Not exactly “Comcastic”:
Youthful Experimentation with VOIP
A few weeks ago, my wife and I moved into a new apartment and I signed us up for phone, cable and internet service with the only local service provider of all three, COMCAST.
In my old apartment, I had phone, cable and internet through RCN so I figured COMCAST Triple Play was pretty much the same idea. I was wrong. While the cable and internet worked fine, the phone service brought me unknowingly into the dark world of VOIP.
It was not until I stood in our bedroom watching the COMCAST installer wire up the modem and plug our phone into it that I understood COMCAST really meant the “Digital” in COMCAST Digital Voice.
I have since gone back and checked the COMCAST website and there is nothing that suggests this is anything other than standard phone service.
There is no mention of needing a modem (which is huge at about 4×6x6). There is no explanation that your wall jacks will not work.
There is no small print that lets you know that when your internet connection goes down, so does your phone service . There is also not a price break for the service. Vonage starts at 14.99. COMCAST DIGITAL VOICE, $33 a month introductory rate that spikes to $39.95 after the first year.
Truth in advertising might suggest the following things should be explained to prospective customers:
Knowing these things ahead of time, I could have saved a lot of hassle. Luckily, the nice folks at Verizon still provide good old fashioned, reliable phone service that comes out of the wall sockets in your home for $42 a month.
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20. September 2007 at :
It’s noted in here:
#3 A
“MTA: To use the Services, you will also need a multimedia terminal adapter (“MTA”) that meets our specifications pursuant to Section 3.b below. You can lease an MTA from us, in which case it will be Comcast Equipment (as defined below). Or, in some areas, we may permit you to use the Services with an MTA that you have purchased, in which case the MTA will be Customer “
20. September 2007 at :
PS - there’s a way to run a wire from that extra modem thing you got to the place where the phone line comes into your house - and you can connect it there. Then you can connect phones to the phone jacks like you would normally.
We have a similar service from AT&T.
20. September 2007 at :
It’s called Comcast DIGITAL voice… What exactly were you expecting?
20. September 2007 at :
Man, you people are some nasty critical bastards.
20. September 2007 at :
I thought this blog was all about “intelligent criticism in the service of a better nation” - or do you need to rewrite your mission statement?
20. September 2007 at :
With respect to the defenders of COMCAST,
1) if you go to their website, and click on the COMCAST DIGITAL VOICE link you will never find that information. It may be out there somewhere in the ether but they do not publicize it.
2) I live in an apartment so running cable down to the switch room in the basement is not an option
3) The word “digital” is in no way synonymous with VOIP when it comes to telephony. The phone service that Verizon provides is digital as is all phone service in the US since the 1960s
4) That’s just uncalled for…
21. September 2007 at :
Not trying to be a pain about this - but I found just by looking at their services and then clicking on terms of service. Apparently they have two phone services - one of which is the VOIP that you have. It took one minute. (I was employed as a librarian recently, so perhaps my searching skills are more fine-tuned than the average bear’s.)
We’re just busting your balls here, but there is a difference in service implied in by its name. If it was through the telephone wires - how could it be cheaper or offer more benefits (many VOIP services have personal phone books you can manage from your computer, online voicemail access, etc.) - they’d have been offering those things already (and probably charging more).
8. October 2007 at :
It is not any cheaper after the introductory rate and they only offer one type of phone service in my area.
8. October 2007 at :
And as I said before, digital does not mean VOIP. All phone service is digital since the 1960s