We regularly hear from readers that their cable company — often Comcast — is charging them rental fees for equipment they either never owned or have already returned. A group of six U.S. lawmakers are calling on the FCC to look into this problem of consumers who face fees for phantom modems and other devices. [More]
cable modems
Comcast Plays Ping Pong With My Poor Dad
By 8.6.10
Jordan coaxed his dad into ordering Comcast’s broadband service and buying his own cable modem in order to save on rental fees. The two moves combined to give them plenty of father-son bonding time through the endless hell that Comcast’s customer service can be. [More]
AT&T, Comcast Blame Each Other For My Internet Exploding
By 7.2.10
Roger was dissatisfied with his phone reception in his home, so opted to buy an AT&T MicroCell, a mini cell phone tower that’s supposed to boost signal performance. [More]
Comcast Raising Cable Modem Rental Fees This Fall
By 9.16.09
Comcast is going to start rolling out a $2 fee hike across the country this fall, which means your cable modem rental fee will go from $3 to $5 by the end of the year. Comcast says they absolutely have to do this or they’ll never be able to pay for service and equipment upgrades, which makes us wonder how the poor underfunded company manages to stay afloat at all.
Time Warner Cable Customers Can't Play World Of Warcraft
By 8.12.08
We don’t play World of Warcraft, but if we did, it looks like we’d have to cancel Time Warner Cable and install FIOS in order to guarantee a connection to Blizzard’s servers. That’s what some East Coast WoW players are saying—they’ve been suffering disconnections and game-killing lags for months now, and Time Warner Cable seems unable to solve the problem. They swear they’re not doing anything to disrupt or throttle gamers, and say that “customers who are having problems on the local level should contact customer service.” Based on the 24-page thread on Blizzard’s forums, TWC’s customer service has yet to resolve the issue.
