How Much Do You Pay For Cable/Internet?

[bopajuice]

Yeah, I hear you on CenturyLink.

I've never had it, but I have worked for businesses that use it and heard nothing good from anyone else that's had it.

CenturyLink has the bad habit of interrupting service for hours on end. This is a real problem when you're on deadline (I work for a newspaper) and have to send your PDFs to the printer via FTP.

My boss made the mistake of assuming CenturyLink was staying on top of the internet services that they had provided him under Qwest and US West since 1998. When we lost our domain for a week and he had to make a mad scramble to get it back he finally was convinced to drop them.

Cox has had a few outages since then (at work) but it's rare, unlike CenturyLink which seemed to happen once a week or so.

Friends had reported nothing but issues and CenturyLink never fixes them. The speeds CenturyLink promises never materialize and customer support is a joke.

My boss supposedly had a dedicated rep, but he still had to go through automated hell to get a hold of someone whenever there was a problem..

Interesting. I had pretty good luck with Centurylink. Outages were very rare in my area and service was pretty stable. The fact that I live in a new construction area, and they had fiber running from the street to my house might have had something to do with it. Shame for me. I was happy with Centurylink until their customer service started playing games.

 

[eyoungren]

Interesting. I had pretty good luck with Centurylink. Outages were very rare in my area and service was pretty stable. The fact that I live in a new construction area, and they had fiber running from the street to my house might have had something to do with it. Shame for me. I was happy with Centurylink until their customer service started playing games.

I think I mentioned something on that in my first post, but I will repeat it here. We moved to Phoenix in 2000 and got home phone service with Qwest (before it was CenturyLink). They did not have DSL at the time so i put myself on their list.

Seven years later there's a knock on the door and a CenturyLink employee wants to know if I still want DSL. Because the company finally got it out to where I live.

Now I live in the West Valley, which is looked down on by the East Valley (because…Scottsdale and rich people in East Phoenix) but the WV is not in any way rural or suburban. It's heavily urban. And it takes Century Link over seven years to get DSL out there.

By this time I've already got three years of cable/internet service with Cox and we ditched our home phone in like 2005 I think. So, no thank you. We don't want DSL.

And that, at least out here, is indicative of how piss-poor CenturyLink is.

 

[bopajuice]

I think I mentioned something on that in my first post, but I will repeat it here. We moved to Phoenix in 2000 and got home phone service with Qwest (before it was CenturyLink). They did not have DSL at the time so i put myself on their list.

Seven years later there's a knock on the door and a CenturyLink employee wants to know if I still want DSL. Because the company finally got it out to where I live.

Now I live in the West Valley, which is looked down on by the East Valley (because…Scottsdale and rich people in East Phoenix) but the WV is not in any way rural or suburban. It's heavily urban. And it takes Century Link over seven years to get DSL out there.

By this time I've already got three years of cable/internet service with Cox and we ditched our home phone in like 2005 I think. So, no thank you. We don't want DSL.

And that, at least out here, is indicative of how piss-poor CenturyLink is.

I like the west valley. My favorites are the Verrado area in Buckeye and the Estrella area in Goodyear. Both are very nice.

One thing I have noticed since moving the AZ, was that homes and communities are in pockets. You can have large custom homes on one side of the street, and a farm or a factory on the other.

 

[eyoungren]

I like the west valley. My favorites are the Verrado area in Buckeye and the Estrella area in Goodyear. Both are very nice.

One thing I have noticed since moving the AZ, was that homes and communities are in pockets. You can have large custom homes on one side of the street, and a farm or a factory on the other.

Yeah, that was the way it was when we first moved here. We're in between Indian School and Camelback, 83rd and 87th.

Been here 17.5 years, my kids were born here (my daughter in Goodyear). Seen quite a few of those farms give way to development though.

Glendale is a particular offender of that.

 

[bopajuice]

Yeah, that was the way it was when we first moved here. We're in between Indian School and Camelback, 83rd and 87th.

