Questions by newbie for TV veterans

[The Mountaineer]

As some of you already know, Paula bought a home across the street from Silver Lake golf course because we fell in love with the place after two visits, including 3 months to start this year.

There are so many things to consider, particularly when you're in Ohio right now in our other home. So, those among you who have the knowledge through experience:

1. What do you recommend if you want speedy, reliable Internet service? Who are the good guys and the bad guys, in your experience?

2. Can someone provide a list of providers for Internet service, via cable or otherwise? Which ones are at the top, which are at the bottom?

3. How do you handle the modem and wifi router situation at your house. At our Ohio home, we have Time Warner Cable, which has its problems, but mostly after several service calls they get it right.

When we rented along Silver Lake's No. 2 fairway, we brought our Roku and wifi router with us, plugged it in and it worked fine. But now that we have a home in The Villages, we want a permanent setup for streaming video and wifi router.

I know this I a lot to ask in one blast, but what guidance you can give uswill be appreciated. And we promise to be good neighbors. No late, loud parties. No orgies. But I can't promise that I'll let you beat me on the golf course. My Mountaineer pride won't allow that.

:duck::shocked::icon_twisted:

[Cedwards38]

I think the largest provider of internet services in The Villages is Comcast. I've used them since 2012 and have had no problems, though some have. I'm guessing that there is the potential for problems with any provider. I use a Linksys router and get wifi all over my house. I also use an Apple TV device, similar to Roku, and it works well with my system.

[mgjim]

I have Comcast service and am reasonably satisfied. I purchased my own internet modem/wifi-router. It will probably pay for itself in about a year or so.

I tried streaming Sling TV over my Roku for several months, thinking I'd be able to save some money while getting the cable channels I watch the most, but I found the service to be a little unreliable so I'm going back to a Comcast/Xfinity package.

I also recommend that you contact Tom at TheVillagesAV.com (http://thevillagesav.com)...he'll give you the best advice given his experience and can also set you up with everything you need if you are uncomfortable doing it yourself.

Good luck!

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Comcast is generally considered to have the best reception and faster internet in this area. some to the south love Brighthouse, but it is not available in the historic district.

I have Comcast and love the programming, reception and internet speed. Dealing with the company, customer service and billing is another matter all together. They are absolutely horrendous to deal with. One hand has no idea what the other is doing. The customer service people often don't even know about various packages they are offering. You might find you bill increasing for no reason and they don't want to explain it to you.

In spite of all this, I will continue with Comcast unless something better comes along.

I have heard from many that have satellite dish, either DISH or Direct TV and the opinions are mixed at best. Most will admit that the internet from these providers is very slow. Some say that they lose their signal for long periods of time when it rains. Others say that the signal only goes out during very bad storms and is only out for a short time. I have heard enough negative to keep me away in spite of my frustration in dealing with Comcast.

Just my opinion.

[surgees]

I think the largest provider of internet services in The Villages is Comcast. I've used them since 2012 and have had no problems, though some have. I'm guessing that there is the potential for problems with any provider. I use a Linksys router and get wifi all over my house. I also use an Apple TV device, similar to Roku, and it works well with my system.

:agree:

I agree with those who have commented on Comcast. In fact, we are in a similar situation... we currently live in western PA and are moving to TV next week.

We called Comcast and took advantage of the new EDGE Moving service. They were able to terminate our PA service, schedule the install in TV, kept our current level of access (triple play) and were able to increase our internet speed to 150 mb... they also added the "Sports Package"... all for around $50/month less that what we were paying in PA. All completed with one simple phone call.

We'll see how it all comes together when we arrive, but overall I have been extremely satisfied with Comcast and am hoping that will be our experience as we settle into TV.

BTW: Tom at Villages Audio/Video receives a LOT of very positive posts on TOTV... we plan to contact him for additional TV related projects.

Good luck and welcome to "the bubble"... :welcome:

[Wavy Chips]

As others have posted, Comcast has the best technology, but the worst customer service, so pick your poison! We have had Comcast since Nov and this month is the first month with a correct bill . . . .

Check some of the other threads about this topic and find the phone number / email address for Debbie Brainard at Comcast. She is and SVP and can resolve any issues. Good luck, and welcome!

[JoMar]

I believe your choices are limited in the Historical District so the providers will determine what you can get.

[John_W]

Century Link should be available, in fact I believe they are considered the official phone company. We live north of 466A and south of 466 and have had Century Link for internet and phone since July 2011, our bill has never changed and we've only had one internet outage.

The outage occured about a month ago and a repairman came that day. Within 5 minutes he had fixed the problem. He said lightning must of struck nearby a couple of days earlier (which it had) and had followed the phone line into the house. Century Link puts a backup battery in the garage so in case of a power failure your phone and internet will continue to work. Lightning took out the battery but the system managed to work for a couple of days until it failed. He put in a new battery and the system worked fine.

Our telephone has unlimited long distance, caller ID and call block (very important in Florida). Our internet is 10 mpbs and together with the phone they run $59.99 per month and has never changed in four years. We can get up to 40 mpbs if necessary, and without a telephone, I believe that would be about $45 a month, but we have no problem looking at Youtube videos or watching Netflix movies. These prices do not include tax which is high in Florida. We have no modem, the system we have is fiber optic and we plug our computer or router directly into a phone jack for the internet and a second phone jack is for the telephone.

