Once again, I turn to the lazyweb for help.
Got a solicitation for Comcast digital voice the other day… and I was seriously considering giving it a try, as I’ve never been too thrilled with Qwest, and I suffer from a bit of line noise from time to time here.
Anyone have any experience with this? Sound quality okay? Better or worse or the same as a normal phone line?
At least one of my colleagues in Florida has serious reliability issues with Comcast, but I haven’t really had any major problem in that regard. Any advice or info would be appreciated.
did you get a response to this inquiry yet? i have the same question here in chicago. thanks.
Your old phone service was analog, or old school technology. Comcast is digital, which requires a “clean line”. If your wiring in your home is 10 years or older, its like putting jet fuel in a Volkswagon. Of course Comcast will not admit to this. As an installer for Comcast, I know.
I don’t agree with you Jason. If it was true, the system would not work at all.
The modem actually converts digital frequencies into electric pulses that go through the regular electric wires regardless of their age. The problem with comcast digital voice is the inherit problem of VOIP technology and can’t be solved by comcast. That what we get with internet telephones. Of cause, comcast would never admit that.
I just got Comcast Digital Voice service as I was unhappy with the local BellSouth service. I can probably give it another week before I go back to traditional phone service. The clarity is spectacular – when full duplex is working. Unfortunately, intermittently, the voice from one side or the other will simply disappear. Either I can hear the other person on the line or they can hear me, but not both at the same time; then, we get to play the wonderful game of ‘Can you hear me now?”
I’ll post again if things clear up. At this point in time, I’d have to say that I’m pretty frustrated with the service.
So far I have had no issues, and I’m saving about $35 a month. The clarity is definitly better and for $39 month, I could not fing anything better.
I work for Comcast and handle CDV technical issues. Overall the product works well. Few issues here and there, but the issues are isolated. You will save money and its always worth a try. Worst case is you try it and switch back to an old provider.
This is absolutely the worst service ever. We have lived in our home for 11 years and have never had any phone problems. Since switching to digital voice, I have had nothing but problems. At the present time, no one can call my home for 4 days in a row. I will be switching back. The money saved isn’t worth it.
I have only had Comcast digital for a week now, but already having issues. I have been told on numerous occasions that my voice is being cut off or I sound robotic.It comes and goes and noticed more on “peak” times of the day when people are probably using internet/cable more often. I was worried about these kind of problems, when I decided to take their special offer and switch. I should have gone with my instincts and kept the regular phone service. I have a technician coming in 3 days to help solve this problem, but I think it will continue. I know I won’t be paying for them to run new phone lines, when the same phone lines work fine with regular phone service. It’s too bad, too. I think I could have saved some money.
For 10 months I have been nicely insisting with Comcast that there is a problem with my lines. Whenever anyone calls in from out of state (a different area code) they receive a fax tone on the other end. I do not have a fax machine
Now Comcast has sent a tech out and he insists it is something in the switching process, not the lines. I have called Comcast at least 12 times about this. They tell me that they will call me if they are unable to fix it. Just to give it 48 hours. Well, needless to say, I have never received a call. My daughter just tried to call from college. Sshe could not leave a message.
2nd issue…Comcast provided Verizon (our local phone book company) with the wrong phone number. We have a 2nd number coming into the house which was part of the package. It has the intention of a special ring if you have teenagers. Now when anyone looks that number up and calls us, they get that fax tone. I called Comcast and they said there was nothing they could do. I suggested putting a number chage in with information. Well, they just informed Verizon that the number was disconnected with no further information. Anyway, that number was not on the Do Not Call List, so I was getting tortured by telemarketers for weeks until I put in on the DNC list.
At this point we will probably pull all our services from Comcast as well as get rid of our stock holdings.
Does anyone have a suggestion so that I don’t have to resort to this?
I wish I had read this a week ago. Had The triple play package installed on 2/24/07. Today is 2/28/07 and I have been without phone service for three days. Not to mention, just to add insult to injury, when you call my home number it has an outgoing message that the line has been disconnected!! I have had to gently explain to family and friends via cell phone that, no I have not been fired from my job, and yes I have paid the bill.