Been here 17.5 years, my kids were born here (my daughter in Goodyear). Seen quite a few of those farms give way to development though.

Glendale is a particular offender of that.

My area too. Been here since 2006. Came from SoCal. Love it here. Would not go back even if they paid me. Too much traffic, too many people. Internet costs even more out there. At least thats what the family members say who remained there. Cost of living is higher out there.

 

[eyoungren]

My area too. Been here since 2006. Came from SoCal. Love it here. Would not go back even if they paid me. Too much traffic, too many people. Internet costs even more out there. At least thats what the family members say who remained there. Cost of living is higher out there.

Yep. I was born in Long Beach, my wife in Boyle Heights (Los Angeles). My dad was in aerospace so we left when I was six months and did five years in Vancouver and five in Houston. Back to Cali in 1980 when I was 10 and I didn't leave until 2000. My parents are still there. Pass area, Riverside County.

The kicker is that the rural area I grew up in decided to sprout Starbucks and Walmart AFTER my wife and I left!

Hated that place as a teen because the closest civilization was 30 minutes from there by freeway.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

What an interesting thread!!!

Especially for those who have found it's cheaper to hang onto a double or "triple play" deal than pay for broadband-only and then pile on separate subscription services, I encourage you to take a look at a combination of making an TV your main STB PLUS:

• HDHomeRun boxes from Silicon Dust. These are boxes you can plug into your home network and stream either OTA (local) channels and/or cable to any TVs and now Amazon Fire in the home. I picked up both their Prime box (for Comcast cable programming using a CableCard) and their Extends (for OTA local channels & subchannels)
• The $25 Channels App. Most people look right over it because they can't imagine paying $25 for an TV app but it brings ALL of the programming from those HDHomeRun boxes together in an attractive (cable TV-like) UNIFIED, on-screen guide, merging OTA locals with Cable channels. This app allows you to put your channels in any order, set up a FAV channel list, hide any channels you don't want, etc.
• The $8/month Channels App DVR- a full-featured, traditional hardware-like DVR that brings all of those key features NOT available on virtual DVRs to any (and every) TV in the house. Your DVR capacity is then NOT limited to ANY size- just add hard drives- and the recorded programming is accessible on ANY TV or computer or mobile device.

Vs. streaming services like DirecTV Now, PS Vue, Sling, etc, a key benefit is full HD + DD5.1 (not just stereo or mono) and you don't burn one byte against your broadband quota (because there's still a cable TV package here).

For homes with lots of screens to feed, this gets rid of ALL of those $8-$20/month lease box fees, the DVR box lease fee, etc, leaving you with just the service running well in a great app on TV (or FireTV and a few other options). If you have a huge family and need many screens, you just add HDHomeRun Tuners as needed. My household has 7 tuners right now but I could readily add more if necessary.

It can look a little onerous when you start digging into it but you can start as simple as just one HDHomeRun Prime + CableCard and add on from there. There's often refurbs available of that Prime. This setup made my TVs seem like they are about 100X more useful than before, when they were mostly just iTunes or Netflix access devices, with SATT being the primary source of television.

Then, per the spirit of this thread, be aggressive about keeping your promotional rates in place. Swap among competitors if you have to and/or even take a break for a week or two if you have only 1 provider and they'll soon want to sign you up as a new subscriber at new subscriber promo rates again. Basically, FLEX your muscles as a consumer. They want your money much more than you should want their service. Time a potential break around a vacation and you won't be home to miss anything anyway.

 

[Brian Y]

Prices in the states seem to be levelling out at last!

Here in the UK I pay £50+vat (so £60 inc tax) for 350mbps down, 20mbps up which includes 5 static IPs and a 24 hour SLA. In reality the service is 385/21, so not half bad IMO.

 

[willmtaylor]

I think I mentioned something on that in my first post, but I will repeat it here. We moved to Phoenix in 2000 and got home phone service with Qwest (before it was CenturyLink). They did not have DSL at the time so i put myself on their list.

