this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
605 points (99.0% liked)
Technology
60321 readers
2688 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I called my ISP after they bumped prices by $5/month (and told me a single time on the fine print at the bottom of the PDF e-bill of their shitty app). I threatened to switch to their competition and they told me flat out "no you won't they're not as fast and you're not going to break even on setup fees for years".
First, look into 5G competitors. They have higher latency but usually decent speeds. Unless you’re playing tournaments in competitive video games, they work just fine.
Then, call your ISP with a complaint, and say you’re considering moving over to that competitor. You have to actually be willing to make the move though, because retention lines are starting to care less and less about actually keeping you. I had one actually just say “okay done the line is cancelled.”
Be sure you actually call them on their bullshit though. “They aren’t as fast” may be true, but “I don’t actually need the speeds you’re offering 99% of the time.” “They have high latency” again may be true, but “I don’t actually use the internet for anything that requires an obscenely low ping.”
It’s annoying to have to do, but you can save money with it. And you may actually find a competitor you’re willing to make the move for, saving yourself some money in the process.
My choices are Verizon FiOS and Xfinity. I'd rather stay with FiOS than move to 5G because I do have some applications that benefit from 1% highs being <20ms ping. Plus when I looked at 5G the pricing was still around that $40-50 range for a decent line of service.
It's just annoying because FiOS has a "2 year price guarantee" for new subscribers but is shafting my prices after 12 months. Xfinity is ~$5 cheaper but setup fees are ~$200 and I have to buy my own modem if I don't want to pay the $10-20 rental fee. All that assumes Xfinity doesn't raise their rates in 2 years.