Upon calling to report the problem, I was told there was a ‘problem’ in my area and there was no estimated time to have it fixed and that Comcast highly recommends people with this service have a secondary phone. There was just so much wrong with that statement I ended the call right there. So, had a tech out today that ‘fixed’ the problem. Made one phone call and about two minutes into the call, my line went dead. Call tech support again and apparently the disconnected message is still playing and I have to wait four more days for another tech to come out.
I’m calling Verizon tomorrow to beg for forgiveness. I will pay them whatever they ask to rescue me from this nightmare!
I have comcast (CC) cable tv & internet & may add voice because CC is offering a terrific price incentive. But these comments are very troubling. Does anyone have anything good to say about the voice service? Are these start up or systemic problems? Several years CC had many problems adding internet service. They were solved in about 3 – 4 months.
I have had comcast digital voice (the 3-play package) since September 2006. I have had no problems at all with my phone. I had Vonage before and it, too, was very good except in one location, where there was interference.
What this tells me, reading most of the posts, it it all depends. Depends on where you live and what is around you. I live in the City of Baltimore and it works fine here.
I was glad to see the comments posted here because I am very confused about what provider to go with. I had Comcast at my last house for internet and tv. We moved last week and I scheduled someone from Comcast to install internet service, cable for five tv’s and two phone lines. The installer arrived late on the day of installation. After a few hours, I guess he got tired and just left, saying that everything was done. Absolutely no service was completely installed. I called Comcast back and scheduled the rest of the installation for this past Sat. and nobody showed up. When I called them, they said there was no scheduled appt. I then called the sales rep and he is trying to help me but I still don’t have an appt. Meanwhile, my internet service here has been spotty. The sound quality on the two phone lines is definitly worse than when I had AT&T but, most alarming, when I tried to call out yesterday and when someone tried to call me a few times, we got a message “All circuits are busy, please try again”. That is completely unacceptable. I tried to get Verizon but they have fiber optic service in my area and it is about $50 more per month than Comcast. I feel like nobody really wants my business.
Dont get comcast digital voice, i advice you guys that have it the service will not get better if you get 64351564 techs you will still have the same static robotic voice and no dial tones till you get a new service this is coming from a comcast csr thanks
I’ve had Comcast Digital Voice installed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Had a few mix-ups during the install process, but now that it’s installed, the voice service is working fine. And the Internet service is much faster than previous DSL.
One observation: people who are happy with a product or service are much less motivated to surf the web and post on the topic. Not to say the problems described above aren’t real, just that they’re probably statistically skewed.
I’M IN MA. JUST SIGNED UP FOR COMCAST PHONE ON 12/2006. CONTINUED PROBLEMS WITH PHONE HAVING NO SERVICE ON & OFF @ VARIOUS TIMES OF DAY. CALLED AT LEAST 5X TO CS. NOONE KNOWS WHY. ON 3/15/07, CALLED & TECH SAID COULD BE SIGNAL/MODEM PROBLEM, WILL SEND TECH ON SAT, 3/17/07 BETWEEN 2PM-5PM. TOOK DAY OFF FROM WORK & WAITED WHOLE DAY. AT 3:30PM, CALLED CS & VERIFIED TECH’S STILL COMING & THINGS ARE ON TIME. @ 4:45PM, CALLED AGAIN, REP, LESLIE, FROM NEW FINLAND OFFICE SAID TICKET WAS CANCELLED. DON’T KNOW WHY, DON’T KNOW WHO CANCELLED IT. ASK TO SPEAK TO SUPERVISOR. WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. WANT SOMEONE TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. SENIOR REP NAMED CHRIS GETS ON THE PHONE, REPEATS SAME DRIBBLE & TELLS ME THE TECH’S ID#. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT’S GOING ON. PHONE SERVICE STILL ISSUE, BAD SIGNAL/BAD MODEM STILL ISSUE, WASTED A DAY WAITING WITH NO RESOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEMS. WILL BE CANCELLING THE PHONE SERVICE & GOING BACK TO VERIZON. SO IF YOU ARE THINKING OF SWITCHING TO COMCAST PHONE, DON’T BOTHER. AFTERALL, THEY ARE NOT A PHONE COMPANY. ALTHOUGH VERIZON IS NOT THE BEST EITHER, BUT STILL. IT’S TOUGH BOTH WAYS. BUT FORGET COMCAST.
