Dissociated Press / Comcast digital voice?

Comcast digital voice?

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.

Comments (119) left to “Comcast digital voice?”

david wrote:

did you get a response to this inquiry yet? i have the same question here in chicago. thanks.

Posted on 15-Nov-06 at 5:34 pm | Permalink
Jason wrote:

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.

Posted on 01-Dec-06 at 11:38 pm | Permalink
Carlos Bennett wrote:

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.

Posted on 11-Dec-06 at 9:39 am | Permalink
MIKE wrote:

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.

Posted on 12-Dec-06 at 11:35 am | Permalink
Mail Slot Man wrote:

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.

Posted on 29-Dec-06 at 1:20 am | Permalink
Shelley wrote:

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.

Posted on 06-Jan-07 at 5:36 pm | Permalink
Terri wrote:

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.

Posted on 27-Jan-07 at 3:30 pm | Permalink
Sheila wrote:

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?

Posted on 11-Feb-07 at 9:59 am | Permalink
Cecilia wrote:

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!

Posted on 28-Feb-07 at 6:30 pm | Permalink
Frank Ratel wrote:

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.

Posted on 02-Mar-07 at 9:55 am | Permalink
Sherry wrote:

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.

Posted on 07-Mar-07 at 10:54 am | Permalink
Lynn wrote:

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.

Posted on 07-Mar-07 at 8:03 pm | Permalink
Mike wrote:

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

Posted on 15-Mar-07 at 7:26 am | Permalink
Larry wrote:

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.

Posted on 17-Mar-07 at 9:59 am | Permalink
lin lang wrote:

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.

Posted on 17-Mar-07 at 3:12 pm | Permalink
DON wrote:

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.

Posted on 20-Mar-07 at 7:14 am | Permalink
Ed Haywood wrote:

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

Posted on 20-Mar-07 at 8:25 pm | Permalink
Garrett wrote:

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.

Posted on 21-Mar-07 at 4:35 pm | Permalink
Greg wrote:

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

Posted on 21-Mar-07 at 8:24 pm | Permalink
Edward Silvia wrote:

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.

Posted on 27-Mar-07 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
Kip wrote:

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

Posted on 30-Mar-07 at 4:54 am | Permalink
drew wrote:

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.

Posted on 05-Apr-07 at 11:35 am | Permalink
Jim wrote:

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.

Posted on 06-Apr-07 at 8:46 pm | Permalink
Comkid wrote:

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

Posted on 10-Apr-07 at 11:18 am | Permalink
Barbara wrote:

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.

Posted on 19-Apr-07 at 4:34 pm | Permalink
Keith Hill wrote:

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!

Posted on 20-Apr-07 at 8:40 pm | Permalink
Andrew Piontek wrote:

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.

Posted on 26-Apr-07 at 9:27 am | Permalink
Fanuti wrote:

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.

Posted on 04-May-07 at 3:15 pm | Permalink
Bann Davidson wrote:

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

Posted on 07-May-07 at 3:04 pm | Permalink
Jeff Kerner wrote:

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.

Posted on 07-May-07 at 5:01 pm | Permalink
Linda Goldstein wrote:

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!

Posted on 07-May-07 at 9:53 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:

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.

Posted on 09-May-07 at 9:55 pm | Permalink
Jon wrote:

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?

Posted on 22-May-07 at 8:06 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:

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.

Posted on 25-May-07 at 4:13 pm | Permalink
dee wrote:

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.

Posted on 01-Jun-07 at 1:08 pm | Permalink
Neil wrote:

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.

Posted on 02-Jun-07 at 10:31 am | Permalink
Joe wrote:

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.

Posted on 02-Jun-07 at 8:41 pm | Permalink
Joe wrote:

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….

Posted on 07-Jun-07 at 5:48 pm | Permalink
Jeff wrote:

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.

Posted on 08-Jun-07 at 8:14 am | Permalink
Mike wrote:

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.

Posted on 08-Jun-07 at 6:24 pm | Permalink
Stromps wrote:

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.

Posted on 18-Jun-07 at 6:57 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:

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.

Posted on 20-Jun-07 at 9:46 pm | Permalink
Joe wrote:

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!

Posted on 25-Jun-07 at 6:55 pm | Permalink
Luis wrote:

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

Posted on 25-Jun-07 at 9:15 pm | Permalink
Lisa wrote:

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!!!!!

Posted on 01-Jul-07 at 5:29 pm | Permalink
Not Impressed wrote:

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.

Posted on 10-Jul-07 at 1:09 pm | Permalink
patricia wrote:

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.

Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 8:51 am | Permalink
leanne wrote:

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!

Posted on 24-Jul-07 at 3:40 pm | Permalink
Gloria wrote:

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,

Posted on 30-Jul-07 at 12:33 pm | Permalink
Ed wrote:

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!

