Ditching my cable provider - need advice re: new service selection

[Antonia]

I am getting rid of my cable. The price is over $225 per month!!! This includes cable tv, DVR box, phone service and internet. The internet is slow!! Our DVR box is pitiful. We had a much nicer one, but they switched to a different box. Our phone goes out if the power goes out. And it is too expensive for what we are getting.

Checked into DISH Network. $44.95 for a duoDVR box and the Classic bronze pkg. Will still need to get telephone service from AT&T and probably internet service from AT&T too.

Or go with AT&T for $145 and get DirectTV, phone service and a PC card for wireless internet. Will this PC card work well in an area where our cell phones don't work all that well??? They do not have DSL in our area yet.

What would you do???

 

[Jestocost]

It sounds to me like your big problem will be Internet service. The PC card probably requires that your area be built out for high-speed service and if you have bad cell service, that's not likely. Likewise, if you don't have DSL available I don't know what AT&T could offer other than a PC card or satellite-based service, which has some inherent limitations.

 

[Antonia]

Our cell service is spotty. We can't always carry on a decent conversation without a lot of breaking up on the phone.

I want the best tv service. Would that be DirecTV or DISH network??? DH is a sports/movie watcher.

I thought of doing a combination of DISH with AT&T phone and PC card.

 

[ElizK]

Do you have AT&T U-verse or Verizon Vios available were you are? Here they package all the services you're talking about for about $100.00 per month.

 

[mamacatnv]

We just switched everything but our cells to AT&T Uvers (Phones, internet and cable) Wr were with DISH we liked Dish but hated our internet service thru our local phone company. We didn't want to go to our local cable company and this seemed like a good option.

With the excepting of a few things that are inconvenient and will just take some getting used to. Everything has to go thru the master box and you cannot pause/rewind/record or delete from the tv's in any other area of the house, also the guides and the recording menus are not as informative as Dish's were. We have more channels, excellent internet service and when we have storms our tv does not get interrupted like it used to when we had Dish all this for a much cheaper price.

 

[Antonia]

I have now pretty much ruled out going with the AT&T package because I have decided the PC card for internet will not work out here since my cell phone is so sporadic out here. "Out here" - sounds like I am somewhere real remote -- LOL - - really just a rural area of South Carolina.

I have not heard good things about DISH satellite internet. I am tired of my Charter cable telephone not working during power outages. So I think this is what I am going to do:

Go with DISHNetwork for my television.
Go with AT&T for a phone line with just call waiting and caller ID.
Keep my Charter cable internet because even though we have not been all that impressed with Charter, it is the only reliable internet we can get out here in the sticks!

I don't really want to have 3 services, but I can't get all I want from just one without making sacrifices in service or cost.

 

[DrCavin]

Many cable companies will charge you more for just internet service if you dont have cable.

 

[hercamore]

I can't help you with your decision, but I wanted to mention we also have Charter internet, phone, cable package. For the phone connection, our box has a battery backup so the phone does not go out during power outages.

You have to request such a box from Charter, and the battery cost is about about $40.

Good luck. We pay about $140 month incuding all the fees and taxes.


herc

 

[Chuck S]

I live in a rural area just outside our county seat. I have basic cable (Time-Warner) and their mid-speed internet for $45 per month, but the only non-local channels we receive are TBS and WGN There is no DSL option here, and friends that have satellite internet service say it is abysmal.

My mid-priced internet is fast and clear enough to support Vonage VoIP phone service for about $30 per month with unlimited long distance and no minutes limit. I purchased an interruptible power supply (about $50) for the modem and phone interface, so even in a power failure, if the cable connection is available, the phone works.

Unfortunately, if you want the best internet service and all the cable channels, and a land-line type phone, all of the options, by the time you add taxes and fees, seem to be pretty comparable in price, unless your cable company offers a good bundle price. Time Warner has pretty good bundle pricing, but it is more services than I really need, so I chose the cheaper unbundled options.