I received a Triple Play ad mailer yesterday,and was considering switching from Verizon to Comcast for my phone,I currently have comcast for internet.I decided to Google the service ,to see if anyone has had any problems.Needless to say I will not be switching,after reading the numerous problems others are having,thank-you all for your post.
I’m from Philadelphia PA and want to hear from Digital Voice users or former users in the city. Are there problems here in our location?
Thanks, Ed
I’m trying to get the “triple play” to save some money, but its just not worth it. They’ve managed to screw up installation so many times now, it has yet to be installed properly – mostly since I’m trying to get my landline number moved over.
I’ve had 4 no-shows now, 2 late-appointments, 3 rounds of “third party verification”, 3 rescheduled appointments… today is 3/21, I was just told the appointment was cancelled on 3/19, and the reason given was “it was already moved over” – NOT. Must be time to give up.
I live in Conyers, Georgia and have had nothing but problems with Comcast Digital Voice. When on a call periodically the other party cannot hear me however I can hear them. The drop out is 5-10 seconds every minute or two. It is to the point where I cannot use my phone service. My internet service will drop connection as well on internet explorer as well as AOL.
Many tech’s have been out (4-6) in the past 4 months and replaced my modem and all lines from the modem to the pole with no success. Thinking it was an isolated issue with my line, I called my neighbor and she stated the same issue ongoing for the same time frame. What Can we do to get this issue resolved?
Greg
Here is the bottom line… With all service there are issues, some are more touchy then others, some are more reliable then others. A lot of service techs/contractors dont know how to balance signal accordingly. You cant hook up 15 cable lines and expect the service to be the same. Analog tv/Digital tv/high speed internet/Digital Voice all require different levels of signal to work at their best. If you had a brand new cable from the tap, brand new cables in your house… all services will work perfectly. You cant expect old cable, which isnt shielded as nicely, or has old crimp connectors to conduct and pass the signal in the proper way. Thats why techs are needed to come back out, the installers simply dont have the time to fix your problem in the install frame. Some of your houses Im sure require complete rewires. That is something I recommend, at only $15 per jack replacement from comcast you cant buy cable in a store that cheap. You can complain all you want, but for the amount comcast charges for service calls and line replacements they really do care. If you have a phone/sattelite tech step into your house, is an $80 minimum charge. The problem isnt with the service or the technology, the problem is more then not your wiring and connectors… thats 90% of all issues. You cant expect that old antenna wiring in your house to pass signal the same way a new tri shield RG6 cable does. Technology wasnt the same back then. So i suggest instead of pointing the finger at the provider, point it at yourself and fix the issues at hand.
Sorry Edward….rewired my house myself with new rg6 cable myself (a service tech for comcast gave me the cable…they did not want to do it) and then they came in and did the terminal connections…SO,
bottom line is that equipment IS a big issue but is only 50% of the problem. Customer service/comunication is the other biggie. Just read the notes above on how many problems people are having just getting in touch with comcast and having ANYONE be accountable. That is by far my greatest complaint…way too many times having to take off to be at the house…way to many no-shows for those times…and way too many hours on the phone (wasted cell phone minutes) trying to go through the layers of people to find someone that can provide answers, if any at all…
Yes, the technology side can be very frustrating
BUT…
the customer service side is downright disappointing and blatantly apathetic…sorry, but there is no excuse for that part of the equation
I am curious. I have Comcast Cable and HS Internet. For phone I use ATT Callvantage. Digital Voice is $39 + tax and other fees. ATT is $30 + tax & fees and Vonage is $25 +
So what do I get from Digital Voice that I don’t get from Callvantage that would be worth increasing my costs by $10 + a month?
Is there some price break from Comcast if I buy all 3 services from them?
P.S. I have horrible service from Comcast for what I currently buy. For Cable TV I have to call tech support about every couple of months because my digital cable service causes movies to pixilate (tileing, Comcast calls it) so badly that they have to do a readjustment. My HS Internet frequently goes out without explanation, staying out for hours or even days at a time. When service is restored I sometimes have to have Comcast reinstall all my email and internet accounts.
