[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Pedrocarrasco01@yahoo.com

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.

Definitely go to the store, but not now. It is closed because of the Coronavirus. But, when it reopens, go to the website first and make an appointment. That way, you will not have to wait in line. Trying to deal with Xfinity on the phone is a nightmare.

[deebrock]

We are doing u/tube live and we have the rogu stick. we get everything and more. We also have internet through spectrum. We love it.

[Juliebythesea]

Absolutely agree going to the store is a better option

[sloanst]

This is what I did to completely kick Comcast to the curb.

Amazon FireSticks for each TV. BTW, only 2 TVs can be active at one time, else there is a slight extra charge. Amazon Prime membership.
Century Link internet provider at 80 mb/sec, online bill pay to keep lower costs.
Hulu Live for life broadcasts as well as some movies
Netflix explains itself.

Literally cut my bill in half.

[Reesie]

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.

I had/have Comcast. I discontinued everything except the internet. Yes I’m paying more but no contract when I make my final decision. I did find that if I buy my own modem (next planned purchase) I won’t be paying but a few dollars more than CenturyLink.
Signed up for Hulu Live. Again, a little more expensive, but it was important to me to keep my local newscasts.

[oneclickplus]

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.

I'll give you an alternative ...

You might consider what some call a cul-de-sac network. We have Comcast and share it with two neighbors ... one on each side. If you're savvy enough (or hire someone who is), you can use multiple routers to isolate each neighbor's traffic for privacy. We use a pair of line-of-sight antennas to move the signal to each property. My neighbors then each have their own Wireless Access Point (WAP) and switches in their homes as desired.

Everyone has their own strong wifi and plenty of speed for streaming (hulu, netflix youtube, satellite radio app, etc). No, this solution does not carry a TV signal. But, if you are content to "cut the cord" to cable TV, internet only service gives you plenty to watch.

We pay about $35/month each <smile>

Obviously, I can't tell you where I am located or offer to help you. Just know that it works. Also, FYI, because we are using line-of-sight antennas, it is not imperative that you only share with the guy next door. You can share with any neighbor that you can "see". There is an upfront investment to get this all working. But, ROI is just a few months (assuming you do your own labor).

P.S. This can be done with any internet service. Century Link fiber would be my choice for better speed but, alas, that is not available to me.

[RoadToad]

Originally Posted by timinthevillages

I agree that you probably don't need 300 mbps unless you have multiple devices streaming at once. 25 mbps per device should be fine.

The basic Comcast internet at 25 Mbps is more than adequate for streaming multiple streams at one time. We have this service level for $20 per month. We can stream several devices at same time with no lag or buffering.

[Marylynn]

Comcast has a offer for seniors of $50/month for internet. You probably have to call them to get it because you won’t find it on their website. It’s for a year then after a year you have to call them again. We’ve been doing this since we cut the cord and bought a Roku stick and stream. YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO, and basic Hulu (which we never use because of the commercials and should drop) satisfy our viewing desires. $150 a month including internet. We're probably different because we don’t watch any commercial TV except the Food Network, jeapordy, and The Tonight Show. But, those we record so we can speed past the commercials. We dislike commercials.

[HappyRetired]

Originally Posted by 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.

Please contact me about an issue with Comcast speed in your area. I can't private message you through TOTV. Thank you. happyreader@comcast.net

[dpmers]

We have CenturyLink their highest price is 65 dollars a month for 1000 GB they have plans going down at less money we have had it for 2 years and had no trouble whatsoever

[davephan]

We were paying $228 a month for Comcast Xfinity Internet, landline, and cable TV in Minnesota. This was just for the basic HD channels, no premium movie channels. We have 300 meg Internet speed.

We cut the Comcast cable TV service, and the price dropped down to about $108 a month for the 300 meg speed, with the landline and no cable TV. We then added YouTube TV streaming service, not to be confused with the YouTube videos. The YouTube TV service costs $50 and would work in Florida or your snow belt home, if you are a snowbird.

We could save another $15 a month if we reduce from 300 meg Internet service down to 100 meg Internet service, which would be fast enough, but we haven't done that yet. We could also buy a $200 cable modem that has telephone jacks for the cable landline, and save the $14 a month cable modem rental fee. The cable modems without the cable landline jacks are about $80. We could drop the cable landline, save another $12 a month, and start using Google Voice, which is free. Google Voice has free long distance and many other features, all free. Except I would have to use an Obihai set top box which costs about $50 to $80 one time cost to interface Google Voice to the landline telephone sets.

There are many things you can do to reduce that huge Comcast bill. We did the same thing switching from Verizon to T-Mobile Magenta Plus to cut half the the monthly costs. T-Mobile Magenta Plus includes Netflix for free, and one of the two iWatches for free. Plus free GoGo WiFi on flights that offer WiFi service. Better and less expensive service when traveling overseas.

We also bought a remote electrical switch from the 5G store a few years ago to automatically reset the cable modem, and our 24 port Internet switch box when the cable modem needs to be reset. Occasionally, we would have to power cycle the cable modem to reset it. We never have to do that with the power switch box that monitors the Internet. If there is a loss of Internet, it automatically resets the power on the cable modem and 24 port Eithernet switch box. I've looked in the log of the switch, and it usually resets the power on the cable modem once or a couple times a month. That's a great product to own if you are a snow bird, or you don't want to ever have to reset your cable modem power again.

5Gstore Remote Power Switch - 2 Outlets - Remote Automation and Remote Rebooting - App Controlled, 245 Reviews : 5Gstore.com

There are many things you can to reduce your monthly costs without reducing your quality of life. You only need to do a little research. Most customers just stick with their cable service, their auto and home insurance, and other things. Those companies slowly jack up the prices. Only a few customers switch to alternatives. If you want to keep Comcast at the same level of service, all you have to do is to call their "customer retention" department and threaten to leave. They will reduce your price and/or give you something extra for free. Most customers never try to reduce their price, and the cable companies know that.

[RosemarySoso]

Thank you everyone. So if my service is sufficient for internet but seems slow, maybe the router or modem ( what’s the difference) needs to be upgraded?

[DReifinger]

Yikes, our Comcast internet only is nowhere near that cost!!

[RoadToad]

Originally Posted by Parker

We have Comcast internet and it is definitely substandard as compared to other services we have had and will be changing soon when our contract ends. The service cuts in and out, very slow at times, so frustrating. Prior to this we had Century Link and it was reliably good. Just a note, we had Comcast before from 2005-2014, and it was excellent. Don't know what happened but it isn't at all the same product. Good luck in your search.

Our experience has been exactly the opposite..
Century Link, never ending outages. Days of waiting for Tech Service.
We switched to Comcast as soon as it was available in our area.
Comcast, rock solid.

[kendi]

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 pay $20 for 25 megabytes with Comcast. Internet only. Have Hulu and Amazon Prime. Would love to figure out how to do antenna TV but that doesn’t seem to work in the McClure area.