The disgusting cost of "cable" (internet/television)

[TrueBlueLS]

Once I get my house... I'll be paying $111 for AT&T's Uverse U200 package with 3/1 internet, HD channels, and DVR. I'll be damned if I think of giving Comcast money.

 

[Parasitic]

Anyone know if you get a small discount having Verizon Wireless alongside home phone and FIOS internet? Cuz one way or another thats what I'm doing.

Even if they offered it it wouldn't be worth much at all. AT&T has that - I think it's $5/month. However since you could only have a maximum of one discount per bundle if I took the $5 I'd have to lose my 15% corp discount...asshats.

 

[evident]

Ok, I have FIOS Triple play which is telephone, tv and internets. advertised as $99 a month for everything but after taxes and set top box rental fees i end up paying $170 a month. TV costs the most I pay about $100 for TV alone because i have to have a set top box for each individual TV in my house. charging for individual STB's is the biggest rip off IMO because there isn't a choice to not use them anymore as during the analog days. I wish i could just have one DVR, and the other two just hooked up via coaxial cable and still get all the channels.

 

[Platypus]

What pisses me off the most is that I can't get 'just internet' through my cable company at a decent rate. If I were to bundle a cable TV package, which I wouldn't use because I hardly ever watch television and the shows I do keep up on I watch online, I would get a much much cheaper rate with higher speeds all things considered.

So I want less and you make me pay more? That makes a whole fucking lot of sense comcast.

 

[TraumaRN]

This is why I love having my city provide my Internet/Cable. 83/months gets me 6 down/2up internet, and digital cable w/ a dvr.

I'm debating changing my internet speed, if I pay an extra $10 a month I get 10 down and 3 up internet.

 

[shortylickens]

What pisses me off the most is that I can't get 'just internet' through my cable company at a decent rate. If I were to bundle a cable TV package, which I wouldn't use because I hardly ever watch television and the shows I do keep up on I watch online, I would get a much much cheaper rate with higher speeds all things considered.

So I want less and you make me pay more? That makes a whole fucking lot of sense comcast.

That is exactly my beef. I only wanna pay for what I use, and in this day and age thats totally possible. We can do it, we have the technology, but I dont want to spend a lot of money.

Same with the phone. I dont wanna pay 40 bucks a month for 450 minutes when I know damn well I only need about 50. Then even more on top of that for the data I actually need.

 

[Farang]

I understand what you're going through. I just wanted basic internet and the shit I had to go through was ridiculous. I'm trying to pay for a service and can't get an honest price for how much they want me to pay for that service. My experience with the providers, trying to find the cheapest internet possible:
1) Comcast offers $19.99/mo internet promotion. I want to sign up but am met with a $100 installation charge after providing all of my information. I call to haggle but am told the price is internet only, and cannot be provided over the phone. The price the phone rep gives me is $40 per month. The after-6-month-promotion price is $45 either way, which when adding the $100 install fee means the promotion is worth jack shit.
2) Qwest offers $19.99/mo internet. Let's me put in all my information to sign up. I click "Checkout" and it brings a popup giving me my options. Basically, it says sign up for phone service or we charge you another $10 per month. Fair enough but don't put that at the end of the checkout stage. I say no, I'll pay the extra $10. $30 internet is a good deal still. At the billing stage you simply cannot choose an option for internet only. The $19.99/mo price is a complete fraud, you are not able to buy that online. After calling Qwest, again I'm told internet-only and the over the phone price is $40.

3) Clearwire. They push a 2 year service plan or else you must pay $50 activation. You can go month-to-month if you want to pay $150 for the modem. At least they're honest upfront about what they want to charge and there are no surprises, I opt for one year plan at $35/mo (including modem) and the $50 fee.

 

[drebo]

Once I get my house... I'll be paying $111 for AT&T's Uverse U200 package with 3/1 internet, HD channels, and DVR. I'll be damned if I think of giving Comcast money.

UVerse FTW. I've got U200 with 6/1 internet, DVR, a second receiver, and no HD and I pay $112/mo. Best thing I ever did.

 

[drebo]

3) Clearwire. They push a 2 year service plan or else you must pay $50 activation. You can go month-to-month if you want to pay $150 for the modem. At least they're honest upfront about what they want to charge and there are no surprises, I opt for one year plan at $35/mo (including modem) and the $50 fee.

Clearwire is the most unwholesome, untrustworthy company of them all.

www.clearwiresucks.com

Not only that, but their service is abominable in 95% of their supposed "coverage area."

 

[mugs]

What pisses me off the most is that I can't get 'just internet' through my cable company at a decent rate. If I were to bundle a cable TV package, which I wouldn't use because I hardly ever watch television and the shows I do keep up on I watch online, I would get a much much cheaper rate with higher speeds all things considered.

So I want less and you make me pay more? That makes a whole fucking lot of sense comcast.

How are they charging more for less? Internet alone costs less than Internet + cable. Internet alone costs more than the Internet portion of Internet + cable, but that does make sense - bundled services are often cheaper than standalone services.

