Comcast is dishonest. Comcast is my only choice.
So this week, Comcast sent me their new cable modem model. It's this giant thing; I recognize it as being similar to the one mom was sold. "You need this for our new faster internet!"
And it lies.
It lies about being secure - it's a simple WEP protected station, with the password, as far as I can tell, unchangeable, inscribed on the bottom. If you change this, all of their peripherals they send you fail to work. Most of the the world dropped this level of 'security' fifteen years ago. It can be hacked by a mobile phone from the street.
It lies about what it'll do. It's got a secret wi-fi sub-net that Comcast is broadcasting from your home. You don't get a choice about it, at least at first. It's so Comcast can let passerbys use your network. Which is, on first blush, not so bad, since it could be isolated from your network... Except, recall, your 'secure' network is using a system that was surpassed back before hand-held phones had more processing power than the little router box itself.
And it just pisses me off. Why can't I just buy the digital channels without HBO? Why can't I just buy a cable modem? Why does it have a place for a battery if there's no battery to backup my phone they're supposedly giving me 'for free'. I don't want another phone.
And so the package has sat here for a week, waiting for me to figure out what I'm going to do with it. And no, there's no fiber in my neighborhood (although AT&T will lie about that, themselves) and no, there's no other high-speed internet that would suffice for our home office.
I hate it.
And it lies.
It lies about being secure - it's a simple WEP protected station, with the password, as far as I can tell, unchangeable, inscribed on the bottom. If you change this, all of their peripherals they send you fail to work. Most of the the world dropped this level of 'security' fifteen years ago. It can be hacked by a mobile phone from the street.
It lies about what it'll do. It's got a secret wi-fi sub-net that Comcast is broadcasting from your home. You don't get a choice about it, at least at first. It's so Comcast can let passerbys use your network. Which is, on first blush, not so bad, since it could be isolated from your network... Except, recall, your 'secure' network is using a system that was surpassed back before hand-held phones had more processing power than the little router box itself.
And it just pisses me off. Why can't I just buy the digital channels without HBO? Why can't I just buy a cable modem? Why does it have a place for a battery if there's no battery to backup my phone they're supposedly giving me 'for free'. I don't want another phone.
And so the package has sat here for a week, waiting for me to figure out what I'm going to do with it. And no, there's no fiber in my neighborhood (although AT&T will lie about that, themselves) and no, there's no other high-speed internet that would suffice for our home office.
I hate it.