New comcast wireless plan. Competition for RW?

General Discussions
#1

Comcast has announced a new plan for Comcast Cable customers only using wifi first and Verizon as backup. For Republic low data customers who already have Comcast cable, it sounds like a good deal. Talk and text are free (and that comes with 100 mb data). Data is $12 per gb. No refund. Initial phone choice is limited.

I wonder what people think of this as another inexpensive wifi calling option.

I have Century Link Internet and DirecTv but am thinking about switching to Comcast to get faster internet. I might then consider their cell phone deal. I would want to get more details and reviews about how it works first.

Here is a link to an article about it: USA today article

#2

I made the switch from Verizon to RW years ago because I liked that RW was a small, more personal phone company that found a reasonable solution to the inflated smart phone bill.

Nowadays, there’s a LOT more competition and while it may be harder for RW to get new customers, I don’t think it does anybody a favor to make it a race to the bottom. So, to that point, I can’t see myself ever leaving RW over a few bucks a month. In fact, the only reason I could see myself leave would be if I really really really wanted a very specific phone and RW didn’t offer it.

But the LAST company I’d want to give money to would be Comcast.

When it comes to phone companies, I’d rather give RW my money than verizon. When it comes to internet/cable providers I’d rather give my money to literally anybody else than Comcast/Charter/Spectrum(TWC) but unfortunately I still only have 1 good option for my ISP.

So no, I don’t see this being big competition for RW. Or at least I hope not.

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#3

If Comcast handles their customers anything like they do their other customers (which is highly likely), I can’t see Comcast threatening anybody .

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#4

I suppose it might be attractive to someone otherwise doing business with Comcast. As a former Comcast customer, it’s not enough to make me consider going back. Having experienced Comcast’s “customer service” first hand, I fled as soon as a viable alternative for Internet access presented itself.

Let’s just say, Comcast one of two two-time winners of Consumerist’s Golden Poo; Congratulations To Comcast, Your 2014 Worst Company In America! – Consumerist, is richly deserving of the title. The day may come I’d consider alternatives to Republic but I don’t see that alternative being Comcast for me.

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#5

I think the more pressing question is - once they launch this service…would they try any “sneaky” stuff to prevent/degrade the offerings of providers such as RW when operating on xfinity wifi/internet access.

#6

Would anyone notice such efforts? In my experience Comcast’s open WiFi hotspots are among the worst, in terms of performance, out there.

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#7

I just got an “invite” email from Comcast concerning Xfinity Mobile. The big problem is the expensive phones.
I do not want an Iphone, so the cheapest offering is the $500+ Galaxy S7. The $45 a month sounds great, but I have been tricked by these guys before. The $45 is guaranteed for at least 24 months. I wonder how much taxes and fees will be on top of this $45. There are just too many unknowns. The WIFI hotspots may not work as well as they advertise too.
The throttling after 20gb is generous I think though (at 1.5mbps down).
I would love a Galaxy S8+, but that price tag is way out of my meager means.

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#8

That $45 is for the unlimited plan I presume. I’m curious about how the lower data plans will work including what happens if you go over the GB that you paid for. And, yes, taxes and fees are important to clarify before paying for that expensive phone.

#9

I dont know, going from ATT Broadband to X Finity internet got us the speed we needed, stuck with dish network since I hated comcast treatment before, but we seriously are saving alot now. The internet alone was 115 from Comcast, and you get their second to the top internet and tv package for about 10.00 more. kicked dish.
I am learning alot about companies making money on Wifi, and actually, the majority of regular cell calls are being sent over wifi now without people even knowing it.
So far the problem is that I am tough on phones being a painter, plater, sandblaster, mechanic, jack of all trades. I dont want a 500 or 900 dollar phone in my pocket. So far I can only find cricket wireless that will work with the old samsung rugby smart phone, but I have xfinity open wifi turned on and there is not even a sim card in the phone and I get data everywhere.

Whether its republic or xfinity, I need to buy a new phone. Tough place to be for the people shopping because they cant afford ATT now.

#10

As others have mentioned, the smaller more personal RW customer service is much better than any of the larger carriers. I would also be concerned that Comcast would add fees and additional charges on to any product that they offer (oh, you want to receive calls too? That’s extra. And ringing as well? You’ll have to get our premium plan!)

RW has a few problems, but they are really trivial compared to how one is treated by the larger companies. Also, no matter how we grump, SouthPaw tries to take care of us, that’s worth a lot right there. (Why do I have to log on to the forum every time??? Haven’t they heard of cookies?)

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#11

The cookie lasts for 24 hours, so yes there are cookies. Hot tasty cookies :cookie:

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#12

Hi, Seanr! The problem is that, although I read the forums almost every
day, I only want to add a comment once or twice a week. Indeed, sometimes I
just don’t comment because I know I will have to log in again. Have you
thought about increasing the cookie life to a month or even more? I’m not
sure what the value is in having a short-life cookie.

Thanks,
Steve

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#13

The issue is that we are a regulated telecom company and the community is on the same SSO. Also people share computers and forget to log out. This is now 22 hours longer than Jive was. You know you can save your login so it auto-fills and you just hit “Submit”

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#14

Safari browser on my iPad for some bizarre reason wont save the RW login
information, although it does save many other logins. No big deal, I can
just re-enter my password when needed. Thanks for taking the time to
correspond with me!

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#15

I am going to find out about the Xfinity plan. 3 Family members here and total data is under 2 gig, every month. Not certain how the billing works, but it said, NO line fee if you have comcast, which i do. But…you have to buy the phone from them. Which, really, we need new phones…first thing…put all phones in a “Defender case” And $12 a month shared…per GIG, so i am not sure, but I think i am reading $25 monthly bill for 3 cell phones with unlimited talk and text…after i buy them. Any thoughts ?

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#16

Holy Crap, just did a 30 minute text chat to xfinity…my poor brain. The lady did not know engilsh, took 3 minutes to reply to anything from the other side of the world…And really, i don’t think she knew how the billing worked for what she is supporting.
I will give her a good rating…damn…she probably needs it to feed her family . Got no useful info out of her…lol

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#17

From what I can gather you pay by the gigabyte (unless you want unlimited, then it’s $45/line). All the data is shared among the phones on your account. You simply pay for what you use (rounded to the next full GB). If your three phones used 5.1 GB, you would be charged for 6 GB ($72 + taxes and fees). Mobile is billed separately from your other Xfinity services. Phone selection is very limited. Customer service seems to be an issue. That’s as much as I would care to share on this Republic Wireless forum. If you need more try http://www.howardforums.com or https://www.reddit.com/.

#18

The big issue I see is that they are operating like Republic 1.0. You must buy the phone from Xfinity Mobile to use it with them. Blech.

#19

I’d stick with a smaller company like Republic any-day over a tyrant company like Comcast who abuse their customers. (from experience).

Comcast could only dream to provide the service I’ve received from Republic Wireless and their customer support over the last three years.

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#20

I switched 2 of my phones over to Xfinity from Republic… $12 for 1 gb vs $20 … No brainer for me.
and I had one phone on the crappy 1.0 3G plan with was $25/mo for 3gb of slooooow data, but I only use about 1.5gb per month so the wife and I are sharing 2gb /mo for $24 … On Republic the we were paying $45 mo. And you can pay zero dollars if you don’t want data because unlimited calls and text are free for xfinity customers.
The phone choice has one cheap option, but its a great phone… the LG X Charge for $180

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