Best Television (Cable) etc and Internet service?
 

I know it is probably in here somewhere I have tried to search for a thread but have not found one on the best cable company for Television and or Internet service. Considering Spectrum or Xfinity or is there a better way to go?? Moving to TV soon and need to get it ordered.

Spectrum for sure.
We had internet & TV.
Used their away option (vacation mode).
No issues for four years.



But we dropped the TV and are using YouTube TV with Spectrum internet.
(YouTube TV travels with us better than Spectrum TV)


Construction cut the Spectrum cable a couple times........they were out within 24 hours.

Some have gone to streaming because the cable companies keep raising their rates. That said, in the 14 years here in TV we had Comcast/Xfinity, century link, and currently Brighthouse/Spectrum. Streaming works for a lot of people. We haven’t gone there yet but thinking about it. If you go to streaming you currently will still need internet cable so you really can’t get rid of cable.

Where are you moving to? Not all vendors are available everywhere.

Just get the best deal on internet only you can find. As a new customer, you will probably get a real low price for about a year. Buy your own modem/wifi box that works with their system. It will pay for itself vs renting their box. Then stream your TV channels with a subscription to YouTube TV, Hulu Live, Sling, Philo or one of the others. YouTube TV is great - No equipment charges, no service calls, and a great unlimited DVR in the cloud. Any you can watch it anywhere, and cancel at any time (no contracts).

Yes, it depends on where you are buying. North of 466 I believe your only choices are Centrylink or Comcast(xfinity). Comcast has came out with a streaming service similar to having a Roku device.

And if the channels they want aren't available? How many streaming services do they need to get what they watch? We would need 4 and still can't get one of the channels I watch. Then there is the DVR service for each. We have Apple tv and Disney + to complement the usual stuff.

Cable is old news and on its way out. Streaming is the way to go. If you don’t care about sports or cable news networks there’s tons and I mean tons of content out there absolutely FREE!

Otherwise be prepared for the most frustrating experience of your life dealing with the fraudulent cable companies.

Depends what channels you want. Love Xfinity (Only one that broadcasts The Villages TV and Radio on #2 and 99). Most homes prewired for Xfinity. Others have to bury a line in your lawn. I prefer watching FOX and CNBC so streaming isn't for me although I enjoy YouTube on my large smart TV.

Xfinity has a senior price of $55 for strictly cable. Others might as well I’m only familiar with the Xfinity deal. Disney+ has a pkg deal, with Hulu snd ESPN for $69 per year, along with Netflix $9.99 a month and I use Amazon Prime for free shipping and their video and music streaming is included. And my LG TV came with free channels as well as the Apple TV app. No need to have cable IMHO. Cable can easily be over $200 a month. And personally, I don’t like extra equipment, I have my TV mounted and a sound bar. Nice and clean. Verizon also has a senior deal, $50 a month that ends you $66 with taxes. Go to a Verizon store not an “authorized dealer” if you’re interested.

We have xFinity but are switching to Spectrum. xFinity went to over $200/month for internet and TV. Spectrum is $125 for about the same service. xFinity support is horrible now. You can't talk to anyone unless you go to the office in Leesburg. YoutubeTV is another good option, but the deal from Spectrum is better.

Best Television (Cable) etc and Internet service?
 

We have used CenturyLink for internet for 5yrs no issues;DirectTV for TV;because we use the boxes in our motorhome; need to check you address to see which service you can get;example, we can't get Spectrum where we live St Charles area-Good luck

TV companies is a 2 yr game
 

None of the companies are worth anything. They all play a 2-year game under contract except for spectrum. They are buying new business period after the first 12 months your rate goes up because you lose discounts. The second 12 months at the end goes up as well because again you lose discounts.
For existing customers they do squat. We didn't come down here to retire to have to play these pathetic games. Companies need to learn to take care of existing business and keep the cost of acquisition down as buying new customers the acquisition cost is extraordinary
I was even talking to senior VPS at DirecTV telling them how their practice was terrible, he was going to help my rate by cutting programs. Obviously he didn't get the point.
So to answer your question who's the best, none. Spectrum rates are the same as your 25th month rate with any of the other carriers.

The best internet for speed and consistency is Xfinity unless you have access to a fiberoptic system which is faster. How you do your TV is up to you. I only have 2 connected to cable and the rest are streaming Xfinity on a ROKU. It works great but you have to have the internet speed to support any streaming device.

Pine Hills

We are new to streaming, how much internet speed do you need? Is 100mbps enough?

Television & Internet
 

We did exactly the same. Are very happy, but just like all the others YouTube keeps raising the price and dropping channels we watch. Still okay with this setup for now though.

yes
 

it is, but that presumes only one stream. 1080 works well down to 25mbs, that's what I have

You might want to consider putting up a roof antenna first to pick up the local network stations for free. Depending on your location and the antenna, you may get up to 60 stations. Many you will find useless or duplicate, but you will still have something to watch if the internet or cable goes down.

YouTube does keep raising their price, adding channels that we never watch. We wish there was a la carte at a much lower price. We only watch about 3 channels. One other problem with YouTube TV is the voice lip sync is off periodically when starting a stream on the Roku. That’s fixed by restarting the video stream. The channel guide to program your recorded programming is horrible with YouTube TV.

A couple of very useful additions is an Internet sensing power switch, available from the 5G Store online. That eliminates periodically manually power cycling your cable modem to reset it.

