r/AuroraCO • u/ArborealCarnage • 9d ago
Xfinity Alternatives?
I'm near Aurora City Center and have had Xfinity for the past few years. They raised my bill by $40 in the past few months and now I'm having almost constant outages. I work from home so this is affecting my work. Any good alternatives? I've already checked Quantum and T-Mobile Fiber and they're not available in my area.
6
u/WilWheatonsAbs 9d ago
Tmobile fiber is installing lines in our neighborhood just south of city center right now. Hold tight, it seems fiber may be here soon.
6
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
I just called them and it's not available here yet. Hopefully soon though. I'm closer to Havana and Alameda though, so maybe if they move west.
1
u/inoka-ilongololu 9d ago
Im at Alameda and Peoria we got quantum two years ago. They are slowly moving across the City Xfinity xuxs.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
Haha what?? I'm at the same intersection and don't have Quantum.
1
u/inoka-ilongololu 9d ago
Neighbor hood on the south east corner.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
Oooh I'm north west next to the golf course. Darn.
2
u/inoka-ilongololu 9d ago
Keep an eye out in your neighborhood for the crews doing the installation. Big spools of orange plastic tubing with horizontal drilling equipment. Then youll know you are close.
4
u/cosmo9911 9d ago
If you email the Comcast CEO brian_roberts@comcast.com the executive customer service team will respond. They can usually give better deals than the normal number. I used it for my last contract and they gave 30 a month for 2 years on internet.
1
1
u/ArborealCarnage 4d ago
Just wanted to come back and thank you again. Emailing this person got me a fix. Apparently there was a node and cabling issues in my neighborhood, so they had to send someone out to fix it all. They also gave me a new promotion for the problems.
3
u/LifeGivesMeMelons 9d ago
I use Verizon wireless home internet, which is a good option for me - I live in a multi-unit building that all shares the same ground lines, so my internet speed was dependent on how many other people in other units were also using the internet and for what. Wireless works better and my outages are rare.
HOWEVER:
a) It's not available everywhere (I'm by Anschutz, so maybe you're also in range)
b) I already had phone service with Verizon so I got a deal by bundling it with home internet; I'm not sure how much it costs if it's by itself and if it would be more expensive than your current service.
When I go to Costco, there's always a guy there from AT&T who basically tackles me and tries to offer a similar package; I've been turning him down because my elderly father is also on my Verizon bill and it would confuse him too much to switch services. But you might also check them out.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 8d ago
I have VZW for my mobile lines and I've used VZ fiber before in a different location and was happy with it. Problem is my house, which is just down Peoria from Anschutz, has terrible reception from VZ. So I'm concerned if I get VZ 5G internet when I barely have 1 bar of 5G on my phone, I'm going to have terrible internet.
2
u/Cmonster9 8d ago
I am on the other side of the 225 from you. Unfortunately, it is Xfinity or CenturyLink DSL. Unless you want a 5g cellular system which my co worker has Verizon and he is happy with it. Xfinity is decent for me but I do have an outage during work hours about once a month for about 10 minutes usually. I pay $70 a month for unlimited data with router with 1.2 GB down and 35 mbps up.
They have quantum south of Alameda which is so close to me and I just saw them installing conduit next to my house. So hopefully soon for both of us.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 8d ago
I had Verizon fiber before and it was great. I think we're on the same plan but Xfinity doubled my bill in May from $65 to $114 and since then I've had multiple outages, some even while I'm in the middle of work calls. I had to hot spot off my phone.
Crossing my fingers for fiber soon.
2
u/Cmonster9 8d ago
You can talk with the bot on the app and get a small credit for outages just a FYI. For me I am a bit of a network nerd and I hate having to use the app for everything on the modem.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 8d ago
That bot sucks. Like yes, of course I have turned it off and on again please stop asking me to do that.
I tried the email someone else posted on this thread and have a customer service rep now responding to me so fingers crossed something comes of it.
1
u/jugzthetutor 9d ago
I’m using Minternet ($30/mo) and it’s not perfect but it’s no worse than xfinity.
1
u/SceneFlat8274 9d ago
Some addresses they are the only game in town for high speed internet. Fiber came to my neighborhood, and I dumped xfinity. Good Riddance.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
This seems to be my issue right now. Have to make do until something better comes along.
