Provider choices?

10 years ago

Again, new build question here and the other forum this would fit in was not near as active so...

New house... world is my oyster here...so debating who to "plan for".

Last house, Time Warner - everything. 2 TVs. Cost us like 165-175 a month, highest internet, 2 TV's, record one room watch in the other.

Apartment, figured we would be here 6 months, turned into 12-ish. Just got standard internet 50mbps, 1 TV, not even HD - $168 a month last bill....yea...

Now, I called, they knocked it down to 140-ish a month total, and sent out two DVR boxes because, we are planning the new house.

The new house will have at least 3 flat panel HD tvs and all hdmi, blah blah blah.

Now, I am thinking, two more boxes etc, bump the internet to 300mbps again, we are looking at over $200 a month, right?

Nope, they do not support whole house DVR anymore, i.e. if I record a show in one room, I have to watch it in that room. The two boxes sent to me do not record, just offer cable. They bumped me up to 100 for free, but to go to 300 would cost me $200 more to install and then the monthly fee.

So, Summary - We can expect to have to upgrade for $200 more, at least, then pay probably $50 more for TV and $30 more for Internet per month. i.e. $200-225 a month.

CRAZY prices.

So, how are the other options and what needs to be "set up" prior to them coming out, i.e. wires run through attic, etc.. electrical access.. for either SAT or maybe Uverse?

Both are available.

Can't beat Time Warner for Internet, so I will take the bullet for that one, but how good are the other options out there and do I need anything special installed for them to not run a cable up and down my outside walls?

Featured Answer

Andy

10 years ago

Random comment: I was checking out Comcast's available plans last night, and for $300/mo they have a 2gbps service. WTF.

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Comments (12)

User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
So. Do you get local HD stations by antenna? If so, we spend $30 a month for 50mb internet and have all house rooms hooked up to an antenna. We use a channel Master DVR that cost $250 a few years ago. We also have Netflix and Amazon prime. 99% of the time we are very happy. That 1% we wish we had cable just isn't worth $2k+ a year.

You could get a channel Master DVR for how ever many rooms you want.
Andy
10 years ago
100mbps internet is plenty, you don't need more. Hell 50 is plenty, like nightowl said. If your local cable company doesn't have good setup for TV, just go internet only and get your TV from DirectTV.

I've been a DTV customer for almost 20 years, and have been happy, but I'm switching to Comcast with my new house...the new set top box from Comcast is fantastic, it's finally better than the DTV box which has always been great, going back to the DirecTivo I got back in 2001 or so. With DTV's new boxes, you'll be able to watch and record in any room.

So yeah, if I were you, I'd get the best value plan for standalone internet (usually the second cheapest plan, 30mbps, something like that), and get DTV for your TV provider.
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Russ Barnard
Original Author
10 years ago
Eh, the internet is not that big a deal, so we may leave it at 100 (they only offer 2) but Interbet is my work/lifeline.. heh.. so, we can afford the splurge on that.

DirectTV.. will look them over, tyvm
just_janni
10 years ago
I am going to cut the cord for TV in the new house and go over the air network HD, and then netflix / hulu / etc I simply don't watch that much TV - and the bills are outrageous for the 10 or so things I enjoy watching.
missouribound
10 years ago
nightowl, what company are you with? Our 52mps is over $60 per month and I haven't heard of anything lower.
User
10 years ago
Time Warner. $29.99/month. Get it every year. Rate is for "new customer". Just call every year and they give the new customer rate. The few times someone balks, I just say fine, disconnect and in a month I will re-up as a new customer. Not a problem. Immediately get the new customer rate and I thank them and make a calendar appointment for a year later to repeat. This year it did take a bit longer. Could be the merger.
mushcreek
10 years ago
I'm with nightowl- Internet only, and OTA TV. I hate to have an infotainment bill that is higher (a lot higher) than my power bill!
Russ Barnard
Original Author
10 years ago
Yep, we have been with TimeWarner since.. forever... for internet. They are now Spectrum and instead of offering 50/100/200/300mbps, they only offer 100 and 300, I was told.

Now, we HAD 300mb.. and if you had 300mb before, or 200mb, you could stay at 300mb. If you try to get to 300mb now, it is $200 bucks to transition.

I'll argue that with them later since they are the ones that took the 300 from me as they did not offer that here at the time.. heh..

Anyway, I call each year and they lower the price to new subscriber level, but I wanted to look at "whole house" coverage as we really like being able to watch whatever show we record from whatever TV is available. going backwards to being stuck to a single TV OR having to get a full DVR on each TV and that TV has to be the one that recorded that show... stupid.. that is like going from rotary telephone and then getting a cell phone.. and then being told you have to go back to rotary.

So, my in-laws have Directv, and I always liked their guide service. Will check them out.

R
Russ Barnard
Original Author
10 years ago
Jump on that!.. .lol.. (actually don't.. but if you DO.. tell us about it.. lol)
lakeviewgirl
10 years ago
Our internet is 300mbps. We got rid of cable TV and got sling TV which for $25 a month - you get 3 streams of 40+ cable channels. In addition, we have antenna. The key here is to have hard-wired connection to the streaming box instead of Wi-Fi. So far, we are very happy. BTW, Sling TV is live, just like cable. you can check out their website if you are interested.
scoutfinch72
10 years ago
We have a powerful digital rooftop antenna for local channels and we have Comcast Internet, I think 50mbps. We get a discount through work so it's cheap, like $40 a month, plus 12.99 for Netflix. That's plenty for us even with multiple devices streaming. We frequently have 2 TVs and the projector going at the same time with no lag. We have a TiVo as our main DVR in the basement family room and it has 4 tuners. It has hard wired internet run to it. We have a TiVo Mini upstairs that streams (with a hardwired connection) anything from the downstairs TiVo. We bought the lifetime service with the TiVo so there is no monthly fee for the life of the device. Our last TiVo lasted for 9 years. The TV in the kitchen just has a wireless Roku and it works fine too.