How much do you pay for cable/sat in your area, what features do you have

[Disnewbie76]

I had a comcast rep show up at my door...so I put on my AT&T uverse shirt since I install U-verse for AT&T and answered the door...it was HILARIOUS! He started stuttering and actually said..."uh...i am not sure what to say in this situation".... ha ha ha ha But anyway, I do work for AT&T and it is a very good product they have. A ton of features and compared to Comcast, dish, and direct tv its very competitively priced. Unfortunately, in the part of town where I live, it is not available....I wish it was because I would get a 25% discount.

 

[semo233]

I am ashamed to say we have been paying $123 a month for cable through Charter. I hate it and I hate Charter but my DH kept making a fuss about me cancelling it. .

I HATE CHARTER TOO!! Somehow, they have kept all other cable companies out of our town!!! I don't want to go to a satellite, but as soon as another option opens up, I will be cancelling Charter faster than they can ask WHY?

 

[Ashley Kees]

No cable here. We got rid of it 7 years ago and haven't looked back. We have rabbit ears on both our TVs and watch broadcast when we do watch TV. Cost is FREE!!!


We watch NBC, CBS, UPN, CW, ABC, PBS, Ion, Ion Life (free digital home improvement and life channel), Qubo (free digital 24 hours kids channel), MyNetworkTV (lots of great old reruns), and a few of the Spanish language channels.

I bought an S-cable and an S-cable converter at Radio Shack for $25 and a $3 AV cable at Big Lots and hook up the computer to the TV (very easy, easy enough for my 6 year old to do). We stream lots of tv shows directly from the channel's website or from Hulu that way.

We also pay $9 a month for Netflix for the unlimited monthly one at a time and unlimited free streaming video. I am told there is a way to stream Netflix through a Wii, but we don't have one so I am not sure.

We are able to get up to 15 DVDs and Videos through our local library at a time, and they have a lot. Plus there is streaming childrens shows available through the library website free.

We also have a decent family DVD library thanks to garage sales, Half Price Books, Movie Trading Company and gifts from family.

To entertain ourselves in lieu of TV, we got on nature walks, play board games, sew, do art projects, and have memberships to the art museum, the childrens/nature/science museum, and the zoo. All three memberships together cost less than the cable did for the year.

We were paying $65 a month 7 years ago for cable. That paid for our Disney trip last year, with $2k left over. Something to think about.

As far as the "bundles" are concerned, the phone/cable companies want you to believe you can't get a better deal. You can, you just have to get ugly with them. We cut our home phone service down to $15/month local and emergency only and our DSL is $40 a month. That's including the massive taxes they add on. Once Verizon realized I was going to cancel all service with them if they didn't do what I wanted, they offered basic packages in a hurry!

 

[blondietink]

There is no cable service at all where I live. We have had satellite service for over 20 years ... first Primestar and now Directv. We pay $72.00 per month for HD DVR package and we get like 200 channels total with 2 hookups. We have satellite internet (can't stand dial-up) which costs $50.00 per month. We live in a rural area so we don't go out very much at all.

My parents who lives 3 miles away do have cable service (go figure), and they pay $55.00 per month for basic cable! They don't even get a shopping channel. We love satellite!

 

[mamalle]

we pay close to $90 per month to comcast for cable/internet.. I think it goes down $5.00 in august when the sports package is included.. we have dvr and HD on ours.. I have to pay for basic cable thru the association that includes HBO to a tune of $70 per quarter..

we keep basic phone service thru at&t for $35 per month. I only keep caller Id now..

 

[sherry7]

Personally, I could easily live without cable TV. I really only like about 3 or 4 shows, and I could watch those online if needed. DS (19) watches very little TV either, so it probably wouldn't bother him much, except he does watch all of the Steelers games. On the other hand, DH watches a fair amount of TV...there's no way he could live without it.

We can't get any channels without cable, so it's a must in our area. I have the cheapest package available through Armstrong...$49 a month for about 60-70 channels. I think that's a total rip-off, since people in other areas get the same thing for $20 or less. Mainly, it all depends on whether there are competing cable companies in the area. I thought about going with one of the satellite/dish companies, but they charge extra for each TV. We have 4 TV's in the house, so that would make the bill a lot higher. Plus, from what I've heard from my neighbors, the reliability is bad. I think my cable is a rip-off, but in over 15 years time, I've only lost service for a few hours total.

My DSL is separate...$29.99 through Verizon. The cable company charges about the same for that, but the speed is slower. I also have Tivo, which I pay $13 a month for. I've thought about dropping that, but I really, really like it.

If Verizon ever puts FIOS in my town, I'll be all over that. I'm an employee, so I would get a nice discount on it.

 

[mamalle]

what is the VIOS? dh mentioned it. I do think its here and he does get a govt discount.. thanks

 

[sherry7]

what is the VIOS? dh mentioned it. I do think its here and he does get a govt discount.. thanks

Hard to explain in a few words, but it's advanced TV service, and very high speed internet.

http://www22.verizon.com/residentia...TV01&PromoSrcCode=V&POEId=VU1MS&CMP=DMC-FTV01

 

[JB2K]

Roughly $140 a month on AT&T U-verse - their equivalent of Verizon's FiOS which gets me:

• 200-channel package (non-premium channels)
• Over 100 HD channels (I have a large HD set)
• High-speed internet (speed is equivalent to the $60 package you get from the local cable co.)
• House phone service with no charges for long distance/extras
• 2 receivers with full DVR service available to both TV's

I know to some it may sound like a lot to some of you, but it's a lot less than what the incumbent (and bankrupt!) CATV company (Charter Communications) would charge. Packages can be tailored to your specific needs for much less, if need be.

To my understanding, U-verse is only available in certain AT&T (former SBC/BellSouth) service areas.

 

[JB2K]

I am told there is a way to stream Netflix through a Wii, but we don't have one so I am not sure.

Afraid not - it's the Xbox360 that allows Netflix streaming.

 

[DISdreamin']

We have a local small provider; we pay 111.07 a month for HD ( a few channels) digital cable, DVR and cable Internet ( which has a download cap). I think it is too much! We live right on the border to Time Warner customers ( I wish we could get them). I am not sure if this high compared to others; we live in a very rural area in Upstate NY.

Trust me when I tell you Time Warner isn't "All That".

We pay $155 a month for cable (no premium channels whatsoever) plus phone, internet and security. I just got this DOWN from $180! I called and complained, and after they agreed to lowering the rate for a year, I got a piece of paper with the very next bill saying security cost was going up the very next month. Oy!