Posted on 03-Aug-07 at 9:35 am | Permalink
Raymond wrote:

I switched to Comcast Digital Voice 5 days and I am extremely frustrated. After the install on Saturday I could not receive incoming calls or make long distance calls. The Tech assured me the problem would be fixed Monday morning. Here it is Wed. evening and the problem has not been fixed. I have been calling 2 or 3 times every day to ask when it will be fixed and I still haven’t received a call back. If my problem isn’t fixed tomorrow I will be switching to someone else.

Posted on 08-Aug-07 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
Cheryl wrote:

We are considereing the promotional package in the western Minneapolis area. Anyone have good or bad reports here? We were told that a fax would work fine and only 4 or 5 phones recomended.
New house and neighborhood.

Posted on 10-Aug-07 at 9:06 am | Permalink
piltdown wrote:

“# Comkid Says:
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
”

What kind of marketing crap is that?

You “feel updated to the latest digital experience”? I’d a damn phone.

Quit marketing your product here, you tool.

Posted on 13-Aug-07 at 10:33 pm | Permalink
Denriddy wrote:

Edward Silvia wrote: “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.”

Mmmm, no, I’ll point it back at the provider for knowingly and willfully selling and installing technology into a wiring system they already know won’t work as they claim. That is, of course, if they know as much as you purport to know. In law, that kind of operation is called “fraud.”

Posted on 14-Aug-07 at 7:19 am | Permalink
Auto wrote:

I am interested in reports of Comcast and Verizon service in the DC/MD area, specifically Hyattsville or Adelphi. It seems (AFAIK) Comcast and Verizon are the only two options for broadband ISP in my area, and phone service (either traditional land-line or CDV) would be a nice bonus. But Internet is needed! Any advice as to whether Verizon’s DSL reliability outweighs Comcast’s greater speed? Any reports of troubles with CDV in this area? (The MDU is from the late 80’s, if that makes a difference for wiring.)

Posted on 14-Aug-07 at 9:58 am | Permalink
Diana wrote:

My boyfriend and I noticed this as well after signing up for their service. Luckily, we have no use for a land-line phone, so it’s not too much of a problem, but I can imagine what other people must be feeling about this.

Posted on 19-Aug-07 at 3:29 pm | Permalink
Nat wrote:

Comcast Digital Voice is a TOTAL DISASTER.
I had two home office numbers I ported over from AT&T two days ago - and the guy came put the modem in worked for 10 minutes then he left and the system crashed.
They told me to reset no avail.
He again came back next day and said just remove the battery from the modem and restart
Did that and worked for a some time crashed again
Then in the evening I rebooted again and it worked briefly and the went kaput
Today a new guy came totally callous attitude, blamed it on a high signal strength initially said it was low - then DISASTER of disasters disconnected my from the service so now I have no dial tone no AT&T.
The technology isn’t reliable and it isn’t worth it. The Comcast attitude is HORRIBLE they don’t give a shit. So advice stay AWAY from Comcast Digital VOICE

Posted on 22-Aug-07 at 4:37 pm | Permalink
gloria b wrote:

I have the triple play with Concast ( intentional mis-spelling). UGGGGHHHHHLLLLLYYYYY. For a while the phone barely worked at all - same as other folks, message that it is disconnected, they cannot hear me but I can hear them, calls cut off, I sounded like daffy duck.

New problem I have noticed is that call waiting does not wait - I work from home which makes it more crucial that my phone work well. Anyway, when a call comes in while I am on the phone, instead of call waiting, it cuts off whoever I was talking to and now I am talking to whoever is calling in ( telemarketer, whoever.) This interrupts my business calls.

When I called comcast about the problem the fella was beyond clueless, could not or would not put me thru to anyone who had a glimmer of a brain, and wanted to send a tech out to see if my phone was connected properly. Since the phone can make and accept calls, and there is only one way to connect a phone, I am very curious as to what kind of imbecile the tech is if he cannot find a better job than going to see if a phone is connected properly……

Anyway this was only a reminder of my recent conversations (for several hours mutliple days) with the tv cable techs ( term used loosely) with comcast - the cable tv service has never worked at all - is like it is not connected at all. They wanted to send someone out for an inhome visit to make sure I had the cable connected to the tv correctly. (You tell me how many ways there are to hook one end of a cable into a modem and the other into the outlet on my tv. I had the cable working find at my old place, so obviously I have managed to figure out how to hook up a cable. Plus the computer works using the same cable into the modem. I also have a college degree)

No one is willing to come and check OUTSIDE the house, even when the folks on the concast end of the phone are sure the problem is with the outside cables. One time in the past when the tech on the phone said it was the outside cable, the folks that do outside maintenance would NOT come out until they had sent an indoor tech to check the connections. Not only does that provide delay, but it means you have to wait for the indoor idiot to come and they are generally hours late. Plus , if they can find another way to connect one end of a cable to a phone or tv and the other to a wall jack, well I would like to see it but do not want to waste any more of my time with these jokers.

the guy that installed this place made a big mess in the first place - the phone did not work at all at first - and they had to send at least one other person out to fix that. All this after missing an entire day of work waiting for the first tech, who was about 4 or 5 hours late.

