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perldiver at 01:14pm on 25/02/2010
perldiver at 01:14pm on 25/02/2010Yesterday, I was grumbling about some communication problems with Comcast. Imagine my surprise this morning to get a response from Mark Casem, National Customer Operations guy from Comcast.
Simply by responding, Mark defused a lot of my irritation. Yay for using the power of the Internet for good.
Furthermore, in my grumblings I had mentioned my discovery of WebPass, another ISP in SFran which offers 45Mbps up&down for $45/month--about 4x faster on the upload side and about 12x faster on the download than the cable modem service I have from Comcast, all for about the same price. The way WebPass can do this is that they run their entire network on Ethernet, meaning they only support buildings that have cable drops into the units (which does not include mine) Mark offered to find a package or promotion that would match WebPass.
Personally, I don't think this is physically possible; I suspect that Mark is a very nice guy who works in customer relations, not in tech. I asked him about it anyway because I would LOVE to have a pipe that wide. Even if it turns out to not be possible, let's see what comes back.
Below is the full text of the email I sent Mark. Gotta give him props--just by sending one email, he earned a lot of goodwill back for Comcast.
Dear Mark,
Yesterday, in my LiveJournal, I was grumbling about some poor instructions I received from Comcast. (http://perldiver.livejournal.com/84914.html) I was really only blowing off steam, so I was surprised to actually get a response from you. In it, you said:
> Sorry you were not given CLEAR instructions. If you still need assistance
> on this, I will be happy to help.
I think I'm good now, although I still need to get a landline phone so I can do the setup. Just as a suggestion, this seems like something that installers could easily take care of during the initial visit.
> Also, I know you're interested in
> Webpass. I sure we can find a package/promotion similar to what they are
> offering. Let us know if you'd like for me to check with my contacts.
This is a very kind offer, but is it really feasible, technologically? I don't believe this building is wired for Ethernet, just coax. Layer 1 is not my area of expertise but, so far as I'm aware, coax is not going to support 45Mbps up and down (note the symmetry). However, if I'm wrong and this IS possible and you're prepared to sell it to me for $45 / month then yes, I am **absolutely** interested. Please let me know either way.
> Sorry for the trouble.
Honestly, I'm impressed enough to be contacted like this that I don't mind the initial glitch. Thanks for reaching out...it really makes a difference.
Yours,
Dave Storrs
Simply by responding, Mark defused a lot of my irritation. Yay for using the power of the Internet for good.
Furthermore, in my grumblings I had mentioned my discovery of WebPass, another ISP in SFran which offers 45Mbps up&down for $45/month--about 4x faster on the upload side and about 12x faster on the download than the cable modem service I have from Comcast, all for about the same price. The way WebPass can do this is that they run their entire network on Ethernet, meaning they only support buildings that have cable drops into the units (which does not include mine) Mark offered to find a package or promotion that would match WebPass.
Personally, I don't think this is physically possible; I suspect that Mark is a very nice guy who works in customer relations, not in tech. I asked him about it anyway because I would LOVE to have a pipe that wide. Even if it turns out to not be possible, let's see what comes back.
Below is the full text of the email I sent Mark. Gotta give him props--just by sending one email, he earned a lot of goodwill back for Comcast.
Dear Mark,
Yesterday, in my LiveJournal, I was grumbling about some poor instructions I received from Comcast. (http://perldiver.livejournal.com/84914.html) I was really only blowing off steam, so I was surprised to actually get a response from you. In it, you said:
> Sorry you were not given CLEAR instructions. If you still need assistance
> on this, I will be happy to help.
I think I'm good now, although I still need to get a landline phone so I can do the setup. Just as a suggestion, this seems like something that installers could easily take care of during the initial visit.
> Also, I know you're interested in
> Webpass. I sure we can find a package/promotion similar to what they are
> offering. Let us know if you'd like for me to check with my contacts.
This is a very kind offer, but is it really feasible, technologically? I don't believe this building is wired for Ethernet, just coax. Layer 1 is not my area of expertise but, so far as I'm aware, coax is not going to support 45Mbps up and down (note the symmetry). However, if I'm wrong and this IS possible and you're prepared to sell it to me for $45 / month then yes, I am **absolutely** interested. Please let me know either way.
> Sorry for the trouble.
Honestly, I'm impressed enough to be contacted like this that I don't mind the initial glitch. Thanks for reaching out...it really makes a difference.
Yours,
Dave Storrs
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