providers. We would prefer another cable provider however this is not possible. The biggest problem I see is there is no other cable company available to us here in Georgia - Comcast is a monopoly. Comcast has very slick advertising, very good customer 'no service', prices that just seem to 'inch up' magically and extremely poor quality services. Buyer beware.
By Carol @ 07/11/08 03:05:35 PMreport abuse
Package Deals
For the people that have a "Package" - I.E. Comcast. You know - cable, telephone & Internet all together. Cable is by far the only entertainment provider. I have Comcast Internet service, Vonage telephone service and Directv service for entertainment.
Vonage has the best prices for everything any company can provide, except now AT&T is starting to offer phone service for $19.95 a month.
Vonage starts at $24.95 a month and goes down if you pay a year in advance. It has all of the features and services as any other telephone provider. Comcast Internet service offers the fastest Internet speed. Directv has the most channels on their lineup for the money.
NO you're not going to get all of that for $99.95 a month like Comcast offers, but you get what you pay for.
By Damon @ 07/02/08 11:49:13 PMreport abuse
Internet speed slowed down
Family and I was watching a movie on net -flix last night in the middle th movie stopped do to "Your internet speed had slowed " called Comcast said disconect the modem and reboot every thing, after we did it did it again. Looks like Comcast is still at it Tried calling A.T.T to switch my internet but they dont have the service avalible in my naborhood yet. so I Can't switch due to comcast is the only player in the internet World in my section in Woodstock,GA.
By David Fige @ 07/02/08 09:04:46 AMreport abuse

If video killed the radio star then Comcast killed the analog TV ...

I just received a letter from them letting me know how much *better* my experience was going to be in the near future. On April 28th, they will be cutting off all analog channels except 3 – 30 and digital cable boxes will be required to receive the remaining channels that used to be on the expanded basic analog tier. The irony being that the majority of the remaining analog channels after that point will be available for FREE in HD via an antenna. They went on to say that they would be gracious enough to “give” me 2 converter boxes. In my house we only have 1 HDTV ready TV and the remaining TV’s are all analog. To continue viewing television as I had I will have to rent additional boxes from them. Even my HDTV ready TV really needs a cable box as not all digital channels are “in the clear” meaning a converter box is required to descramble them. In addition to that, for those of us that own a TIVO (or similar) guess what? They are only able to receive the analog channels so they too are largely useless without a digital cable box hooked up to them. That lifetime subscription that you paid TIVO … pretty much useless! So Comcast, tell me again how this is a *better* experience???
To me this is yet another way that Comcast is trying to increase their ARPU (average revenue per user) by putting the squeeze on their customer. Squeeze plays such as what Comcast is doing are NOT the way to accomplish this; you offer a quality product and educate your customers on its value so they want to subscribe. If you do this loyal customers are retained as compared to the bitter victims of squeeze plays that will leave as soon as they can find another option.
I will be firing Comcast as soon as I figure out what I can do for my internet service (hopefully Clearwire’s WiMax here in Atlanta soon. High Speed Internet can viable alternative to CATV as so many television shows can be streamed on the internet. You can even hook a computer up most newer HDTV’s to view on a large screen. Throw in an over the air antenna and you are set (with a digital-to-analog converter if you have old TV’s). HSI also allows you to take advantage of the cheap VOIP telephone services such as Magicjack, Skype, ViaTalk, etc.

By TickedOffAtComcast @ 04/16/09 09:56:51 AMreport abuse

FIRE THEM

We called to fire comcast 6 months ago and they cut our bill in half right down the middle for 6 months. Well that is over so I am turning in my cable boxes today. There are other ways to get entertainment and someone needs to send a message to these jerks that they can't treat us like this. Fire them and take control of your life again. You won't regret it.

By ERK624 @ 03/25/09 06:56:07 AMreport abuse

Comcast "SmartZone" Email

Recently Comcast switched it's email over to "SmartZone". I use Comcast for my job search, because I think it gives me a more "professional" appearance. The latest switch doesn't allow me to attach both my one page resume and references, because the two pages are "too big" for Comcast. I used to be able to get around that limit by cutting and pasting one or the other into the body of the email...now I can't. Thanks for nothing Comcast.

By Stone @ 02/20/09 03:16:08 PMreport abuse

Comcast trying to force people to digital tv packages

Some residents are are finding that there basic cable packages are shrinking and channels are being moved to digital only packages. Comcast is currently involved in several court battles after they moved basic channels to digital only packages. In North Georgia we recently lost the History Channel and the TV Guide Network. The NFL/Braves Bullpen is suing Comcast for moving the NFL Network from basic cable to a digital sports tier.

By Jason @ 12/15/08 06:54:18 PMreport abuse

comcast internet connection slowed down also

I was also watching a movie last night, and the movie stopped about 20 mins into it because the internet connection speed slowed down to hardely nothing. i called comcast and they told me to reset the modem also. The rep told me that they will soon also be limiting customers bandwidth to 250gigs to improve the connection during peek hours. So what does that mean to us who watch netflix or playstation 3 online. when I asked the rep, he said we would receive a warning letter and would be cut off once we reach 250gigs of download. How can comcast do this if we already have service??? I tried to look into switching but comcast is the only internet provider in my area, hopefully someone will try to compete with them, because I will be gone ASAP..