Anyway, I am going to cancel the tv service since I am tired of paying for something that was never installed and that never worked and never will work and for which customer service is non-existent- is actually rather of an insult. And as soon as possible I, too, am going back to Verizon for a telephone that works.

I have begged and pleaded with Verizon to install DSL in my neighborhood and am on a list to be notified when it is available. I do not really miss most of the junk stations you can get with Conmcast basic tv, so i have been wanting to try satellite tv anyway - so when I have time to watch tv, I guess I will get satellite hooked up.

If anyone has any idea of how to fix any of the problems I have myself - or how to get comcast to send someone out to check the outside cables without disturbing me or wanting to come in to make sure I have the tv or phone connected, please feel free to let me know.

Posted on 22-Aug-07 at 6:05 pm | Permalink
Misty wrote:

I have had Comcast cable and internet for awhile and finally decided to try out the phone. I have been very happy with the service. I had one issue at the very beginning that required me to reset the modem and have never had a problem since. The sound quality is excellent, much better than Qwest. My home is newer, so I don’t know if that makes a difference with wiring and cables, but I love the service, have had excellent customer service with quick response, never any no shows as others have described. I live in Utah.

Posted on 24-Aug-07 at 6:33 pm | Permalink
Clay wrote:

I had Comcast Digital phone installed a year ago and service is great.
There was one issue, I had old cable wiring, home was over ten years old, this was before digital service was available. I had the robotic voice from bad connectors in the house, they were replaced along with the new digital cable. If you want new technology, then you have to upgrade to a digital house. Another issue was the alarm system, I had the old analog circuit board, that had to be upgraded as well. We are into new technology and have to upgrade our homes to meet the specs. I hear all phone service is going digital so no matter what company you go with, you need to do some repairs to the ancient analog wiring built into some homes.
Satified customer

Clay

Posted on 25-Aug-07 at 6:02 pm | Permalink
Anon wrote:

I have CDV in Philadelphia. Can’t say I’ve ever had any problems with it, except for them selling my number to telemarketers. I put myself on the do not call list and that solved most of it, except for the charity calls. The wiring in my home is ancient so I didn’t connect to it - I got one of those mutli phone systems and it’s fine. The only reason I need a landline anyway is due to the alarm system so I feel that it is still too expensive. I wish they’d offer a limited use plan for less $. The quality’s been fine. Make sure you have a cell phone though because when it goes out, you have nothing. No Tv to watch and no way to call their horrible customer support people to complain. It doesn’t go out that often though, maybe once every three months or so.

Posted on 27-Aug-07 at 9:39 am | Permalink
Lori wrote:

I just recently added comcast digital voice, and my home alarm system is not working with it. Four techs have been to my home to repair it and no one seems to know what to do. I have ADT and I have read that there may be a conflict with the technologies? Could use some info on previous experiences?? Has anyone gone through this? Have another tech coming out tomorrow so I am already thinking of plan B… going back to AT&T!

Posted on 27-Aug-07 at 6:42 pm | Permalink
Dennis wrote:

I have CDV coming in this Friday and I also have an ADT alarm system. Any suggestions what I need to watch for after they install this CDV? I spoke to ADT who told me to test the system with them both before and after they insatll CDV…hopefully, that will eliminate any issues.

Posted on 28-Aug-07 at 10:16 am | Permalink
Alt wrote:

My parents have an alarm system and recently switched from a copper line to a cellular-type (I’m not sure what kind) of connection for their alarm. This is in preparation for moving to a VoIP provider (most likely Vonage.)

With all of the recent buzz about Comcast’s secret bandwidth limit, I personally wouldn’t switch to CDV. I would love to get away from them altogether, but the alternatives in my area (no DSL is available) won’t cut it for me.

Posted on 29-Aug-07 at 12:04 pm | Permalink
Dennis wrote:

I have DSL available so if that would ever happen here then I’d have to move on…if they can’t give me good service and with my alarm system working correctly then they would loose all of my business.

Posted on 29-Aug-07 at 2:39 pm | Permalink
G wrote:

I have had digital voice for about 6 months. We had problems at the beginning with hearing the radio on the line and the phone cutting out occasionally but recently it’s been fine.

But today I encountered a major problem. I moved and transferred my service to the new house. I had to get a new phone number. Comcast WILL NOT PUT A MESSAGE ON THE OLD NUMBER THAT SAYS THE NUMBER HAS BEEN CHANGED. IT JUST SAYS “NOT IN SERVICE.” I have never heard of a phone company not providing this service. And it will do me no good to get a Comcast “business” account. It’s too late. I am furious.

