Guess I'll cut cable TV - $$$$

[left-of-center2012]

My Comcast cable just went up $30 a month with no explanation.
They told me when I called to ask, "That's the current rate for your plan".

I have basic internet and very basic cable TV.
Price went from $97 a month to $127.

If I keep the internet (which I will) it'll be about $60 a month.

I may add that DirecTV NOW for $40.
It'll give me 65 channels.

[Rorey]

1. Secret deals

It used to be that when you called and threatened to quit, they'd come up with a wonderful deal. The last time I did that their "deal" came with a contract. We're down to basic television now too. and I'd like to cut that cord completely, but we can't seem to bring in much with an antenna.

[AldoLeopold]

2. Dude

I haven't had cable in a decade. Comon.

[left-of-center2012]

13. Hmm - you have disappeared from DU ?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I haven't had TV, cable, or otherwise,

in a decade myself.

You'd be surprised at how much content is on line.

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. We cut the cord

about 6 months ago. Went with Youtube TV for $40 a month, which is great except I miss the Food Channel.

Comcast sucks.

[duforsure]

5. Been thinking about cutting it too

After getting new smart tv's with built in Roku. Haven't convinced the wife just yet, but looking into it.

[beachbum bob]

6. find the cordcutters forum in

reddit, much info there

[Raven]

7. I have Directvnow and I love it!

I have the basic package for $35/mo which includes all the channels I need.

[left-of-center2012]

8. Was it difficult to install and set up?

i have a very basic (not Smart) TV.

[Raven]

9. Not really. I had to get ROKU to install

on my TV. I got that free because Directvnow had a deal at the time. Directvnnow has an on line website where you can get help.

[left-of-center2012]

11. Could I watch it just on my laptop?

Thinking of doing that.

[Bengus81]

10. You didn't have one of those phony six month "deals" did you?

COX plays that BS to a tee,in fact you'd be hard pressed to look on their web site and see a REAL price for any of their services--its's all about packages that run out in 90 days,120 days,180 days.

I'm going to cancel cable soon because it SUCKS. Paying over 40.00 per month for the most basic TV package and watching HOURS of commercials per day. Where my home is I can get 20-25 channels free with an outside antenna. Most of my watching is streaming video anyway.

Watch though,COX has already put data limits on my HSI streaming (after they shoved it down peoples throats to get HSI for years) and the price,unless the Gov gets involved will skyrocket especially with net neutrality thrown out the window.

[JDC]

12. I have Directv Now. Watch your Comcast IP plan as it is probabaly rate limited at 1024G p/ mo

and the HD streaming adds up fairly quickly.

[left-of-center2012]

14. Comcast tells me now ...

If I do not go with the $127 for cable TV and internet,
I'll have to pay $99 a month just for the internet.

I've been paying $97 for both.

They offered me lower internet and the most basic cable (local channels, which is what I now have)
for $100 if I commit to 2 years. $250 penalty for early termination.

I could switch to Centurylink,
but I'd have to pay for a phone line at $40 a month plus $$ for the internet,
but I do not need/use a landline.

[hunter]

15. An inexpensive DSL connection and minimum Netflix subscription works for us.

Less than $50 a month.

No cable, no satellite, no broadcast television, and best of all, no commercials!

Between Netflix, Redbox, and DVDs I find in thrift stores, there's always something on television worth watching.

I dumped Comcast many years ago when they raised their rates to $49.

I started thinking, "Wait a minute, I pay people to take garbage out of my house, not deliver it..."

[left-of-center2012]

16. For a DSL connection I'd need a phone line

That alone is $40 a month where I live.

[hunter]

17. Not here in California. There's no phone service required if you can find a local provider.

AT&T maintains the copper wire pair to my house for some fraction of my internet service fees, but they are not my internet service provider.

When I first got internet service in this house (beyond pokey dialup that never approached 56kbit/s) neither Comcast nor Pacific Bell offered consumer level internet service. At best Pacific Bell call center people would bounce you up to their business services offering expensive fractional trunk or ISDN lines, but mostly they hadn't a clue. Internet? What's that? Huh?

I'm probably just lucky to live in an area where higher speed Internet Services were established before the phone and cable companies could monopolize them.

My wife's parents live in a rural place where AT&T wireless or satellite is the only option. They have AT&T wireless. A single Microsoft Windows update can blow out their data limits for the month, and even if they did pay for higher data limits, it's still unlikely Netflix would work.

My parents live in another place, like ours, that enjoys independent internet services, even though it's fairly rural.

We could have inexpensive high speed internet service for everyone in the U.S.A. if we wanted it.

Too bad the telcoms own our politicians.

[left-of-center2012]

18. Yes, things are different in CA

My ex lives in San Diego and has cheap,
phone life line,
whatever.

[hunter]

19. I'd try pushing the phone company for a bare-bones DSL only line...

... with no "Plain Old Telephone Service."

They do have the technology.

Maybe if enough people did this they'd listen.

Our AT&T service reps claim to have DSL only service, bring your own modem, but it seems to be bait-and-switch operation for their u-verse and business services. I'm quite content to let our independent internet service provider deal with that AT&T bullshit.

I've had to deal with AT&T in commercial settings and its been madness. My sister-in-law and daughter-in-law have experienced similar frustration in their work. However, once you get the guys in the trucks and hardhats out they tend to be mensches, no complaints about them. They'll make it work. I had a nice friendly interaction with an AT&T service guy just last week and he did make it work, up on a ladder just below an 8 kV power line, getting scolded by the squirrels.

On a side note, AT&T and Comcast, u-verse and xfinity, send my wife and I incredible amounts of junk mail and I haven't yet discovered any way to make it stop.