Seven years later there's a knock on the door and a CenturyLink employee wants to know if I still want DSL. Because the company finally got it out to where I live.

Now I live in the West Valley, which is looked down on by the East Valley (because…Scottsdale and rich people in East Phoenix) but the WV is not in any way rural or suburban. It's heavily urban. And it takes Century Link over seven years to get DSL out there.

By this time I've already got three years of cable/internet service with Cox and we ditched our home phone in like 2005 I think. So, no thank you. We don't want DSL.

And that, at least out here, is indicative of how piss-poor CenturyLink is.

CenturyLink service and reliability is awful where I am in the mid south. Additionally, they try to charge $60-$80 for 10Mbps. Yeah, no.

 

[eyoungren]

CenturyLink service and reliability is awful where I am in the mid south. Additionally, they try to charge $60-$80 for 10Mbps. Yeah, no.

Here's a thing for you…

I work in downtown Glendale, right across from City Hall. As I mentioned, CenturyLink had been awful for my boss. But there is a major substation for CenturyLink within 5 minutes walking distance from where I work. It's a secure building that has no public access and it's where they send out all the trucks and equipment.

Yet CenturyLink can't keep the service on reliably in downtown Glendale, AZ.

Go figure!

 

[Tsuchiya]

My basic fibre connection which gives me a 50MB line without any data cap (I say basic because I have the entry level package) comes to £26 per month (about $36/month).

I found out after ordering that a friend of a friend works at my provider and could have bumped my download speed to 100MB for the same price (which would've also given them a nice little referral bonus), but such is my luck.

 

[Juicy Box]

My basic fibre connection which gives me a 50MB line without any data cap (I say basic because I have the entry level package) comes to £26 per month (about $36/month).

I found out after ordering that a friend of a friend works at my provider and could have bumped my download speed to 100MB for the same price (which would've also given them a nice little referral bonus), but such is my luck.

Where are you located?

 

[Tsuchiya]

Where are you located?

In the UK.

 

[Juicy Box]

In the UK.

You pay less than 96% of my neighbors. Actually, 79% of them pay more than $130 a month. 22% pay more than $200 a month.

Assuming you meant Mbps, I am paying just a little more than you @$39.99 for 50Mbps fiber.

Just like you, I could have gotten a better deal of 100Mbps for the same price if I would have waited a few months before switching to my current ISP.

I'm not that upset about it, as I think 50Mbps is more than enough for my family.

 

[Tsuchiya]

You pay less than 96% of my neighbors. Actually, 79% of them pay more than $130 a month. 22% pay more than $200 a month.

Assuming you meant Mbps, I am paying just a little more than you @$39.99 for 50Mbps fiber.

Just like you, I could have gotten a better deal of 100Mbps for the same price if I would have waited a few months before switching to my current ISP.

I'm not that upset about it, as I think 50Mbps is more than enough for my family.

I can't imagine having to pay so much for internet access. Are your neighbors limited in which providers they can choose? I'm fortunate that given where I live, there are a few options to choose from.

 

[vbctv]

I pay $155 at Cox Cable in Lakewood Ohio (Greater Cleveland Area)

150mbps Internet
Cox Contour TV with 3 cable boxes. I have all the channels except the premium ones like HBO...

I actually got the deal because I did my research & wrote down how much it would cost me if I kept only internet and went to a Hulu TV or Youtube TV. Then I walked into my local Cox store and told them if they can match that price I would keep them. They got me $5 under the price I had written down... And it's a 2 year contract so no price increases for 2 years...

 

[Plutonius]

$60 in change for internet access. We use DirecTV Now for TV instead of buying it from the cable co.

I wasn't sure how to answer the poll since I only have the internet with some pay services (Sling TV, Funimation, Crunchyroll, etc.). I decided that the OP was looking to see how much was spent on TV / internet so I included all the pay TV services I watch over the internet.