Posted on 29-Aug-07 at 8:22 pm | Permalink
Joe wrote:

Well, had CDV installed for over two months now and still loving it! New Hampshire has no problems! The features of the service are very handy, much better than Verizon, or Vonage ever offered us! First bill seemed a little messed up, but due to getting it installed midway through a billing cycle and such, most of it was cleared up. Some things were off, but just calling customer service cleared up everything. My cousin lives on the other side of the city and got CDV shortly after us. She had no problems either just one small thing, her call blocking doesnt seem to work right. It doesnt confirm if the number was added to the list or not. She hasnt called about it. We do not have the problem as I have already blocked some unwanted numbers and they were blocked OK. Other than that, nothing has come up at all. Still very satisfied, especially in comparison to Vonage!

Posted on 30-Aug-07 at 5:12 pm | Permalink
Pete wrote:

My folks just had CDV installed and only two of their five phones were able to dial-out after the conversion. A tech came out and said that the phones “must have gone bad ad the same time we switched” after confirming that alternate phones worked with the same extension jack.

I don’t buy the coincidence. I’m thinking that there may be some incompatibility between older phones (the phones in question were probably 30 years old) and the Comcast modem. Maybe the older phones put out lower voltage levels for the touch-tone generation that wasn’t a problem with the analog service.

It’s not that big a deal. I can easily enough replace the phones, but I was wondering if anyone had any information on this type of problem as it’s raised my curiousity.

Posted on 02-Sep-07 at 9:59 am | Permalink
joseph smith wrote:

I have 2 verizon phone lines home and business and comcast cable tv and internet with a reservation in to swtich to Comcast. I saw several requests for performance reports on the Baltimore Washington area.
Can anyone in the Baltimore/ Washington area who has switched to the triple play respond regarding their
experience?

Posted on 02-Sep-07 at 6:32 pm | Permalink
John wrote:

I have had the triple play for many months now. Until recently we have had no problems. Recently we lost all our dial tones on all our phones throughout the house. The day before they were all working just fine. We called Comcast and said that they were making some changes on their end and to give it some time. Time has passed and no dial tone. The only dial tone I get is when I plug one phone into the back of the modem.
So ever since Comcast was making changes our phones don’t work. We called again, and right away the gentleman suggested for 1.49 extra a month Comcast could own and troubleshoot the lines in my home. My lines were fine until they toyed with them. I think they sent a spike through them to disable them so they could get money from a service call (because the problem is in the house-therefore the customers’ responsibility)or get consumers to fall for that extra 1.49 a month. What a joke. I am now in a bad situation because my LAN line was removed from the pole outside. So I couldn’t change phone services without getting the line put back up. Smooth move Comcast. I put the blame squarely on Comcast and their deceptive practices.

Posted on 04-Sep-07 at 4:12 pm | Permalink
Adonis wrote:

Hello, a few months back I was looking for a cheaper phone service and of course I got a letter from comcast and it mentioned their whole package that included DV, but it wasn’t much cheaper than my Bellsouth service and I had read some pretty bad comments about it. So, I looked into Vonage but again there were many negative comments about the service as well as positive but their whole issue with Verizon, who knows what will happen. A family friend told me about a company called Lightyear which also offers a VoIP service, he said he had the service for quite sometime now and hadn’t had any problems.

So, of course I read about the Lightyear service and it was 24.99 like Vonage but I didn’t see many negative reviews. I’ve been 3 months with Lightyear and I have no complaints. The only problem I had was with my Comcast internet losing signal often, but that was fixed with the installation of new wires. Goodbye Bellsouth!!

For those of you who are having problems with Digital Voice or Vonage, good luck or try out this Lightyear company.

If anyone is interested here is some more info about the VoIP serive they offer.

http://focusvoip.mylightyear.com/products_xstreamvoip.html

Posted on 05-Sep-07 at 1:13 am | Permalink
Connie wrote:

Comcast sucks period. I have had their triple play, and their phone service is not clear, there is always static in the line. When I moved, I was without a phone for 10 days cause they gave me a number that belonged to verizon, and was not suppose to. In all I have decieded to say good bye to the cabel pigs and go back to verizon landline, and dsl.

Posted on 05-Sep-07 at 5:51 pm | Permalink
andy wrote:

What do I need to do to plug the EMTA directly into the house line? A short dongle or some sort of crossover telephone cable?? At installation we had the tech plug the telephone directly into the back of the modem because no telephone jack was near the cable jack. He said we can plug it into the house line at another time. Well now I’ve relocated the modem and when I plug the telephone line into the house line, I get no dialtone. I thought maybe the telephone line upstairs and downstairs are not wired together, but reading here seems like there is a distinction between plugging telephone directly into the modem and into the house line. So can one of you CDV techs tell me what I need to do?

