How Much Do You Pay For Cable/Internet?

[willmtaylor]

Today, I saw that SuddenLink bumped my 400Mbps up $15 (from $60 to $75).

I suspect just introductory (1-yr) offer expiring, but no mention of any changes on the bill. Just an amount change.

I’m going to call and make my dissatisfaction known this afternoon.

If you’ve had any luck with SuddenLink specifically, lemme know.

 

[Juicy Box]

Today, I saw that SuddenLink bumped my 400Mbps up $15 (from $60 to $75).

I suspect just introductory (1-yr) offer expiring, but no mention of any changes on the bill. Just an amount change.

I’m going to call and make my dissatisfaction known this afternoon.

If you’ve had any luck with SuddenLink specifically, lemme know.

Do you have another option of ISP?

 

[kupkakez]

Right now I’m at $74 with AT&T gigabit internet and another $15 for Sling. Although, I think I’ll end up going back to Hulu live which is about $49 with tax.

 

[ruka.snow]

£100 a month for 314Mbps down / 50Mbps up internet, with under £10 each to Prime, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. I don't have Sky/Cable as that would also incur a large fee to the BBC

 

[willmtaylor]

Do you have another option of ISP?

Yes and no. My other choice is to pay CenturyLink $45/mo. for 3Mbps speed that intermittently works.

 

[Juicy Box]

Yes and no. My other choice is to pay CenturyLink $45/mo. for 3Mbps speed that intermittently works.

Well, that isn't the best, but it is still better to have a choice than be stuck with only one ISP.

This works for both Comcast and FiOS, and I assume most other ISPs. They have intro-pricing for new customers, that expired usually starting 1 year(Comcast and FiOS), and sometimes gradually increasing over two years (FiOS). After the increase, you can attempt to renegotiate a new price, but rarely do they ever offer something as good as the price you were paying as a new customer.

So, you can become a new customer. This is easiest with having at least 2 available ISPs, and if there are not contracts. But, it is possible to become a "new customer" even with one ISP.

For you, the easiest thing to do is to go to the crappy CenturyLink ISP for a month(assuming that there isn't a contract), and then switch back to SuddenLink once you are considered a new customer again(assuming that it is a month for SuddenLink). Sign up as a new customer with SuddenLink, and benefit from the great intro pricing.

I have been doing this for a decade, and have switch ISPs over a dozen times.

I just recently switch back to FiOS (100Mbps down @ $39.99 a month) from Comcast (300Mbps down @ $29.99 a month) back in March. I tried to renegociate a new rate when my prices were about to increase, but the best Comcast deal I could get was $70 a month.

So, I switched.

I have many neighbors that are paying over $200 a month for the cable/ISP bills, but I have not paid over $60 in the past seven years, and I haven't paid over $40 in the past five years.

 

[willmtaylor]

Well, that isn't the best, but it is still better to have a choice than be stuck with only one ISP.

This works for both Comcast and FiOS, and I assume most other ISPs. They have intro-pricing for new customers, that expired usually starting 1 year(Comcast and FiOS), and sometimes gradually increasing over two years (FiOS). After the increase, you can attempt to renegotiate a new price, but rarely do they ever offer something as good as the price you were paying as a new customer.

So, you can become a new customer. This is easiest with having at least 2 available ISPs, and if there are not contracts. But, it is possible to become a "new customer" even with one ISP.

For you, the easiest thing to do is to go to the crappy CenturyLink ISP for a month(assuming that there isn't a contract), and then switch back to SuddenLink once you are considered a new customer again(assuming that it is a month for SuddenLink). Sign up as a new customer with SuddenLink, and benefit from the great intro pricing.

I have been doing this for a decade, and have switch ISPs over a dozen times.

I just recently switch back to FiOS (100Mbps down @ $39.99 a month) from Comcast (300Mbps down @ $29.99 a month) back in March. I tried to renegociate a new rate when my prices were about to increase, but the best Comcast deal I could get was $70 a month.

So, I switched.

I have many neighbors that are paying over $200 a month for the cable/ISP bills, but I have not paid over $60 in the past seven years, and I haven't paid over $40 in the past five years.

Was prepared to cancel service and then set up in my wife’s name to get introductory promotional pricing, but it didn’t come to that. I got a hold of the right peeps in the right places and will now be getting 1Gbps download speeds for $60/mo. for 1 year. After that, I’ll downgrade back down to 400Mbps for the same price.

Thanks for the pep talk!

Summation:
Provider - Suddenlink
Download Speed - 1Gbps
Upload Speed - 50Mbps
TOTAL bill - $58/mo.