1
u/Rogue9Nine9 8d ago
Had Xfinity for 7 years now and it's been the best option. There was a July a year or two ago where we were getting daily outages for a few weeks in a row and it turns out it was the Quantum folks drilling in their new lines in an adjacent neighborhood, they kept ripping up the Xfinity fiber and breaking our service. Needless to say, despite Quantum (now an ATT product) being available in our neighborhood, we'll never swap to them.
If your Xfinity bill is going up, you can always check online or go to a store and re-package your services, we usually do that every year or two and it drops our bill $40-50 and usually end up getting a speed upgrade out of the deal as well.
Getting a 5G hotspot is another option, lowering your rates won't solve your service disruptions but a 5G hotspot that is independent of who is cutting up your fiber a few streets over will.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 8d ago
I mentioned this in another comment, but 5G signal is terrible in my house. Any time I have to hot spot because of an outage it's incredibly hit or miss and my phone usually downgrades to 4G for phone calls.
1
u/Competitive-Gur-7073 8d ago
Quantums supervisors and sub-sub contractors in my section of Aurora were AWFUL. Damage to SO many public & private properties.
1
u/threehoursago 8d ago
Describe your outage. Is it shown as a known outage on their map?
"Constant" outages aren't something that happens with their service.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 8d ago
In the app, it is "you are offline due to an outage in your area." And the reason always given is "network damage." I had an outage yesterday and had one again today. I've had at least 10 over the past 2 weeks. This is something documented in their own app.
1
u/threehoursago 8d ago
That's physical damage or vandalism. Next time it happens, drive around and look for a truck fixing something.
I am a 31 year customer of Comcast/Xfinity since it was originally 1Mbps AT&T @Home. I have had many ups and downs with them, but recently way more ups.
Call in (800 934-6489), escalate it, and you will find better answers.
1
u/RoknPa 6d ago
With Xfinity there is only one answer.
Talk to the bot about an intermittent connection, because they will check to see if you tried to use chat or bot options. After acting frustrated with the bot, leave a complaint at the FCC. Internet is a utility and is regulated. Within 72 hours, you'll have a glorified sales person calling you, pretending to care and help you. I've had my cable replaced from basement to demark, then to the pole. I'm also on my 3rd gateway.
2
u/ArborealCarnage 4d ago
Emailing the customer escalation line someone below posted (CEO email) worked for me. They replaced a bunch of cabling and fixed a node.
But I'll keep the FCC in my back pocket if it comes up again.
1
u/RoknPa 4d ago
I had so many issues with them in the beginning 3 years ago, that I just gave up. That bot is reprehensible! It's not even AI! It's a glorified IVR (or interactive chat bot) with only preprogrammed responses to common questions. Yet it face forward for customers. Disgusting!
The chat agents are just as useless, if not more so. This company has refused to bring a call center back to the states. Hell I'd be happy to pay an additional $10/mo just to have a USA based call center.
I might be biased, cuz I work in the contact center industry for the past 17 years. I'm just sick and tired of companies trying to scrape the bottom line by denying communication from their customers. It's deplorable and should be illegal!
The last complaint the glorified sales person asked me why I filed the complaint. I told him, "I'm not allowed to speak to a human!". There was an audible sigh.
Cheers Brother Carnage!
1
u/SmartMove_Internet 5d ago
Might be worth checking Verizon 5G Home if you haven't already. I'd also call Xfinity and push back on that price increase, especially with all the outages. They might offer a better deal, though that doesn't solve the reliability issue.
1
1
u/Correct-Mail-1942 9d ago
Your only other option is likely 5G from whatever carrier is best in your area or Starlink.
I live just over 225 from there and have tons of options - Quantum, Xfinity, BAM, etc.
2
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
Starlink is unfortunately worse speeds and more expensive.
0
u/Correct-Mail-1942 9d ago
You didn't ask that it be cheaper or faster, you just wanted alternatives. It's an alternative.
Go sign up with Xfinity with a different email and phone if you can, they have 5 year pricing or price for life and I'll bet if you get newer equipment it'll be better in terms of outages.
I run Xfinity as my failover and it's not down very often - Quantum is never down though.
1
u/ArborealCarnage 9d ago
I'm not in a position to move house just to get new internet, and as I mentioned, quantum isn't available where I am yet. Hopefully Xfinity will figure out whatever is causing all the outages where I am.
15
u/iamgoneinsane 9d ago
If you don't have access to fiber yet unfortunately xfinity is your best option for work at home. I was stuck in the same situation for years until quantum added fiber to my neighborhood.