Thus I am VERY wary of Digital Voice and plan to stick with Callvantage unless there is something about Digital Voice I should know.
Today I had Digital Voice installed – Comcast tech instller refers to it as CDV. So far the sound quality is crystal clear. I haven’t tested all the calling features. Voice mail is very good.
I have Digital cable & high speed internet. The installation sheet I signed says my CDV cost is $33/month for 12 months, then it will go to $39.95.
There are many things I learned from the installer which I had not learned in the many calls to Comcast asking about CDV.
One is the eMTA, or new modem. There are 2 phone jacks on its rear, but only one can be used, unless you are paying for a 2nd line. The many sales reps told me each could be used. I’d specifically asked in order use WinXP’s Fax feature by connecting the PC’s Fax modem to the eMTA. The installers do not provide a splitter to insert in the one port to use a phone & the PC’s internal fax modem. Luckily I have several.
The flash depiction of the eMTA on Comcast’s site is deceiving . The device is 8.6″ x 7.1″ x 2.1″. Think of a slightly bigger Linksys WRT54G router . It is a Arris Touchstone Telephony Modem Model #TM502G . It can sit on its edge, lay like the aforementioned router, or be hung on a wall.
http://www.arrisi.com/product_catalog/listers/index.asp?id=385
Also, I live in an apartment, or as they call it, a MDU (multi-dwelling unit). The phone must be plugged into the eMTA. Contrary to the sales rep, the nearby jack does not activate when a phone line is run from the port on the eMTA to the wall jack with a splitter and the phone plugged into the splitter. The phone had no dial tone.
Overall the service is good and I have no complaints other than the incomplete information from the sales reps.
I Love Digital Voice, the customer service in SouthTexas is Awsome – this is the best thing that ever happened to me. It saved me money and i feel updated to the latest digital experience, i love it
I’ve had Comcast digital phone service on two lines in my home for a few months now in Marin County (SF Bay Area) and it’s been nothing but problems. I signed up with them for the Triple Play promotion to save money. Before reading the posts here, I was convinced that everything that could possibly go wrong already has, but now I see that there are a variety of other potential things that could happen, and most likely will if I keep this service. I am planning on switching back to AT&T, which is what I had before, and which was virtually problem-free. Plus the voice mail is better. I won’t even go into describing the numerous problems and frustrating conversations with customer service. At this point I wouldn’t keep the service if they paid me as it’s not worth the inconvenience and stress.
For all in the portland-metro area in Oregon ,Comcast is top notch for all three services no matter the day or time. I have never had an un-solvable problem and when there was a problem, Comcast was there real quick to fix it. From what I am hearing in this thread, it sounds like the issue could be completely geographical.
As for the customer service issues, I have had only one instance where the tech seemed completely inept and I asked to speak to a manager. The problem was fixed the next day with a service tech out to my house. In my experience with this company (5 years), it seems to turn out that not everyone in the company is on the same page, technically speaking. For instance, when the phone service was installed earlier this year the initial tech didn’t set everything up correctly and left two separate boxes at my house (modem and emta). When I called support they tried everything on their end to fix the normal range of problems, and then sent a tech out. The tech arrived the next day (albeit 2 hours late) and within 5 minutes had fixed the problem. He simply called the local service provider and told them to switch both services to the emta instead of the router. Corporate support had no idea how to solve this. Different people get different training on different levels. It seems to me that things can only get better at this point because the service is somewhat new and all of their support doesn’t really know that much about it yet. I don’t know, to some of you I may be talking a load of ****, but my experience with the company has been nothing but positive.
And I completely agree with Larry that nobody really comes online to brag about their service, only their problems with it. I am only really here looking for a softphone program and clicked on the wrong link . . .
Anyways thats my two cents!
