<p>In an effort to cut costs I am looking into using Comcast services. I already use them for cable and internet. I actually save 70.00/month if I dump Verizon and add Comcast telephone. </p>
<p>Short of being “stuck” with Comcast - is there any possible downside to this?</p>
<p>just remember, if your cable goes out, you will also lose phone service.</p>
<p>if Verizon fios is available in your area, consider comparing both bundles.
We have fios now and it’s been good. Bundling makes it MUCH cheaper.
We DID have the Comcast bundle and had no problems…fios just offered a better deal and we took it.</p>
<p>I didn’t think of the power outage issue. Losing phone service would be a pretty big deal if there were ever an emergency when the power was down. I live in a cell phone dead zone. We lose our power often enough during storms that it is something to consider.</p>
<p>I am not yet convinced of the quality of voice-over-IP. Skype calls have questionable quality, and I have had calls with people using Time Warner’s voice service with a lot of problems. This is limited data, but I have kept Bell telephone service for this reason.</p>
<p>Don’t know if this is a big deal but - I think you might have to change your phone number if you switched to Comcast.</p>
<p>We only have Comcast as an option for our high speed, so we bundle all three services. That $99 for all three will have to be renegotiated every year, a pain, but the bill goes up so much it is worth the pain.</p>
<p>If we only had internet and TV we would pay the same price as having the phone.</p>
<p>It does mean no phone when the power goes out, but we just use our cell phones, you can always recharge them in the car if it is a multi day outage</p>
<p>My experience has been that whether you have Verizon or Comcast, the other company is always cheaper for the initial period when you switch over to using them for “triple play” or whatever they call it in a given area. We were longtime Comcast cable customers who added Comcast high speed Internet a few years ago and found it increasingly and unreasonably expensive (not especially reliable, either). Comcast would not give us any price break unless we also switched to them for phone service. We were reluctant to use them for telephone service so switched to Verizon for the other two services instead (already used Verizon for phone) and went over to their FIOS service. It is still cheaper for all three (including some movie and premium channels) than Comcast was for just TV and Internet, though of course now that we have switched, Comcast keeps sending promotional mailings offering much lower prices, but again, only if we use them for all three services.</p>
<p>The problem with Verizon FIOS phone service is that you no longer have the classic landline and are somewhat dependent on electricity–though you do get a battery backup that is supposed to last for eight hours in cases of normal-length power outages. I have found that the telephone service is about the same with FIOS as it was with regular Verizon landline. TV is slightly better than with Comcast; Internet, with apologies to the FIOS man in the ads, is actually not faster than Comcast was, though it has been a bit more reliable.</p>
<p>We have all 3 services with Comcast and have had very few problems. We kept our original landline phone # – no changing required. Yes, there’s no phone service when the power goes out, but since we’ve only had cordless phones for years, that’s not any different. Plus, our cell reception is fine at home. A benefit that we didn’t have before switching phone service to Comcast is that it’s unlimited local and long distance calling, plus there’s caller ID, forwarding, and maybe more that we previously would have had to pay extra for. (Until now, we never had caller ID.)</p>
<p>We have all 3 with Comcast. We did not have to change our phone number. If the power goes out the cordless phone is dead anyway, so unless you still have a corded phone this won’t affect you either - plus if the power is out we use our cell.</p>
<p>No problems here with any of the services, other than the internet being slow sometimes.</p>
<p>Ellen has said that her house is in a dead zone for cell service, so if she’s relying on her cable for phone service, she would have NO service if the electricity goes out. Personally, I would probably be okay with that since we only have power outages that last for say, half a day maybe once a year. But, if I lived in an area where hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires are a common occurrence I would not want to be without phone service at all.</p>
<p>I don’t want to be a downer here but Comcast has always been a nightmare for our cable, and I wouldn’t order another service from them if you paid me. Our neighbor tried bundling her phone in to save $$ and rues the day. HOpefully its better where you are!</p>
<p>I think there is some variation with Comcast. Where we live service was abysmal–both in terms of lack of reliability of Internet and very iffy technical quality of repair people who came to the house. Yet occasionally when I called Comcast with an issue I was connected to people in the Northwest, for example, and they were not as rude or uninformed about various service issues-- sounded to me as though staffing and service were better in other parts of the country. If I had to choose between Verizon or Comcast, I’d definitely say Verizon (not great, but overall not as bad, at least in thsi area.</p>
<p>My son just got the triple play from Comcast and loves it. One major difference from above - his phone has a battery backup which is supposed to last for 8 hours. </p>
<p>At home we have AT&T for phone and Comcast for Internet and TV. Given the success he is having with Comcast phone service, I am about to switch that over to Comcast as well. </p>
<p>For what it is worth, AT&T DSL is much slower than Comcast Internet in this area - 3 to 4 times slower.</p>
<p>Lots of stuff to consider on technical issues, but on the financial side–the bundled price is often only good for a year. After a year, the price for the services goes up. At least that’s been my experience. I’ve got a brand X cable provider–Charter–so it may be different for Comcast, but I’d check.</p>
<p>We’ve had comcast for the triple play package…they are KNOWN for bad service…and this is verified by customer surveys.
BUT…if the price is good…there’s a way to get around the bad service. If I had an issue, I would call the Exec Offices in philly, speak to one of the Exec Assts and…wallah!..end of problem. Works like a charm.
Regarding power outages, i would call comcast and ask about it. your local provider may provide battery back-up.</p>
<p>CBBlinker - thanks for the 411 on the phone number.
One of my neighbors switched to an internet phone company and had to change her number.</p>
<p>I have Comcast but internet with my phone company. I never have issues with speed - maybe because all my neighbors have broadband with Comcast?
I have actually been thinking of keeping my phone company and going to DISH - which is offered by them.</p>
<p>I have the internet and cable services. Unable to get the phone service due to the little borough I live in. They’ve contracted with a local phone service so we have to use them. GRRRR.</p>
<p>Many thanks for all of the responses.</p>
<p>I have a decision to make about whether I am comfortable being totally without phone service the two or three times a year that the power goes out…usually during winter storms.</p>
<p>In our area of eastern PA Comcast isn’t too much of a problem service wise. I just can’t believe how much cable television costs generally. It is reaching the point that I may have to give up True Blood and Weeds. :o</p>
<p>Elleneast, I too live in Philly suburbs. Hated Comcast for cable, jumped on FIOS as soon as it was offered. FIOS is good, has the battery backup, except for a very recent issue. We lose power a LOT, live in a small valley with far-flung 19th century houses, no cell service. In August, we lost power overnight but still had phones because of the battery backup. When the power came back on, it apparently sent such a surge that it burned up the whole neighborhood’s battery backups, plus our whole-house surge protector (our neighbors that didn’t have whole-house protectors lost lots of appliances). TWO DAYS LATER, after screaming threats to Verizon on my cell phone while standing in the middle of the street (only somewhat-reliable signal) they finally sent someone out. The repairman said he’d been up and down our street for 2 days replacing the batteries–now why couldn’t someone from Verizon have figured out that all of us in one general location had lost service and fixed it all at once? My husband had even stopped a Verizon truck earlier that day–he needed verification from headquarters. Very frustrating to go 2 days in this era without phone service. But I still wouldn’t use Comcast for my phone and hated them for TV service. (Oh, and PECO won’t take any responsibility for power surges!).</p>