Starting Television & Internet Service

[Grand Poobah]

Anyone north of 466A can not get BrightHouse. Anyone south of 466A, in my opinion, BrightHouse should be the first choice.

For the rest of us the choices are:

DISH - Satellite
DIRECTV - Satellite
COMCAST - Cable
CENTURYLINK - Phone Co

If your #1 need is the best option in Internet, Comcast is your choice. Despite their nationwide bad press, locally so far, the operation could not be better.

Comcast has something others might have but I'm not aware of it and that is - I'm not on contract. Yes I pay more ($10 a month) but the freedom, at least for now, is easily worth the $10.

DIRECTV ties their Internet in with I think CenturyLink - not a good choice in my opinion.

With the years of nationwide bad press for DISH - I can't imagine anyone considering them.

CenturyLink tried to tell me their 10 Mbps DSL service was the equivalent of 40 to 50 Mbps of cable which made me laugh.

I can't imagine anyone where the 'phone' is their primary consideration. So it would either be Internet or Television.

My search centered on Internet but I ended up with, after talking with both CenturyLink & DirecTV, in my opinion, as good a television package as I would have with the other services.

Just my input for those that have yet to go thru this.

[JoMar]

Not sure what you don't like about their set top boxes or their routers? You might want to consider putting some meat on your negative comments so someone can challenge your assumptions. Just stating that Comcast has great stuff and then disclose you are a dealer diminishes credibility.

[T-325]

Up here in Boston... I just shifted from Verizon Fios to Comcast Infinity (HBO Blast package) and feel the picture quality is better and the internet speed is faster.

Price is pretty good also. It is the cost of hardware DVRs etc that add up.

OOMA for telephone service is excellent..just have to set it up correctly (between the cable modem and router)

[Hancle704]

I'm north of CR 466 and sticking with Centurylink Prism Bundle (Telephone, Internet and TV) Good service and a much lower price than what I was paying Comcast for a similar bundle.

[JoMar]

Brighthouse equipment is just outdated. It's not a secret. If you have Brighthouse and are happy with their equipment, great. Just don't look to hard at the latest offerings from DirectTV, Dish or Comcast as you will surely be disappointed.

As an AV dealer, I'm constantly being bombarded with calls and emails from all these providers wanting me to sell there products. I chose to partner with Comcast despite there very bad customer service reputation because I believe they have the best products available.

Reminds me of the old expression " Quality, Service and Price. Pick two"

BTW, I don't make a living selling Comcast products. I do it to ease the pain for new subscribers and to offer another option for antenna customers. It's a value added service for my audio video customers.

When we rented here last year the landlord had Comcast. During the three months we rented the head end lost two channels on a recurring basis, the set top box was replaced twice and I could only record two shows. That may have changed, but Brighthouse has a box that will record up to 7 channels or 6 and watch one. I can program through an app and watch what I programmed on my phone or tablet anywhere in the Country. We have been here almost a year and have not had any issue so I still don't understand....exactly what does Comcast, Dish and Direct TV hardware/software offer that makes them superior and Brighthouse stuff out dated.

[Allegiance]

I laugh at the commercials that brag that their product can record 6 programs at the same time verses the others four. Shoot me if I needed to watch 7 things that were all on at the same time!

[Steve & Deanna]

Brighthouse may have world class customer service but their equipment (set top boxes, modems and routers) are terrible to put it nicely. They are the worst in the industry.

Comcast may have the worst customer service on the planet but their equipment (X1 platform) is state of the art and the best currently available from ANY provider.

Pick your poison

Full disclosure : I'm a Comcast / Xfinity dealer

One thing I was told by a Comcast employee was that the equipment in FL is kind of outdated as opposed to up north. I know that for a fact as we have HD and DVR and it takes forever just to turn the television on whereas up north, it is instantaneous. That said, I find the customer service better down south than up north.

[Gordon82]

One thing I will say about Brighthouse is that there digital adapters do HD, whereas Comcast's don't. Also, Comcast is ending the ability to plug the TV directly into the wall to get basic channels. You will get free equipment for a year for those TVs, but after that you either have to start paying for the equipment (DTA or box) or stop using that TV.

[Wavy Chips]

Another cable/internet choice that may be coming to TV is WOW aka: WideOpenWest or Wowway. I posted this info a couple of months ago but have not followed up on it since I am unfortunately locked in to Comcast for another 18 months. All of these providers have good points and bad points, but we've have WOW here in Ohio for 10+ years, and the quality and pricing have been above average. Their customer service is very good. They are currently in Pinelles County and Panama City. The person at WoW that I spoke with said they were scheduled to be coming to TV "later this year". I don't know what hoops they have to jump through to make this happen, or where in TV they will provide service, but hopefully additional competition will be good for everybody. WoW's web address is WOW! Locations (http://www.wowway.com).

[Barefoot]

I don't love anything about Comcast EXCEPT for their new video bills. :shrug:

[billethkid]

Dish net work is as acceptable as Direct TV.....don't believe all you read unless you know first hand the issues.

Back home we have had Dich Net work for almost 20 years. No complaints. Competetive pricing, all digital and highly reliable.

We have Comcast here and find them to be acceptable. There are a lot of complaints....the only provider always gets them.....but very good technology and reliable....in my 11 years experience here.

[villages07]

That was true a while back but Comcast Xfinity does offer HD DTA in The Villages. Yes, HDMI equipped DTA boxes.



They also just brought out these tiny little voice activated X1 platform companion boxes. These make my life alot easier when wall mounting a TV and hiding the box behind the display.







Tom... are you saying Comcast now offers the little $3/month DTA boxes in HD? I asked a Comcast service tech about 2 weeks ago and he said they were not available yet. Has this changed? Does the store up in Summerfield carry them?



Since they will be scrambling all feeds on/about 6/23, it irks me to have to add another box and not to get HD.

[Wavy Chips]

Interesting side note: Charter Communications is in the process of buying Brighthouse Networks. Charter Communications also just announced that they will try to Buy Time Warner Cable as well. This comes after Comcast just got shot down trying to buy Time Warner. What an industry??

[Jay12345]

Comcast

[Jay12345]

I have direct tv but switching Comcast