Cable TV/Internet Providers

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Tuey142
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Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Tuey142 »

I would like to get everyone's input on their providers and what your experience has been with the various companies. We used to have DirecTV, which wasn't bad, except we didn't like our TV going out every time it rains. Not to mention having to climb a ladder and brush off our satellite dish whenever it snows. So we went to Centurylink, which has been by far the worst consumer experience we've ever had (not adhering to the "price lock guarantee", extending our contract date without our knowledge and without reason, applying erroneous charges to our account, refusing to address our concerns filed with the BBB and Attorney General). So, now we have decided to go with Cox.....but....we haven't made the switch yet, and Cox says they can't put our "price lock guarantee" in writing until after installation. This makes us rather nervous.

With all the problems we've had, has anyone else experienced something similar? I wish we could get cable & internet without all the haggling and scams! :roll: :help:
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RNcyanide
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by RNcyanide »

To heck with cable all together. Get an internet package and a Netflix subscription.

In all seriousness, however, my family has had Cox for the better part of 2 decades, I believe, and they seem to do just fine with it.


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Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

We've had Cox, Time Warner and Dish Network in the past. Never had a problem with any of them. Satellite maybe went out twice ever.
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nebugeater
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by nebugeater »

Most that work with it will say if you have Sat go out other than in then in the worst of storms it is a sat aiming issue and not just the nature of Sat. My experience has been when it is out due to weather it is 5 - 10 minutes. Because of the angles and signal style Dish is supposed to be more reliable that Direct. I have had Dish since 99 and have rarely had an issue. We moved and there was a dish already installed and when we hooked to it we did have a higher number or outages than I was used to. Call DIsh using their MOVE ME service and the dish was re-pointed and it was as good as I was used to.


Have had COX for internet only for about 8 years total. Very reliable and good service but I am in an area where the install is all about 10 years old as they became a new provider in the Gretna area and wired the neighborhood.

Overall I would say my service with both providers has been about the same. I like what Dish offers for TV so even though I have COX to the house I have stayed with dish and loose the bundling benefit.
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Tuey142
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Tuey142 »

I would love to get rid of cable altogether and go with Netflix & Hulu, but we love our sports, especially football. DirecTV wasn't bad - we didn't have problems with reception except weather-related. Still, it sucks to be in the middle of a football game or a movie and have the reception get snowy (or go out altogether). I hope our experience with Cox will be much better. Centurylink was so horrible we are leery of cable contracts now.
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U R my Helix
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by U R my Helix »

The new mini boxes that cox makes you use are not working well for us. In addition to needing two remotes if you want to use any of your TV set functions (like the sleep timer). The mini box has a lot of tiling on our televisions. We are on the 2nd box and the problem persists. Most nights 25% of the available channels come up no signal at all or tile so bad you might as well have a dish in a sandstorm. The large box that we pay $10 per month for does not have this issue. The reception was ok before the mini box. As for price we are stuck with whatever increase cox puts out. I can think of no other service that has increased so dramatically in cost over the last 20 years. Except perhaps health insurance. Cox needs to come up with a basic choice package offering about 20 stations, let us chose what we want and dump the rest.
GRANDPASMUCKER
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by GRANDPASMUCKER »

Tuey142 wrote:I would like to get everyone's input on their providers and what your experience has been with the various companies. We used to have DirecTV, which wasn't bad, except we didn't like our TV going out every time it rains. Not to mention having to climb a ladder and brush off our satellite dish whenever it snows. So we went to Centurylink, which has been by far the worst consumer experience we've ever had (not adhering to the "price lock guarantee", extending our contract date without our knowledge and without reason, applying erroneous charges to our account, refusing to address our concerns filed with the BBB and Attorney General). So, now we have decided to go with Cox.....but....we haven't made the switch yet, and Cox says they can't put our "price lock guarantee" in writing until after installation. This makes us rather nervous.

With all the problems we've had, has anyone else experienced something similar? I wish we could get cable & internet without all the haggling and scams! :roll: :help:
I have had Cox for 20 years and had Direct Tv for 20 years until about a year ago when I dropped it. I have had Century Link for years as well. First of all do know this they all 3 are a pain in the |expletive| and no 1 of them is particular better then the other. With all 3 of them you know every month when you open your bill there is a 50/50 chance you are going to get an unpleasant surprise. I can tell you absolute horror stories with all 3 of them. If I had to vote I would say that Direct Tv is the best and that Century Link and Cox can be absolute dirtball companies to deal with and they can get by with it because its pretty much a monopoly. I would stay where ever you are at because there is no good one so it may not be worth the hassle to change. One of my favorite unbelievable stories is with Century Link. I used to just send Century Link a thousand or two thousand all at once and then just let them take my bill off my account. Worked well for years but all things must come to an end and one day my 2000 dollar account vanished into thin air. I had to dig up the cancelled checks to prove to them they had ripped me off for 2000. How does a company loose 2000?
HskrFanMike
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by HskrFanMike »

The Hulu/NetFlix option works well ... except if you are looking for the cable sports channels. The majority of those require a cable TV subscription. If your preference is out-of-market NBA, NHL or MLB games, then their online streaming options may be workable for you. But for most college sports, you pretty much need cable television

On a monthly basis, I believe the satellite services are cheaper than the cable providers. Dish has a unique ability to run two televisions off of one box, which can save you money. The box has two tuners, and puts two standard def signals on the coax cable to distribute through your house. The second remote works with radio waves, so it can be used anywhere in the house to change the channel.

