Following up on this post (
http://www.coffeecup.com/forums/the-bre … post236631), I have completed my 10-mile move from one state to another. (Worthwhile if the state left behind is Massachusetts.) I must say, Scott, that hooking up with Comcast for TV and Internet service was easy.
When the Comcast rep tried to upsell me, I said that I wanted no more TV than local channels and national news. DVR? No, thank you. (Why would I want to replay or time-shift those dubious TV shows?) That put a damper on the conversation.
Even worse (from Comcast's point of view), I stated no interest in streaming realtime video over IP, or of watching shows on my smart 'phone (which I do not own, of course).
I asked for reliable, low-latency 5 Mbit / sec Internet service. I instead heard
"Congratulations! You will enjoy a special discount on Comcast's 100 Mbit / sec 'Blast' service!"
It worked out that accepting this foolishness at the promotional price was cheaper than taking the minimum-available 12 Mbit /sec service at list price.
The last problem was self-installing my cable modem and router. This worked out fairly well. I spoke with a knowledgeable young lady who spoke U.S.-flavored English like a native and indeed understood what a modem's MAC is and how to provision a new Internet service account. A small gripe is that she didn't ask whether I had a router behind the modem and so might need Comcast's DNS server addresses. I did need those addresses. However, I solved the problem myself later via Google search.
My only real gripe is that Comcast express-shipped their cable / TV set-top box to me and billed me for that "service." I would happily have visited the local Comcast office and picked up the box myself had I been offered the option. I was not desperate to get TV going ASAP. Indeed, the set-top kit sat in the box unopened for a week before I got around to installing it.
Whoever had installed the physical cabling for the former owned of my house did a poor job. So I also fixed that. (Where is Jim Carrey when you need him?)
So Scott, I can't really kick Comcast too much. But then, I'm not attempting to use a DVR like you are.
halfnium -AT- alum.mit.edu
Yes, I looked just like that in 1962.