Astound | Bethlehem — Local services in Bethlehem

FINAL UPDATE - August 11, 2025:

The incompetence has reached new heights. Despite cancelling service on July 21st, they're still billing me and claiming no record of cancellation exists. Currently fighting this through the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection. This company has now failed at: internet service, customer support, appointment scheduling, technical competence, AND basic record keeping. It's almost artistic in its completeness. Rating: 1/5 stars (and that's generous)

I was an RCN/Astound customer for a decade, and watching this company’s decline has been truly spectacular. The first few years were solid—reliable service, reasonable support. Then reality set in.

Around year 3-4, my connection started dropping constantly. After multiple service calls, a technician finally discovered they had “mixed up some wires.” Problem solved… for about four years. Now the same issue has returned, but this time it’s far worse.

Current situation: Complete service failure since July 12, 2025. Technical diagnostics revealed only 1 of 24 DOCSIS channels operational—a 96% infrastructure failure rate. My modem briefly connected for 30-second windows, achieving 31 Mbps speeds (proving customer equipment works), then dropped when the system failed to establish full channel bonding.

The “technician” visit (July 28): Claimed “no service exists” despite clear evidence of partial connectivity. When I explained the specific channel failures, he literally fled my house. Failed to bring test equipment, refused infrastructure repairs, and didn’t confirm the supervisor dispatch he promised.

Customer service nightmare: 55+ minutes on hold just to cancel service. They refused immediate cancellation despite documented infrastructure failure, insisting I wait until August 8 billing cycle—potentially violating PA and Federal consumer protection laws.

UPDATE - Supervisor Confirmation: A competent supervisor finally visited and confirmed water intrusion in the line infrastructure, validating my technical analysis. Several DOCSIS channels remain non-functional due to this damage. Everything I diagnosed weeks ago was correct—their first technician simply lacked basic competency.

Corporate Response: After filing regulatory complaints, they offered a insulting $25 credit for weeks of service failure and claimed they “cannot escalate feedback from inactive accounts.” This demonstrates zero commitment to learning from failures or improving service quality.

Here’s the kicker: they require an “adult” present to fix wires on the street that they keep damaging themselves. In 2025, when remote work is standard and internet is essential infrastructure, Astound operates like it’s 1995.

Billing during outages? Of course they continue charging for service that doesn’t exist, citing “company policy” over state and federal consumer protection laws.

Their technical competence has deteriorated so dramatically that I demonstrated better DOCSIS knowledge than their field technician. For a company that used to be reliable, they’ve mastered the art of infrastructure neglect, customer abandonment, and damage control over actual resolution.

Save yourself the headache. There are providers who understand that reliable internet isn’t optional—it’s essential. Unfortunately, the Lehigh Valley has limited options, but anything is better than this systematic failure.

Final verdict: Astound’s response proves they’re more interested in minimizing accountability than addressing fundamental infrastructure and training failures. The $25 “sorry patch” after losing a decade-long customer speaks volumes about their...

Worst internet company I have ever dealt with. I was convinced that my premium $500 Nighthawk Modem was not guaranteed to support the 1.5 GB speeds that Astound offered me (though it previously did on another cable system and was built for compatibility on the nation's largest providers) so I rented a modem from them (they never disclosed that the "waived fee" would only be good for two years). Additionally, I thought that the speed and price were decent and comparable to what I had on the western side of the USA, but again, I wasn't told that my rate was a two year promotion and my bill increased by $20 with only 30 days notice that the promotion was a thing, and that it was ending.

Tech support is worthless! They scare you with "if we determine that this is a problem within your home you'll be responsible for a $75 service charge" and temp many into paying for a service protection plan to eliminate this kind of fee (has never been charged to me when a tech has come out twice).

The internet has largely been stable and reliable, except for a day in August when they were working in the neighborhood to upgrade services and unplugged our coax cable outside. We called the next day and the soonest they could get someone out was 5 days away (that's incredibly painful in today's connected tech world), when the tech came out he verified it was a disconnected cable and we were back online in 5 minutes. They did provide a service credit after we had to contact them again and raise the issue to their awareness.

The only reason I ever went for this company was because it's the only one wired into our complex and they have an "exclusive deal" with Astound... I'm so thrilled to be ending our relationship with...

UPDATE - I sent an email to the address provided in the company's response on 10/3. The agent responded on 10/4 that she would put a request in to the leads team for a "lead" to give me a call regarding my concerns. Unsurprisingly, I have heard NOTHING from a "lead". I would give ZERO stars to ASTOUND if possible as one star is too much credit. Horrible communication and customer service!

ORIGINAL MESSAGE - had my equipment replaced because of a storm related power surge. One day after replacing it my new Tivo box freezes up. I've also been experiencing internet issues since the technician came yesterday.

The technicians who've come to my place have always been professional and informative.

I can't stand the "new" Tivo box. It's features are not useful compared to what I got out of the older version. I called and requested a replacement for the one I had before the storm. They said they couldn't because they aren't moving backwards with technology. Fine, I get it. But, the features of the "new" Tivo box are less than that of the previous version. The 1/3 ff is choppy and skips every 3 or 4 seconds. The older version was smooth. I used it for the many sports I watch. Also, when fast forwarding, you can't see 40% of the screen because this display pops up with all of the possible functions. It's terrible.

I am not a fan of sending emails to voice concerns. I asked if I could speak to someone who makes the decisions. I was told that was not possible, but I could go to their site and see if I could file I complaint. I prefer speaking to human beings and not hiding...