Another useful edition is a strong Access Point which provides a strong WiFi signal that covers your whole house and property. The WiFi that’s built into the cable modem works, but it’s WiFi signal is weak.

I love Xfinity. It's been great. I have Phone, Internet and TV

Beats me how one can say something is the best unless they have tried all the alternatives.

More than enough! Way more. I’m able to comfortably do 3 streams with 25 mbs.

I get 63 channels with an OTA antenna. Then I supplement by streaming Sling TV for another 50 channels. Total 113 channels. My cable bill is $44/mo using Sling. So here’s my breakdown: $55/mo internet from Century Link; $0/mo OTA Antenna; $44/mo Sling TV; $5/mo Landline phone VOIP from Ooma. Total communication bill: $104/mo.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Well I don’t know who has the best cable, but I guess that’s going to be an opinion. Of course the cable Co. will say they’re the best. I have Frontier & personally I don’t think it’s the best but I think it’s as good as Spectrum. All cable Companies start off with a very low rate & then every yr. it goes up. My cable & Internet is FREE but I do pay $5. For DVR & $5. for up grade TV channels. So my actual cable & Internet bill every month is $10.

How much is Utube tv and do you need equipment ?

Spectrum and YouTube TV
 

This is exactly what we have and have found it perfect for us. We were leery when we first "cut the cable", but it reduced our costs 30% and we have better options. One reason streaming YouTube TV is recommended is that you can put in any zip code and then get the local news and sports stations linked to that zip code- either a Villages zip code or you previous home's. Also, since we live in The Villages just part time, Spectrum only charges us $4.99/mo. to put all on vacation hold.

Century Link internet high speed $50/yr 4Ever

1080p Hi-Def will consume about 5 megabits per second. 4k (2160p) will consume about 15-20 megabits per second. This is "per stream". In other words, if you have two different sets on at the same time then double the bandwidth. Most people pay for much more bandwidth then they need.

YoutubeTV is about $65 per month. You need a "smart TV" or an internet streaming device such as Roku or AppleTV. There are others.

What ever you decide if you go Cale or internet with either spectrum or xfinity the price will increase once your “initial contract” rate expires. I am not techie enough to go with internet streaming. I have spectrum, not very basic but not with lots of channels I won’t watch and with taxes my bill is about $150. I have internet with century link guaranteed for life with a landline $85/month. I like to push the all power on button on remote then guide and find what I want to see.

Great choices. If you can't entertain yourself with 113 channels, you need to get a life. The Ooma box is great. Buy one for around $80, port your home telephone number, and make all the calls you want for around $4 per month (the federal taxes). I prefer YouTube TV for their excellent unlimited cloud DVR and local channels, but Sling is a good choice if their channel mix suits your needs.

Check to see if spectrum is in your area, we’ve been here 3 years and have Comcast we thought about switching but when I called spectrum I was told their not in my area

Been here in Marsh Bend using Spectrum for internet only :

Spectrum internet 100mbs - $54.99/mo.
Netflix - $12.99/mo.
YouTube TV - $64.99/mo.
Disney+ - $3/mo. @ 36 mo.
HBO Max - $11.99/mo.
Amazon Prime - $13.99/mo.

Total - $162/mo.

Note: dropping Prime soon, HBO is a test drive for a year, YouTube TV is giving me all my Philly channels (still have PA home zip code) Disney+ was a steal for 3 bucks, Netflix is probably the most watched. I would like to knock off $30 of this total, but Netflix and YouTube TV are in for the long haul.

I believe you have access to the following in Pine Hills:

CenturyLink
- fiber optic cable to the house
- internet and their version of VoIP phone
- partnered with DirectTV for traditional "cable TV" programming

Spectrum
- coax cable for the last 50 feet to the house
- internet and traditional "cable TV" programming, as well as their version of VoIP phone

Comcast (aka Xfinity)
- coax cable for the last 50 feet to the house
- internet and traditional "cable TV" programming, as well as their version of VoIP phone

I don't think anyone can declare that one is "best". They all offer more internet bandwidth than you will need and there are lots of options for traditional cable TV programming content if you want to go that route. We use a couple of the streaming services (YouTube TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime) so we only have internet access via CenturyLink. We still have Ooma VoIP phone service, from when I was working, for a "landline phone".

Ohiobuckeye
 

But is that $44. forever or does it go up every yr.?

Ohiobuckeye
 

Chrissy2231, you must got a special deal, I know 3 of my friends there that have Century & have had it for 8 yrs. now & their Century Bill, with Cable & Internet now runs about $186. a mo. Or is your Cable TV from another Company? Where I live now I have Frontier & my Cable & Internet is FREE because our $90. a mo. amenities pay for it. But you know if we get the wrong president elected I’m sure it’ll change!

Anything but Century Link. I had Spectrum at one time. Zero customer service on weekends. We'll fix it next Thursday. I was going to try DSL one more time because it's cheaper than Xfinity. Couldn't find the DSL signal in any of my phone outlets. Passed by several "experts" to other "exspurts" and finally the boss hung up on me and cancelled my account. Xfinity is more expensive, but it work consistently.

spectrum the bestgreat service response time had them since the start....

You don't need 100mbs speed to stream any of these things, unless you have multiple TV's running or you want to stream 4K. You can get a better price on a slower speed. You can also buy your own modem box and save the monthly rental charge from the cable company.