I would probably include your DirectTV Now along with Netflix etc. with your internet bill in the poll answer.

 

[Juicy Box]

I can't imagine having to pay so much for internet access. Are your neighbors limited in which providers they can choose? I'm fortunate that given where I live, there are a few options to choose from.

To be fair, those numbers are cable TV and internet together.

And for your question, most of my neighbors have a choice of two ISP/Cable provider.

I hear all sorts of reasons why ppl are paying as much as they do. Most of them are unsure about their options to lower their bills.
[doublepost=1519264100][/doublepost]

I would probably include your DirectTV Now along with Netflix etc. with your internet bill in the poll answer.

This was pretty much what I was looking for. some people excluded stuff like Netflix, and that's okay. I was just looking for rough numbers.

The results local poll I did was very different than on here.

I assume because of this being a tech forum, and a lot of people with knowledge of choices other than the local cable company.

That, and the MR one is a global poll.

 

[Juicy Box]

It looks like Comcast has a special right now for new customers.

$29.99 for 60Mbps downloads, for 12 months, contract-free.

 

[jeyf]

-60 is slow but it will do what you need?
-what are the installation setup costs
-buy your own craigslist cable modem, modem rental is $10/mo

 

[whooleytoo]

I pay about €146 euros, for a combined cable TV, broadband and phone. I never use the phone, but you can't get the bundle without it.

The price auto-increases with worrying regularity. I have Sky Movies and Sky Sports which add to the cost substantially, even though I find I'm watching them less and less so I'll have to make that cut too. Another major pet hate: they (at least used to) charge for any downgrades. If you want to sign up for a new channel/package, no problem! But unsubscribe to that package, and there's a disconnection fee.

The cable box (Samsung Horizon) is ok, but with a slightly awkward UI and very sluggish. To be honest, the main reason I stay with the same provider is because they have the best broadband speeds; 150Mbps now with up to 240Mbps available. I'll likely switch once the 1Gbps fibre rolls out here.

I know people say it's overkill, but I find I'm spending more and more time downloading apps / updates and firmware updates, my TV, AV receiver, games consoles, phone, tablet, laptop. A quicker download makes a big difference. I am a bit wary of how well the ISP can handle lots of clients with 1Gbps connections. Ok, you have a fast line to the ISP, but can the ISP connection to the backbone handle it?

I do think it's funny though, how once upon a time my aerial/cable TV was 'high quality' and you could only watch tiny, pixellated videos online. Now my cable TV is mostly SD with some 1080 content in stereo; while online I'm watching 4K Dolby Vision / Atmos surround. Maybe I'm and old fogie, but I just can't see myself ever cutting the cable chord. Feels like losing a connection to the world!

 

[Juicy Box]

-60 is slow but it will do what you need?

60Mbps download is plenty fast for most people. You could play 1080p Netflix streams on about 12 different TVs at the same time with that speed.

Something that might be a problem is the upload speed. I am not sure what it is, and Comcast stop advertising it.

-what are the installation setup costs

There are none. You can set up a new Comcast account and activate your cable modem in less than 10 minutes without talking to anyone on the phone.

-buy your own craigslist cable modem, modem rental is $10/mo

Good advice, I also think that it is smart to get your own modem. Renting equipment from the cable company can be expensive.

Actually, it is on the list of tips in the first post, check it out.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

$50 (including tax) for internet for Comcast. I have 70MBPS download. Not bad and it’s been reliable.

 

[0388631]

$69.99 for 300 Mbps (330-350 Mbps actual speeds) and a hair over $55 for a diverse cable combo. No contracts. Speed is getting bumped up to 400 Mbps by summer. Gig service available in certain locations for under $90, apparently. No caps.

 

[SkyLinx]

I was using a 1 Gbps connection for 60 euros per month but I just downgraded (since I didn't really need it and to save money) to 100 Mbps for 10 euros per month.