Sorry, but we switched to FiOS from Comcast a couple weeks back. No regrets - connection is stable and fast, and the HD feeds look a touch better, too. Better price, too.

If I want data on the go, I'll just use my phone's 3G connection - which is only $15 a month anyways.

The only thing that would make me stay with Comcast is either a dramatic change to the way they conduct business or completely free service...which would make me tolerate their unbelievably bad customer service.

If they were offering WiFi on the trains, that could be a huge benefit.

On the platform though? You've got 10 minutes before the train comes and no place to sit down.

Yeah my brother and I just got FiOS in the Towson area and it is soooo much better than Comcast. Great channels, great internet connection, even when running an xbox 360 and two computers at once. If you have the option to change to FiOS, do it!

ATT dsl has a big wifi network as well.

FiOS was an unmitigated disaster when I tried it; it went down after a day and didn't come up for a week, at which time the marriage was over. It was then my pleasure to deal with months of Verizon hell when they accused me of failing to mail in my equipment and threatened to send inaccurate bills to collections. Took forever to get that all straightened out.

Everyone has a horror story; there's mine with FiOS. There are analogues for every provider. By contrast, my Comcast experience has been stellar, both in terms of general service and the customer service I've dealt with. It almost doesn't feel icky to shill for them.

This pilot program is sweet, considering I take those trains. Suppose I could give it a try and write it up...

We're talking about Comcast here. I won't touch it with a ten-foot pole, I know better. Mostly because I work for them.

@ADismalScience:

If you have had a stellar experience with Comcast, I applaud you good Sir. I know that it exists, but in the portion that I work for, I get to see all of the problems that don't get resolved for months on end and have no control over it. The joys of being glorified data entry.

Please Verizon, bring FiOS to Columbus, OH...

@plyhard13: Agreed! I cannot wait until FIOS comes to my apartment complex. I am forced to use Comcast since there are no other options.

OH MY GOD I TAKE THOSE TRAINS!!! I'm going to see if i can connect my iPod touch tomorrow...

This does nothing. NJ Transit is a commuter line, people show up 5 minutes before there train is scheduled to arrive. Its not like the stations are set up like Grand Central or Penn Station where there you can find yourself sitting around for an amtrak train.

Now, if comcast decides to build out free wifi along the North East Corridor (NJ Transit busist line) and offer it free for comcast subscribers, then they may be on to something.

No, and even if I thought about it, I bet it counts against your cap.

HOLD ON! STOP THE BUS!

Is this story suggesting that competition benefits cunsumers? What kind of fantasy world is this?

I really wish we had an alternative to Comcast where I live. My friend at work has it, and we compare notes about how lagged gameplay is during primetime hours. We're not sure if they are throttling service, or just have too many users on at once, but the lag in video games has gotten unbearable. Several times while watching streamed movies from Netflix, my movie pauses, and it says "download speed has slowed, video quality will be adjusted". Not sure why I am paying $50 a month for this crap....

FIOS IS A SUPERIOR PRODUCT TO COMCAST. They know it, everyone who has switched knows it. You should have heard the crap they were spewing when i called to cancel. I am unfortunatley moving to a new home where FIOS is not available, there I will be calling up DirectTV for their services.

No. Once you have fios, you never go back.

Here in Dallas, the TRE has free wifi for everybody - on the trains, but not at the stations - and it's pretty awesome.

On an unrelated note, I will never willingly use Comcast ever again.

Am I missing something here? Free WiFi is better than paid WiFi but when I lived in NJ and took the train noone gets there more than 5-10 minutes before the train arrives and even though most of that time is spent buying tickets from those dopey machines. I can't imagine pulling out my laptop even if the connection was free.

Free WiFi *on the train* if it was reliable would be something else, but at the station? FiOS every day.

I've been with Comcast 4 years now, and I'm one of the silent majority that never had any problems - technical, billing or others. I run a Web server through their residential connection, and spend lots of time on-line (even though I'm not a bandwidth hog - most of my time is spent in telnet). The connection never failed me. However, I've been looking for a different broadband/TV combo ever since Comcast dropped History Channel from analog cable, so if I found one I liked I'd switch regardless what free services Comcast offered.

The moment FiOS becomes available in my area, I'm all over it. There's no substitute for blazing fast speeds, reliability and a lack of bandwidth caps. Perks like free WIFI are nice, but frankly, they're just perks. I don't count on free WIFI because you become dependent on being at a specific location; go somewhere else, and it won't work.

That said, I'm glad that AT&T offers free WIFI, as a part of their DSL packages, at most Starbucks in California. Keeps me from having to fill up a Starbucks coffee card once a month, but I'd be fine with doing that if I had FiOS. I also have data service tethered through my phone as a slower (but still useful) backup option.

Then again, I depend on a fast connection for my profession, which is web design and development. Other folks who aren't as concerned with having a connection that's always available might not want to spend as much money.

FIOS is not available, where I live. In fact, DSL isn't available. Basically, Comcast has a monopoly, with the exception of some sort of satellite internet access.

I would definitely want Comcast to offer free wi-fi or some way for me to get internet access, other than through the cable connected to my home. Why not? As it is, I'm presently paying for Comcast at home and an AT&T data plan, on my mobile phone.

Sure, Comcast sucks. Then again, so does AT&T. And Verizon. Come on, who are we kidding? These ossified corporations with their outdated business models are stiffling innovation and nickel-and-diming us to death. But, who among us is going to pull the plug on our internet access, at thsi point?

