You are, of course, quite correct that City Council should and is actively interfacing with Comcast regarding performance terms in a new franchise as well as critiquing their performance (last Summer and again next Monday).
They will receive a number of citizen complaints on Monday. It wouldn’t hurt for them to receive the material from this blog either.

Otherwise, I’m happy to see just how small that profit figure can get. I come not to honor Comcast, but to bury it.

Jon Way said:
“I’m not sure how, but maybe Greg can send this whole package of blog notes to senior Comcast officials. I can provide you a couple of contacts if that would help.”

Jon, do I understand now that you are asking Greg to get this taken care of? I thought the city council would be the more powerful route. Guess I am wrong again.

Go get them Greg.

http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerDSL?promotion_code=volprt/w07&WT.ti=Central/notloggedin_lnkoff_learnmore

Confused in Clover Hill: “Manassas City does offer Broadband through the Powerlines. It is not as fast as comcast or FIOS but very reliable and inexpensive.”

Cool. I know a young engineer, who used to work where I do, that works for the City of Manassas on the BPL project there. I’ll pass the good words along next time I see him.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Here is a link to a FCC report on BPL. There has been a lot of problems with the Manassas provider to clean up the signals. BPL causes a lot of radio interference because the signal radiates from the power lines. I don’t know what Manassas City status is with regards to the interference but I do know when it first started it was a problem.

http://www.eham.net/articles/17980

Cool. I know a young engineer, who used to work where I do, that works for the City of Manassas on the BPL project there. I’ll pass the good words along next time I see him.

One or two perhaps. There used to be DirectPC (which is now HughesNet I believe). You won’t save much trying that route. Remember, the dish is only a receiver, so you can only receive internet via the dish. You still need a phone line to SEND TO the internet. There are setups where you can send and receive via a dish, but they are really expensive. It’s not a cost effective alternative.

I’d love to get rid of Comcast, but I like the “highspeed” net.
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Direct TV does provide Internet access but it is expensive. Manassas City does offer Broadband through the Powerlines. It is not as fast as comcast or FIOS but very reliable and inexpensive. Since the two years I have had it I was only down twice, and that was for only a few hours each time. BPL is only $24.00 a month.

I feel that the city should be held reliable on this issue more than Comcast. Comcast is on the hook to provide the service but the city officials by not responding to the citizens and showing a clear lack of guidance in any planning for the city utility. I see that the equipment was removed (for now) but how much equipment will be added when Verizon comes in. There needs to be a plan as to the best way to install and maintain the equipment.

It is time we take back our city! We need to hold Comcast as well as the City of Manassas responsible for their actions or lack of actions that directly affects our property and it value. Mike Moon Director of Public Works talks like he wants to take actions but it is obvious he has no control over anything. All anyone has to do is drive through the city and see the exposed cable laying on the ground and open utility boxes. Where is the City councle on this. Opening up the city to competition only puts two foxes in the hen house. The City of Manassas need to take charge.

Conclusion: Sloppy work is everywhere and it’s not just Comcast. We’ll know we’re in real trouble when the electric company starts leaving their enclosures open…

…wait, that’s already happened. I’ve seen that, too. Called Dominion about it, they denied responsibility, but the enclosures were secured when I checked a week later.

I’d love to get rid of Comcast, but I like the “highspeed” net.

Some may recall that I met with Comcast officials on three different occasions last Summer trying to get them to improve their maintenance practices. I took them dozens of photos of inadequate installations and they did correct those specific deficiencies, not anything more. Then City Council held a public review of their less-than-stunning performance. Comcast talked a good story about improvements and service goals, but in my opinion and in your experiences they did not live up to their statements.

Comcast is in the process of “upgrading” their service as you have all seen from the blizzard of advertisements they have on TV. Based on the problems they have created in the “upgrading” it appears that things are “same old, same old.” If you do a lousy job on a simple installation, you can also do a lousy job on an “upgraded” installation. This is an operating philosophy they may well have perfected.

Manassas is in the process of bringing Verizon to the city as a competitor. Let’s hope that competition can accomplish what regulation and critique thusfar have not.

I’m not sure how, but maybe Greg can send this whole package of blog notes to senior Comcast officials. I can provide you a couple of contacts if that would help.

How hard is it to ensure that the little LED on the detector card is only glowing when there’s actually a VEHICLE present?

First of all, they have to hire someone who is not color blind. Secondly, he/she has to know what they are doing.

The meter pedestal (probably required by Manassas City Utilities)

The old Comcast power supply with the meter directly on the side.

The new Comcast power supply, which is taller.

A Manassas Utilities transformer enclosure.

A Verizon pedestal.

I bet Comcast would love to have saved the labor and materials costs of a meter pedestal and the extra buried wire and instead put the meter directly on the power supply enclosure like it was before.

It’s the same reason Manassas City Utilities puts their meter boxes directly on the traffic signal control cabinets. (Look around, notice that this doesn’t happen anywhere else in Northern Virginia).

I bet the reason they are soooo frustrated with this whole deal is not nessisarly the pole its self, but the lack of response and concern to their inquiries about it.

Andy, I hope you can help them out.

“The delivery of safe, reliable electric service requires a well-designed and consistent distribution system. To achieve this, Dominion has set requirements for electrical contractors, engineers, architects, developers, builders, homeowners or others planning for electrical service.

Over the years, these requirements have become known as “the blue book”. Based on many years of experience, the blue book was developed to meet safety and efficiency needs as well as the needs of our customers. Since technology and customer needs change, the information may change without notice. However, we make a good faith effort to notify customers on record at the time a change is made.”

https://www.dom.com/customer/vabus_bluebook.jsp

I realize that this all applies to Dominion Virginia Power and not Manassas City Utilities, but Dominion has this information on it’s website and it it serves as an example of the requirements that electric utilities have for electric service, above and beyond those covered by the NEC. The NEC really only applies past the electric meter, in any case.

Rest assured that Manassas City Utilities has their own requirements even if they are not available for download on their website.