Service Providers (Internet, TV, Etc)

Seems like the Comcast-time warner deal will be killed. A win for consumers I think.

Justice Department Nearing Decision to Block Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger

Wow, I was sure that they were going to let it happen

Looks like the Comcast/Time Warner merger is official dead. Score one for the consumer

Comcast says it's over: It won't try to merge with Time Warner Cable - Apr. 24, 2015

Both Comcast and Time Warner still exist, the consumers didn't score anything.

The better news is that broadcasters seem more than willing to abandoned the traditional cable model with things like sling TV. Just gotta make sure the ISPs don't fuck over broadband with their shitty practices

Malakriss_sl said:

Both Comcast and Time Warner still exist, the consumers didn't score anything.

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Well Time Warner subscribers won because they won't have Comcast's shitty bandwidth caps or customer service.

Got a letter in the mail today that they're enabling that xfinity WiFi crap where they set everyone's router to a xfinity hotspot. They made me go through a whole bunch of links before I finally found out how to disable, the link was really tucked away. Surprised they sent out a letter to be honest.

You should have your own modem regardless and not use their garbage.

At least Comcast lets you use your own. Last time I had uverse I'm pretty sure you had to use their garbage and pay for it whether you liked it or not

Yea, that's only OK if it's an Apple product/service! LLllllliiighttniiiiiiiinnnngggg connector!

Ritley_sl said:

At least Comcast lets you use your own. Last time I had uverse I'm pretty sure you had to use their garbage and pay for it whether you liked it or not

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Most ISPs will just demand that you use their product if you want support from them. Understandable, as they can't expect to troubleshoot an infinite number of router brands and configurations. I have never used the provided equipment though. It's usually garbage quality anyway.

Well for modems they have to activate it on their network. You can't just plug a modem in and have it work, so if they don't support that then you are stuck using theirs

Our Comcast modem/router actually performs well so I don't mind. One day when I'm not lazy I'll buy a new modem

So last week I get an email from Time Warner saying that they are offering a free new cable modem upgrade, that they will be upgrading speeds in my area soon and that I need this new modem to take advantage of it. They mail it to me, Its a quick swap out, and I mail the old one back. Sounds easy enough. I figured what the hell, I might still be using them for 6+ months while I wait for Google Fiber to install.

So, I get the modem, and I've NEVER heard of this brand before, it's an Arris Interactive cable modem(not Motorola like all of their modems have been for years)

So I hook it up, takes FOREVER to update, hangs up once, have to do a hard reset, start over again, I'm like an hour into the process at this point. It finally registers and updates and then getting into the modem settings takes, I swear to god because I timed it, 5+ minutes for the settings screen to load, and 5+ minutes to change to one of the dozen or so different screens in the settings. Its just BRUTALLY slow.

So I get online to see WTF is up with this thing, and I come across the modem on Amazon and it's reviews:

Amazon.com: Arris DG1670A Touchstone Data Gateway: Computers Accessories

It's basically a huge POS that almost everyone has given 1-star reviews to, with half the reviews flat out saying NEVER USE THIS MODEM, IF YOUR CABLE COMPANY OFFERS IT TO YOU DO NOT TAKE IT.

So after a 20 minute call back to Time Warner, I just re-activated my Motorola and I'm taking this POS back. Total waste of about 2 hours of my night.

And after doing some more research, the Arris modem isn't even needed, the TW Motorola modems support up to 300MBPS (If you have one of the higher-end Motorola modems they give out when you have 25mbps service or higher), which is what the Arris supports too. So I have NO idea why they are sending these POSes out, they don't do anything the Motorola doesn't, and it does most things worse.

So, if you ever see that offer, don't take it unless it's at some point down the road and you can confirm 100% for sure that they aren't using Arris modems anymore, this thing is a hunk of junk.

They sent me one of those and my internet was intermittent. I was moving in a month or so to a place with FiOS so I told TWC to shove it up their asses.

Oh and when I asked a tech, they pretty much told me they just recycle them. You send a damaged one, a tech loads the latest firmware in and ships them out again (no matter if it's an actual hardware issue, a faulty capacitor or something).

I use Stofa Net - a local danish fiber company, very happy about it. Quick as a ninja dressed like a cat!

Oh Joeboo...you poor man. I had an Arris several years ago from Verizon I think and it was the absolute biggest pile of steaming shit I've ever used. You couldn't even use your own wireless router with it, not matter what you did. Everytime I tried to make a wireless access point/bridge, the router would brick. I actually had to send it back twice because of my "tampering" with it.

Never. Fucking. Again.

I believe Arris bought the modem line from Motorola. My Surfboard SB6141 had a Motorola logo and an Arris logo on the box, but only the Arris logo on the modem itself.

interesting

On December 19, 2012, ARRIS announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility's home unit (the former General Instrument company) from Google for $2.35 billion in cash and stock.[5][6] The acquisition was completed on April 17, 2013.[7] With that acquisition, ARRIS grew its presence in the set-top box market.[8]

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Arris Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damn you Google, why'd you sell that off to a POS company that apparently has very little quality control?

edit - I guess to be fair, it looks like Arris makes a lot of highly rated products. Time Warner just happened to give me their absolute worst rated product. Thanks Time Warner!

Amazon.com: arris - Modems / Networking Products: Electronics