This has been a classic topic in FFAF over the years, but Glenn writes in wondering if we could do a “best cable and/or internet” for the money.
But of course!
30 thoughts on “Best Decatur Cable/Internet For the Money”
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This has been a classic topic in FFAF over the years, but Glenn writes in wondering if we could do a “best cable and/or internet” for the money.
But of course!
Comments are closed.
Also wondering. Have 6mbps u-verse for $50. It’s been very stable over the 3 years I’ve had it. Looking at the social xfinity has for 25 mps for a 29.95 promo rate. Any feedback on xfinity in the Decatur heights area?
I hate their customer service (or lack therof) in the last 4 years, but Comcast/Xfinity has been more stable than ever for us. The down speed is NUTS compared to anyone I know with other providers, the up is not bad. And since we have most of the channels on the TV side it is a slight add-on price wise.
(I have the Blast!® internet and pay less than my parents in west Georgia pay for AT&T DSL)
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3445089105
This fits with our experience using Comcast/Xfinity for cable (w/ DVR) and Internet for the last 8 years: if you have to use the customer service, God help you, but the actual product itself is solid and speedy. They deserve a lot of the scorn they get, but they’re also still the best option available IMO. It does make me a little nuts that in this day and age their cable menu system is still standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio, but it’s possible that I may just need to upgrade my DVR to whatever the new hotness is (X1?). **decamps to AVSForum to do research**
DISCLAIMER: The minute Google Fiber is available here (God willing), we will be switching to that.
Although I hate Comcast so much, I got a great deal recently. I get their starter cable (basic plus a number of others- AMC, discovery, etc- but no ESPN). I get an HD DVR and 50MBs internet. Also get HBO for 24 months. All for ~$65/mo. It was called their “Blast Plus” promotion, but I think I argued enough with them to get the HD DVR added for free.
Essentially it was cheaper for me to get the cable and DVR/HBO than it was just get internet alone. I read later that they hired JP Morgan to do a study to find out what “cord cutters” needed in terms of price, options, and channels in order to hook them back on paying for cable.
Just remember if you go with Comcast and they install it, make sure they know AHEAD OF TIME if you need cable run inside the house. If not and they show up, you have to make a different appointment a week later. When they come back and you have ordered a cable outlet to be installed in your living room, be sure you told them AHEAD OF TIME that you would like a cable line run to that outlet. Otherwise, they will simply cut a hole in your wall and install an outlet WITH NO CABLE ATTACHED TO IT. Having cable connected to the outlet is another appointment and fee a week later. Ask me how I know…
For those like me who don’t want all the cable channels, just noticed that Comcast is offering Internet Plus for $39.95 a month for 12 months. Includes 25MBs internet, HBOGO, and local channels. That’s about 15 dollars less than I’m paying for 12MBs internet with Uverse.
That’s the other key with Comcast (or any cable company, really): Call them up and threaten to switch providers once a year or so (be convincing) and you’ll be offered whatever the latest new subscriber promo is, or at the very least a modest discount on your monthly bill.
We’ve been happy with Uverse internet for the last 3 years or so too, but lately I’ve noticed image degradation and more buffering when streaming, particularly with Netflix. I suspect they are throttling the signal. It’s been reported that Netflix streaming with Xfinity is much smoother since Netflix struck a deal with Comcast. I loathe the idea of switching back to Comcast, though, because of all the past problems I had with them.
I think internet service will replace cable tv service as the “must have” service. I have done without cable tv service for three years….subsisting on over the air tv and netflix….with no regrets (except for some sports). But I would really suffer without an internet connection.
I have the “blast plus” plan through evil comcast. Though I hate them, 50mbps internet is sweet and it’s not a bad deal, though the price keeps going up and the cable TV (which I don’t care about) is crappy. The TV service actually seems to make it cheaper. I’d leave them instantly if I could.
That’s why I’m hoping for ***Google Fiber***!!
I have the same package as Matt and it is definitely faster that ATT U-verse, which I had for three years.
We currently have Comcast (Internet only), after switching from them to At&T 2 years ago and then switching back when AT&T lost service too frequently.
However, we went from an introductory rate of 29.99 to a regular rate of 45.99 to a “regular” rate of 65.99 two months ago. It took 4 phone calls and a final call to cancel the service before a female representative offered me a better deal at $38.99/month.
My neighbor wants to switch to Comcast but I was unable to find an online offer for her.
Comcast places a cookie on your computer once you log in to your account which prevents you from seeing deals for new customers only.
