I have been a Broadstripe customer now for over a year, and in two locations. Broadstripe, hands down, is the worst cable/internet service I have ever had.

Cable companies try to sell you on their reliability and claim that things that happen with dish services wont happen. Here is why that is an absolute lie; cable companies deliver your channels from the same place that your personal dish gets them. The difference is that when YOUR dish has snow or bad weather, only YOU have a problem. When the cable company's dish system is being hindered by weather, EVERYBODY's service is screwed. Back in the day, cable companies didnt broadcast from satellites, they had a room full of servers and delivered your channels from airwaves.

Anyway, now that I have made my pitch for why cable is no better and sometimes worse than personal dish service, I will express why Broadstripe is the worst of the cable companies in my own experience.

I have had Horizon, Comcast, Charter, and I even had Millenium years ago for a short time- which Broadstripe has apparently bought out. In the past year, there hasnt been a month without having to fight with Broadstripe about their service. From incorrect billing to just crappy pictures, you name it- once a month I have to fight with no less than 3 people on the phone to get things right.

Every other company I have ever dealt with also gives credits for their mistakes and bad service, not Broadstripe. Broadstripe operates under the policy that you will put up with whatever crap they want to dole out, or go without cable period. Their prices are NOT less than Comcast, who they compare themselves to- and their service is nowhere near as good as Comcast, who I used to think sucked as well. I now believe there is no such thing as a good company that has a monopoly on an area. If you dont have a choice between cable companies, you get screwed by the one you are forced to have, if you want the service.

I cant possibly list all of the issues I have had with them, I would be amazed if you read this much as it is. To list even half of the issues, would take a day. Just imagine any possible issue you could possibly have with a cable company, and I have had it with Broadstripe. It is common to have a few problems with utility, and cable companies- but with Broadstripe, I have had every possible issue that can exist (I am sure of it) and they never seem to be fully resolved, from one call to the next.

They promise at least 6mb speed on internet, I barely get 2- and that has been with multiple modems, and 2 locations. Everyone in my town that I talk to says they have the same problems. They actually advertise upto 15mbps but only guarantee 6- which apparently their guarantees mean nothing. I would understand certain times being only 3 or 4 in peak hours, but I barely get more than 1 and am lucky to have 2mbps speed.

I had DSL that performed MUCH better over a phone line than the cable internet they sell you. My channels are pixelated more than they were when I had Direct TV. Their customer service sucks ass period. Broadstripe blows, I wouldnt believe a single good review could come from anyone but employees.

e.strange pretty much summed up my entire experience. It is really annoying waking up on my day off and wanting to just goof around online from bed, and instead having to drag my ass out to the livingroom, unplug everything, wait 30 seconds, and then hope it works. This happens way more than it should.

But overall, minor problems and most of us don't really have a choice one way or the other so we make-do with Broadstripe.

If only you could actually choose your cable company! I live in an area held captive by Broadstripe, and I wish I could still get Comcast. Some things are getting better, like the selection of HD channels, but they still have pretty unhelpful website and less-than-stellar customer service. I've been trying to get them to stop sending me paper bills for over a year. Also, the internet connection isn't the greatest. There are occasional glitches that require unplugging and restarting everything. If you use Netflix to watch movies instantly, you may experience annoying buffering and a lower-quality picture. There are also many times when the TV picture just goes black for a few seconds. This happens at some point pretty much every time I watch TV. So I certainly wouldn't recommend them if you have a choice, but I've never had Qwest DSL, so I can't compare it directly to that.

I had Broadstripe last year and didn't have any major problems. Service went out once or twice but not for long. The best part was they apparently forgot to charge me for the actual cable and internet service. I was only ever charged for the modem rental, which was about $5/month. I didn't tell them about their mistake and they didn't say anything about it when I called to cancel. But, I'm guessing this isn't typical.