Edward Silvia above is correct. The service can certainly depend on the wiring in ones home. I had all three products installed in my home last fall. My home was built in the 40s and never had cable before. Although all the cable connections are new, the phone wiring in the home is older and I was concerned about this. I have not had a problem and am quite happy about the service. Of course the high speed internet can not be beat. I could never go back to dial up. The two things I enjoy best about digital voice is the unlimited long distance with the ability to talk to my friends in other parts of the country for as long as I want and the ability to check voice mail on the internet since I travel quite often. Outside of ordering the service I have not had to call Comcast so have had no frustrations with customer service. Normally, if I have a question I can find it on their website or someplace on the internet. I think the point made here that those who complain are more like to be heard on sites like this. I just wanted to get my voice out there to hear a postive digital voice story.
I already have internet and TV cable service with Comcast and I am now contemplating on adding the digital phone service. I have to admit that after reading the comments here, which most of them are negative about digital voice, I am now more confused and undecided than before. I understand the logic that most people that would even take the time to post something on here about this relatively new Comcast service, are individuals that are not happy with it. On the other hand the greater percentage that is not having a problem would not be here to vent off their frustration either. So, if all these problems posted here are statistically skewed, then one wonders what is their real worth. And that leaves me with the geographical issue… I live in southern New Jersey on the shore and I would like to hear from anyone that also lives in the area and what they have to say about Comcast.
We don’t watch TV, we have the old Comcast Digital telephone service and have had Comcast internet for years. We have had few problems.
Recently, our internet went down and the telephone help and the Comcast tech checked-out the whole system and solved our problem promptly and professionally even though it was our problem … a dead modem.
The Comcast billing office had some problems with our automatic billing. After months of my calling them, we were finally charged for 6 months of service. I dealt with very polite people every time.
Now, they are making some great offers for us to switch to Digital Voice. Hm m m… Now I wonder how the CDV service is in the Pacific NW.
???
Bann
I’ve been with Comcast for several years now. First, I got Comcast basic cable TV, and then high-speed internet. Then I bought an HD TV (60″), and went with their HD cable package. Finally got fed up with AT&T constantly raising their prices (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a call across the freeway is considered “long distance”. So I finally added digital voice to the mix, and I’ve had the service for a bit over a year now. I’ve been very pleased with every aspect of the three utilities.
I gotta say, the digital voice service is at least a full order-of-magnitude better than what I got with AT&T. And it’s a whole lot cheaper! Same story with DSL vs. cable. They use DSL at my work. Not only is my upload/download speed faster at home, I get far fewer service interruptions with Comcast than they have at work on DSL.
Here are some possible problems that some people aren’t considering regarding the digital voice service: older telephone equipment, old internal house wiring, old neighborhood wiring, old substation wiring. If you’ve got a 40-year-old house, your old rat-nibbled phone lines are 40 years old, as well. If Comcast ‘owns’ the lines, they seem to be fairly consistent with equipment upgrades. If they lease the lines, they’re kind of at the mercy of whoever own them.
Wow, am I glad I found this site. I was beginning to think it was just me! I have Comcast digital cable tv and internet so I decided to switch to their phone service because it was cheaper than Bellsouth. They installed a phone jack and modem on Wednesday (May 2nd). Everything seemed to be working ok but today I discovered I cannot receive any calls from land line phones. Cell phone calls make it through but not regular phones. I can make outgoing calls ok but can’t receive them. Three of my friends have tried to call me and it just rings and rings (on their end) but my phone does not ring. I called Comcast and they said they will “do a ticket” and get back to me within 48 hours (haha). If anyone has any idea what might be wrong, please let me know. Thanks so much!
I have had hands on, direct experience with the CDV product for over a year now. Like Edward Silvia said above, most of the problems with the CDV service come from old or outdated customer owned interior wiring, both coax cable, and phone lines. Comcast or and other phone or cable company owns everything up to the point of demarcation, this is the point were the responsibility falls onto the homeowner. Comcast is responsible for only the cable drop running from the pole to your house. Anything after that the homeowner would be responsible for. So that means any phone wiring would be customer owned. Even is Comcast installs the wiring for you the customer is responsible for the upkeep of those wires. When you sign the work order you are agreeing to what I stated above. As for robotic voice and dropping calls, they are mostly caused by old phone and coax wiring. If you plug a phone directly into the EMTA you will almost never have any problems, because you are eliminating all of the houses wiring. Yes there were some problems in the beginning but most have been worked out. I hope this helps.