 

[Juicy Box]

Was prepared to cancel service and then set up in my wife’s name to get introductory promotional pricing, but it didn’t come to that. I got a hold of the right peeps in the right places and will now be getting 1Gbps download speeds for $60/mo. for 1 year. After that, I’ll downgrade back down to 400Mbps for the same price.

Thanks for the pep talk!

That is good.

I was going to suggest disconnecting and getting service again under a family member’s name (I think I mentioned that in the guide on the first post), but I have found that when I suggest this to people, they feel uncomfortable with the thought of doing this, like it is unethical or something.

I have done it a few times using my wife’s name, and it is the quickest and easiest way of getting the new customer deals, but staying with the same ISP.

I’m glad you got yourself a good deal.

 

[jtara]

$0, or $30, depending on how you look at it.

Our HOA pays $30/month per unit for 1Gbit/sec service through WebPass (now owned by Google Fiber.) They have to pay for every unit in order to qualify for this price. Otherwise, (and prior to the HOA signing up for this deal) it would cost $60/month for individuals to subscribe.

WebPass uses an RF link. There is an antenna on the roof (actually, dual antennas, they come single or dual - dual for greater bandwidth) pointing at a nearby building that has fiber service. It's delivered over CAT5 cabling that was installed when the building was renovated circa 2000. (The building was constructed in 1927.)

While the bandwidth is shared by 85 units, some don't use the service, and of course only a small number are actually using any significant bandwidth at any one time. SpeedTest (MacOS app) shows consistent speeds of 800+ mbps. Just ran a test and at 7pm (pretty much peak time!) I got 799 down, 869 up.

I dropped Cox Cable several months ago. I was paying over $200/month for cable channels and 300mbps down/50mbps up Internet service. I do have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and a Tablo 4-channel Over-the-air DVR. When I cut the cord, I added Hulu. (ad-free only, no streaming channels). (Already had Netflix and Amazon Prime, which I have for delivery anyway.)

A friend owns apartment buildings in the area - about 40 units - and he went for the same deal. He gives his tenants free Internet, and pays $30/month/unit. I was skeptical, and I grilled the WebPass folks on his behalf when he made that decision. (I hadn't signed up myself at that point, and then the HOA decided to pop for the deal to get it for everyone.)

Though there have been occasional brief outages, I have always been able to reach their customer support by phone and problems have been quickly resolved. The last incident was when the fire alarms were being tested, and the alarm company inadvertently cut the circuit breaker that the RF equipment and main router are on...

Being on the Google backbone is fantastic, very low latency. I'm in San Diego, and it is ~4mSec to Los Angeles major backbone and Google servers, 33mSec to Dallas (major hosting centers).

 

[vbctv]

So here's a good story, I've had Cox Cable since 2004. I live in Lakewood, OH. So I always do 24 month contracts to keep the pricing down. I pay $179 for both internet & cable with 3 boxes. For some reason my bill keeps going up about $2-$3 every few months, their fees seem to keep going up. Now I have always loved Cox Cable until today. The new 'Cox Cable' is a crap shoot. So I called to see when my contract is up because I was thinking about just keeping the internet and doing Youtube TV or Hulu TV for Cable. Try and save some money.
So contract is up Jan, 2020. Okay was told if I wanted to cancel right now it would only be a $75 ETF which because we pay a month in advance would already be taken care of. Good & fine. But then as were talking come to find out if I did that my $79.99 internet for 100mbps would go up to $99.99 and it would still have a 1TB cap but the price increase is because of no cable bundle. And if I wanted more data then it would be 500GB for $29.99 or unlimited for $49.99. So basically I would end up paying more to drop my cable.
Yeah they have it figured out, never have they done this before, this is all new, I even asked when this started & was told this year. So then I call back, since I'm stuck with them and yet will have to call back in August when by bundle discount ends to renovate a yearly price (which yes we have to do every year because the state of Ohio???, it's really stupid) I have 2 contour 2 boxes and 1 mini-box. I wanted to inquire about upgrading the mini-box to another Contour 2 box. The mini-box is $2.99 while the normal box is $8.50 a month. So they tell me my bill would go up by $10 even though the advertised price is $8.50. And then tell me I would need to make a $50 deposit. In 15 years I have switched boxes and have never had to make a deposit. So I get a supervisor who explains that it's a new policy, it non-refundable also. Yeah I hung up and will just keep what I have and call back in August when the bill hikes up so I can get a cheaper price again.

