Satellite versus Local Cable

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Funny...I'm thinking of giving up cable altogether.
I pay $150 a month for Optimum cable/phone/computer.
When I look at the bill closely I see that $80+ is for
television (which is watched very little in my house).
I think I'm going to make some changes after football season is over.....

PS: When I had 'dish' a few years ago I wasn't happy with the
'freezing up' of the picture on a fairly regular basis..


pb, if you've got Time Warner, just give them a call to see if they can help you out on the price. I've had their Basic cable, basic internet & phone bundle for years. Been a customer since 1998. Bill recently went up to ~$162/mo. On my first call they lowered it to $143. Called again a month later, now I'm at $137 for supposedly a year.

To the OP, $49 is CHEAP for dish and internet? Around me, the satellite internet alone is like $79/mo.

Joel

 

[mechtech2]

In the Chicago area, there is great free/air TV.
No History channel [alas]. Cable is 45% commercials.

In remote regions, satellite seems to be the way to go.
Costs are high, but they have us by the eggs, and they know it.

I like pbm: make changes AFTER the football season is over!

 

[zerosoma]

[censored]

hookup fee is $75 for venture com. Basic cable ain't bad at $26 but we're looking at $41 + $26 = $67 for barebones tv and internet. plus a $75 hook up fee. SUCK!!

Maybe dish is the answer. I work for radio shack anyways, so I may get a discount...

just concerned about the cap on dish. That might be a bummer. Like how many movies a month could I watch do you think?

 

[volk06]

I live in a rural area in between to big cities (25 miles apart). We went with out local communication company. 8mbps (usually 10mbps when tested) digital & hd cable for over 250 channels for 99/month. Only a $30 hook up fee. The thing I like about cable is when the weather is bad and I'm stuck inside I can still watch tv where the satellite will go out. I wouldn't change from what I have, customer service is top notch and the staff is excellent.

Have you looked into any bundle packages? If we got bare bones cable and internet it was $75. For the extra 25 it is worth it to me and NO contract.

I looked up venture comm and they have a 1mbps Internet, digital cable, And phone for $89 call the stampede package. Might be worth a call and see if they just have a Internet and cable package.

 

[edhackett]

Don't forget the lag in satellite internet. It's useless for gaming, video phone, or anything else requiring quick send and receive.

Ed

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: volk06
I live in a rural area in between to big cities (25 miles apart). We went with out local communication company. 8mbps (usually 10mbps when tested) digital & hd cable for over 250 channels for 99/month. Only a $30 hook up fee. The thing I like about cable is when the weather is bad and I'm stuck inside I can still watch tv where the satellite will go out. I wouldn't change from what I have, customer service is top notch and the staff is excellent.

Have you looked into any bundle packages? If we got bare bones cable and internet it was $75. For the extra 25 it is worth it to me and NO contract.

I looked up venture comm and they have a 1mbps Internet, digital cable, And phone for $89 call the stampede package. Might be worth a call and see if they just have a Internet and cable package.



Yeah, I called them up, they don't bundle just phone and internet. And the lady quoted me $105 for the Stampede package...that must be after all of the taxes and whatnot.

We pay $69 right now (Midcontinent) and we're looking to stay around that range or less so $105 would not be what the wife would go for... and more than I would hope for too.

 

[Spector]

I have Verizon Fios/cable and currently costing me 162/mo for TV,Internet and phone and TV 90% of channels are worthless. Further with a 2 year contract those sleazy *** raised the rates on the boxes by 40%, yes 40% now granted from 4.99 to 6.99 but still a 40% increase and they say that Equip is not included in the contract fixed price. All of these companies are sleazy and the FCC no one seems capable of regulating their business practices. Why cant't we pick and choose the stations we want and only pay for those the technology is there!!!!

So I am looking at Dish or Direct TV next time around had Comcast and they are as bad.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We have an everything plan that costs just 130 bucks from our local cable tv folks. And I mean everything! Phone, HD w/HD DVR, etc., etc.

Our neighborhood was recently run with FO cable by the phone company, but their low introductory price is very close to what I pay now.

Since it is only guaranteed two years I won't sign anything, as I don't have any obligations to my current provider. Plus i have had great luck with cable, excellent Internet.

 

[andrewg]

I have Comcast cable out here. Actually wish I could stop it all together. The girlfriend won't have it however....but maybe someday. My package is high speed internet and cable TV. The TV shows today are more garbage than substance. Phony 'reality' junk most of it. I pay $177 a month to allow this refuse to enter the house. I must watch only about five shows MAX that I even give a rats behind about. I figure out it comes to over $2000 a year and about $10,000 in five years. And for what? All I really need is internet and then maybe get a dvd now and then when I want to watch something.
What I complete waste of money. I keep working on the girlfriend though.

 

[zerosoma]

Well, since I love watching movies I may just buy the internet package locally and then buy a cheap antenna for weather stuff... and then buy movies from the pawn shop. That's what I love to do, you can get them super cheap.

 

[JHZR2]

I have much better things to do with my time then waste it paying big money to watch commercials.

 

[Cutehumor]

I pay about 78 bucks for the comcast digital starter. that includes taxes,fees, and one extra box. comcast internet/ATT landline paid by my job since I work at home. I thought about dropping comcast for dish network, but the wife doesn't like satellite dishes on the house. Satellite seems to give you more channels for the money but people have told us that it's more expensive than cable. I guess you have to sign those two year contracts to get the low rates they advertise like crazy.

 

[Nick R]

Well, as an employee I currently have 2 Whole House DVR Servers, a WHDVR Client Box, RR Turbo (20/2) and Home Phone, with all the premium channels, all the international channels. I have everything except the Adult channels., and I pay $40.01/mo with TWC. $20 of that is the phone. Somewhat soon I should be able to get Ultimate internet (50/5, soon to be 100/10 supposedly) for $32/mo addl.

Prior to being an employee we had Signaturehome Premiumview, which was basically the same thing as above, for $250/mo.

I dont even watch the TV myself, I only care about the internet.

 

[rjundi]

I pay $160/month for phone(unlimited US/Canada),internet(30Mbs down,5up), and digital starter on comcast with one DVR.

It appears that Cable TV is 50% of that bill. I barely watch anything outside of broadcast TV. What a waste.

My wife records one show on the DVR and is able to watch her daily 1hr show in 20mins by skipping.

It appears hard on Comcast to get fast internet stand-alone, best available is(5Mbps down/.5up). They also do not bundle phone and internet services. Everything hooks onto TV which I do not want. I require the phone/internet for work so I expense the entire bill.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I have much better things to do with my time then waste it paying big money to watch commercials.

Yeah we get it already! Why do some people feel the need to respond to threads when they have nothing of value to add?

Back on topic - I had satellite for many years and had virtually no problems. Cable - now that's a different story.
I've had U Verse and FIOS, both very good! The worst part of FIOS is their DVR is a little quirky sometimes.

 

[Cogito]

When you get satellite-based internet, how does your signal/data upload to the satellite or get onto the internet? Is there a transmitter or what?