TV, phone, internet question

BudE

BudE

Hillsborough, NC
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Dec 16, 2016
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Hillsborough, NC
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We have Spectrum. We constantly have the phone/internet going out. The channels keep locking up on my wife on the TV so she can't change them. What do you folks have? We had Direct TV when we moved in here but every time a dark cloud passed by we lost service.
 
We just got rid of Spectrum TV. Would like to get rid of Spectrum completely, but they are the only ones around here that have high speed internet. I do have to say that the internet is fairly stable. They do not have generators so when power goes out we do lose internet as I learned yesterday during our 7.5 hour power outage. Started up the generator for the house and noticed no internet. Called there 1-800 # and an automated msg said do to power outage in my area tv/internet in my area was down. I was surprised to learn that they do not use backup generators.
 
There isn’t a better option unless you buy a fire stick and use it for tv and movie watching. At least you have internet. I pay $100 a month for a WiFi box that may or may not work tomorrow when I wake up. There’s literally no other option here besides satellite tv/internet.
 
We have spectrum cable and internet. I had direct TV but ditched it due to cost and going out during any rain event. No problems so far. I also use Netflix and Amazon prime.

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Spectrum internet and extended basic cable
125 a month here

On a side note my wife has the spectrum cellular service on her I phone. She doesn’t really use data. The standard package come with some but she really never uses it. If she needs it she will tow into a free WiFi somewhere. Her phone bill runs a flat fee of 14 bucks. Going on 5 straight months.
 
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We have gone with Sling and it is great. Has just about everything we watch. The one thing we will get towards the end of the month is the CBS app. $99 for the year. We like NCIS and a few other programs on there. NBC & ABC we could care less about.
 
Majicmike said:
Spectrum internet and extended basic cable
125 a month here
Click to expand...

Our last bill was $174 for the same thing. We finally said enough was enough. It started off low and the last few years it has just gone up and up.
 
ECNC said:
Our last bill was $174 for the same thing. We finally said enough was enough. It started off low and the last few years it has just gone up and up.
Click to expand...

We have had spectrum for years 10ish?? Our bill has went up to right at 170 bucks also. I finally called and poor mouthed so bad they cut it back to 125 for the same service. I told them really loved thier service but with a child in college now I just couldn’t afford it no more. The First Lady couldn’t do anything thing so I told her just to cancel it on the next billing cycle. ( As nice as poor mouthing the whole way) She said she had to transfer me to someone else who set up the disconnect. That guy cut my bill in about 3-4 minutes because he said he wanted to help and I was a loyal customer:)
 
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AT&T 1GB fiber
DirecTV
Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, HBOMax, and Amazon Prime
2 landlines


if you can’t find something to watch here, you’re a little too picky
 
For anybody with DirecTV, have you considered the AT&T TV offering? I signed up to be a tester and got a box ~2 weeks ago. Exact same channel lineup (so you don’t have to learn new numbers) and 500 hours of cloud DVR, and it runs over internet instead of satellite...so no more weather issues.
 
"What do you folks have?"

AT&T DSL.

details:
1. we cut the TWC cable cord when they changed to Spectrum and came close to tripling our bill for the exact same service.
2. DSL has been "bomb-proof" except for construction crews who cut the line and every other line buried anywhere close.
3. yes, we keep a landline because "bomb-proof". over the years, when cellphones/internet/etc. don't work, our phone does.
 
TV: N/A, different family members get different streaming services, and we share.

Landline: Set up Obihai with old landline phones, moved old landline phones to Tmobile for 24 hours, then to Google Voice. Made copper landlines a closed loop, so main phone doesn't need to be plugged in next to Obihai/router. Yes, will go down if internet down, but At&T wanted to charge $120/m for copper landline.

Phone: Verizon. Have old grandfathered plan, maxed out 10 people for savings. Pay for it with US Bank Cash+ to get 5% cash back for plan cell phone plans, have others pay me their portion. Ends up that most members pay $35/m, I end up paying $13/m.

Internet: Spectrum. Use AskTrim to lock in price at $55. Use own router, and third party DNS.
 
