And I don't think tipping service providers like this helps. If someone does their job right, they'll automatically get more work if the parent company is up to snuff.
Yeah, but... think of the human aspect. Not all companies really care about their workers like that. If you as a person appreciate the work that you installer has done, and want to encourage that installer to continue to do so, and possibly others that he talks with, I would consider tipping, just as a means to express your gratitude. Basically, human psychology, reward/punishment, pleasure/pain, etc. I don't think that the tip has to be exorbitant, maybe a $5 bill would be enough, something to get a coffee down the street after he's done with your job, and waiting for his next one.
Edit: Ehh, and Comcast, "up to snuff"? Well, I'm not going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole.
Clearly, this installer did right by the customer, but I believe most likely, it was because of the installer himself wanting to do a good job, not because of Comcast specifically.
Edit: I'm not trying to say that the installer doesn't get paid enough, good ones probably do, but just the human aspect, just a small token of your appreciation for the work that they did, enough to get a coffee or a doughnut or something, nothing major.
And I'm not trying to shame the OP for not doing so, I mean, I got my oil changed at a quickie-oil-change place, and I wasn't sure if they wanted a tip or not either. It was all so rush-rush, and I didn't give him one, partly because of the rush-rush, and partly because it took all of my and my friend that was with me's cash to get the oil change done, except for maybe a fiver.
It might well be against policy to tip the installer, most likely it is.
Sometimes, I tip my UPS and Fedex drivers, around the holiday season. They bring my packages right to my door, or wait for me to come to the front entrance if they can't get in, so yeah, I think that the "regulars" deserve a small tip around Christmas/Holidays.
Edit: Oh yeah, if you want the maximum upload possible on Comcast DOCSIS 3.1 service, you need to sign up for their "Cable Gigabit" or "DOCSIS Gigabit" (As opposed to "Gigabit Pro") service. That will give you 35Mbit/sec uploads, which is the max that Comcast offers on their DOCSIS cable systems, and requires a DOCSIS 3.1 modem.