Posted on 07-Sep-07 at 7:47 pm | Permalink
Jenn wrote:

We had the Comcast Triple Play installed in June 2007. It took the installer about 4 hours to hook up the phone line, internet (which we already had), and digital tv on 4 tv’s. He seemed to be having lots of issues hooking everything up, but alas it worked. After a week or two people who called our home were inquiring about the frequent busy signals (we have call waiting) and dead air when the calls would not connect to us. Then we noticed we would not have a dial tone to dial out atleast twice a week. Calls were being dropped in the middle of conversations. People on the other end of the phone said our voice would go in and out and sounded “funny” at times. Comcast offered to send out a technician in July. Since the problem was only occasional, they could not find anything wrong at the time. Problems continued. In August they sent another technician. Same situation. Comcast then BILLED us $27 for the service call even though nothing was fixed. According to Comcast they can bill this $27 every time they send out a technician in a 30 day period. They really should let people know that BEFORE they OFFER to send someone out. After several complaints the charge was taken off for this one time only. They tried to push a $2.99/month protection plan that would cover all future service calls. So now we are stuck with an unreliable phone service if we want to continue our great rates for tv and internet in the package deal. Don’t get me wrong, the internet and digital cable are great, but the digital voice phone is EXTREMELY UNRELIABLE.

Posted on 08-Sep-07 at 4:00 pm | Permalink
Sarah wrote:

Anyone with problems, really should do as Edward Silvia says, make sure that your house is compatible with the technology being offered, you got an old house without any upgrades new technology won’t work well, so take the time to check yourself,and house out first, before you go blaming other folks for your mess, as far as old houses in the backwoods are concerned. Customer service has to deal with ignorant customers all day (I know because I work there) who want to curse you, when your trying to help fix their mess. Edward you hit the nail on the head.

Posted on 13-Sep-07 at 7:06 pm | Permalink
Patricia wrote:

We have the triple play service and have a multitude of problems with the internet service and the phone. The internet goes out for no reason, our alarm system doesn’t work with the phone modem and now for the past 5 days we cannot receive any incoming calls!!! There are 2 members of my household job hunting and no one can call them for interviews because of this and not only that we have a family member who is very ill and the caretakers need to be able to get in touch with us 24 hours a day. I called tech support and after keeping me on hold for 5 minutes (using my cell phone), they said, “I’m sorry, but I’ll put in a work order but it will be at least 24 hours before someone can fix it.” Well that was yesterday, and so far, the phone still doesn’t work! I think I’ll switch back to AT&T immediately!

Posted on 16-Sep-07 at 9:04 am | Permalink
Adam wrote:

I got the service and i can make calls but cant receive them and it says that my line is disconected and when the comcast guy came out to install everything the first modem he brought didnt even work,he leaves comes back over an hour later and hooks it all up and dosent have his test phone with him and threatens to dissconect everything and leave if i dont find a house phone,which was packed away at the time he told me that if i didnt go ask a neighbor to barrow one that he’s gonna be pissed,and yes he actually said pissed and then finally i find one and he dosent even test it right,and all my wiring is new btw

Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 12:46 pm | Permalink
Lorenzo wrote:

I have Qwest. I ordered Comcast service without cancelling my Qwest line. Comcast is going to setup a separate number on one jack (off of the modem??) versus the whole house. That way I can test it out for 30 days on that one number, with one phone connected to it. If it doesn’t meet my expectations they’ll cancel it at no cost. What concerns me now is that if I decide to go forward with it, the wiring in my house (according to this thread) could cause problems. Bummer. I might not even take the risk and may decide to cancel the install completely.

Posted on 06-Oct-07 at 12:21 pm | Permalink
Jim wrote:

Has anyone noticed any type of delay when they talk to others. WE use to not have this problem, but since going to digital voice we seem to talk over each other a lot more. We did a test by saying 1, 2, 3, go and the other person would say go at the same time. There was about a 1 second delay between my go and their go. Try it and see if you have the same problem. Is there any way to remedy this problem?

Posted on 11-Oct-07 at 2:51 pm | Permalink
Olivia wrote:

I signed up with Comcast Digital Voice to get the “deal” because I already had cable and internet with them. That was all verified by the Customer Service who signed me up.
When the bill came, there was no “deal”. I called and asked why, was told you only got the promotion if you signed up for all three at the same time. Claimed the restriction was on the promotion. I argued that I was not told that at the time of signing, but the opposite. No go. I noticed several people on here mentioned they have cable and internet and want to sign up for voice to get the promotion. Well, good luck. I am about to make a complaint with our Township Cable Coordinator, but don’t expect to get anywhere, since I have no proof. Apparently I am not the only one who “misunderstands” their promotions, and their shady operators.

Posted on 15-Oct-07 at 2:22 pm | Permalink
Olivia wrote:

Per comment above:
I did speak with our Township Coordinator and she contacted Comcast with my complaint.
A Comcast rep called this A.M. and gave me a discount on my services because of the confusion. She stated they will speak with their telephone reps and reiterate the necessity for being very clear with customers about restrictions or exceptions on promotions or new services. I was satisfied with her solutions and feel they handled the complaint very well. However, had I not gone to my local Coordinator, nothing would have been done.
Thanks Janet.