 

[JD50]

UVerse FTW. I've got U200 with 6/1 internet, DVR, a second receiver, and no HD and I pay $112/mo. Best thing I ever did.

That's really not that great of a deal...

 

[alkemyst]

yeah cable is almost my most expensive bill.

electric $200-300
water $125-150
cell/phone $130
internet/cable $192
car insurance $245 (two cars full coverage 100/300/100)

 

[Platypus]

How are they charging more for less? Internet alone costs less than Internet + cable. Internet alone costs more than the Internet portion of Internet + cable, but that does make sense - bundled services are often cheaper than standalone services.

Did you miss the part about higher speeds?

 

[rockyct]

What? Right now, the Democrats are getting more money than Republicans. Techs is right, it's because there is more of them in office. That doesn't change the fact that they're getting more money than Republicans.

Yes, the Democrats get more money right now, but to say that they are the sole problem is misleading and the issue Techs had. They seem to get on average about 5% more contribution than their percent representation level but voting only for Republicans isn't going to change that. An overhaul in campaign finance is what is needed.

Besides, it's the conservatives on the Supreme Court that are possibly going to lead to lesser campaign restrictions from companies which is the wrong direction to go in. http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/09/supreme-court-poised-to-overha.html

 

[mugs]

Did you miss the part about higher speeds?

Did you miss the part where the cheaper rate is because it's a bundled service?

 

[lupi]

Ok, I have FIOS Triple play which is telephone, tv and internets. advertised as $99 a month for everything but after taxes and set top box rental fees i end up paying $170 a month. TV costs the most I pay about $100 for TV alone because i have to have a set top box for each individual TV in my house. charging for individual STB's is the biggest rip off IMO because there isn't a choice to not use them anymore as during the analog days. I wish i could just have one DVR, and the other two just hooked up via coaxial cable and still get all the channels.

yep, one of the few areas i wouldn't mind a little government regulation. not letting you buy a box then charging to rent it and a monthly use fee on top is about as close to robbery as you can get.

 

[duragezic]

I guess I'm pretty happy with my current setup.

TWC has been upgrading their speeds lately. Last year I had 5mbps/384kbps. I just ran a speed test and got 20/1mbps. $38.95/mo

I don't like 99% of what's on cable TV so no need to have it.

 

[Parasitic]

TWC sucks with their regional pricing. I had 10/1 back in upstate New York for $30 a month. In San Diego $35/month only gives me a laughable 1.5Mbps band that is less reliable than DSL.

 

[GrumpyMan]

I told Comcast to blow me. I now just pay for my ATT cell phone with unlimited data plan and tether the internet to my computer. All for $80.00. Not the fastest internet but good enough to post on the forums and keep my computer updated. Rabbit ears for HD TV. I used to pay $154.00 in all for internet, HD TV and phone with comcast. Hey Comcast, blow me!

 

[xanis]

Right now I split the Comcast bill with my roommate so it's only about $25/month per person (soon to be $40/month after the promotion is up). However, when I get a place of my own I'm going with Verizon DSL and OTA TV.

 

[Parasitic]

I told Comcast to blow me. I now just pay for my ATT cell phone with unlimited data plan and tether the internet to my computer. All for $80.00. Not the fastest internet but good enough to post on the forums and keep my computer updated. Rabbit ears for HD TV. I used to pay $154.00 in all for internet, HD TV and phone with comcast. Hey Comcast, blow me!

I hope that you don't get caught anytime soon. Tethering without a proper plan violates their ETF, and if one of their system sweeps catch you doing it they could either bump you to the "proper plan" (which is $60/month), charge you by the kilobyte (with no maximum cap...this is the scary part), or drop you altogether.

And you don't sound like you're on the proper plan since these days tethering plans have a maximum of 5GB/month (which is unreasonably low IMO for a plan advertised as mobile "broadband").

 

[Mike]

TWC sucks with their regional pricing. I had 10/1 back in upstate New York for $30 a month. In San Diego $35/month only gives me a laughable 1.5Mbps band that is less reliable than DSL.

You need to call. Retention will get you 1.5 $20/mo, 10 $30/mo, and even possible to see 15 $30/mo.

 

[Parasitic]

You need to call. Retention will get you 1.5 $20/mo, 10 $30/mo, and even possible to see 15 $30/mo.

I did call in a few times but was shot down everytime because AT&T right now doesn't offer any real specials so they have no incentives to give me better rates. I really want to move back to DSL but since I'd be moving in a few months I really don't want to have to sign a one-year contract with AT&T.

 

[Mike]

I did call in a few times but was shot down everytime because AT&T right now doesn't offer any real specials so they have no incentives to give me better rates. I really want to move back to DSL but since I'd be moving in a few months I really don't want to have to sign a one-year contract with AT&T.

Are you sure you spoke with retention? Say you want to cancel and ask what center they're in. Retention is only in the desert.

 

[Parasitic]

I'm pretty sure it's retentions. They actually did close my account one time and I had to go down to their local service center to reactivate it.