Question

Our family is excited to be moving to Naperville (from out of state) in early March. Interested in thoughts about cable/internet providers in the Naperville area. Spoke to both WOW and to Comcast this morning, and they both work very hard to make it confusing. Any thoughts about recent experiences?  

Answer 1

Avoid Wow, unless you are just looking for cheapest and service doesn’t matter

Answer 2

WOW was ok for us, but I prefer the leveled-up parental controls of Xfinity

Answer 3

I had very bad experience with Comcast.  

Answer 4

If I were more knowledgeable I would ditch cable all together!  

Answer 5

Xfinty has been doing away with channels and not informing their clients before hand. I recently called them for a better price and they straight out lied to me saying that my channel lineup wouldn’t change at all when it did. Once it was done they said that there’s nothing that could be done about it. Total miss representation of the services they provide.  

Answer 6

Over the years I have used Comcast and WOW and between the two I would go with WOW. Comcast is good up until the first time you have an issue and then you're in trouble. Comcast has the worst customer service I have ever dealt with.  

Comments

Ha! @baelbeer and I agree on something!  

Answer 7

I just switched to Xfinity Giga speed internet, it's really good. For tv we just use DirectTV Now.  

Answer 8

Go with Xfinity. Customer service isn’t good but the product is worth it

Answer 9

Had horrible experience with WOW.  

Answer 10

After years of Comcast and Direct TV. We now have antenna TV use Sling, NetfliXPrimeandHulu for less than Comcast orDirect TV Monthly. ATT for internet and haven’t had any speed issues. Guy from Lisle does the antenna:  
https://mrfreehdtvman.com/

Answer 11

We use YouTube TV for our cable. Only $50 a month and includes unlimited recording.  

Answer 12

Comcast for the win. You get what you pay for rings true here. AT&T and WOW are both garbage  

Answer 13

WOW works fine for me. Faster than comcast and cheaper, hard to find a reason to complain. I cut the cable and use Hulu Live, also very happy w/ it.  

Answer 14

Comcast is better IMO

Answer 15

ATT fiber if available in your area. if not Comcast would be the second option .  

Answer 16

Had both and found Wow to be reluctantly better.  

Answer 17

Comcast has been better Xfinity is easy to use

Answer 18

Wow is better than Comcast had Comcast for years because we lived in the next town over that only provider available moved to naperville 3 years ago and was so happy we could switch to wow

Answer 19

Comcast is our provider of choice.  

Answer 20

We had wow for 18 years while we lived in Naperville. Great service! Just make sure you use your own modem and router.  

Answer 21

For the question of whether or not you should provide your own modem/router, I recommend renting one from the provider. Yes, it costs more in the long run, but I think of the higher cost as insurance against problems. If you have a problem and call the ISP, they can easily say, "It's your modem, you have to fix it. " And if they make an onsite visit, they may charge you upwards of $150 if the problem does turn out to be with your modem. Also, if you rent, you can take in your modem and get a new one whenever a new model comes out. I use Comcast and have gotten a new modem from them about every two years, either due to electronic failure or just to get an upgraded/faster model.  

Answer 22

It’s all about speed at your exact address. Neither one has high speed in every neighborhood. be very specific with them - do you have x speed at this address.  

Comments

@throughway22696 has it exactly right. I have had WOW for 12 years and love it with no problems. But I have heard others with opposite experience living in different part of town.  

---

I have spent $60 on Modems in 12 years. $30 each. Had to upgrade once when they upgraded speeds. Never had WOW give me a problem with it. Bought on eBay.  

Answer 23

Ha ha, just pick one, they all. have their own issues!  

Answer 24

Welcome to Naperville!. used both and they’re equally good generally. Both have consistent high speed internet and pathetic customer service. Go with either for the first year, when they increase your tariff next year, switch to the other. Repeat!  

Answer 25

Yeah they both stink! Lol Welcome to Naperville

Answer 26

We’ve had both and pretty much have had the same experience with both. Right now we are with wow because they have the best rates. If I got a better rate from Comcast I might go with them. We just do internet and we have consistent service throughout the home, even on the wireless TV connections.  

