Cable Companies

[JaniceSW]

I have a two year contract with Comcast for my bundle of TV and high speed internet.  The quality is not bad; the price is somewhat ridiculous.  When my contract is up for expiration I intend to inform them I want to see my bill at a certain price or I am going to think about Netflix, Roku, Hulu, some combination, or whatever.  I think cable companies may be starting to get the idea people are getting fed up with paying well over $100 per month for such services. We'll see...The more people start to use alternative means to watch movies and TV shows, the more large cable companies might have to offer more or charge less.

[mawhite63]

We have Suddenlink in our area. I like them very much, but we just finally cut the cord after talking about it for a few years.

We kept the internet but dropped the cable. We went with a Roku 2 and have Netflix, HBO Now and PS Vue. It costs just about the same, maybe $5 a month cheaper, but we're getting all the stations we like plus HBO which we didn't have before. I've been very happy with the Roku.

[o2bnocn]

Well I think it is a ridiculous amount to pay for cable, internet, and television. However, in my area there are a few options. There are two main cable and then a couple of satellite options. I think it's crazy that the company we are with now in my household wants to charge us $10 a month for us to have on demand per room, so it would be an extra $10 per room a month for just the on demand.

The electric in my area has a monopoly and they charge absurd amounts!!! 

[oldbuddy]

I cut the cord on cable years ago and have never looked back (even when a football game I want to see is blacked out). I have Roku with Netflix and Hulu, plus a digital antenna and they supply all the entertainment I have time to watch. I spend more time on the Internet anyway and they pay me.

[sfreeman8]

I've looked at Roku, Netflix, Hulu, DirectTV, Dish, etc. but most of those are heavy on the movie side and we don't watch movies (I love them, hubby doesn't). I watch C-Span, C-Span 2&3 all the time because C-Span 3 is mostly hearings. i can't get all three on all the above sets.

I have been thinking about taking one of the computers I have and hooking it up to the TV and watch our shows on the websites themselves. That's what my son did when he wasn't working. In fact, he gave me that computer.  The cable guy (the real nice truthful one) told me I could do that with a certain cable hooked up to the computer.   I just don't know how to hook it up and have been waiting for him since January to do it. 

[oldbuddy]

I've looked at Roku, Netflix, Hulu, DirectTV, Dish, etc. but most of those are heavy on the movie side and we don't watch movies (I love them, hubby doesn't). I watch C-Span, C-Span 2&3 all the time because C-Span 3 is mostly hearings. i can't get all three on all the above sets.

I have been thinking about taking one of the computers I have and hooking it up to the TV and watch our shows on the websites themselves. That's what my son did when he wasn't working. In fact, he gave me that computer.  The cable guy (the real nice truthful one) told me I could do that with a certain cable hooked up to the computer.   I just don't know how to hook it up and have been waiting for him since January to do it. 

The easy way is with an HDMI cable and if your computer does not have one, you can get a converter for around $30. After that it's plug and play, just select Input on your TV menu and change it to the HDMI port you plugged into. You get both Picture and Sound with no hassles. You can also get an Android Set Top Box for about $80 to save a lot of space. Make sure you get a wireless keyboard and touchpad so you can run it from the couch. I have a Roku, but I still installed a set top box for Internet access to the big screen.

[Teacher8889]

well  i hated when they try to give a great deal to you , that almost might sound good . so i use to have comcast . i did have everything , but the phone .. i told them i do not want no more deals, because they cheat you out of your money . then come january , you have this huges bill , your wondering why its so high.. because the deal that they gave you ran out , so its time to get something else , so someone in the cable company can give you another deal.. i told them i want a set price , no deals , . so comcast kept raising the price up . do now i am with direct tv ..  and i have internet with centurylink .   i just have internet only with centurylink . have not had any problems , yes the fee of the modem can be extreme , but it has everything you need for your internet . . yeah you could go to walmart an buy a cheap modem , but it won't have all the stuff your trying to get , for your internet services.     

[oldbuddy]

well  i hated when they try to give a great deal to you , that almost might sound good . so i use to have comcast . i did have everything , but the phone .. i told them i do not want no more deals, because they cheat you out of your money . then come january , you have this huges bill , your wondering why its so high.. because the deal that they gave you ran out , so its time to get something else , so someone in the cable company can give you another deal.. i told them i want a set price , no deals , . so comcast kept raising the price up . do now i am with direct tv ..  and i have internet with centurylink .   i just have internet only with centurylink . have not had any problems , yes the fee of the modem can be extreme , but it has everything you need for your internet . . yeah you could go to walmart an buy a cheap modem , but it won't have all the stuff your trying to get , for your internet services.     

More people are wising up to this game every day and Comcast is struggling to come up with enough new gimmicks to keep them on the hook. The bit one is if you want ESPN for sports, so I only watch what is on the local network and weaned myself off the big money games. I have Frontier for Internet and the modem is included in my monthly charge.

[dwiley11]

they are seeing more leave cable than new subscribers

[ivyparkgirl]

  :present:My parent's used to have *bleep* but switched to satellite direct tv because of the high prices.I love *bleep* price for internet but I hate the cable prices.  Sling tv is another option rather than netflix or hulu plus.

[vg7405]

It depends. If the service they provide is top-notch, then they have the right to charge prices (but they should still be reasonable). Where I used to live, Time Warner Cable was the predominant cable company. They offered decent services, but their prices were outrageously high. I hate monopolies.