I had 3 great years of internet in San Francisco with Comcast. It basically was like those utilities: it was always there, around the promised speeds, with 0 outages that I noticed. Considering I work from home, and do all my codework over ssh, I could tell if there was a slowdown for even a few seconds.
Then at year 4, for whatever reason, it started to have issues. At least once per month.
How I miss those 3 blissful years when it Just Worked.
My experience in a suburban area is relatively similar. I wouldn't be surprised if what it really came down to was that people started streaming video from Netflix, Hulu etc... and simply put, the cable companies have less than zero incentive to optimize that experience.
Then at year 4, for whatever reason, it started to have issues. At least once per month.
How I miss those 3 blissful years when it Just Worked.