@Erwos: Same here. Only had two service interruptions in all the time I have had them, and one was a problem uploading to their servers, and the other happened while I was gone from home and cleared itself up before I knew it. I only found out by checking my logs.

Wait till they try to get you back by promising such things as "free 911". [consumerist.com]

Ugh, wifi. Big deal. Cablevision has been rolling out wifi across Long Island for quite some time now. I do not know of anyone who cares, or uses it. Anyone who wants access on the go that badly just uses a phone or an aircard.

Perhaps if Comcast would put more effort into basic customer service and good network management, they wouldn't have to rely on niche-service gimmicks to retain customers.

I Have FiOS and Love it. Would NEVER go back to Comcast. The one thing however that I wish Verizon would work on is teh STBs. About once a month, I need to unpluf/reset the STBs and/or the Network interface for their On Demand and Program guide. The system has improved from the time that I first switched to FiOS, and I hope that Verizon continues to improve the situation, but it is the one (minor) dark cloud for FiOS.

I saw the words 'Comcast' and 'Will it work?' near each other on the screen. Is this a trick question?

@PeteyNice:
Think iPhone on the platform.

@ScottRose:

Don't think laptop, think iPhone.

@JustThatGuy3: Why should we be thinking iphone?

Because everyone has one? Nah, that's not why. At least, it shouldn't be.

Is anyone else thoroughly creeped out by Comcast's latest commercial?

have any of you seen the new comcast commercial?

it looks like a bad acid trip.

time warner and/or ATT DSL are the only games in my immediate area (CLE,OH)

even if comcast were available in this area, i wouldn't get their service. or lack of service as one of the previous commenters mentioned...

You couldn't pay me enough to go back to communistcast.

@JustThatGuy3: Why would you think iPhone when you have internet service on that already?

I would go without internet or any other form of communication if Comcast were my only choice. Fool me once, shame on you...I won't get fooled again.

I left Comcast for Verizon, but not for FIOS. I am now the proud user of a 1Mb DSL connection because comcast was too damn expensive. We are cutting back and have found that we don't need all that bandwidth. It was nice, but it wasn't necessary. I wonder how many other former comcast customers are just downgrading.

@Saboth: that doesn't sound cool at all. could you send me ping and traceroute results to bonnie_smalley@cable.comcast.com ? i'd love to take a peek at all of this for you!

@JustThatGuy3:

I know the iPhone, iPod touch, and lots of other hand-held devices have WiFi nowadays. But I don't think the ability to use those for a few minutes in the morning (there's no value in the evening when commuters are running for their cars) on a WiFi network will keep dissatisfied customers with Comcast.

Plus in most cases the reason for using those devices on a high-speed connection is to download content. But when the train is comming "any second now", it's a bad idea to start a download.

And as those guys said above, for iPhone, Blackberry, and other smartphone users, there is no real benefit because most people will already have data plans anyway, and email delivery is already a non-issue.

I was a LIRR commuter for a long time (until recently) and I think Cablevision offers WiFi at some stations. I never cared to look into it, as my Blackberry and tethered laptop took care of all my internet access needs.

It would be more helpful if cable companies learned to gain customer base by using good ol' price competition. Like many locations, we have three cable choices in my area (Comcast, verizon FIOS and RCN) plus of course the satellite options. In all three cable examples the pricing model is basically the same. If one of them jumped from the pricing collusion scheme and offered a much cheaper alternative, they would naturally get a large chunk of the business. How many of us can continue to afford a few hundred dollars a month on cable products??

@JustThatGuy3: Cablevision rolled this out to Long Island a few months ago. Every train platform and most of the major roads in Nassau County. They recently expanded into NJ as well. It has been a big hit and FiOS really isn't hurting their cable business according to the 4th quarter report I saw last week.

Here is the original article from when they started free Wi-FI. [www.cablerant.com]

@ADismalScience: my Sylar senses tell me you're lying. *slices your head open*

I don't care if Comcast cures cancer. I'll never go back to their products.

There's all this nonsense about how 'amazing' FIOS is my area (NY) -- but we have time warner cable, which I am currently enjoying an advertised / clocked 5Mps download speed. Verizon's extra cost, 'Power Level' 3Mbps just doesn't live up to the hype.

@toddkravos: I'll take that commercial over Comcast's regular commercials where they outright lie about their fiber optic network.

@Michael Hyland: The 3Mbps connection you are speaking of is DSL - not FIOS. FIOS generally doesn't offer internet connection speeds of less than 10Mbps. As a FiOS rep, most people I sell to choose the 20Mbps option. Some markets enjoy a 50 & 100Mbps offer. Unfortunately, my home & office are currently set up with Comcast - the only game in town right now. Ugh. I cannot wait until FiOS is available in my neighborhood.

I'm not sure I understand (though I am quite sleep deprived today from recently moving).

I had FiOS at my last house, and it had wireless built into the FiOS router that they gave me. Worked great and speeds were amazing.

If they're implying you can't get wireless FiOS at your house, I'm confused.

If they're implying you can't get wireless FiOS at the train station - who cares? How many end users are really going to notice that it's Comcast providing the train station wi-fi? And of those who do, how many of them will really have their decision at their house influenced by this random thing?

Forgive me if I'm being dense. I truly don't get the point of this. Would love it if someone could explain.

@Saboth:
Fear not, I forsee those bottled up networks getting relief very soon :)

@Sabbadeus: I've had nothing but excellent customer service up here in Northern MA. Any connection problem I have is caused by my cheap Belkin router, so I just restart it and I'm good for a few days.

@G_Money21: FiOS, now with only 5% of houses catching on fire...