Gene Kearns wrote:
On Thu, 01 Jun 2006 07:33:22 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers"
wrote:


Gene,
Comcast gave up handling UseNet and contracted their UseNet access out
to giganews. Their service is FANTASTIC and you get 2 GB of downloads
per month for free. If you need more you can pay for the service from
giganews.

As you can tell, I am very very pleased with Comcast as a ISP and Cable
provider.

Giganews is a great provider. I don't know about the OP, but Comcast
does not serve my area.

I hope your Vonage is working out OK. I finally had to dump them for
poor service... actually NO service. Trying to get unhooked from that
bunch of idiots was a real experience.

Gene,
I have had a few minor problems with getting the telephone modem sync'ed
up with Comcast. This had to do with setting up new computers, or after
a power failure. It is realitively easy, painless and fast to do as
long as you have a cell phone to call Vonage. I have had to reboot the
telephone modem (pull the plug out for 30 secs) a few times after power
failures, same as I have to do with my cable modem, but I would rate the
quality of telephone service itself a A-, the quality of Customer
Service a B+ to a A+ depending upon the rep. I was talking to. I would
rate BellSouth's service quality a A, and customer service a D to B.
Vonage offered a total package at considerably cost savings over
BellSouth, but the real reason is I wanted to give BellSouth some
competition.

I would never recommend Vonage, or any Internet Telephone service, to
someone who was not comfortable setting up their computer (ie my mother
in law), but it is a winner in my book. The kiss of death with
BellSouth was their attitudes when I contacted them to disconnect the
service. They were a real pain in the ass, and highlighted the reason
ALL corporations need strong viable competitors to keep them at their
best. BellSouth has always reminded me of the DMV, they were the one
game in town, and they knew it, so customer service or flexibility was
not a priority.

Clark Howard (a radio consumer advocate) has had a number of callers
call in about Vonage and the other Internet Telephone Companies, and the
general consensus is they are good strong competitors to MaBell local
service. There are very few callers who have left Vonage to go back to
MaBell. All of his staff have left MaBell and all of them are very
comfortable with their new telephone services.
--
Reggie

That's my story and I am sticking to it.