Switching Internet service providers??

[ClutchDisc]

Hi guys, right now I'm on bright house cable (about 10 Mbps service) + phone for about $68 a month.. Looking at different options as that is just too much imo for that service. Are there any favorite ISPs you guys like? Was looking at WOW as they are offering me $20 a month +phone for 15 Mbps service for a year. Any thoughts on WOW Internet? I was also wondering if going to DSL would bring the bill down much without being a lot slower. Another thing I am thinking of is to get Internet + VOIP for the phone as I have heard that is cheaper.

Thoughts? I appreciate any ideas, and advice. Thanks!

 

[3800Series]

I have Cable One and despise it with a passion. $100 a month for cable and 5.1mbps.

Constantly loosing channels. We lost all Viacom channels. Almost lost all TBS channels, and AMC. I hate this company so much. Their constant "watch us make you smile" slogan erks me.

More like good luck finding someone else.

They remove really good channels then replace them with nothing. They do give us channels but nothing of remote value.

We lost 12 voiacom channels which Viacom being the largest cable provider is a joke. Only true channel we got was national geographic.

If they had their way they would remove all the popular channels and replace it with paid program to save a few bucks. If there was a second option out here we would have it.

 

[mattwithcats]

I have a Magicjack Plus, VOIP adapter for phone service...

Less than $70 to buy, $35 per year for service...

Works OK, runs hot.

Two heat sinks, some thermal grease, and a few zip ties fixed that.
Don't port your phone over, just take a number that they give you.

I have mine plugged into my FIOS modem, it has a 4 port switch built in, rather than my Linksys router.

 

[tomcat27]

I would imagine that DSL is still really slow. I switched over to OOMA VOIP phone: $4.25 a month for me. (fees vary by locality) and you do have to purchase the modem

 

[MrQuackers]

My brother told me about this service called freedompop. Looks interesting.

 

[ClutchDisc]

Originally Posted By: MrQuackers
My brother told me about this service called freedompop. Looks interesting.

Hmmm heard a little about that before... looking at it again. It does look interesting. So looks like it is WiFi only.

Thanks for reminding me.. I'm looking more into this.

Edit: They only have 3G available where I am, that isn't going to work...

 

[Hokiefyd]

Do you have to have a landline phone? Even if you do, I think a VOIP service would be more cost effective than paying for phone service through a phone company.

We have Time Warner Cable at home. I don't care for their business practices, but we've been a subscriber in some form or fashion for over a decade and the service is very reliable. We started with with the $30 basic cable package many years ago. Over time, we boiled ourselves like the frog into a $200/month bill of cable, DVR, broadband, land line, etc.

About 18 months ago now, we cut all services off except for the broadband. In today's age of "modular" services where nearly anything can be accessed across a broadband connection, I feel that a 10 or 15 Mbps broadband connection is all you need for most consumer/home use. You can get VOIP across that, you can stream video across that, you can get your BITOG across that...what more could one possibly want, right?

We pay $39.99/month for the 15 down/1 up broadband service, plus some fees. I think our total bill from TWC is something like $43. We own our cable modem and router, so we don't rent anything from them. Just the piped service to the house.

I'm sure you have a mainstream cable provider in your area. Like Time Warner, Comcast, Cox, etc. Most mainstream cable providers have somewhat affordable broadband service pricing.

 

[MrHorspwer]

I'm Detroit-area and WOW is pretty good when it comes to cable companies/ISPs. They're certainly no Comcast. Customer service is prompt and courteous, even when canceling.

I had WOW at my last residence. I was forced to cancel when we moved, as WOW isn't offered in our new neighborhood. Given the choice, I'd take them over Comcast or U-Verse (which our my current two options).

 

[Quattro Pete]

Some years back, WOW was rated as #1 in customer service. Not really sure what the current rankings are.

 

[ClutchDisc]

Yes, landline phone and Internet. Looks like WOW is worth looking into more.. I'm planing to call them and see what my options are.

 

[Quattro Pete]

http://images.businessweek.com/tc/jdpower/cable_sat/

Pick your "Category" and "Ranked By".

 

[ClutchDisc]

WOW wants $82 a month for Phone +Internet!

Right now AT&T looks the best as they are offering me 18 Mbps Internet +VOIP phone for $62 a month.

None of these companies will let me have my own modem though. How do you guys do it with your own modem? I would like to avoid the $7 a month rental fee.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
None of these companies will let me have my own modem though. How do you guys do it with your own modem? I would like to avoid the $7 a month rental fee.

DOesn't seem right. I've seen a number of threads with users having their own modems, at least with WOW!

Even WOW!'s own FAQ page doesn't seem to have a problem with BYOM, as long as it's DOCSIS 2 or better.

http://www.wowway.com/help-support/internet

Quote:
Q: Can I use my own cable modem? [-]
A:

Yes, you can use you own cable modem for WOW! Internet service, but customer-owned modems may not be capable of getting the full speeds from some of our Internet packages. A DOCSIS 2.0 modem is required to receive Internet service and a DOCSIS 3.0 modem is required for 30Mbps and 50Mbps Internet customers.