So does Uverse. I tried to switch from internet only to “internet plus” (similar to the $39 Comcast offer) and it wouldn’t let me online. Called and they wouldn’t do it either, even after threatening to switch to Comcast. I did get half off my internet service for six months, though.
We don’t have cable TV or a land line, all the content we watch is from the internet.
I tried Uverse 18Mbps internet service but it was not able to handle HD streaming without buffering. Got rid of Uverse and used my Verizon LTE mobile hotspot for two months and it worked well but the usage was high and Verizon started to throttle us. Purchased a cable modem from Amazon and ordered Comcast 25Mbps internet service $40 a month, it has worked well for 18 months so far.
Uverse and Comcast in preparation for higher data usage have implemented a 250/300GB of data limit. I am 100% certain Uverse and Comcast are going to do everything possible to slow down Google fiber from entering their markets. Verizon FIOS had numerous problems trying to enter markets dominated by other cable providers. But as soon as Google Fiber is available I am switching.
Comcast is beyond awful. Was specifically told upon signing up that I wasn’t entering in to a contract and could cancel for free at anytime. Well once I tried to cancel they said “sorry they told you that, but you’re in a contract. Now pay up.” Comcast’s low rates during intro periods are tempting but so not worth it in the long run. Such a sleazy, deceitful company.
They are consistently rated very low in customer service in an industry with low ratings anyway. I fired them 4 years ago because of that. Trish’s experience above is yet another example.
USA ISP Speed Index
http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa
Make sure to click on “Include smaller ISPs” and note who is #1 by a pretty wide margin…
this is funny, AT&T – U-verse and AT&T – DSL are the same thing 🙂
My son got me a Roku, which runs fine off my stone-age DSL, and I ditched Comcast. If you don’t watch that much TV, you can get Netflix and use the movie channels cafeteria-style and be perfectly happy. When I want to see a sports event, Twain’s is my living room. — and they have better beer.
For Internet, if you happen to be in Downtown Decatur, or near Oakhurst Village or any of the parks, the winner would obviously be DecaturFreeWiFi- for the obvious reason.
For TV, the obvious winner would be this new fangled concept that was trialed from about 1940-1990 or so: AN ANTENNA. Totally FREE television.
And if you just really desire a long term contract and loads of extra “fees” tacked on, get Comcast. Beats DSL (which is what U-Verse really is) by a mile as far as speed and reliability.
But in my book, the best value for the money is still FREE.
To add to what Computerguy said, if you can’t do an antenna for whatever reason but really want the local channels, there’s a service called Aereo that will stream them live to your computer (or TV if you have a Roku or AppleTV). You will also get the ability to record, pause, save (like a DVR), something you can’t do with an antenna alone. $8 a month, but you can try it for free for 30 days.
+1. I’ve been happy with Roku, Netflix and Aereo for TV viewing. Not sure how I feel about the U-verse connection we stream on, but I just can’t bear the thought of going back to Comcast.
Does anyone have the new Comcast/Xfinity X1 box? Curious to hear feedback on that- it might sell me on sticking around with Comcast for a while longer.
Ditto. But AVSForum is the best place to go if you want bleeding edge discussion of what’s available from Comcast.
We have had Comcast and UVerse in Decatur Heights neighborhood and the Comcast wireless is actually slower, though we pay for the fastest internet. When I complained about the speed, I was told by Comcast that their fine print states that they don’t guarantee their wireless speeds and it can vary by home. I looked at their ad which boasts about their fast wifi and it was true, they do put a disclaimer in their fine print about speed. Both companies have awful customer service.
Aereo fans: You may not want to get too attached to that as a long-term option.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/aereo-face-uphill-battle-supreme-696148
I’m doing the free trial period with Aereo. Giving it a try because for some reason our antenna stopped pulling in Channel 46 a few months ago and, more recently, we lost 17 too. Using the app through a Roku, the image is very choppy when watching live programming, but much better when watching a recorded program. Anyone else experience this?
My dad used to say “Number 2 tries harder,” and I have found U-Verse support to be VERY good. It makes me wonder how AT&T could really be the parent company. I don’t doubt that Comcast is faster and the deal they recently struck with Netflix is another plus for NF users like me — and I do think I detect some degraded streaming intermittently with Uverse. But after some tweaking and a recent router upgrade, Uverse has been solid and sufficiently fast for me.
Had comcast for internet only and they throttled us after we reached a data cap. Atlanta is one of the few test markets for comcast data caps. Less then a week later we were uverse subscribers. Have not looked back. We used internet for hulu and netflix.