Thanks to everyone who posted. I currently have Comcast Cable and Internet. My house is 2 years old, so the wiring is fairly new. For that reason, I am considering a Comcast Triple Play package with the digital voice. How does your phone connect – do you plug into a phone jack or cable jack? Can you have multiple phones?
ATTN John
You sould not have any problems in a two year old house, as long as their is a phone jack in the same room as your cable modem. All the jacks will work if the tech backfeeds the dialtone into an exitisting phone jack. What are do you live in?
Hopefully I was some help.
I agree with several individuals above, most of the problems are caused by poor wiring inside customers homes.
If you live in an older home, I reccomend having a dedicated coax line installed, from the ground block to the eMTA. Don’t use the 25 year old RG59 line that is split sereral times througout your home.
As for old phone lines, it is often cheaper to purchase an expandable phone set, where you plug the main base into the eMTA and have as many extensions as needed throughout the house than paying to rewire old phone lines.
Hope this helps.
Have been a Comcast customer for 2 years now with digital cable and HSI. Had been holding on to analog phone with Verizon out of a perceived feeling of service quality.
Well Verizon upped my monthly service cost again without notice, and Comcast conveniently called to solicit me for digital voice. I gave in and have it connected.
The installation tech was here on time and the installation was flawless. So far no issues at all and sound quality is better than analog. I love the online features, and the best part is that at least for the next year, I can save nearly $60/month with my new bundled package.
Yes, some people may have problems, but I tend to think they are the vocal minority.
A couple things… I definitely agree that alot of people are not realizing that your own responsibility comes into things as well! UPDATE YOUR WIRING! Alot of people dont have RG6 wire, and just because someone comes out, doesnt mean it will be done. We had a complete remodel of our home this past summer and had new areas wired, but the electricians did not run any new wire, and even assumed a wire was live and was not, it was a chopped off satellite dish wire that didnt do anything! Make sure you have NEW cable line and/or telephone wires if you want to run these things in your home! As far as customer service, yes many people probably are experiencing difficulties due to a geographic problem. In my particular area in New Hampshire we are just getting acclimated to Comcast after they took over from Adelphia. I have had very little problems with our non-digital cable and high speed internet services through Comcast since the switch. We recently received a mailing about the triple play as Digital Voice is JUST becoming available in this area of the country. We have signed up for it and will be getting it installed in one week, and I will try to repost once we do. Basically though alot of things people are talking about arent due to Comcast specifically. Yes, there are two phone jacks on the back of the unit, but no you cant use them both unless you have two lines. Its the same with others as well, we currently have Vonage and its the same way. Also, yes you will end up losing one side of a conversation, or get a “robot” sound now and then. It isnt from your phone service, its more from the internet part. Your voice is being translated into a digital signal and sometimes it isnt perfect. Sorry, its technology and sometimes it doesnt adapt quite so perfectly! That problem should be pretty minimal though. You might sound robotic for a minute or two until the signal clears up, normally its less than 30 seconds. The biggest problem you get with this kind of situation is you have to realize something! You are relying COMPLETELY on electricity and internet availability with a VoIP service of any kind! If the power goes out, the phone will be dead. If the internet goes out, the phone will be dead. Its unfortunate but thats the compromise you make by trying to save money regardless of what company you go with! I hope this can clear things up for some people, and im not trying to deny that customer service can be a BIG part of these problems. Customer Service is a problem many different companies deal with and yes it needs to be addressed, but dont always assume that the service isnt good just because some idiot on the phone doesnt understand the situation. Our install date is set for 6/8/07 and after the install I will try to remember to repost and let you all know how things went, good or bad.
Well, I just got off the phone with Comcast because our appointment has been rescheduled on us. We are now expecting the install on 6/18/07 due to VONAGE not releasing our number! Comcast has been very helpful, we have been waiting this long because they anticipated it taking 15 days for Vonage to release our current number, but now Vonage says it wont be released for ten more days! If anything, I wouldnt go for Vonage! Vonage has been an OK service, but yes there are still call quality issues, and more importantly the monthly fee has been rising slowly over the months. I am hoping that wont happen with Comcast, if we can ever get them to do this! I just cannot wait to get rid of Vonage now….