For WOW! Ultra TV customers the DOCSIS 3.0 modem is included in the gateway and must be used with this service.

WOW! Ultra TV, 30Mbps and 50Mbps are not available in Mid-Michigan.


Now, if what they're offering you is a combined internet+phone device (MTA), then I can see that they may be the only ones providing such devices.



Not sure which particular service you were quoted from ATT, but they seem to support BYOM, too:
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB407379&cv=801

But again, if it's one of those combined internet+VOIP gateways, then I think only ATT provides those.

 

[Quattro Pete]

So yeah, the fact that it includes phone service changes things...


Quote:


Q: Can I continue to use my own modem for my Internet connection? [-]
A: If you are a current high-speed Internet customer and own your cable modem, then the installation will involve providing you with a new advanced modem. The advanced modem will serve as your connection for WOW! Phone service. There is a small monthly lease fee for this advanced modem. For WOW! Phone customers with Ultra TV , the advanced modem is built in to the gateway.

Ultra TV is not available in Mid-Michigan.

Q: Can I purchase my own eMTA for use with WOW! Phone or do I have to lease the modem directly from WOW!? [-]
A: No, you must lease your eMTA modem from WOW!. This ensures that it is fully compatible with our phone service and, if problems arise, can be serviced by a WOW! technician.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
So yeah, the fact that it includes phone service changes things...


Quote:


Q: Can I continue to use my own modem for my Internet connection? [-]
A: If you are a current high-speed Internet customer and own your cable modem, then the installation will involve providing you with a new advanced modem. The advanced modem will serve as your connection for WOW! Phone service. There is a small monthly lease fee for this advanced modem. For WOW! Phone customers with Ultra TV , the advanced modem is built in to the gateway.

Ultra TV is not available in Mid-Michigan.

Q: Can I purchase my own eMTA for use with WOW! Phone or do I have to lease the modem directly from WOW!? [-]
A: No, you must lease your eMTA modem from WOW!. This ensures that it is fully compatible with our phone service and, if problems arise, can be serviced by a WOW! technician.



This. This varies among providers though. For example, with Time Warner, you can have your own modem for internet only, and use Time Warners for the phone, and not pay the lease fee. They only charge the lease fee (unless it's changed since I left) if you are using their modem for the internet.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
This. This varies among providers though. For example, with Time Warner, you can have your own modem for internet only, and use Time Warners for the phone, and not pay the lease fee. They only charge the lease fee (unless it's changed since I left) if you are using their modem for the internet.


I think this is because of anti-trust regulations. If you were using a proprietary piece of equipment that was not available on the retail market, they were not allowed to charge a lease fee (because they have a monopoly on that product). When we had phone service with TWC, we did not incur a lease fee on our modem.

However, if you use the modem only for broadband, they can charge you a lease fee because you are freely able to go buy your own. As soon as we dropped the phone service from our TWC account, they started charging us a lease fee, even though we still had the same telephony modem installed at our house. But we had the ability to use a third party modem and we were not, so they were legally allowed to charge us the fee.

That went on for a few months until we bought our own. As soon as we turned in our leased modem, the fee dropped from our bill.

 

[ClutchDisc]

So how would that work getting my own modem while still using the rental modem just for the phone? Wouldn't you need to get some kind of splitter so that you could have the cable come in to both modems?

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
So how would that work getting my own modem while still using the rental modem just for the phone? Wouldn't you need to get some kind of splitter so that you could have the cable come in to both modems?


Unless I misunderstand the situation, you wouldn't stand to benefit from buying your own modem for broadband here. If you're buying phone through them, they use a telephony-enabled cable modem that serves your entire house, and you probably would not pay a lease fee. You would not need to purchase (or lease) a separate cable modem for broadband. The quote from Pete's post above seems to speak to someone who already has broadband and who wants to add phone. You may want to call them to see how brand new customers are handled in terms of equipment needed.

If you must use their telephony cable modem, and they're charging a lease fee, I'd look into that some more. It's my understanding that they can only charge a lease fee if you have the option, as a consumer, to buy that equipment on the retail market.

 

[ClutchDisc]

So basically it looks like a have two options.

1. Stay with Bright House and buy my own modem. This would be $64 a month for 10 Mbps Internet. Question is what is the best modem to get? I haven't bought a modem before.. Here is the list of modems that work with Bright House. What would be best with 10 Mbps service? Modems

2. Switch to AT&T and get 18 Mbps service for $62 a month for a year. (goes up after a year unless you call them back every year, so I am told) AT&T won't let you have your own modem, and you have to pay $7 a month to rent theirs (included in the $62).

Thanks!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
Modems

Nothing is showing up. I think it needs a valid zipcode.

But anyway, if you're only going to be at 10 Mbps, then any old DOCSIS 2.0 modem should work, such as Motorola SB5101.

But if next year you decide to upgrade to a speed higher than about 25-30 Mbps, you'll have to go out and buy a new modem again. So it depends on your budget, I guess.