I had a person ask me which is best, Comcast or Frontier and if the Dish Network could compare. They were most interested in the triple play packages where TV, Internet and Phone were included.
Comcast vs Dish: Dish Network’s basic setup is 120 channels for 24.99 per month for 12 months, then $40+ per month after the first year for 12 more months (you are looking at a 24 month contract). Reception can be bad during certain weather conditions.
Comcast vs Frontier: The 3 in 1 package (FiOS Triple Play, FiOS TV + FiOS Internet + Phone) from Frontier runs $89.99, but only for the first year and only if you subscribe to a home media DVR – I’m not sure how much that DVR subscription is, but I did read in the fine print that whatever the price is, it will increase to full price after 6 months.
It’s tricky, as they splash a No Term Contract all over the page along with the $89.99 price, but next to the 89.99 price is the text “For 1 year. Regular price $129.99/month.Plus taxes and fees. ” – so you can have it for $129.99 per month without any contract, but you’ll also be paying a $50 activation fee and whatever they charge for the DVR. Confusing to those that don’t read the fine print!
Here is Frontier’s fine print:
FiOS TRIPLE PLAY $40 OFF PER MONTH – EXCLUSIVE ONLINE OFFER: $40 monthly discount offer available to Verizon customers who order a new FiOS Triple/Quad Play bundle and subscribe to a Home Media DVR or DVR online. Monthly discount applied via $40 bill credit for first 12 months. DVR discount applied via bill credit for first 6 months only; beginning month 7 standard equipment charges apply. Other fees, taxes, equipment charges & terms apply. Activation fee waived via bill credit. Rate may increase after first year. Subject to credit approval & may require a deposit.
Comcast’s Triple Play runs $99 per month for the first 12 months, the from months 12 to 24, you’ll pay $114.99 (it’s a staggered two year contract), if you break that contract or downgrade, you’ll pay $129.99 per month. Speeds are much faster than Frontier DSL.
Here are some terms: Requires subscription to Digital Starter Cable, Performance High-Speed Internet and Comcast Digital Voice® Unlimited service. AFTER 12 MONTHS, MONTHLY CHARGE GOES TO $114.99 FOR MONTHS 13-24. AFTER 24 MONTHS, OR IF ANY SERVICE IS CANCELLED OR DOWNGRADED, REGULAR RATES APPLY UNLESS SERVICE IS CANCELLED. YOU MAY CANCEL SERVICE BY CALLING 1-800-COMCAST. Comcast’s current monthly charge for the Starter XF Triple Play is $129.99.
If you are in Michigan, another player is Arialink which runs $25.99 per month for internet only with a $50 hook up fee. Their download speed tops out at 3M and the upload speed is around 256k. Comcast has a similar ‘economy internet service’ for $26.95 – both are slow when compared to high speed internet. Arialink may be exactly what you want if Comcast or Version doesn’t offer anything in your area.
So what’s better in the battle between Comcast vs Frontier? Personally, I need high speed internet and in my area, Frontier can’t offer the same speed as Comcast so they win.
If you are a Comcast customer, at the end of your contract and your rates are going up, then rumor has it that you can negotiate a lower price by calling them and expressing your interest in canceling for Frontier’s Triple Play at $89.99 per month. I used a similar scenario last time they raised my rates and it worked for me!
If you’re thinking about breaking up the services, for example, internet from Comcast, Dish Network for TV and Frontier for phone, it ends up being more expensive.
I currently have Comcast and it’s been working great for me (goes down once in a while, but not enough for me to move).