Posted on 16-Oct-07 at 12:10 pm | Permalink
Adonis wrote:

Those of you having delay problems or are having problems with the other person hearing you, should use QoS. It means quality of service, many routers have it, so go into your router settings and put your voip adapter as the highest. That would cause your internet connection to be used more by your phone service rather than the internet. In my case, I could be streaming videos or music online while someone is on the phone and there is really no problem. Even if your connection is really fast, there could still be interference between your internet use and voip. So to make a long story short, just use QoS. It makes a big difference or just leave Digital Voice.

Those of you wanting a good VoIP service check out

http://focusvoip.mylightyear.com/products_xstreamvoip.html

Take it easy

Posted on 18-Oct-07 at 12:00 am | Permalink
Joan wrote:

I signed up with Comcast for the triple package rate of $99 per mo. Well, that’s a bunch of bunk! I am being billed $139 per mo. and can’t get through to a rep. yet. I’ve been put on hold for up to 30 min. and have had to hang up and try at another time since I’ve got things to do and places to be!!! I just hope that I can cancel before my year is up!
I have had this service for three months and have had problems with the internet, cable tv and phone. The first time they came out to hook up my cable, the guy somehow knocked my internet out. I was without it for a week before they could get another rep. out to fix it.
I could go on and on with these stories, but you get the picture. Their telephone reps leave a lot to be desired and, quite frankly, I wonder how in the world this company stays in business!

Posted on 19-Oct-07 at 10:27 am | Permalink
nafisa wrote:

I have Comcast for cable internet and phone. Lately I have been having strange issue with my phone. Whenever I call Comcast to order some channel or ask a question, I invariably get disconnected after some time. After that when I try to dial again, there is no dial tone. Also i have noticed that happens only after I call Comcast. Dial tome comes back by itself after about one minute. The other issues, of course, I can relate to. Their customer service is horrendous. I had called to order HDNET and HDNMV, I did not get them until 4 days later when I called again. And of course, I will see a bill starting from the first day I “placed” that order. Another instance, I needed to have another outlet installed in a room. Before confirming the appointment, I asked customer service how much it will be, I was told $35. The technician comes and does the job and charged me $35, which I paid. At that time, I asked him if that is all and we are even for this work, he said yes. The next month’s bill I see another $29 tagged on top. I called customer service to get an explanation, I of course got disconnected before I can completely describe the issue and both times no dial tone afterwards. Eventually, the third person came and she would not acknowledge that however fair the $29 charge may have been (as she said, thats the fee schedule for somebody to show at my house), she just would not admit that Comcast did not disclose all the fees upfront. I was expecting at the very least that, and if possible removal of $29 since it is reasonable to expect that if such charges were not disclosed (even if they have it on their fee schedule). In my area Comcast recently took over Time Warner Cable, I can see a noticeable difference in charges also. Most of the channel lineup has been repartitioned, the cable charges for all packages as well as special channels went up. Finally, somebody should teach really help them streamline their phone customer service process — they expect customers to make about 7 to 8 choices before I can get to the rep (though I would acknowledge that is not the worst I have seen, there was a time it was impossible to locate AT&T or Sprint customer service rep by making those choices, but those were pre-cell phone days about 10 to 15 years back). Comcast it seems is still living in that age…
I have had the triple combo for over an year now, and I like only the internet connection service (through Roadrunner). The other two + their service is not worth the price.

Posted on 24-Oct-07 at 12:29 am | Permalink
Peter Roland wrote:

Was seriously considering switching my 3 phone lines to Comcast, but after reading these comments I stay with what I have. I do have Comcast fast internet and have no problems with it. Can you recommend another, better digital voice service other than Vonage, that is very good and reasonable? Honest help is badly needed. Thanks.

Posted on 24-Oct-07 at 10:15 pm | Permalink
Adonis wrote:

Like I have mentioned before, for those of you who don’t like Comcast Digital Voice or Vonage but still want to pay $24.99 plus tax for VoIP, check out the company Lightyear Alliance. I’ve had service with them for about 5 or 6 months and I have not had problems. The only problem I did have was with delay but that was minimal and when I configured the Quality of Service(QoS) it went away, so give it a try. I think they currently have a promotion where you get a first month free or a $50 rebate, not sure which one. Here is a link…

http://focusvoip.mylightyear.com/products_xstreamvoip.html

Posted on 01-Nov-07 at 8:47 am | Permalink
Adonis wrote:

Hey Peter, check out this link

http://focusvoip.mylightyear.com/products_xstreamvoip.html

That’s the company I have been using for about 5 or 6 months and I haven’t had any problems like the ones I have read here. I experienced some delay while speaking, but I got rid of that problem using QoS. If you have any questions just let me know, I’ll help you out if I can.

