This morning Xfinity (Comcast Cable is the parent company) came back to our home and installed a residential cable line. In addition to the line, they also installed one video surveillance camera for self-monitoring. We already had Comcast Business; however, I wanted to take advantage of Comcast/Xfinity Home Security.
Initially, I planned to get the residential service Comcast provides for my remote work; however, additional research showed me that might not be a great idea. Comcast, like many residential cable service providers, throttles this service. However, this does not happen with their business clients. Therefore, their internet isn’t throttled. Additionally, since I have a business account, I’m assigned an account representative. If I experience issues with my service, they’ll send out a technician the same day. Since that service isn’t provided to their residential customers, I installed Comcast Business about a month ago.
I wondered if I could take advantage of Xfinity’s 24/7 monitoring even though I was using Comcast Business. After all, Comcast is the parent company. In fact, a few years back, their residential cable was called Comcast also. Xfinity is new and was added to the parent company a few years ago. I want to say they made the separation between the two services offered when they started offering cable to their business clients.
Since I could not find any information on the video monitoring packaging on the Comcast Business website, I suspected that this was not an option; however, I reached out to my Comcast Business representative by email to see if this was an option. He responded within a few hours and told me that was not an option. I think it’s a shame since post-pandemic, you are seeing a lot more people working remotely. It would be a great option for remote workers who choose one of the Business accounts for their internet connections. However, it most likely is more of a headache than they are willing to deal with at the moment. So, whatever. I wanted the service, and it makes sense to have the residential cable.
This fall, my daughter will be starting college locally. Because of that, I told the technician to set up the cable in her room. This way, she now has a dedicated cable line. She now has the option to connect wireless or directly by ethernet. She’s already tested the speed and is thrilled that it’s much faster than the connectivity she received via a Wi-Fi connection to Verizon Wireless. We’ll most likely be canceling Verizon wifi soon. There’s no need for three different internet services! Initially, I had planned on self-monitoring for few months. However, Comcast’s website’s note made me decide to get that done sooner rather than later.
Do you see the above message? It says, “Ability To Purchase Xfinity Home Varies Due To COVID-19: Offers are only available in areas where we can provide professional installation at this time.” I don’t recall that message being there a month ago. However, that’s what’s appearing on Comcast’s page about home security now.
Although we do live in a sleepy rural community, and nothing seems to happen around here. I think it’s best to be cautious. I chose Xfinity’s Ultimate Home System package. Although I’m here during the weekday, I honestly cannot take time from my workday to meet with the technician like I did this morning. So next Saturday, Xfinity will be making another visit to our home.