I had to wait 10 days for verizon to release my number before I could switch.
No downtime or problems for over 4 months here with digital voice. It is much better than vonage form my experince.
I am not able to use my fax machine and that is the only downside so far.
I’ve had Comcast Digital Voice for almost two years, with ZERO PROBLEMS. Clarity and reliability are superior to my old traditional line with SBC. Features are fantastic.
My only beef is with the voicemail — it works fine, but I have to listen to the entire message (even with old messages) before I can do anything like save or delete it. But it might be operator error.
Tried Vonage when we first moved to Portland. What a mess! But Comcast DV has performed beautifully over a long time, and I’ve recommended it to my friends in Sacramento, where it just became available a few weeks ago.
re having new wires in the house for CDV..if at the installation the interior signal meets comcast’s specs, I say there should be no problem, If comcast goes ahead with the installation even though the interior signal strength is below their specs then as far as I am concerned they are wrong and should not proceed with the installation, or they should not blame the customer because of a shoddy business ethic.
Attn: Stromps
Very few times on the day of instal, EMTA’s are left out of spec by Comcast Techs. The only time a Tech will leave the EMTA out of spec, is that they have done everything in their power to get that EMTA in spec. You will be suprised that sometimes you can have perfect signal, and still have problems like cutting in and out, and also robotic voice. Just because the signal is fine does not mean their will be not problems. This last problem I just wrote about, will be caused by copper shielded RG 59 coax cable, or cheap single shielded radioshack RG 6 coax cable. Also, not all cordless phones are compatible with CDV, so if you are having problems, with the service please make sure your phone, or phones are not on the non compatible list.
Any more questions just post them here.
Well, we have had our DV now for about a week and I have had absolutely no problems. There were some issues on the day of install, mainly because Vonage had STILL not released our number! The installer came (early actually, which was very nice!) and he got all the digital cable hooked up, internet was working, but the phone wasnt so he called up his guys, and they said vonage was still holding the number! Our tech was a very nice kid, very laid back and comfortable and I didnt mind it one bit. He tried to help us out by getting us a “temporary” number until vonage released our number, and spent 4 hours at my house trying to get things straightened out before vonage suddenly cleared everything and all of a sudden our phone started ringing and it was all set! He then checked the “secret website” as he called it, and then said that our signal strength was a bit on the borderline. He then went outside and checked and saw that there were a couple splitters and he adjusted things and the signal was a little better. He did warn me that it was still just over the strength needed but he didnt think it would be a problem and he explained that the alternative would be to run a second line from the pole. I was glad he did what he could, and I know running a new line would have costed more. So, after everything was straightened out we were all set, and I have had no problems whatsoever yet. Really better quality and I have noticed NO downtime or “robot” voice so far, and yet we did with Vonage. Also, given the crap that we went through to get AWAY from Vonage, I wouldnt recommend Vonage to anyone now! Many more features included with Comcast DV as well, and I enjoy them all!
Well I am a technician for comcast.. like somebody said before..the people that has no problems doesnt post…only the people that has problems… so I’ll give you guys my two cents.
My status basicly is a cdv installer and I been almost through everything this last year.. to the people that has problems with the fax tone.. I really have no clue..since I had that happen to me twice or three times.. but in all those I didnt make any change to the phone service in the houses… all i did was home run lines from the emta (modem for phone) to outside phone denmark(or phone box)…. so i think thats a problem with comcast setting up the services…
now with the robotic voice and that line going on and off.. its basic stuff … for the time I work in san francisco i can tell there is a lot of techs that have no idea what are phone wires… (yes..contractors, even thou im one of those …there is some dudes in sf that try to get phones to work just coming out of modem and well when they have to mess with phone lines they tend to just mix everything up and basicly mess it up.. also when the techs do not make sure your modem levels (upstream, downstream and snr)are good your modem is in a big risk of stopping to work.. remember your speed online wouldnt change anything in signal was higher or lower… just that with low or too high signal that emta is in a big risk or just break out .. well I speak enough..