By robert @ 11/19/08 12:03:53 PMreport abuse

unbundle - increase your rates

i formerly subscribed to comcast tv/cable, but they were unable to deliver tv reliably (ie went dead during super bowl). after 10 seperate service visits (and 10 days off of work) i gave up and went satellite. so comcast increased my internet fee by $20. i called cobb county - they said, sorry, its a monopoly - ?whats a county to do?

no kidding - no embellishment. honestly, i would feel better if they just sent a letter that says: gotcha, suckers!

By gfv @ 10/28/08 10:22:13 PMreport abuse

Comcast Bundle Increase 2

I had the same problem where my bill just went up 10%. Called Comcast and they said the bundle was up and that is what i had to pay.

I asked what could be done and they said "nothing". I said i would look for other service and they said the could start the disconnection process now and would i like to be transferred.

Sounds to me Comcast needs some competition. They can charge what they want and there are not too many other choices.

Why do our city Governments allow this practice of no competition???

I will look at other Voip, but if you do not have cable, they punish you by raising your internet bill.

By RD @ 10/10/08 05:06:44 PMreport abuse

Comcast bundle price increase

The initial bundle service cost about $130. After a year, the plan is no longer available for current customers. In order to stay a customer one would have to either downgrade services or pay for the new plan of $160.

There are other options to lower the cost of TV, cable internet and phone outside Comcast.
Why would Comcast not honor a existing customer with the same discount of a new customer? It looks like a new Comcast customer is treated better than a established customer. It looks like established customers have to subsidize the cost of new customer for Comcast.
Comcast has a fixed cost after the installation is complete. Why the extra $$ for old customers?

By D. @ 10/08/08 11:50:51 AMreport abuse

Comcast Bundling to Save $

We switched to Comcast from AT&T-too many details to write here. I also took photos of severely botched install-3 Contractors here 9 1/2 hrs-STILL couldn't hook up all home systems

By Linda Z @ 09/03/08 10:34:16 AMreport abuse

Comcast Hilarious Excuse

I called Comcast on August 1, 2008 to report that the line that feeds from the power pole across the street to my house in only about 6 feet of the ground. Vehicles are hitting the cable and it is a hazard. Comcast refused to come out to repair the wire unless I am home. When I questioned them about why I need to be home in order for them to repair the hazard, they could not give me an answer. I asked to speak to the supervisor to get my point across with no avail. Lastly, I called the non-emergency police phone number today to report the hazard. Maybe they can get it repaired. I plan on calling comcast again this evening and recording the phone conversation to post it on youtube. I think it will make for a few entertaining minutes. :-)

By Andy @ 08/06/08 10:12:55 AMreport abuse

Comcast Customer NO service

Tried all week to get a tech out to our house. One showed up it rained and he left. No we are scheduled a week out. Tried calling and was put on "death" hold.

By Mr. Babcock @ 08/01/08 01:11:42 PMreport abuse

Services Eroding

Two years ago we took advantage of Comcast's Bundled Services Plans. Services in our bundle are for internet, phone and cable. What we paid for and received two years ago seemed fair and a very good deal - and the services were outstanding. All of that has changed and what we pay today far exceeds what is available elsewhere in the marketplace. Even worse, our services have decreased to such a point that on some days we have no services - eg. Internet - slow, have had days when the Comcast system is 'down' altogether; Phones - incoherent calls, dropped calls, inability to make outgoing calls, some days no phone service at all; Cable -
shows being watched suddenly get scrambled, available stations not available, some days no cable at all. We've called for service so many times but Comcast continually makes excuses and blows us off. They have sent out repair people however they tell us nothing is wrong with our service. At this point we give up on Comcast. We are now looking to move to other service providers. We would prefer another cable provider however this is not possible. The biggest problem I see is there is no other cable company available to us here in Georgia - Comcast is a monopoly. Comcast has very slick advertising, very good customer 'no service', prices that just seem to 'inch up' magically and extremely poor quality services. Buyer beware.

By Carol @ 07/11/08 03:05:35 PMreport abuse

Package Deals

For the people that have a "Package" - I.E. Comcast. You know - cable, telephone & Internet all together. Cable is by far the only entertainment provider. I have Comcast Internet service, Vonage telephone service and Directv service for entertainment.
Vonage has the best prices for everything any company can provide, except now AT&T is starting to offer phone service for $19.95 a month.
Vonage starts at $24.95 a month and goes down if you pay a year in advance. It has all of the features and services as any other telephone provider. Comcast Internet service offers the fastest Internet speed. Directv has the most channels on their lineup for the money.
NO you're not going to get all of that for $99.95 a month like Comcast offers, but you get what you pay for.

By Damon @ 07/02/08 11:49:13 PMreport abuse

Internet speed slowed down

Family and I was watching a movie on net -flix last night in the middle th movie stopped do to "Your internet speed had slowed " called Comcast said disconect the modem and reboot every thing, after we did it did it again. Looks like Comcast is still at it Tried calling A.T.T to switch my internet but they dont have the service avalible in my naborhood yet. so I Can't switch due to comcast is the only player in the internet World in my section in Woodstock,GA.

By David Fige @ 07/02/08 09:04:46 AMreport abuse

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Feb 14, 2008 -- Comcast admits to degrading your Internet experience

What others are saying