AT&T Tech Support 360
-
CNET editors' rating:
3.0 stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 150 reviews
- See all user reviews
Product summary
The good: Fast; 175MB of storage space; free Web site hosting; 2GB of newsgroup downloads.
The bad: Pricey after initial deals; no direct dial-up when cable service is down; so-so online documentation; lacks fax support.
The bottom line: Comcast High-Speed Internet is fast and reliable, but it's pricey when compared with DSL services.
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 10/05/2005
Though it's pricey at $42.95 a month, Comcast's consumer High-Speed Internet service is fast and reliable. With seven mailboxes, 175MB of storage, 2GB of newsgroup downloads, download speeds up to 6Mbps, and a boatload of free software, including McAfee's Internet-security programs, Comcast High-Speed Internet is a good choice for those willing to pay a premium for speed. However, DSL providers such as EarthLink and SBC Yahoo offer better deals.
The easiest way to install Comcast's broadband Internet service is to have a technician do it ($99.99; $149.99 if you opt for Comcast's cable modem/router)--no fuss. However, Comcast occasionally offers a free self-install kit that includes most of the relatively few necessities. Anyone who can plug a cord into a socket or a jack should be able to handle the simple procedure described in Comcast's supplied setup guide.
The first step is to attach the coaxial cable line that comes into your house or room to the input of the supplied cable splitter. Next, run one high-quality three-foot coaxial cable (included with the kit) from the splitter's outputs to the cable modem. Finally, run another cable from the splitter to your cable box, TV, or other previous destination. Comcast provides only one short coaxial cable, which may be all you need. If not, you'll have to pick one up at a local electronics or video dealer. While you're there, you might also want to buy an Ethernet cable to run from the back of the modem to your PC or router, as Comcast omits this necessity as well.
You can rent a cable modem from Comcast for $3 a month or a cable modem/wireless router for $5 a month; alternately, you can supply your own. The company provides a list of compatible modems on its Web site.
Once you're through cabling, simply fire up the installation software from the provided CD. It will gather some information from you and contact Comcast via the Internet to open your account and get your IP address. Comcast uses dynamic IP addresses for its residential High-Speed Internet service. That means the address changes periodically and isn't especially well suited to hosting services behind your modem. Still, Comcast is always on, which means you don't have to fire up an app or log on, as with some services.
As an ISP host, Comcast offers more than enough beef for the average home user: 175MB of storage for your files and Web sites, seven mailbox addresses, and 2GB of newsgroup downloads. Unfortunately, Comcast doesn't provide dial-up access in case of an emergency or a service outage.
Beyond the basics, Comcast supplies an impressive bundle of free software, including McAfee's VirusScan and Personal Firewall Plus and Simple Star's PhotoShow Deluxe photo editing and sharing software. Comcast provides free access to its PhotoCenter (Snapfish) with free storage and 12-cent prints. You also get a Comcast-specific version of Rhapsody Radio Plus Internet radio, with 25 free on-demand of song plays a month. Comcast's Games Channel, with a ton of free Web-based games, is another bonus.
Although faster services are becoming available (companies are rolling out 15Mbps over fiber-optic lines in select markets), Comcast's speed is good in our area of San Francisco. For our tests, we used the 6Mbps download/384Kbps upload, $42.94-a-month service, but you can also choose a $52.95 8Mbps/768Kbps option.
The classic gripe with cable broadband is that, unlike DSL, multiple customers share the same bandwidth, so your connection slows down when more users are online. When we tested our connection's speed with the CNET BandwidthMeter, Comcast's High-Speed Internet service clocked in at just under 3Mbps; faster than many DSL services but less than half the speed advertised. We also suffered two outages in the past year.
Comcast's service requires no contract, and you may quit it at any time. The company provides 24/7 telephone support, online chat with a technical agent, and e-mail support for less pressing problems. All the representatives we talked to via phone and chat seemed knowledgeable, and the scripts that some of them followed were thorough and well thought out. The documentation you'll find on the Web site is helpful if you can find your problem, which we were not always able to do. The answers are there, but the site could organize and present them a little bit better. We had only one complaint: the lack of support for compatibility issues with third-party applications--even prominent ones such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver.
As far as hardware support goes, if you rent your cable modem or a router, you simply have to return it and pick up a new one should it fail. The same goes for the $5-a-month router, unless you purchase it from Comcast ($179), in which case you're covered only for the one year of the warranty.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Comcast Corp.,
- High-speed Internet,
- cable modem,
- modem,
- DSL
User reviews
- Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 150 reviews
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
-
Showing 5 of 150 user reviewsSee all 150 user reviews
-
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
-
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
-
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
-
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful
-
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
- See all 150 user reviews Write review
