Cable and Internet me in the Pioneer Valley
August 5, 2010 5:42 PM Subscribe
What's the best cable/internet deal in the Pioneer Valley?
I just moved from northern California, the land of Comcast, to Western Massachusetts. I'm shopping around for the best cable and internet package, and am wondering if any of the folks on MeFi have experience with Charter, Verizon Fios, or any of the other package deals they have over here. (This question was last asked in reference to Charter in 2007; I'm hoping someone has some more recent information.)
I'm looking for lightening-fast internet and decent, cheapish cable. I live in the Northampton/Hadley area.
I just moved from northern California, the land of Comcast, to Western Massachusetts. I'm shopping around for the best cable and internet package, and am wondering if any of the folks on MeFi have experience with Charter, Verizon Fios, or any of the other package deals they have over here. (This question was last asked in reference to Charter in 2007; I'm hoping someone has some more recent information.)
I'm looking for lightening-fast internet and decent, cheapish cable. I live in the Northampton/Hadley area.
Oh duh, your profile says Hadley. But I imagine it's the same as Easthampton.
posted by dayintoday at 5:48 PM on August 5, 2010
posted by dayintoday at 5:48 PM on August 5, 2010
I'm in Northampton and have been surprisingly happy with my comcast Internet. (Cable is another story.)
posted by chowflap at 6:50 PM on August 5, 2010
posted by chowflap at 6:50 PM on August 5, 2010
FWIW - Comcast wanted to change their contract wherein you had to get their craptacular set top box and then charge too much for internet. We dropped them for internet and pulled in DSL from Verizon (we're a half block from the switch). I believe we're saving $5/mo as a result.
My experience with comcast for support was uniformly heinous. I tried to help streamline it - after all, waiting on hold for a half hour before I talked to someone who told me to reboot their router and all my local hardware even after I had started with "I'm a professional software engineer. Have you used Acrobat? Yeah, helped write it. I know my hardware is good." Thanks for wasting more of my time. The original installation was done by a tech who was visibly drunk. He apparently misinstalled the box on the telephone pole and every time it rained, our cable went out because the box filled with water.
The only good thing I'll say is that when we got a dual tuner TiVo, the tech who came out to install the cable cards in it was prompt and professional and when the final setup with NEW COMCAST DIGITAL cable had fewer stations than the analog, he argued with customer service on my behalf and had that corrected at no charge.
posted by plinth at 6:58 PM on August 5, 2010
My experience with comcast for support was uniformly heinous. I tried to help streamline it - after all, waiting on hold for a half hour before I talked to someone who told me to reboot their router and all my local hardware even after I had started with "I'm a professional software engineer. Have you used Acrobat? Yeah, helped write it. I know my hardware is good." Thanks for wasting more of my time. The original installation was done by a tech who was visibly drunk. He apparently misinstalled the box on the telephone pole and every time it rained, our cable went out because the box filled with water.
The only good thing I'll say is that when we got a dual tuner TiVo, the tech who came out to install the cable cards in it was prompt and professional and when the final setup with NEW COMCAST DIGITAL cable had fewer stations than the analog, he argued with customer service on my behalf and had that corrected at no charge.
posted by plinth at 6:58 PM on August 5, 2010
Best answer: Ugh, yeah, options are pretty limited out here. I'm with Charter for internet only and I've been fine with service -- no interruptions, good connection speeds, etc. (*temps fate*) It's slightly pricey, but there's not much to be done about it; I'm in Easthampton and can't get Comcast. If you're in NoHo/Hadley you can see if Comcast is cheaper -- I've had them, too, when I lived in NoHo. Their customer service is seriously lacking.
It's basically luck of the draw whatever package deal Comcast is running at the time. Their website does NOT offer clear descriptions of all their packages. Make sure to take a LOT of time on the phone with a rep asking about ALL options. I called them out on it once, and the guy freely admitted they purposefully omit package information on their website so that people will agree to a more expensive contract because they don't know all their options.
Welcome to the Happy Valley! We're glad you're here!
posted by missmary6 at 9:44 PM on August 5, 2010
It's basically luck of the draw whatever package deal Comcast is running at the time. Their website does NOT offer clear descriptions of all their packages. Make sure to take a LOT of time on the phone with a rep asking about ALL options. I called them out on it once, and the guy freely admitted they purposefully omit package information on their website so that people will agree to a more expensive contract because they don't know all their options.
Welcome to the Happy Valley! We're glad you're here!
posted by missmary6 at 9:44 PM on August 5, 2010
Charter sucks, but they're the only game in town
That's what I came here to say. (We're just glad they don't suck any worse.) But welcome to Hadley!
posted by languagehat at 8:53 AM on August 6, 2010
That's what I came here to say. (We're just glad they don't suck any worse.) But welcome to Hadley!
posted by languagehat at 8:53 AM on August 6, 2010
I just recently moved to Amherst and found myself in the situation where ONLY Comcast was a service provider where my apartment was. So far I haven't had a terrible experience with them (service wise). Their prices aren't great, but other than a few glitches when I first moved here the service has been consistent and uninterrupted. I hope this helps, and good luck.
Welcome to the Valley!
posted by Isos at 7:01 AM on August 7, 2010
Welcome to the Valley!
posted by Isos at 7:01 AM on August 7, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, especially for the warm welcome to the Valley. I'm really enjoying it so far!
posted by prior at 9:42 AM on August 7, 2010
posted by prior at 9:42 AM on August 7, 2010
Response by poster: A corollary to this question: you folks with Charter, which internet speed do you have? I'm considering getting "plus," which hypothetically gives you dl speeds up to 16 mbps, but it's a bit more expensive than "express," which is 8 mbps. I download and stream a lot of movies and music, but plus might be overkill. Thoughts?
posted by prior at 2:09 PM on August 8, 2010
posted by prior at 2:09 PM on August 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
When we first got Charter in Easthampton in 2005-ish, it was a nightmare. Intermittent connection issues, poor service, impossible service windows ("Oh yeah, we can come out in two weeks."), but it has improved somewhat. Our connection has been consistently good for several years now (I hope I'm not jinxing myself here) and the service is more efficient with smaller windows. BUT! At work, we had to ditch Charter altogether and go with slow-as-balls Verizon DSL b/c we had outages every single day from 4pm-6pm that they couldn't figure out after over a month of trying.
posted by dayintoday at 5:48 PM on August 5, 2010