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Verizon for cell service.

Verizon for home internet since not any other good options.
Tv amazon, disney and over the air

Best part of the deal was the day I got to tell at&t and direct tv to kick rocks.
 
Spectrum internet. Over the air TV and a Fire stick with Netflix and Amazon. Don't have a home phone. My cellphone is Consumer Cellular and my wife has Straight Talk.
 
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Majicmike said:
We have had spectrum for years 10ish?? Our bill has went up to right at 170 bucks also. I finally called and poor mouthed so bad they cut it back to 125 for the same service. I told them really loved thier service but with a child in college now I just couldn’t afford it no more. The First Lady couldn’t do anything thing so I told her just to cancel it on the next billing cycle. ( As nice as poor mouthing the whole way) She said she had to transfer me to someone else who set up the disconnect. That guy cut my bill in about 3-4 minutes because he said he wanted to help and I was a loyal customer:)
Click to expand...

We have already been down that road. It did not take long to get back to 174. I got sick and tired of going to their office to cut a new deal.
 
ECNC said:
We have already been down that road. It did not take long to get back to 174. I got sick and tired of going to their office to cut a new deal.
Click to expand...
If it goes up more than 10 within the next year, I’ll pull the plug.
 
Burt Gummer said:
There isn’t a better option unless you buy a fire stick and use it for tv and movie watching. At least you have internet. I pay $100 a month for a WiFi box that may or may not work tomorrow when I wake up. There’s literally no other option here besides satellite tv/internet.
Click to expand...
Geez! That sucks! I cried because I had no shoes, etc.
 
I finally got my in-laws off direct TV!!
They already had spectrum internet.. their lowest one....I showed them all the stuff you can get for FREE like tubi tv and Pluto tv.
I got them signed up for sling TV cause I've had it for about 5 years now and love it.
So far they are enjoying it..still have a small learning curve....and they are saving money!!!
They did buy a Roku for it's simplicity....I really like roku's

DS
 
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ECNC said:
We have gone with Sling and it is great. Has just about everything we watch. The one thing we will get towards the end of the month is the CBS app. $99 for the year. We like NCIS and a few other programs on there. NBC & ABC we could care less about.
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I've never heard of Sling. Does it have the local channels?
 
Kinda...

I use a regular antenna to get ABC, CBS NBC, and Fox....

You can buy an antenna from them and somehow it intergrates your local antenna channels into the sling TV channels...so you don't have to skip back and forth for inputs.
Sling TV is $30 a month.
Don't let your wife find out there's Hallmark channels...or you'll pay $5 extra a month for that like I am... :(

DS
 
AT&T Fiber for over three years, ATT TV NOW since day one offering.
 
SPST said:
Spectrum internet. Over the air TV and a Fire stick with Netflix and Amazon. Don't have a home phone. My cellphone is Consumer Cellular and my wife has Straight Talk.
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Somebody above mentioned a "Firestick". I have no idea what that is.
 
Raise hell with Spectrum. If you make enough noise, they will provide you will proper service. You just need a tech willing to do the grunt work. Something that may help is the following knowledge...

When a tech completes a work order at your house, his account is linked to yours. If another tech is called out, for any reason, the first one gets dinged. From July 7th until Monday, I’ve had 4 or 5 out here. ;)
 
BudE said:
Somebody above mentioned a "Firestick". I have no idea what that is.
Click to expand...


Amazon Firestick. 4K Firestick is better.

We have CenturyStink at 2oMbps. My hotspot is faster. Outdoor antenna for local channels (57) connected to an Amazon Recast for recording and guide. The Recast has a 2 week guide. Philo for $20/month (no sports or locals. Best value IMO) for 61 channels. The Recast guide also incorporates Philo (and Pluto TV- free app) into the guide. Other free apps= Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Airy TV, Sony Crackle, Xumo, etc. I don't include the cost of internet as I had that anyway. You can catch the Recast and Firestick on sale. After initial cost of antenna, Firestick and Recast the only cost is $20/month for Philo.

