Questions about NOW plans

Donut417 · 2025-05-28T22:30:23+00:00

Just convinced my mom to switch to the NOW plan, specifically looking at the 100 Mbps plan. Better than paying $69/m with the stupid data cap. Which we are going over it this month. Questions: 1) Can someone link me or tell me how to put the gateway in to bridge mode? 2) Is it easy to switch to the 200 Mbps plan if we need it? Currently have 150/40, Id image 50 Mbps less wont matter as much. 3) From placing the order to getting the gateway in the mail, how long?

Rob

Donut417 I have the 2GB service for $105/mo. (incl. taxes/fees) and I’ve been thinking of dropping it for the NOW Internet as I’m not really using the 2GB (my Netgear mesh is only 1GB and on wifi I pull close to 995mbps) but I am not a heavy Internet user.
Glad to hear that the transition was easy!

bigcoda

Donut417 We hit 1.29 TB last month. My dad used over 716 Gigs of data himself. That was mostly streaming and I dont sub to any of the 4K streaming plans and his TV is maybe 720p

Yea that data usage sounds about right for a TV streaming 720p non stop. In 1080p you may go over the 1.2 TB cap, in 4K you will definitely go over the the 1.2 TB cap. I too found out how much data a TV streaming all the time uses, after I dumped DirectTV about three months. With my pops at home all the time on the TV, I hit over 900 GB this last month. Pretty sad you can’t even watch anything in 1080p, without worry about going over Comcast’s measly little 1.2 TB data cap. The thing I noticed with YouTube TV, is it won’t stay locked at 720p, eventually it will bump it back up to 1080p. I ended up purchasing a Roku player, and locking everything down to 720p. I still have almost a year left of my $45 2 year price lock on the Connect More 400/150 Mbps. I keep hoping that maybe Comcast will upgrade my area to DOCSIS 4.0 X-Class, which includes unlimited data. Or AT&T will expand there Fiber into my neighborhood with unlimited data. Otherwise I may be forced to make the choice like you, and go with prepaid and take a hit on my speed.

Donut417

bigcoda Otherwise I may be forced to make the choice like you, and go with prepaid and take a hit on my speed.

Speed really wasn’t a concern for me. Sure I do some gaming, but I’ll just download those games and updates over night, not a big deal. Streaming doesnt need the fastest speeds. Though this does open up 4K videos for me. I might considering upgrading my aging 720p TV to a 4K one.

smilingbob

Donut417 I would have dropped our service down to Now100 if there had been an easy way to do it. The OG Prepaid and Now are two different Prepaids, believe it or not, even though OG is exactly same everything as Now200. I’d have to discontinue the OG and sign up for Now100, get a new XB3 shipped, etc. Everything was working perfectly so I just decided to keep what we had. Now that Ezee Fiber is going to install in our area, looks like it might not matter one way or the other - but jury’s still out. Prepaid has been great, a real game changer for us and I wouldn’t mind staying. But 1000/1000 for only $24/month more just seems like a no-brainer.

HardlyWorthit

smilingbob Donut417 I would have dropped our service down to Now100 if there had been an easy way to do it. . . .

Should be easy to accomplish with a visit to an Xfinity retail location.

Devious

Looks like you get refurbished equipment with it.

HardlyWorthit

Devious
That’s not new, NOW has always had refurb, non returnable, non reuseable gateways. They do allow pause in service for up to 6 months at a time with reactivation, but once an account is closed, gateway cannot be reactivated.

smilingbob

HardlyWorthit Maybe. My experience with Prepaid is that you have nearly zero support from Xfinity except for a unique prepaid outsourced phone number. The stores did not even provide the gateways back when I got it, you had to order the kit online or buy from a 3rd party vendor (like Boost Mobile). Maybe things have changed, but Now Prepaid also seems to have zero support - not even a phone number like OG prepaid. Amusingly, the one time I got on Now portal to ask some questions on their web chat support, the chat CS told me they don’t provide support for Now. This is the chat applet they provided on Now support, lmao. The official Comcast subreddit also does not provide support for Prepaid OG or Now.

Anyways, it is just part and parcel to get cut-rate Comcast internet service with free unlimited data. I was fine with the shit support, I’m pretty self reliant on all things IT and I wasn’t going to hassle myself to change over and save $15 since what we had was working great. It would be interesting to hear someone who has had a more recent Prepaid support experience.

HardlyWorthit

smilingbob Maybe. My experience with Prepaid is that you have nearly zero support from Xfinity except for a unique prepaid outsourced phone number.

NOW support options (and more) available here:
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/now-internet-faqs

smilingbob

Just for fun, I decided to go back to the Now support site and see if things have changed. They have not. The only live support option is the AI chatbot, which will resist giving you a live person. If you insist and type “operator” several times after each of it’s responses, it will push you through. The support agent does not support Prepaid, but provided the outsourced number. Conversation as follows.

— Conversation on 06/01/2025 —

Xfinity Assistant (11:54 pm): You can ask me questions about your bill, account, and troubleshooting service issues.

Krista (11:54 pm): operator

Xfinity Assistant (11:54 pm): Thanks, I can help with most issues, but I’ll put you in touch with an agent if you need more assistance. What do you need help with today?

Krista (11:54 pm): operator

Xfinity Assistant (11:54 pm): Thanks, I can help with most issues, but I’ll put you in touch with an agent if you need more assistance. What do you need help with today?

Krista (11:55 pm): Internet questions

Xfinity Assistant (11:55 pm): How can I help you with your Internet service?

Krista (11:55 pm): operator

Xfinity Assistant (11:55 pm): No problem. I’ll put you in touch with a live agent now.