Posted on 02-Nov-07 at 10:26 am | Permalink
thankful to have read wrote:

I signed up for digital voice yesterday trying to save some money. I can tell you that I am so glad to have read this, I called today and cancelled.

Posted on 04-Nov-07 at 3:40 pm | Permalink
Sue wrote:

Here is an actual chat with a comcast analyst!

user Sue_ has entered room

Sue(Mon Nov 5 01:56:22 PST 2007)>Comcast Digital Voice is a JOKE!

analyst Peter has entered room

Peter(Mon Nov 5 01:56:28 PST 2007)>Hello Sue_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Peter. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Peter(Mon Nov 5 01:56:39 PST 2007)>How may I assist you today?

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 22:58:01 PST 2007)>Please get a Message to the Sacramento, CA District Manager and to some idiot named Herman whom works in the Sacramento, Ca office he can be reached at (916) 515-2697…

Peter(Mon Nov 5 02:00:10 PST 2007)>Im sorry, what exactly do you want me to do?

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:00:52 PST 2007)>As my Son told Herman on Friday 11-2-07 to forget Porting his number over to my account, since Comcast Digital Voice is a Joke and we put in an order for it on 9-29-07 and still have no phone service!

Peter(Mon Nov 5 02:01:56 PST 2007)>Did you call in to cancel the installation of Digital Voice?

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:04:38 PST 2007)>My Son sat at home Saturday 10-27-07 from 8am-12pm and then on and off the phone with different reps giving him different excuses as to why they didn’t show up! He lost $270 in wages since he had to stay home from work for a Comcast appointment and for no one to call or show up!

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:08:04 PST 2007)>Herman should have cancelled the order on Friday since my Son explained to him if he wasn’t going to credit the account $120 for loss of wages then we would take our bussiness else where! So I am writing you to make sure the digital voice is cancelled and I will write or call to cancel the video and internet services when I have another company set up!

Peter(Mon Nov 5 02:08:52 PST 2007)>Cancellation should be done over the phone. Please call 1 800 266 2278 to cancel the order

Peter(Mon Nov 5 02:08:55 PST 2007)>Is there anything else I can help you with?

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:10:10 PST 2007)>Cancellation over the phone how? I have no phone Comcast was to hook it up on 10-27-07!!!! Get a clue I am not writing all this for my health!

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:10:43 PST 2007)>pass it along to the Sacramento, CA District Manager AS INSTRUCTED!

Peter(Mon Nov 5 02:12:08 PST 2007)>Im sorry I can’t do that. I am so sorry Sue, chat analyst’s have no permission to cancel an order. As stated above cancellation can only be done over the phone.

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:16:14 PST 2007)>So How can one cancel without a phone?

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:16:24 PST 2007)>This is Bullshit!

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:16:50 PST 2007)>Give me an emai address for the Sacramento, CA branch!

Sue_(Sun Nov 4 23:18:25 PST 2007)>Hope Comcast loves this type of publicty on furoms! And by law you just received written cancellation notice for Digital Voice!!! that is all I need to do!

Posted on 05-Nov-07 at 2:23 am | Permalink
jonathan wrote:

i just wanted to say that my servise with comcast works great its the best servise out right now comcast internet is 10 times faster than fio’s i think some people just like to find a way to get something free and they know comcast loves to keep there custumers and keep them happy
thanks comcast

Posted on 07-Nov-07 at 6:14 pm | Permalink
Tom wrote:

I have had CC analog phone over Cable service for a few years now. No problems to speak of, even with my 37 year old phone lines and old radio shack coax. I just got a letter from CC saying they have upgraded their broadband network and they will be discontinuing my current phone service on April 18, 2008. For just $19.99 / month (plus $3 for the emta) for the first 12 months, they will switch me to Digital Voice.

After reading the 89 comments in this forum, I think that I will call AT&T when I get their next offer in the mail to switch back to good old twisted pair telephone service.

Posted on 13-Nov-07 at 11:37 pm | Permalink
Ely wrote:

There is no reason to use Comcast digital voice. It is akin to using AOL to surf the web. Do yourselves a favor, check out services like Skype.

Posted on 25-Nov-07 at 2:19 am | Permalink
urklnme wrote:

updating phone lines in houses is bullcrap. Comcast is responsible for providing a device that converts the digital signal to work on existing phone lines. Apparently the emta device they use is crappy. If my land line phone currently works great in my house then the comcast phone should to. Another failure on comcast’s part. Bad service, bad equipment and incompetent contracted installers. glad I didnt get “bundled”

Posted on 28-Nov-07 at 9:03 am | Permalink
buka wrote:

comcast phone service is terrible

Posted on 29-Nov-07 at 9:29 am | Permalink
rkm wrote:

I am going to cancel the service appointment for now. Comcast is not discontinuing analog until April 2008 so there is no hurry.