I had Comcast service was great had triple play , Wife got hurt at work needed to save money got triple plat thru frontier there DSL sucks there phone service is horrible and Dish is no goo i live in michigan we gat a sprinkle Dish goes out I do not like being lied to my wife is back to work we are going back to Comcast to heck with there shutoff fees freaking liars
I can honestly say during this last big storm on June 29, my electric, internet, phone, and cable went out (comcast) and here it is one week later still no comcast services, my nephew has everthing frontier and I was able to link onto his wireless and I have used it and it has worked great I am real impressed with this and I am actually switching to frontier today, we have tried and tried to contact comcast, no luck has came out of it, my daughter in law was even hung on, I know the storm was awful but you still don’t treat your customers like dirt.
I had Frontier Fios triple play installed in April 2010. From the third day I have had over twenty home service calls because of problems with my service. I was on a 1 year contract to start at $69.95 a month. but in April 2011 it went to 89.95.
The service problems took a lot of my time dealing with tech support on the phone and the in home service calls. Then last March because of two years of problems Frontier tech support said they would give me credit for two years to make up for two years of service problems. The price would be $55.95 for 2 years. The next two bills showed this credit, but then the last bill was $111.95. When I called Frontier to complain I was told they had no record of any discounts that were give to me, and that I would now have to pat 119.95 per month starting in July 2012.
I still have poor service, but when I was given the credit for two years I decided to stick with them and see if they could solve my problems. However, Frontier is dishonest. They say they can’t find any discounts granted by their own manager in their records. So, I told them to pull my service starting July of 2012. The dishonest thing about not seeing any discounts given is because they record all service calls. I believe that because of the on going problems I’ve had it’s just simpler for them to get rid of me rather than fix the issues.
Others in my area have had the same kind of problems. But they dumped the service as soon as they knew Frontier was not fixing the issues. I’m in Clackamas Oregon. So, don’t expect Frontier to stand by may agreements they nay make with you. Thomas..
Frontier is what i have and works great for me no problems with phone internet also i can pay my directv thur frontier the tecs from frontier where very help full to me i live in mount Vernon WA about 50miles from Seattle WA Comcast is so bad i had to keep returning cable box internet kept going out the service reps at Comcast were not nice, will never use Comcast ever again if i was u go with frontier.
Joe from mount Vernon WA
These sevrvices are about the same in phone and tv but internet xfinity powers through i have the extreme 50 package where you can get 50mbs plus a powerboost for larger download and upload speeds but satalite tv? screw that i live in seattle i get alot of rain it would make no sense to get satalite and fronthier promises to be on time but never show up so i would honestly go with comcast on this on but both companeis have their stregnth and their weeknessess
I have Frontier and to be honest, it disconnects at least twice when I use it. I use the basic, not Triple Play.
Frontier is very slow. It also has poor technical support with nothing but lies. Stay away from frontier. They also slip in hidden charges on you. Their techs never show up when they are supposed to. And for no apparent reason internet slows at random to disconnect completely. So billybobob? I have been a tech for a long time. I must say it is you who needs to report your facts correctly. Wait till frontier does away with port forwarding and imposes stricter cap limits. Then you will see what i mean. As of now Comcast has no such cap limits.
FIOS would be great but it’s not offered everywhere. For example, it’s not offered in my state (Wisconsin).
Comcast’s internet is pretty fast, never really had a problem with it. As far as a TV provider I couldn’t go that route, as a DISH employee I know that DISH has beat Comcast in customer satisfaction 10 years in a row. My brother has Comcast internet and TV and is very happy with the service, he showed my a new feature they have, where he can watch TV anywhere in his house on his iPad. I used his iPad (because I left mine at home) and logged into my DISH account and showed him I could watch live TV from anywhere in the world. So both companies have their advantages, I am just comfortable with my decision to go with DISH.
You mentioned that Comcast’s internet is faster then Frontier DSL. That’s fine if you are comparing Cable internet to DSL, Cable will always win in that scenario, but that is not what you are comparing. Frontier FIOS has sustainable download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, which is standard for their Triple Play offer. I could care less who you prefer for service, but at least report it correctly. And for the record, I have had FIOS service for two years and have only had to reboot my router twice in that time, otherwise no other downtime.