When I had DirecTV, I had AT&T DSL and it sucked.
When I switched to Comcast, had to get a new computer, because the speed on cable pretty much blew up my computer. When it took 5 days to get a tech out for a service call on Comcast internet a couple of months ago, I was able to use my cell phone. I called Verizon and they turned my cell phone into a wifi hotspot, for $30/mo. Worked great, all I had to do was make sure that my phone was plugged into charger the whole time as it zapped the battery really quickly.
Can't remember what the speed is on knology, but I'm not noticing a difference from Comcast.