1. I don’t like the idea of having too many services in one basket.

2. Triple-play is only for Basic cable.

3. If this is “Digital”, what was digital a few years back?

I need to sort this stuff out and make a decision that is economical in the long run. At this point in time, why do I even need a land line when I have cell phones and internet??

Posted on 01-Dec-07 at 10:54 am | Permalink
oc wrote:

i used to install cdv in chicago area works good in most areas depends on the area ive had cdv since it came out no problems at all so i mean as a price range it can be worth it i think most of the problems are isolated think about how many people do have our phone service number wise and then how many people have a major issue

Posted on 08-Dec-07 at 5:51 pm | Permalink
KG wrote:

I’m in Boston Metro, I’ve had comcast for 3 unhappy years, they are a cold, carless, faceless corpration who apparently have learned that it’s cheaper to attract new customers than to spend money on servicing the existing customers. And they will lie to get what they want. They called last week to say they need to upgrde my serivce, this I learned was a lie, I figured after they left that they wanted to switch me over to their newer digital system. That’s not the issue, I told them on the phone that I had two lines one for a dedicated fax, the tech comes, I tell him one line is a dedicated fax line. He does the install and the fax no longer works, I call them and they say my 7 month old HP wireless fax/printer/coppier is old technology and I need to solve the problem by contating HP. Is that insane or what? I’m so pissed that no one in their sales offcie nor the installer had the honestly to tell me my fax wasn’t going to work, and clearly they had to know this, there’s too much talk on the web about this. A friend says that all I need is a line filter to condense the signal, so I’ll go out tomorrow and see if I can buy one. Mean while if that doesn’t solve the problem CC is comming back on Sunday and they have told me they will bill me if it’s not their equipment causing the fax to fail. I don’t understand how they’ve made this my installation problem? Don’t sign up with this incompetent greedy moreless greedy company, did I say greedy twice? Sales are so important to this company that they don’t waste any money on service. When are we going to stop DC from allowing all of these monopolies, that’s the root cause. Where there’s smoke there fire! Heed the warnings roll the dice with someone other provider.

Posted on 11-Jan-08 at 9:48 pm | Permalink
Dee wrote:

Glad its not just me.. I got my service about a year ago and when I first got it my phone would not work. With the techinician standing there talking about ughhh I dont know I literally cursed him out standing there in my living room… I had to go by all new phones I think the cordless was a At&T brand that did not work. with the new cordless I purchased I think V-tech my line constantly went out I could hear the other party but they could not hear me on another phone in the house we sounded to the other party like robots. I have called constantly to comcast only to be laughed at by tech person on the phone saying I sounded like a robot. I have had my line disconnected and I had paid my bill only to have to argue with them that it can take 24-48 hours to restore (and it was their mistake) only to talk to someone else online chat and it was restored right then.. I am now on my 3rd phone my wiring is not that old house built in 2003.. so I am now going today to buy another phone but wanted to do reserarch on if htere is a better brand. needless to say if this does not work im thru with comcast digital voice. also my b/f cant seem to connect online with his PS2 since we have changed to comcast digital does anyone know how to get around this?

Posted on 25-Jan-08 at 1:18 pm | Permalink
Lesley wrote:

I got the triple play package even though I already had the internet, phone and cable through Comcast. Reason being….they wanted to add to the price for Digital Voice, I had to go with it by 2/09 or Comcast was dropping the customer!

So I emailed somebody through their website, got response and offered the triple play package as if I were a first time customer.

I am not happy only in that my phone is down now. It the wiring in the house. I can pinpoint the problem, just don’t know how to fix it. So then they sell you, at 2.95 a month, the service protection plan that allows them to not charge you to fix it. Then, the agent said, once it’s fixed, you can drop the fee………nice.

I was also told that if anyone has ADT or other security in their home, Comcast was not the way to go and that was directly from the man installing it…….good support.

So there are so many features on this that will never get used in my house. I’ve already dropped call waiting, hate that feature. And there is a separate modem about 8″x7″ x2″ that will add to your PC equipment. They need a phone jack and PC near each other to properly install it efficiently.

If you have such things in a power strip, the power must stay on or you need wall sockets to plug the phone stuff into or your phone will die after a couple hours, no dialtone. And I believe it automatically gives you a voice answering msg that will overwrite the one you may currently have.

And Jason is correct. I have a 1952 house and they ended up under it to find a short in the phone line that wouldn’t handle this digital and I had 2 techs here for 4 hours, until 9pm, getting my phone to work. 2 months later and it’s down again.

To get it fixed, Comcast only offers 3 hour windows of time to service. If you nicely whine, they will give you a Saturday appt. Otherwise you need someone over 18 to be in the house while they fix anything. They are not good about calling you before they arrive. Some do, some just show up.

I would like to know how people are

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