[Malsua]

I would also like to chime in about bandwidth.

I am a networking professional by trade. I install and manage commercial routers(and a million other things) and I can tell you that 300mbit is enough to service a dozen houses, each continuously running 3 streams(llike Netflix, Hulu, etc.) for standard high definition TV. Yeah, you read that right.

Hulu uses 8mbits of bandwidth for their top tier "HULU + Live TV"
Netflix uses about 5mbits
Amazon Prime 3.5mbits
Youtube TV about 4mbits

If you bump up to 4k on any of those, you'll need around 25mbits for each stream. Remember though, you have to pay extra to get 4k on Netflix.

What this means to you? It means 50, 60, 80 mbits is PLENTY for 99% of Villagers. You both could be streaming on two TVs, your phones, tablets and browsing the internet at the same time while your nest/ring doorbells are streaming up to the cloud.

Our home in El Cortez has a 25mbit xfinity plan. We have zero issues with it short of temporary service outages.

You do need a good Cable or DSL Modem.
You do need a good router. A cheap router will make a very fast internet connection seem like garbage.

Consider your monthly bandwidth allotment. 1024GB seems like a lot but our busiest month never went over 600GB. I also upload content to Youtube, and remotely connect to servers around the world. I would prefer a bigger buffer, but it's enough. My niece has a stream running continuously when she's at home in NJ, so that plus our regular TV might push it when she visits.

More is nice, but if you're on a budget, it's just a huge waste of capital.

[Skunky1]

Century link $49 a month Internet only

[PipeDream]

Call Comcast to cancel. Eventually you will get to someone in "retention" who will offer to lower your bill. It's worth a try.

[biker1]

I know this is water under the bridge but perhaps it will help in the future. When you measure your download bandwidth, you need to do it with a hardwired connection to the router (ethernet cable). If you were doing it over Wi-Fi, the results can be misleading. Assuming you were connected with ethernet cable and there weren't any underlying issues with your computer or router, you should be able to achieve "close" (at least 80%) to the nominal download rate you contracted for. You can always eliminate the router as an issue by plugging your computer directly into the RJ-45 jack on the wall as CenturyLink gives you a dynamic IP address at the RJ-45 jack if you have their fiber-to-the-house service. In the event you cannot measure close to the contracted bandwidth, CenturyLink can run diagnostics from their facilities and then send out tech support if they can't resolve the issue over the phone. This is generally how they work. You may need to be persistent. For example, there was recently a CenturyLink issue in my neighborhood that resulted in reduced download performance during certain parts of the day. It took a couple of calls but they did diagnose some failing equipment in the field and resolved the problem.

Originally Posted by rick2071

John, Century link says up to 100mb. I did have them and they we good. But I needed the higher speed and when i was working on the computer things were very slow, so I checked the speed and. It was around 25. I called and asked them why and they stated the contract reads “up to 100” . The,-rice for what i need was to High so i went to xfinity.

[ankeny]

My 2 year contract with Comcast was up last December from pass experience I was expecting my bill to go up to $200. I started researching alternative methods and decided on Comcast high speed Internet, Hulu Plus, Netflix I already was a Amazon prime member this give me everything I wanted on TV including DVR which was a must. The price of these option came in at just under $100 per month. Armed with this information I went to Comcast store on 466 across from Home Depot to discuss options. In the end I decided to stay with Comcast on a 2 year contract for $110.00. In addition I changed my wireless plan from ATT which ran $90 to Comcast wireless $13 I do own my phones. Everybody is different but for me I felt this was the best options at least for the next 2 years.

Note: I did a 30 day trial 30 of Hulu Plus to make sure it would give me everything I wanted I made my decision.

[biker1]

You may want to call CenturyLink directly and verify the service that is available. If you can only get 15 megabits per second download then it would appear you are in an area still serviced by the older DSL protocol over copper wires, as opposed to other areas that are serviced with fiber-to-the-house. Regardless, 15 megabits per second is more than enough for 1080p Hi-Def with Netflix as it only consumes 3-5 megabits per second of bandwidth. Also, Netflix is adaptive and will reduce the resolution of the video if it detects buffering caused by reduced bandwidth. However, this should not be an issue for you. You probably would not have enough bandwidth for 2160p (aka 4K ) as it generally consumes 15-20 megabits per second of bandwidth. This isn't really an issue, IMO, because there isn't a lot of 4K material, you need a 4K TV and streaming hardware that supports 4K, and the differences between 1080p and 4K are small.