 

[Huntn]

Through Suddenlink, I was paying $200 a month for a 200 channel package and 200 MBPS internet, no cap. This price was with a $45 discount they were giving me, hah.

Today, I just blew off their 200 channel service, DVR rental, and cable remote station for the bedroom tv, which knocked my price down to $85. Oddly, by keeping Suddenlink, basic service of 24 channels $15 a month, I got a large bundle discount on the internet service, where I would have paid more for just the internet. So from the $100 I am saving, I’m paying Sling TV $40 for their orange and blue package which puts me at about $60 a month savings. I’m going to update the Cutting the Cable thread in this forum to reflect the latest info I have.
[doublepost=1556240517][/doublepost]

Today, I saw that SuddenLink bumped my 400Mbps up $15 (from $60 to $75).

I suspect just introductory (1-yr) offer expiring, but no mention of any changes on the bill. Just an amount change.

I’m going to call and make my dissatisfaction known this afternoon.

If you’ve had any luck with SuddenLink specifically, lemme know.

I told them their prices were over the top, I was paying about $210. See my previous post in this thread. To cut my bill, I had to make serious changes, relying on Streaming to knock my price down.

 

[max2]

$70 a month

 

[Juicy Box]

$70 a month

View attachment 844626

Thanks.

Who is your ISP, and what area is it located in?

 

[TotalMacMove]

$79.99 Houston TX. Xfinity

 

[kazmac]

We're paying $170 for internet (basic) and slightly above basic cable channels through Optimum, which is ridiculous.

Unfortunately, whenever someone else -either in our house or on either side- attempts to use their 5G internet, we get knocked offline.

I have to replace my Airport Extreme and our ancient cable modem (and more insultingly pay to have someone set this up now), but I wish we could talk down the per month costs, we're forced to pay $9 extra for sports channels we don't even want or use. They will not remove that.

I keep asking mom to try something else, but she's stubborn. For me, the internet is way more important than cable tv which I barely watch.

The constant switch back and forth, is not something we can do given our situation here. Mom doesn't want FiOS so I am not sure what else is out there. She won't watch shows on her iPad either (she's very luddite).

 

[Nishant]

$80 for Gigabit service

tv/netflix is all streaming services

 

[Juicy Box]

tv/netflix is all streaming services

For the people that have Netflix included in some type of other service, I have some questions:

What service do you have that comes with Netflix?
What tier of Netflix plan is included?
Can you pay extra to get the higher tiers?

I have been wondering about this, especially with Netflix now regular price increases. Maybe this question warrants a new thread.

 

[jtara]

For the people that have Netflix included in some type of other service, I have some questions:

What service do you have that comes with Netflix?
What tier of Netflix plan is included?
Can you pay extra to get the higher tiers?

I can only speak about Cox, which I dumped about a year ago. (Now have only Internet service, from WebPass/Google Fiber.

Cox's latest cable boxes have Netflix. You have to buy your own subscription. There is no tier "included".

I came across a page that says that Netflix billing through Cox is available to "select customers" as a "convenience". They are just passing-along the collected funds.

In other words it a big "meh". You can view Netflix on a Contour box without needing any extra box or smart TV. Big whoop.

 

[Nishant]

For the people that have Netflix included in some type of other service, I have some questions:

What service do you have that comes with Netflix?
What tier of Netflix plan is included?
Can you pay extra to get the higher tiers?

I have been wondering about this, especially with Netflix now regular price increases. Maybe this question warrants a new thread.

I have Verizon Fios for internet. They gave me 1 yr of Netflix when I signed up. It was the 2 stream tier. They basically gave me a Netflix credit code to cover the year. I could have bumped up the plan and pay the difference but no point for me.

 

[MattG]

Latest speed test...AT&T U-Verse "gigabit" option. Not quite a gigabit but not complaining!!!

 

[trsblader]

$130 for 100 down/10 up with "unlimited data." It's a "business" plan because at the time Cable One's residential packages capped at 500gb a month

 

[Clockworkz]

90$ for 300 down/? up, cox.

 

[circatee]

TOO much. $200 for TV and internet (ATT U-Verse).
60Mbps

 

[tranceking26]

£37.74 a month, it's gone up in price like 4 times since 2011 but I cba to switch.

Virgin Media are one of the better choices in my area.

 

[Healer Flame]

I pay AU$60 every 42 days and i get 40 GB @300 mbps on my phone so had to disconnect home Internet plan. Very happy with the deal.

My phone is my modem and wifi so i use to connect other gadgets too @ high speed.