Beware of Cable prices going up in 2025

[jrref]

Just an FYI, almost all cable companies are increasing their rates this month for numerous reasons for 2025. Some will increase certain fees so even if you have a "deal" for a specific period of time, your cost might still increase.

So, make sure you check your cable bill for January and February to see if there are any increases and that your bill is correct.

If you live in an area where you can get Quantum Fiber, the $35/month for bi-directional, dedicated link 1Gbs service is still available but they changed the wording on the web site this morning indicating it won't be available too much longer. If you are thinking of making the change, now is the time to think about it.

[Kenswing]

Say it isn’t so. Cable rates going up is about as predictable as the sun coming up. :1rotfl:

[jrref]

Say it isn’t so. Cable rates going up is about as predictable as the sun coming up. :1rotfl:

Right LOL but these cable companies are "taking a beating" from the competition. Whatever "deals" they are offering are not the same as we usually expect anymore.

[retired guy]

The Quantum offer you reference must be according to address. We live in Glenbrook, that offer isn't available. Only 500mb ( $50), 940mb ( $75 ) & 2 G ( $90 ) we already have the 500.
Would be great to get 2x as much for less.

[jrref]

The Quantum offer you reference must be according to address. We live in Glenbrook, that offer isn't available. Only 500mb ( $50), 940mb ( $75 ) & 2 G ( $90 ) we already have the 500.
Would be great to get 2x as much for less.

Thanks for this information. I went over to Quantum’s website and read some of the fine print and you’re correct. The offer is dependent on what area you live in. Also, I had a friend just called me who lives in Dunedin and for some reason he doesn’t qualify either. What’s also very interesting is in your case and my friend’s case where you can’t get the $35 per month offer Quantum is offering their new 2 GBs speed. It’s interesting how things changed so quickly.

[CarlR33]

The Antenna is not raising its fees, LOL!

[ThirdOfFive]

The Antenna is not raising its fees, LOL!
Good point.

[opinionist]

I noticed how Xfinity plays a game.
Raise the prices until people complain and offer them a "special."
Repeat every six months until they are tired of the game and pay the bill.

[margaretmattson]

We dropped cable service years ago. It is not necessary if you have wifi.

[Rocksnap]

The Quantum offer you reference must be according to address. We live in Glenbrook, that offer isn't available. Only 500mb ( $50), 940mb ( $75 ) & 2 G ( $90 ) we already have the 500.
Would be great to get 2x as much for less.
FYI - 100 mbps is serious overkill for 99.9% of us. Paying for anything more is just paying the cable company for something you will never use!
We can easily run 2 tv’s, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones at the same time without issue. And our visiting graphic artist daughter sending/receiving very large data files all day. Won’t ever come close to using up our bandwidth with just our 100 mbps service.
Think of it this way. There’s a reason our home water & gas line are the small size they are. To put anything bigger would just be major overkill.
So yes, 100 mbps is more than enough for a household. Anything more and you are just wasting your money to the cable company.

[biker1]

Yes, I agree. Most people probably don't have a good feel for their actual requirements. We have a nominal 200 megabits per second up and down because that was the lowest tier of service from QuantumFiber. This is probably 10x more than we need. Before I retired, I routinely moved large tarballs around and higher bandwidth would reduce the time. Now, our largest bandwidth consumer is video streaming at about 5 megabits per second per stream for 1080p and about 20 megabits per second per stream for 2160p (aka 4K). There isn't a lot of 4K material out there. e-mail and web browsing consume hardly any bandwidth. In the past, we had no issues with 2 Netflix 1080p streams with a nominal 10 megabits per second of download bandwidth.

FYI - 100 mbps is serious overkill for 99.9% of us. Paying for anything more is just paying the cable company for something you will never use!
We can easily run 2 tv’s, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones at the same time without issue. And our visiting graphic artist daughter sending/receiving very large data files all day. Won’t ever come close to using up our bandwidth with just our 100 mbps service.
Think of it this way. There’s a reason our home water & gas line are the small size they are. To put anything bigger would just be major overkill.
So yes, 100 mbps is more than enough for a household. Anything more and you are just wasting your money to the cable company.

