Comcast Phone Issues

We switched our desk phone over to Comcast from Verizon to eliminate a monthly expense and also decrease our Comcast bill overall by bundling all of the services - internet, tv, phone. I suppose it was a good idea, but because the phone isn’t a land line, it doesn’t work as well. We primarily need to use the device as a door bell, but it was good in the event the internet was down and cell phones were ineffective. However, over the last month, every time we get or make a phone call using this phone line, it is dropped after about five minutes. This gets quite annoying. So I finally decided to call Comcast and report our issue. I already checked the phone status using my app. To make a long story short and after two modem reboots and an hour and a half later, the phone at least rings - it stopped ringing midway through. But now the app that also rings when the phone dies stopped working even after deleting and reinstalling it. We don’t really know if the calls still drop because we haven’t received any, although at one point my husband was trying to test it by holding one phone in each ear and talking to himself. But that experiment was aborted! The last thing I want is a technician to visit, or have to get new equipment. So as long as I can check on the phone log and see any voice messages I suppose we can live with it. All I know is I hate having to troubleshoot any of this junk because it takes so long. And it’s more annoying when it’s not totally fixed. 

AT&T Data Plan Change a Good Idea?

A couple of months ago I switched our AT&T unlimited data plan to a reduced plan for a lower cost every month. The main reasons were to have Mifi, and after evaluating the amount of data we traditionally use, we never really used a lot - until recently. I needed to Mifi because whenever we travel, and I have digital art work to do and need to communicate with my customers. Using an iPhone is too small and I need access to everything on my iPad. My iPad is only Wifi enabled and does not have a cellular option. However, whenever we travel, and I use google maps, the data usage spikes. AT&T is very good about warning us about the per cent data that has been used, and we do everything we can to minimize using any more. But it just doesn't seem to help. So I was a bit surprised when we received a notice that we would get a $30 credit related to the overage charges last month. After all, we have been their customers forever, and I also have an automatic data plan set up on my mom's iPad because she has no wifi in her house. I'm beginning to wonder if changing the plan was a good idea. It is a lot less per month, and these occasional overages are tolerable - but certainly not appreciated one bit. I'll take the credit for last month but I have a feeling we'll never see it again. 

Try to Cut Back the AT and T Phone Bill

We've been looking at our monthly expenses. For whatever reason, it just seems like everything is getting more expensive all at once. So we started with the Comcast Xfinity internet and cable bill, and ended with the AT&T phone bill. I don't think we made a dent in any of them. Before we went to the store, I looked at the usage and contract components and thought I had a clear understanding of what was what. I have held on to my unlimited data plan since it started and am hard pressed to change it. We were greeted right away and it wasn't very busy around lunch time. It didn't look good when the rep couldn't remember his own password. But rather than send us to someone else, he kept us waiting until the manager finally noticed what was going on and offered to step in. It all sounded like Greek to us by the time he was finished explaining the new plans that are being offered, and got really confusing when we started talking about phone upgrades - do you buy it, rent it, or do nothing? We decided to do nothing for now although it is time to upgrade to the new iPhones. I use my phone for photos, Internet and emails - rarely, if ever, for phone calls. My husband uses his for listening to the radio and solitaire and for navigation when we travel. The hard copy explanation of plans was in Spanish, so that didn't help much either. I firmly believe they all make it so hard to understand that you end up with whatever they think will be to their best benefit. The sad thing is is I don't want to know either. I suppose we will need to pay closer attention from now on. But I still have a feeling it won't make any difference. 

The Panasonic Phone Replacement

We are probably just a handful of people who still need, or should I say prefer, a desktop phone. We probably could go without, but it is connected to the doorbell in our condo building and the mechanism just didn't work well with a cell phone. Additionally we have a home phone number that is used by family and friends overseas and this allows a more consistent way for them to leave messages. Our old phone died in spite of the fact that we tried new batteries. So we ordered a voice mail Panasonic hand set that arrived with the decaf tea in the free shipment Amazon package. It works very well, but still requires special order batteries whenever we get to that point. So we kept all the instructions and won't even use half the features this thing comes with. One if these days we really need to get rid of all these electronic devices that are piling up including two outdated iPhones. I'm just too lazy right now to do anything more about it.