comcast is a good service,… cheaper at least now..and it has nothing to be jealous of regular phone service.. my tip is that if you sign for it ..make sure the tech has a clue about what he is doing.. and you shouldnt have any problems
I wish I’d have found this site six weeks ago. I have been struggling with Comcast since May 23rd. I’ve called at least 7 or 8 times. I’ve had a tech come out once already and again tomorrow. I have the issue of the phone cutting out and either I can’t hear the caller or they can’t hear me. I also have the problem of people calling who can’t get through to me (just rings and rings) and eventually end up in my OLD BELLSOUTH voicemail! My home is about 4 years old. I would imagine my wiring is not the issue. I will tell you this (for what it is worth) – the issue of the calls cutting in and out appear to be better when I move AWAY from my computer which has the wireless internet modem near it. Coincidence? Probably not. Anyway, just had to vent. Feeling very frustrated right now. Glad to know others are having the same issue. Hoping they’ll resolve it soon!!!!!
As many before me, I too wish I had read this before switching to the “promise” of digital voice with Comcast. We live in a 5 year old house in Chester Co outside Philly…this house was installed fully digital with everything; data, voice, TV etc etc. I’m sure old wiring is a problem, but not for us and yet we have had ALL the problems described above.
We switched to Comcast voice about a year ago. By the way, Comcast customer service is very friendly when you sign up for something…when you have problems later, not so much. Problems with “dead zones” started right away. A constant stream of tech reps followed, problems never corrected. A funny thing (not really) was that we were completely unable to call neighbors who also had just signed up for Comcast. That part was eventually fixed. So about 3 months we gave up and switched to AT&T’s digital service. They were very friendly and found that many Comcast folks had come over. However, AT&T provided the same problems, and frankly the worst customer service support I have ever seen (yes, worse than Comcast).
So, what are the problems? No one seems to know, but I believe what some has suggested about “traffic” problems over digital lines may be a core reason. Like when you watch digital TV and suddenly the image becomes Max headroom like for a while and then it clears up.
Suggesting as some have for the homeowners to take responsibility with lines etc may be helpful advice but hardly the point. Does anyone here miss the ongoing ads Comcast run every night to sell their service? Do they ever suggest ANY restrictions?? No. They are selling a service as the best thing since sliced bread…guess what, you make a promise like that, it’s on you to deliver. Don’t blame the customer.
Writing from Washington, DC: thanks for all your useful comments on Comcast digital voice. Has anyone had a good experience with it in Washington, DC? We already have Comcast cable and high speed internet and are contemplating adding digital voice as part of the “triple play” package.
We had Vonage for two years, and were very happy with it. We decided to try Comcast Digital Voice when it was offered in our area. We kept the Vonage line for two months while testing out Comcast, and everything seemed to work well until we moved (only 2.5 miles away). Our Comcast DV was disconnected four days earlier than requested and we couldn’t get it connected at the new house until the originally scheduled date. They got it back up and running just fine, after four days, but now it is off again after only two weeks and callers get a message that the number is not in service. We should NEVER have terminated our Vonage service. I am very disappointed in Comcast’s Digital Voice service… disconnected twice in two weeks is inexcusable!
I’m in the SF Bay Area and have the Triple Play package. Only problem has been once we went to the DVR boxes and found tiling problems. So far not often enough to give up on it.
I have a question about hooking up a fax machine to Digital Voice. Does anyone know a brand that’s compatible and then how you hook up? Is it doable?
Thanks,
I own an Alarm company and a Low Voltage Electrical compnay in the SF BAy Area. Two major things to be aware of……your alarm system has a battery back-up that should provide a couple of days service if your power is out. If you are using this new service and you lose power, and your alarm is monitored at a Central Station, your alarm can’t transmit a signal because dial-tone is lost. Secondly, if you have newer, home-run telephone wiring in your home, versus the “daisy-chain”, older method of telephone wiring, it may be a bigger issue than a Concast tech can or will handle. He will make it your problem to have any wiring related issues resolved, whcih could be costly. Know and understand your wiring infrastructure before making this plunge to avoid major downtime to your telephones. A side issue……their digital modem will only support two separate telephone numbers. If you need more than two, inquire how they can accomplish this…….and good luck!