DirecTV has NFL Sunday TIcket exclusively, so that may be valuable to some.

I've compared the price of CenturyLink and Cox, and for the most part, CenturyLink is significantly cheaper with their main rates. Their boxes run via wifi, which means you can move your TV anywhere you want in your house. It's actually a pretty neat setup. But CenturyLink's customer service is horrific.
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Omababe
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Omababe »

I use Cox.

Cox is the absolute worst TV provider there is except for all of the others! :)
Tuey142
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Tuey142 »

How do these companies (Centurylink in particular) stay in business with such AWFUL customer service? When Centurylink changed our contract date AND tripled our rates for no reason, the NE attorney general's office said they couldn't do anything unless they get a flood of complaints, and apparently they haven't.
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RNcyanide
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by RNcyanide »

I assume they count on most people not bothering with the hassle.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

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jessep28
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by jessep28 »

Tuey142 wrote:How do these companies (Centurylink in particular) stay in business with such AWFUL customer service? When Centurylink changed our contract date AND tripled our rates for no reason, the NE attorney general's office said they couldn't do anything unless they get a flood of complaints, and apparently they haven't.
Also, a breach of contract had to have occurred. A lot of people don't read their contracts and claim that they were wronged by a company when things like promotional periods and stuff like that end.
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RNcyanide
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by RNcyanide »

jessep28 wrote:
Tuey142 wrote:How do these companies (Centurylink in particular) stay in business with such AWFUL customer service? When Centurylink changed our contract date AND tripled our rates for no reason, the NE attorney general's office said they couldn't do anything unless they get a flood of complaints, and apparently they haven't.
Also, a breach of contract had to have occurred. A lot of people don't read their contracts and claim that they were wronged by a company when things like promotional periods and stuff like that end.
Good point.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

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mrsticka
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by mrsticka »

I was with Dish for 5 years and I got only the Omaha stations, not the Lincoln ones despite living in Lincoln. Then in July, I switched to Time Warner and now I get the Lincoln stations, but not all the Omaha ones. KMTV is not on TWC's lineup for some reason and now WOWT is gone. Basically, all I get now from Omaha is KETV, KPTM (but not in HD) and KXVO.

The thing I miss about Dish is that I could record my favorite shows and watch them whenever I wanted. Now I no longer have DVR service and can only watch shows when they're on.

A part of me would like to switch back to Dish. But I fear I'd be stuck with the Lincoln stations only this time, no Omaha ones. I like to watch the Omaha stations for some reason.
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jessep28
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by jessep28 »

mrsticka wrote:I was with Dish for 5 years and I got only the Omaha stations, not the Lincoln ones despite living in Lincoln. Then in July, I switched to Time Warner and now I get the Lincoln stations, but not all the Omaha ones. KMTV is not on TWC's lineup for some reason and now WOWT is gone. Basically, all I get now from Omaha is KETV, KPTM (but not in HD) and KXVO.

The thing I miss about Dish is that I could record my favorite shows and watch them whenever I wanted. Now I no longer have DVR service and can only watch shows when they're on.

A part of me would like to switch back to Dish. But I fear I'd be stuck with the Lincoln stations only this time, no Omaha ones. I like to watch the Omaha stations for some reason.
Buy something like a Tivo or build your own DVR/media system. You'll need to get a cable card from Time Warner since it will replace the set top box. You may lose some things like pay per view and other advanced features, but everything should carry over.
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Omababe
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Omababe »

Maybe you or someone can see me straight about cable cards.

When I got a new TV for the bedroom a few weeks ago, I had talked to Cox and they said if it was "Cable Card Compatible" then I would not need the Cox Box. Then when I went to Best Buy the guy did not know what I was talking about. He brought over a supervisor who said to the effect that "Cable Card is sooooo yesterday" :) :) :) and than none of the current (smaller at least) TVs support them anymore.

They also said that there is legislation pending that would allow them to sell a better universal cable box and when that goes through you would not need to rent the Cox Box monthly.

Anybody know what the real story is?
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BRoss
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by BRoss »

The FCC just put a NPRM out about allowing cable boxes other than the one from your subscriber.

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/02 ... pposition/
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

Looks like Cox raised the internet prices a few dollars.
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Greg S
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by Greg S »

We had Dish, went out during big storm during the Stanley Cup finals. Switched back to Cox and have not had any issues. Some neighbors tried CenturyLink and have had the same issues as reported above. I do check the specials with CL then call Cox to cancel my service, they end up lowering my bill every time.

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mrsticka
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by mrsticka »

Time Warner is now Spectrum. And from what I've seen, people fear that prices will go way up. I don't know what will happen now. First Charter buys Time Warner and the name changes to Spectrum. Now AT&T will soon buy Time Warner. It's profoundly confusing, at least for me.
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skinzfan23
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

Post by skinzfan23 »

Cox to charge customers additional fee for going over allotted data
Once a customer surpasses an allotted 1 terabyte of data during a billing period, Cox will start charging $10 per each additional 50 gigabyes used. The company announced the change in a letter to customers Tuesday.

Weiss said exceeding the limit would require a customer to each month: surf the web for 3,000 hours; listen to 30,000 songs that are 4 minutes long each, and watch 140 two-hour HD movies, among other things.
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Cable TV/Internet Providers

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