[Fredwms]

Century Link should be available, in fact I believe they are considered the official phone company. We live north of 466A and south of 466 and have had Century Link for internet and phone since July 2011, our bill has never changed and we've only had one internet outage.

The outage occured about a month ago and a repairman came that day. Within 5 minutes he had fixed the problem. He said lightning must of struck nearby a couple of days earlier (which it had) and had followed the phone line into the house. Century Link puts a backup battery in the garage so in case of a power failure your phone and internet will continue to work. Lightning took out the battery but the system managed to work for a couple of days until it failed. He put in a new battery and the system worked fine.

Our telephone has unlimited long distance, caller ID and call block (very important in Florida). Our internet is 10 mpbs and together with the phone they run $59.99 per month and has never changed in four years. We can get up to 40 mpbs if necessary, and without a telephone, I believe that would be about $45 a month, but we have no problem looking at Youtube videos or watching Netflix movies. These prices do not include tax which is high in Florida. We have no modem, the system we have is fiber optic and we plug our computer or router directly into a phone jack for the internet and a second phone jack is for the telephone.

What do you do for TV service? Comcast, Direct TV or Dish network? I now use Verizon Fios in California but I understand it is not available in The Villages.

[John_W]

What do you do for TV service? Comcast, Direct TV or Dish network? I now use Verizon Fios in California but I understand it is not available in The Villages.

There is no Verizon here, we have Directv, we had them up north and brought our boxes to Florida. We had switched from Comcast to Directv in 2008 because one weekend Comcast went out for 3 days and we never could find out any info. Other than the price, I love Directv. We have the Premier Package, which means we get every channel and we get the NFL Sunday Ticket every year we've been year since 2011. If you're a sports fan, I mean a real sports fan that can't stand watching sports in a bar because other people are there, then you're like me. If you don't mind sports bars, then get Comcast for TV and watch football at Gators Dockside in SS and save yourside $100 a month. I figured I would spend that much eating out four weekends a month.

[Fredwms]

There is no Verizon here, we have Directv, we had them up north and brought our boxes to Florida. We had switched from Comcast to Directv in 2008 because one weekend Comcast went out for 3 days and we never could find out any info. Other than the price, I love Directv. We have the Premier Package, which means we get every channel and we get the NFL Sunday Ticket every year we've been year since 2011. If you're a sports fan, I mean a real sports fan that can't stand watching sports in a bar because other people are there, then you're like me. If you don't mind sports bars, then get Comcast for TV and watch football at Gators Dockside in SS and save yourside $100 a month. I figured I would spend that much eating out four weekends a month.

Curious what you pay for Direct TV? We have a bundle with Verizon now that includes TV, internet and telephone. We have our own router. We pay $175 a month for all three in California. Our TV package gets most channels excluding HBO, Showtime, etc. We do get all the ESPN channels for sports.

[The Mountaineer]

Gee, thanks, guys.

Particularly for the tip about Tom at Villages Audio/Video. I hadn't read about him before.

See you on the Silver Lake golf course, my "home" course, and as many others as I can get to. I played 7 executive courses in January-March rental visit, but will get in many more, with the help of a former co-worker, since we'll be staying about half the year now that Paula is an owner and we won't be renting, which isn't cheap in The Villages.

[John_W]

Curious what you pay for Direct TV? We have a bundle with Verizon now that includes TV, internet and telephone. We have our own router. We pay $175 a month for all three in California. Our TV package gets most channels excluding HBO, Showtime, etc. We do get all the ESPN channels for sports.

I have my own router as well since I have a computer and a smart TV, but no modem with Century Link, it's fiber optic. I forgot earlier to say that Century Link has Prism TV, which is similar to Verizon Fios. My golfing partner has it and likes except it doesn't have NBA Channel (which I don't care about). You can bundle that with Century Link internet and phone.

Directv gets expensive when you add everything. HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, TMC, Encore and Sony, MGM, Sundance and a few others gives us about 55 HD commercial free movie channels. Since we went with Premier I haven't played a DVD or rented at Red Box. Our Geni Box will hold 1,000 hours of HD recording, I have so many movies and shows recorded I can't watch everything. Tonight we watched Chicago and REO Speedwagon live together in HD from Red Rocks on the Axs Channel (used to be HDNet). It was broadcast last Sunday and we recorded it.

I couldn't really tell you the price because NFL Sunday Ticket went on this month, that $53 a month for 6 months. However, I called and told them to leave it off our bill, that it was too expensive, so they cut it down to about $10 a month. I think our Premier without NFL is about $150, but tax on our bill in Florida is about $25 a month. Directv is good about working with long term customers. We also have the monthly maintenance, the HD Tier, Geni Box and a slave Geni Box, Sports Package which gives you all those channels in the 600 and 700 range unless there is a game, and then it's blacked out unless you buy MLB or NHL or what the game is.

Directv does say you can bundle with Century Link and save $5 a month, big deal. I've called Century Link twice to have it done, and both times it never happened, so I get a bill for internet & phone from Century Link and a bill from Directv, no problem.