Agent (11:55 pm): Hi Krista, thank you for contacting Xfinity. My name is Priya. How may I help you today?

nullAgent (11:56 pm): I regret to inform you that, as I am from the postpaid team, I will not be able to assist you with these.

Agent (11:57 pm): I will share the dedicated team number with you.

nullAgent (11:58 pm): I really apologize for the inconvenience you have to face.

Agent (11:59 pm): Please call these numbers so that they can assist you accordingly.

nullAgent (11:59 pm): 1800-934-6489

Agent (11:59 pm): thank you so much for understanding 🙂

— Conversation on 06/02/2025 —

As long as you are a tech nerd, as are most of us here like back on DSLR, it’s not a big deal. You just have to know going in this isn’t standard Comcast CS, which is pretty terrible to begin with.

CommunityMember

Devious Looks like you get refurbished equipment with it.

The XB3’s that they are handing out are, at this point, only available refurbished. Comcast is not having new ones manufactured. It might be possible that some store has a NIB XB3 that has been sitting on a shelf for years that they might hand out for a new NOW account, but highly unlikely at this point.

In practice you may often get refurbished equipment (whether TV or HSI) when you lease an operators equipment. It is just explicit here (probably to make sure you are not one of those who insist on new equipment “for reasons”; and we all know there are some people like that).

Tshirt

CommunityMember \plans
CommunityMember

Devious Looks like you get refurbished equipment with it.

The XB3’s that they are handing out are, at this point, only available refurbished.

I think clearing the shelves of older/used equipment is part of the point for comcast.
giving away “free” equipment they no longer want avoids recycling costs and attracts the budget customer for now\NOW. once installed and accustomed to the HFC plant, upgrades to postpaid, and newer equipment are possible.
broadband and wired in particular is (should be) a long term game where revenue/ROI is viewed in years rather than continuously renewed (or rejected ) 12 month contracts and promos

smilingbob

I know this is highly anecdotal, but the XB3 we received in our Prepaid Kit looked new. It didn’t have all the tell-tale signs of used equipment, like scratches, dust, etc. That means Comcast at least is doing a pretty good job of testing/refurbishing them, and ours has been bullet-proof for the going on two years we’ve used it. They come with a big blue sticker on the side stating it is customer owned equipment, and instructs employees not to take it back. They must have quite a glut of these old, obsolete gateways to give them away for free, even for just a weeks service (minimum you can subscribe on Prepaid and get the free gateway). For the speeds offered on Prepaid/Now, they work well enough and I noticed no “seat of the pants” difference between it (D3.0) and my owned Netgear CM1000V2 (D3.1) at the exact same postpaid speed.

badtlc4

smilingbob In my limited experience, the XB3 was much more reliable/stable in bridge mode than the XB7 and XB8 versions. Never had a hiccup with the XB3 but the others could get really finicky in my area after the mid-split upgrade.

lesmikesell

badtlc4 I noticed a definite improvement when I switched from an XB3 to an XB7. With the XB3 I had to split bands with different SSIDs and force some things to the 2.4Gzh band to connect - but I did manage to make it work. With the XB7 everything connected on one SSID with no fiddling. If I went back to an XB3 I’d probably need a router or access point since I’ve added a bunch of other smart devices.

CommunityMember

smilingbob I know this is highly anecdotal, but the XB3 we received in our Prepaid Kit looked new. It didn’t have all the tell-tale signs of used equipment, like scratches, dust, etc. That means Comcast at least is doing a pretty good job of testing/refurbishing them, and ours has been bullet-proof for the going on two years we’ve used it.

Most larger operators now send returned devices back to a central depot where there is expertise to review the device, and various refurbishments happen which would include at minimum a vacuuming and cleaning but more often new housing plastic, and some minimal operational test (good to test it can power on). Then repackaged into a cardboard box with accessories (any returned accessories are just e-cycled, as there is no way to properly test them).

The exception(s) can sometimes occur in the store itself, when a returned device is needed for a new customer right now, in which case you can end up with something that looks like it went through the wringer.

In the case of these old XB3’s, the need to place that (important to Comcast) sticker on the side which says “We don’t want to pay to take them back and then pay to dispose of them” (that is what it is really saying), is almost certainly done at the depot to prepare the NOW gateways for shipment.

As is everything Comcast, your location, and mileage will vary.

Donut417

lesmikesell XB3 I had to split bands with different SSIDs and force some things to the 2.4Gzh band to connect - but I did manage to make it work

That’s what I prefer. I stick less important devices on 2.4 GHz and more important on 5Ghz.

badtlc4

lesmikesell that isn’t bridged mode. There is a lot of differences if you dont use bridge mode. My post specifically said “bridge mode.”

lesmikesell

badtlc4 that isn’t bridged mode. There is a lot of differences if you dont use bridge mode. My post specifically said “bridge mode.”

Yeah, what I’m saying is that I had minor issues with the XB3’s own wifi and if I had to go back to using one I’d buy a better router now and bridge it - although that sort of negates the money savings for downgrading… At the moment I’ve gotten a lower price for 400Mbs with the 5 year plan but not as good as the prices I’ve seen for new customers and certainly not as low as the prepaid. I’ll probably stay with the Xb7 for now, though.

lesmikesell

Donut417 That’s what I prefer. I stick less important devices on 2.4 GHz and more important on 5Ghz.

That usually happens by itself because a lot of those devices only have 2.4Ghz. I meant things that I’d prefer to have on 5Ghz like a laptop had to be on 2.4 because the 5Ghz signal strength was weak in some parts of the house and I’d have to disconnect and reconnect to make it switch on its own with the same SSID if I moved to those places. Either the Xb7 has enough strength on 5Ghz or it is switching more transparently because everything works without those issues.

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