Getting Cable in my Multi Unit Building (Chicago, Media: sales, rent)

[PeterGib]

Hello All,

I live in a mid-rise in Chicago. I rent although technically the building is considered a condo complex as most of the units are owned and managed by a homeowners board (we use a management company for the day-to-day stuff).

This building has partnered with a company called MDU Communications for a number of years. They outsource mostly satellite services. We have Direct TV for television.

The Direct TV is fine, but we're completely stuck to one of only two ISPs because of this arrangement with MDU. We can use MDU's ISP service, which is satellite based and has a max download speed of 5 Mbps, or AT&T DSL.

But we live in Chicago! There's absolutely no reason to use satellite for your ISP when there's literally two cable companies with infrastructure supporting up too 100 Mbps.

I currently use AT&T because their support is WAY better than MDU's and the speeds are about the same. But for me, someone who works from home and works in video editing and needs a large bandwidth, the speeds are just too slow.

RCN used to provide service to our building, but it got terminated once a new contract with MDU was drafted. I tried calling RCN to see if they'd be able to "turn on" one node of support for my unit, but they said "no." I asked them why and if they needed the entire building to be contracted to their service and the lady essentially said "yes" they couldn't provide service to just one unit, and needed the whole building to be contracted and committed to them.

Now Comcast CLAIMS to be able to serve my building, but they actually do not. As far as I know there's not even any Comcast infrastructure in my building. I've had 2 crews come out to investigate but they can't in fact get any cable service to my unit the "traditional" way because my building is not wired for it (that I know of).

But both Comcast and RCN have coax lines literally right behind my building on the utility pole. They serve the two buildings on either side of mine.

Are there any numbers or any contact--any elevated tech people or sales managers--for either Comcast or RCN to see about getting someone to wire one coax cable in order to provide me with their internet service? I don't care if they wrap a single coax line around the power cable, throw it up over the roof, then dangle the cable down into my window and have me wire up my cable modem that way. I can't convince the owner's association to consider another cable company and U-Verse speeds are about as slow here as the regular DSL.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I might be able to make this work? Thanks for the help!

[emathias]

It's not the telecoms per se that are your issue, it's your building's management. In order to run wires through or on the building, they'd need the building owner's permission, not just one tenant's. In the case of a condo building, they'd need the board's - or at least the president's (depending on the bylaws) - authorization. If the board has signed an exclusionary contract with another vendor, your only real solution will be to move.

So if you're only dealing with the telecoms, you're coming at it from the wrong direction.

[PeterGib]

Yea I figured that was the case, unfortunately.

I thought if I took this approach it might be feasible because technically RCN's infrastructure is in fact in this building. The old cable wiring from RCN is still in the walls. My guess is there's literally one outlet that needs to be plugged that would activate the cable in the building again. MDU uses a totally different wiring scheme.

But, yes, chances are MDU has an exclusion on our building for the time being (though isn't it funny that they don't exclude AT&T? I guess they can't if the infrastructure (coaxial versus telephone) is different).

Again, I didn't know if there could be any kind of "roundabout" approach to making this work since A) the infrastructure is here in the building already. No new lines really need to be run. and B) the active communication cables are probably less than 50 feet from my unit. Less than 20 feet from the building itself.

/Sigh/, well I probably won't be able to do anything, then. Unless you think there's some way I can get Comcast's technical mistake (they think they service this building) to work for me.

Again, if I could convince the management company or board to allow something like this I would. But that's unfortunately not an option.

Thanks again for the help...

[rparz]

Originally Posted by PeterGib

Again, if I could convince the management company or board to allow something like this I would. But that's unfortunately not an option.

In 'The city that works,' most likely they're getting a kickback or discounted service for agreeing to an exclusivity contract. What else would their motivation be? It's just standard coax wires, technically it's not a big deal at all. Legally, it could be.

[Feeling Brackish]

I feel your pain. In my building we had Comcast for many years, and my download speeds were anywhere from 18-25mbps. My building switched over to a company called Access Media 3, and although I pay for the 10mbps package (the best they offer), I'm usually hovering between 5-7mbps. Not only that, but the service is really inconsistent and goes out for no apparent reason from time to time. If I had a job that required a lot of internet use, this would be beyond acceptable.

If there was a way around it, I would go back to Comcast in a heartbeat. It really sucks that one company can completely monopolize an entire building. There are 207 units in my building and it feels like we're being held hostage by a contract. Others in my building have complained about the same issues as well as the television service (Direct TV).

[suzy_q2010]

Do you know the terms of the MDU contract?

Could you see if Comcast can beat those terms?

If Comcast can provide better service for the same or a lower price, it would be difficult for the board to refuse to switch, though you might have to wait until the current contract ends.

Get a copy of the MDU contract.

[pookeye]

Hi, I am in a condo that has MDU Communications as well, its annoying because the internet offered by MDU is only 1.5 Mbps, and Comcast is right outside that can give me 24Mbps for same price or less.. ATT doesnt offer Uverse here, so they only offer DSL 1.1 and that isnt fast at all..... My condo has some exclusivity with MDU Communications, but I was wondering if that is even legal considering I read that since 2007, FCC has made that exclusivity illegal....

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by rparz

In 'The city that works,' most likely they're getting a kickback or discounted service for agreeing to an exclusivity contract. What else would their motivation be? It's just standard coax wires, technically it's not a big deal at all. Legally, it could be.

Condo associations in the city typically negotiate a building-wide exclusive contract with a cable provider for which the unit owners receive a substantial discount on the monthly service charge and whether or not a unit owner wants the cable service or not - they pay for it. It's an arrangement which almost always works to the benefit of the unit owners.

[snoylekim]

^^ True ..but it can be a little bit of a hassle arranging for services above and beyond the basic or basic + that's subsidized... The other side of the coin are things like the rate versus length of contract, etc ..which can be a headache for the board during negotiations .. In our case, we started with and retained Comcast, but we do need to route additional service requests, etc through our 'dedicated' rep ... We get a basic + package + Internet ( the 10M service) 'free' ... anything above that is a 'negotiated' surcharge for the unit billed directly to the unit ..
I think for folks that are stuck with 'satellite' or sustandard internet because of the arrangements w/ their development , the only short term economical answer is cellular hotspot..it is getting much better in terms of speed, especially if 4G/LTE is available .. also heard ( not substantiated) that Verizon was actively wiring some areas for FIOS ..but haven't heard much on that since the initial rumbling..