[coleprice]

I installed a "SuperBox" on my Smart TV and have access to over 1,700 channels! You can buy a SuperBox on-line for about $200 and there are NO MONTHLY FEES. SuperBox streams TV off of the internet. It takes a few minutes to install, then you can cut your costs by cancelling cable or satellite TV.

[ithos]

Can the "Super Box" record programming so that you can watch your shows at your leisure? If so, please provide a link.

[Nana2Teddy]

We dropped cable service years ago. It is not necessary if you have wifi.

You have to have an internet service to get WiFi, which is what the cable companies provide. We cut the cord many years ago and only use streaming services for TV now, but we still need an internet provider to provide WiFi, which for us is Spectrum at $55/month.

[JRcorvette]

Soon Star Link will be affordable and fast and everyone can tell the Cable Companies where to go!

[Bill14564]

You have to have an internet service to get WiFi, which is what the cable companies provide. We cut the cord many years ago and only use streaming services for TV now, but we still need an internet provider to provide WiFi, which for us is Spectrum at $55/month.

T-Mobile offers a non-cable, internet solution that works well for me. I believe Verizon and AT&T have similar plans.

Quantum fiber might be the only service that has lines run to homes exclusively for internet service.

Other companies with cable or fiber to your home (Verizon, Comcast/Xfinity, Spectrum) installed those lines to provide cable TV and now also provide internet.

[biker1]

Yes, competition is good as it may help to keep prices lower. We now have 6 choices for internet access. We have been happy with CenturyLink/QuantumFiber for almost 11 years but I would not hesitate to switch if they cease to be a good value.

T-Mobile offers a non-cable, internet solution that works well for me. I believe Verizon and AT&T have similar plans.

Quantum fiber might be the only service that has lines run to homes exclusively for internet service.

Other companies with cable or fiber to your home (Verizon, Comcast/Xfinity, Spectrum) installed those lines to provide cable TV and now also provide internet.

[LarryL]

I installed a "SuperBox" on my Smart TV and have access to over 1,700 channels! You can buy a SuperBox on-line for about $200 and there are NO MONTHLY FEES. SuperBox streams TV off of the internet. It takes a few minutes to install, then you can cut your costs by cancelling cable or satellite TV.

Do you need a seperate box for each TV, Computer, etc? What phione service do you use?

[Bill14564]

Do you need a seperate box for each TV, Computer, etc? What phione service do you use?

Since it connects to your TV via a HDMI cable it looks like you need a separate box for each TV.

There is no phone needed for Superbox but perhaps you are asking what phone service to use if you dump your current provider

I personally wouldn't buy this:
- There are FCC rules about where a local station may be broadcast which is why you can only get local stations from your current area on legitimate rebroadcast services (cable, YTTV, HuluLive). This service claims to show you all local stations.

- Networks charge a fee to services that rebroadcast them which is why legitimate services costs so much and why occasionally local stations are taken down during fee negotiations. This service claims to provide networks at no cost.

- Pirating content is illegal. This service states in their FAQ: "You generally won’t face legal problems unless ....." I would prefer a service where I will NEVER face legal problems unless ....

[margaretmattson]

You have to have an internet service to get WiFi, which is what the cable companies provide. We cut the cord many years ago and only use streaming services for TV now, but we still need an internet provider to provide WiFi, which for us is Spectrum at $55/month.I know some who pay for cable from one company and wifi from another. My sister who is 70 recently learned this was not necessary. My young grandkids use their cell phones for wifi. They have no cable or wifi in their homes.

[margaretmattson]

You have to have an internet service to get WiFi, which is what the cable companies provide. We cut the cord many years ago and only use streaming services for TV now, but we still need an internet provider to provide WiFi, which for us is Spectrum at $55/month.I know some who pay for cable from one company and wifi from another. My sister who is 70 recently learned this was not necessary. My young grandkids use their cell phones for wifi. They have no additional cable or wifi in their homes.