Home TV/Cable providers

• friendfromlowry

  Moving into a new house next week, and I'm shopping around for cable & internet. Just curious as to what everyone uses for these services, ballpark of what they pay, etc. I know it's becoming convenient to abandon cable altogether and just use Hulu plus, Netflix, etc. I considered that, but in the end, I'd prefer to have cable.
  I was browsing through TWC's website, and the package I was most likely to select was HD television with DVR, the ultra internet (20Mbps) option, and this came out to $104/month, before tax. I'm guessing that for TWC customers (not sure how popular it is throughout Ohio) this is about average.
  
  Just curious as to what everyone else uses?
• gut

  Comcast XFinity. Really seems to be the best, though perhaps not always the cheapest. You have to look for specials and discounts. Depends on competition, but my 12-month price was @$80 (including HD DVR and HBO and 20mbps internet). Full price is like $130, and not sure if that includes HBO.
  
  I'll play the game. I don't really want to quit Xfinity, but it's certainly not worth upwards of $50/mo.
• friendfromlowry

  FWIW, the two most important things to me are decent internet speeds and having DVR. Right now, we don't have DVR, and the internet is God awful slow and unable to stream anything. I work nights so I miss a lot of shows.
• gut

  friendfromlowry;1396140 wrote:FWIW, the two most important things to me are decent internet speeds and having DVR. Right now, we don't have DVR, and the internet is God awful slow and unable to stream anything. I work nights so I miss a lot of shows.

  And that's why Xfinity is so great - you can get almost all of the recent episodes for free thru OnDemand. TWC has the same thing. Only difference vs. DVR is fast forward is a couple notches slower, and new shows can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days (a week in some cases) to show-up in the OnDemand. But then you go online and there's and even bigger catalog, often with entire past seasons. Main difference between the two is I believe XFinity has quite a bit larger catalogue.
  
  HBOGo (which is separate, obviously) has pretty much every past episode of all their original series.
  
  Just choose based on price. Service-wise (actual cable/internet) I don't think there is much difference.
• friendfromlowry

  I entered my address on their site and it stated their service wasn't available in my area. I'm moving to a neighborhood in Beavercreek, about 10 miles east of Dayton. I might have to call and doublecheck that's actually true about their service.
• believer

  

  Charter "Internet Plus" service 30 Mbps @ $50/month. No cable TV. I use Netflix, Hulu, and ESPN3 and there are plenty of other free streaming sites available.
  
  The 30 Mbps is plenty fast enough for streaming.
  
  If I want to watch "real" TV I use an OTA rabbit ears antenna to pull in all the major networks from Nashville in true HD....not the "dumbed-down" HD provided by a cable hook-up.
  
  Cable and satellite dishes are over-priced and overrated.
• hasbeen

  

  I have ATT UVerse and I love it. Not sure if it's available to you, but the internet is great and we get a ton of channels.
• BORIStheCrusher

  

  hasbeen;1396171 wrote:I have ATT UVerse and I love it. Not sure if it's available to you, but the internet is great and we get a ton of channels.

  This, UVerse is awesome.
• justincredible

  

  We had DirecTV for the last 4 years or so but just dropped it for antenna. We paid $100 a month for one of the higher tiers but it was no longer worth it. Service was fine we just no longer felt the need to pay to watch tv anymore. We pay $45 for Roadrunner and have had no problems.
• thavoice

  Before you get anything do a simple hookup of the TV to the cable and see if it works......You could end up with free cable as they may have done a drive by disconnect. Sure you may not get all the cool stuff ya wanted but free is better! and ya could find other ways to get the cool stuff ya may need. Friend of mine just moved into his house in December and is living off free cable...
• WebFire

  I think TWC's HD/TV service sucks. Internet is good, though I think they throttle video pretty hard.
• dlazz

  TWC doesn't throttle.
  
  Also, your input options in Beavercreek/Dayton age basically ATT Uverse, Time Warner, or satellite.
• Pick6

  

  WebFire;1396433 wrote:I think TWC's HD/TV service sucks. Internet is good.

  this. Hate their cable, but have had no problem's with their internet.
• WebFire

  dlazz;1396486 wrote:TWC doesn't throttle.
  
  Also, your input options in Beavercreek/Dayton age basically ATT Uverse, Time Warner, or satellite.

  Link?
  
  Youtube videos struggle to load when your speedtest shows 30 Mb. Does it all the time and pisses me off. HD, non-HD, 30 seconds, 30 minutes. Doesn't matter.
• Pick6

  

  WebFire;1396489 wrote:Link?
  
  Youtube videos struggle to load when your speedtest shows 30 Mb. Does it all the time and pisses me off. HD, non-HD, 30 seconds, 30 minutes. Doesn't matter.

  I dont have any problems with streaming. Maybe its your router.
• WebFire

  [video=youtube;CB8UADuVM5A][/video]
• WebFire

  Pick6;1396497 wrote:I dont have any problems with streaming. Maybe its your router.

  My router does no throttling. And even direct off their connection it does the same thing. People on the internet bitch about it a lot.
• WebFire

  Pick6;1396497 wrote:I dont have any problems with streaming. Maybe its your router.

  And it could vary depending on location and how busy a particular circuit is.
• dlazz

  It's not TWC throttling, it's just poor routing on Youtube/TWC's part.
  
  Try changing your DNS settings on your router and see if it makes a difference.
  
  Change them from "Automatic" to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
  
  I noticed a lot of the time I'll get slow buffering on YT videos and if I turn the video quality UP it'll hit a different server and quickly buffer it.
• WebFire

  dlazz;1396567 wrote:It's not TWC throttling, it's just poor routing on Youtube/TWC's part.
  
  Try changing your DNS settings on your router and see if it makes a difference.
  
  Change them from "Automatic" to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
  
  I noticed a lot of the time I'll get slow buffering on YT videos and if I turn the video quality UP it'll hit a different server and quickly buffer it.

  Yeah I'd thought about trying different DNS servers. I'll give a go. Problem is, most users won't have a clue how to do this.
• dlazz

  WebFire;1396595 wrote:Yeah I'd thought about trying different DNS servers. I'll give a go. Problem is, most users won't have a clue how to do this.

  Don't have to do it on the router. Can change them on the individual machines too
  
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-TCP-IP-settings
• WebFire

  dlazz;1396598 wrote:Don't have to do it on the router. Can change them on the individual machines too
  
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-TCP-IP-settings

  That's where I would do it at home anyway.
• WebFire

  dlazz;1396598 wrote:Don't have to do it on the router. Can change them on the individual machines too
  
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-TCP-IP-settings

  But my point still stands. Most home users wouldn't have a clue.
• OSH

  

  Put me on the list that just has internet. I've had RoadRunner for two years, and had it for a year about 9 years ago. I've never had problems with them and enjoy the service.
  
  My wife wanted something to watch, so we pay $8 a month for Hulu Plus. I have Crackle, Epix, and Vudu for other streaming capabilities. For some reason, ESPN3 or WatchESPN won't allow me to stream through my RoadRunner and xbox. I think they require some sort of cable package to do that. I do know some have started doing that.
  
  All my sports stuff, I stream online. I don't watch tv, mainly just watch movies.
• dlazz

  WebFire;1396602 wrote:But my point still stands. Most home users wouldn't have a clue.

  
  I agree