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing

I’ve just clicked on your link and got a page offering UP TO 100 Mbps for $50 a month, for life, as you said. That sounds great. But it asked me to type in my address in The Villages for more information about the speed, and I got a page saying that at that address, I would only get 15 Mbps. Is that what you are actually getting? Is that enough for live streaming Netflix without delays?

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by PipeDream

Call Comcast to cancel. Eventually you will get to someone in "retention" who will offer to lower your bill. It's worth a try.

Be careful about cancelling Xfinity because there is an early termination fee if you cancel before your current 2 year contact has expired. But, you can downgrade your service to "internet only" at any time and not pay the fee.

[wiltma]

Don’t think they are open yet

[Earlride]

Originally Posted by RosemarySoso

I am trying to find an alternative to paying $187/month for Comcast. I like what I hear about HULU but I still need internet. Comcast monthly charge for internet only is $93. Are there any viable alternatives to that? Thanks for any help you can give.

Not sure what you are getting but I pay $20 a month for xfinity internet. Look at what you are buying - do you really need as much bandwidth. I live alone but have many connections - Apple TV, Two flat screens (one is 4k), an Imac, ipad and two cell phones but I only stream them one at a time so I can use the lowest bandwidth and still stream 4k movies. It did require a one-year contract but without the contract it was $30

[Andyb]

Century Link is $50 for internet, be sure you get fiber not DSL, get Roku, stream YouTube TV.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by KSSunshine

South of 44...we have Spectrum with download speeds of 220 mbps for our internet to which we added YouTube TV. Pay approx $110/month.

220 mbps..............never saw that option from Spectrum.

[Pedrocarrasco01@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by ankeny

My 2 year contract with Comcast was up last December from pass experience I was expecting my bill to go up to $200. I started researching alternative methods and decided on Comcast high speed Internet, Hulu Plus, Netflix I already was a Amazon prime member this give me everything I wanted on TV including DVR which was a must. The price of these option came in at just under $100 per month. Armed with this information I went to Comcast store on 466 across from Home Depot to discuss options. In the end I decided to stay with Comcast on a 2 year contract for $110.00. In addition I changed my wireless plan from ATT which ran $90 to Comcast wireless $13 I do own my phones. Everybody is different but for me I felt this was the best options at least for the next 2 years.

Note: I did a 30 day trial 30 of Hulu Plus to make sure it would give me everything I wanted I made my decision.

The key as the above suggests is to GO TO THE COMCAST STORE, I switched all including Internet, TV and Cell service to Xfinity. Have not regretted it one bit, I will be visiting the same store on April 2021 to renegotiate the program, I am saving over $80 per month over previous providers, more TV channels, less problems, no problems with WiFi and the same cellular service that I had with Verizon, but much cheaper, my average bill for 2 lines is $19 per month (it varies from $14 to $26 depending on data usage) again the key is don’t do it by phone, go to the store located on West corner 441 and Rolling Acres road.

[willbush]

Originally Posted by RosemarySoso

I am trying to find an alternative to paying $187/month for Comcast. I like what I hear about HULU but I still need internet. Comcast monthly charge for internet only is $93. Are there any viable alternatives to that? Thanks for any help you can give.

We have Direct TV so use CenturyLink for internet- $45 a month flat fee (total price) unlimited, guaranteed no increase;we have had for 5 yrs, unlimited data; it's now up to $49 a month;have never had an outage

[Stu from NYC]

Interesting thread, When xfinity finally reopens will go to discuss switching cell service from Verizon

[RealJudy]

I ‘be been using Roku sticks at my home and rentals for nearly a year and have had no complaints from renters. I did put instructions in the rentals. I use CenturyLink for internet as you need service for streaming.