Answer 27

We had Comcast when we first moved here but did away with it- too expensive for hundreds of channels with nothing on- we ended up getting Uverse through our cellular provider ATT, so we get all the major channels and have the subscription services Hulu, Netflix and amazon.  

Answer 28

Comcast  WOW was a horrible experience in my house ‍♀️ ( but Comcast $$$)

Answer 29

AT&T is slow. Comcast and WOW both suck but Comcast has been a bit more reliable in my experience. Although the last time I had WOW was 5+ years ago, so things could have changed. Take others’ advice and switch between them as needed.  

Answer 30

WOW is incredible. 1gb down. No capped bandwidth or throttling like Comcast. BYO modem. $50/month. would never go back to comcast.  

Answer 31

Comcast. had wow for 15 years and tired of terrible service. constant interruptions. switched to comcast and no problems!  

Answer 32

Moving into this state? Be prepared to be taxed to death! I can't wait to move out!  

Answer 33

I use streaming service that gives you 2100 live channels and all movie channels and pat preview. Must have fire stick or fire tv! DM me for info under $30 month

Answer 34

We had WOW for 10 years. Way better than Comcast

Answer 35

I’ve had ATT for years and no problems

Answer 36

WOW is by far the best.  

Answer 37

Wow is decent for internet, but their tv kinda sucks.  

Answer 38

I have used both wow and Comcast. Currently with wow. I have outages all the time. Plus they don’t like that I’m using my own modem. It is pretty fast though when it does work.  

Answer 39

I have had WOW, Comcast and AT&T Universal aftervliving here for over 20 years in numerous houses. Comcast is always expensive, AT&T is great but not in every area and WOW is inconsistent. We had WOW at our old house and service was awesome. got to our current house and it was TERRIBLE. It’s def going to depend on what area you live in as to how your service will be. They work on the old Ameritech lines and if they haven’t been replaced, you will have a constant problem. Comcast is expensive, but their service is always consistent. As long as you are ready to threaten to leave every year or two to get them to give you the deals. you should be fine.  

Comments

@manus I agree with the WOW experience. My contract is up in December and I’ll be looking for something different. WOW performance seems to depend on location.  

Answer 40

My condolences. Everyone else is moving out of Illinois good luck with the TV search.  

Answer 41

Welcome! I use WOW and am happy with the service. But there were issues along the way that I needed to stay on top of them about including filing with the ICC. I would ask the current homeowners or management company if you are renting. It does depend on the location and whether the lines have been updated.  

Answer 42

Use internet only and get YouTube tv

Answer 43

I live in Naperville and I switched to WOW but it was a big mistake. Switched back to Comcast.  

Answer 44

Fiber is awesome for internet speed but very expensive. 12M will download amazon netflix with 10 people on the network. Not sure gig speed is of much value to most.  

Comments

Direct tv and no major issues

Answer 45

As some have suggested. They all have their issues. Try NOT to get into any kind of contract tho. Issues seem to stem from geographical locations too. Depending on how the cables or the fiber optics were laid out. This WILL be an excercise to find your cable operator and your satisfaction. Good Luck. It's like asking which CellPhone Carrier is best. Just depends on how you use it and where you are geographically.  

Answer 46

We use WOW Internet and like it

Answer 47

We’ve done well with AT&T.  

Answer 48

They all sick in one way or another and all are pricey!  

Answer 49

I. Have. Had. Uverse. From. Att For. 7. Years tv. Through. The. Land. Line. Phone. Jack. Very. Good. Runs. Specials. All. The. Time

Answer 50

Comcast is expensive but their internet speeds are great

Answer 51

Wow - what wide variety of responses. Thank you to each of you for your input. Interesting of summary of responses: 40 per cent for Comcast (pricey but reliable), 40 per cent for WOW (for internet - cheaper but not as reliable, 20 percent for AT&T (misc). One surprise - service level can depend on neighborhood or street (are they using newer or older line). One final question - “any experience with whole house WiFi”? Using high speed internet routers/modems with remote signal boosters? Thank you.  

Comments

@ailanthus Comcast gives you a router for your house