Electronics

[brewhaha]

We just switched to Time Warner Cable two months ago. We were paying $96/mo for our cable service. We added their 100 mps internet for $50/mo plus free wi-fi. Including the modem lease and tax it comes to $60/mo for the internet. The total bill went up to $110/mo. For $14/mo more, we got $60/mo more service. We got a $36/mo discount on the cable and $10/mo discount on the internet.

[chrystaltree]

 We have Comcast Xfinity.  I don't jump around looking for better deals and I rate my service by what I think.  I've had Comcast for 20 ,years.   With Xfinity, we bundle ! she, internet and phone.  Although never use the house phone.  I'm happy, everything works well and all my services are dependable and always available.  I like dealing with one company and having one bill.  Perhaps, I can find a better deal and save few bucks it wouldn't be worth the hassle.  

[chickenbutt]

I've had ATT for years and also, this year, upgraded to ATT Uverse.  I was told that exact same thing.  *sigh*   Guess I'll not count on that.

To be honest, I don't think I'm that thrilled with Uverse.  Yes, it's been faster than the basic DSL I had for years.  But I think it's less reliable. Furthermore, I also changed my landline to Uverse and there's really nothing great there either.  The range is garbage.  I used to be able to be on the cordless phone and walk up the street at least two houses from mine and still have perfect reception.  Now - halfway down my driveway it cuts out completely.  That's some pretty krappy range!

Another sore spot for me is that I found out that when the ATT people changed my internet/phone over to Uverse they totally skrewed up my alarm system.  I had to have ADT come out and fix it - not an easy fix, as they had REALLY messed things up.   No es bueno!    I even asked the guy about my alarm system to make sure that it would still be as it was and he assured me that it would be.  He lied.  

All that said, however, my choices are kind of small also so I will probably end up staying where I am.   One other choice we have here is Charter (our cable co), but even though our cable hardly ever goes out, I just don't feel like I want that for internet.  Something tells me I'm better off where I am now.

One thing that's a hassle, when you change ISPs, is that you have to change all your email addresses.  I don't want to do that unless I really have to.  Once I was talking to Charter and they said I wouldn't have to change my email addresses.  I think they lied.  I cannot imagine being able to have the same email address with a completely different ISP.

Anyway, I hope you find something that works out.  It's kind of scary changing because there will inevitably be either the same problems or some new ones.  

[millieshops]

@GemspiritComcast is great except when it's not!  I have probably spent 16 hours on the phone in 2015 with them --and I use them only 6 months of the year!   Because my HOA uses Comcast I hesitate to do anything except try to work with them.

The service is better this season - I don't lose my Internet more than a few times a week instead of a dozen times a day, but no, they aren't [erfect.  Just OK.

[Desertdi]

I have had Cox for years.   TV, phone & internet.     Many of my neighbors have gone over to Dish......but I haven't inquired about it.

[2blonde]

In NE Ohio we have a choice between Time Warner cable or AT&T U-Verse.  I switched over from TW to U-Verse about 7 years ago when it first became available in the area (it was the only way to get high-speed internet at the time).  My TV reception is a lot better with the U-Verse than it was with TW, but I'd hate to count how many times I've had the repair guy out here for one thing or another (I am bundled with them).

They are expensive, and when everything is working it's great, but they raise their rates every February.  For everything (including all those pesky add-on charges) I pay a total of $190/month for U-200 ($80), internet Elite ($47), and land-line ($25).  I started out at a total of $127 for the same services.

[geezerette]

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@Venezia wrote:

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@RedConvertibleGirl wrote:

We used to have CenturyLink and were very happy with it.  The price was good and it was fast.   The area we moved to two years ago and now we have THE WORST provider in the universe - HughesNet.  OMG they are awful, awful, awful!!!  Slow and unreliable and expensive.  Unfortunately it was our ONLY option.  Trust me, we called everyone and they were it.  If something else ever becomes available we will dump them like a hot potato.

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Thanks for that information about HughesNet.  I'm in the northeast and the only provider we have is Fairpoint right now.  (We have one other "option", if we want to pay the local cable company $5000 to run a line to our house.  We're rural and about 700 feet away from a "tap point"!)

I've been on the phone back and forth now for ages with our provider and, even though they're very polite, they simply can't provide even a reliable 4 Mbps.  It's never fast enough for streaming.

I looked online at HughesNet and I didn't come away with a very good feeling about it.  It seemed there was too much "fine print" in the pages of conditions!  I appreciate your comments.

Isn't it about time this "civilized" country provided decent, reasonable-cost internet to everyone?

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I've been saying this for 10 years, since we moved out of the city.  No cable, no DSL, only satellite or a local WI-FI internet service.  We chose the local company, with ridiculously low speeds and high prices over satellite. At least I have local people to come out when I have a problem.  I keep getting satellite flyers, but they seem like they would be no improvement over what we're stuck with already.

[hckynutjohn]

Centurylink

hckynut(john)

[Venezia]

@geezerette - We have our TV with DirecTV and I called them up, since they're always promoting "bundling". I couldn't believe it, when the rep told me "I'm sorry.  We have nothing to offer in your area at this time."  What???  I said to her "It's supposed to be via satellite.  We have a perfect, unobstructed view of the southern sky."  (Our TV reception is excellent and, when we first had it installed about 15 years ago, the techician couldn't believe what a clear shot at the sky we had.)

Got the same reply "not at this time".  After speaking to her, I found out that (at least in our area) DirecTV and Fairpoint are connected.  No wonder they wouldn't offer anything different - they already have all of our money.

My friend has Dish network (TV and internet) and her internet is appalling.  Very slow (makes mine look fast) and is data capped, so once her allotment runs out, she ends up with dial-up.  She pays a LOT for that service ($192/month).  She barely uses the internet, so she must have a very small allotment of data.  I tried to get her to do a speed test once and I was on the phone with her for ten minutes and it still hadn't loaded up!

It really is time the government brought in laws to regulate all of this.  I know they're trying, but it seems the progress is way too slow (almost like my internet service).

[Reba055]

No one comes even close to Comcast with download speeds as far as I know. The more streaming you do, and run multiple devices at one time, the more important that is. 

Everyone hates dealing with Comcast, but until Google gets in the game, if you have access to Comcast, it's the best. You get what you pay for. Compare ATT Uverse download speed to Comcast. Not even the same species.