4K Firestick. Wait until it is on sale for $34.99
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-Stick-4K-with-Alexa-Voice-Remote/dp/B079QHML21/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1P5K9WK5AHF36&dchild=1&keywords=4k+firesticksticks&qid=1596674814&s=amazon-devices&sprefix=4k+first,amazon-devices,159&sr=1-1

Amazon Recast (there is a 2 tuner and a 4 tuner. 2 tuner= can only watch on 2 devices at a time. 4 tuner= 4 devices and bigger hard drive). The 2 tuner was on sale at Best Buy for $169 last week.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/amazon-fire-tv-recast-500gb-ota-dvr-black/6301666.p?skuId=6301666

Antennas vary. I connected this one for my brother a few weeks ago and it is decent. 56 or so channels. $49.99 at Lowes
https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Pro-Yagi-Outdoor-HD-UHF-VHF-TV-Antenna/1000309169

Top fence rail from Lowes to install antenna on. I usually use 1 1/2 sections (15 feet) or 2 sections (20 feet). $13.48 at Lowes. I slid these INTO the DirecTV pipe (removed the dish part) and used the wire that was already run.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Galvanized-Steel-Chain-Link-Fence-Top-Rail/999989216

Philo= $20/month. 3 Hallmarks, Discovery etc. No locals or Sports. Connect up to 3 devices.
https://www.philo.com/login/subscribe


Everything is a one time cost except for Philo (and monthly internet cost). Started looking at alternatives when DirecTV got to $160/month. Went with the above and cancelled DirecTV.
 
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Burt Gummer said:
There isn’t a better option unless you buy a fire stick and use it for tv and movie watching. At least you have internet. I pay $100 a month for a WiFi box that may or may not work tomorrow when I wake up. There’s literally no other option here besides satellite tv/internet.
Click to expand...

How's AT&T reception in your area?
 
BudE said:
We have Spectrum. We constantly have the phone/internet going out. The channels keep locking up on my wife on the TV so she can't change them. What do you folks have? We had Direct TV when we moved in here but every time a dark cloud passed by we lost service.
Click to expand...
Call Spectrum and have a new box installed and tech set up. There latest software and box don’t work. I had two boxes that continued to get stuck on one channel and I had to power down and let the setup program run. Painful.
 
easternnc4me said:
How's AT&T reception in your area?
Click to expand...
I’ve got an AT&T box as a matter of fact. There’s a local third party company selling service that’s truly unlimited so far. I wanted to try them before I bought the stuff to try a prepaid SIM card thing
 
Burt Gummer said:
I’ve got an AT&T box as a matter of fact. There’s a local third party company selling service that’s truly unlimited so far. I wanted to try them before I bought the stuff to try a prepaid POSTPAID SIM card thing
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you. Prepaid no longer an option. Only Postpaid. Prepaid is grandfathered in for existing customers but who knows for how long. How is your speed? Any issues so far?
 
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Internet: Centurylink DSL, we were on a waiting list for just over ten years to get it. It's mostly reliable. But, slow and if there is a problem, Centurylink customer service sucks terribly! "We can have somebody out there next week between Wed-Fri".

Cellphone: Verizon is the only carrier that gets a signal in this area, and it's weak, only works in some rooms.

Cable: none available in this area.

Tv: Antenna on roof picks up Andy Griffith and Wagon Train, good enough!
 
Windstream for land line and internet.
DirecTv satellite, it doesn't go out a lot.
TracFone for cell, I think it's Verizon towers.
 
BudE said:
I've never heard of Sling. Does it have the local channels?
Click to expand...

No local channels. But all the other stuff. We will pay $99/year for CBS in addition to Sling. We already had Amazon Prime.

We did upgrade our firestick to Fire Stick 4k. We had one of the original sticks that Amazon came out with and the new stick made a big difference in picture quality. Got a discount for it when we were signing up with Sling and the costs was $26 for the new stick.
 
I have Spectrum Internet and they are horrible. I have had really bad experiences with AT&T (They overcharged next $400 and it too me 6 months to get it back) but I am considering a change since the offer Fiber where I live.

For TV we just stream. Hulu has most of the shows from OTA.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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