Home internet and WiFi
 

I'm new to the villages and need home internet and WiFi.
I'm going to cut the cord to TV cable so need something
to Stream Utube tv.
I'm new to this so need a reliable company to provide the internet service.
Thanks in a

Sue

If you have Spectrum in the area.................highly recommend.

I have had them for 10 years, no issues.
Had contractors cut the cable, they fixed it same day.

Their lowest speed is ~200mbps..........very nice.

No contract, cancel at any time.
They can bundle a cell phone package as well.

Welcome to TV and good luck.

I use Xfinity. Lots of speed choices. I also have their Xfinity Mobile cell phone service, which uses the Verizon network. My cell phone bill is only $13.60 per month. Highly recommend. I would also recomend buying a Roku stick for streaming. Very user friendly.

I have the same setup. Spectrum for Internet with WiFi and YouTube TV for streaming. I have the low end speed (300 mbps) and all works well. So far, rock solid, no buffering.

Location, location, location ….. everything depends on where you live … so you need to know which companies provide service in your area

My advice: if you are in an area with fiber …. Get fiber …
Cable (xfinity or spectrum) is my second choice
DSL (CenturyLink) is my third choice
TMobile or Verizon mobile internet may work for you … it turned out to be unreliable for me

All of the providers (xfinity, spectrum, century link, tmobile and verizon) allow you to plug in your address on their website to see if they provide internet service to your address

Is there any location in The Villages where Xfinity is not available?

Xfinity was great for the initial promotion. If they raise the price switch. Internet only not a big deal

I have no idea. Go to the xfinity website and check the address of interest. Or stop by the xfinity store and ask.

Spectrum is not available in my location. No fiber at my location. Verizon wireless not available at my location,

I moved to Tmobile WIFI-If it works at your location, it is the cheapest, easiest and best alternative. All you do is set it by a window, turn it on, and it works, and works, and works. Big fan.

We have Xfinity internet for $30 per month. We had the antenna put in the loft space for $250 and we get all the major networks. No cable & no big bills. Depends I believe on your location as to which channels you’ll be able to receive. Welcome to The Villages.

not only will xfinity jack your rate in one year 62 to 109 they'll hit you with penalties of 100 bucks if you go over your data plan. This is how they force you to upgrade your data plan to unlimited. Got rid of them for spectrum wifi and youtube tv streaming with basically unlimited dvr cloud space

I installed an antenna I receive all the major networks for free
I stream using fiber optic Q.com
At $60 per month for 1 gig very fast internet including all tax and fees

Depending on where you are located you may be able to get Spectrum, they are the best.

Better service than YouTube tv
 

I have a better service than YouTube tv and costs a lot less. Sports includes.
Send me an email tvalternatives99@yahoo.com

When we first got here in 2020, I used XFinity for WiFi and an Apple TV. Now have same for WiFi a FireStick loaded with some programming.

Last week Xfinity had a special, 600/Mbs, unlimited data for $75/ mth

Check the spectrum/xfinity websites to see if you are covered. If it’s a new house, ask the builder what your options are. Look around for speeds and prices and if there is a data cap on internet. Spectrum has the slower speeds at $50 a month (200Mbps is slow) while I’m paying $80 a month for xfinity 1200Mb which includes the $15 rental fee for their modem/router and unlimited data, no cap.
Get fiber if you have an option, in the newer area south of 44 we didn’t have that option.
EVERY copper network which includes spectrum/xfinity has a slow upload speeds. A 200Mb network has a 10Mb upload speed while the 400/500/600Mb network speeds have 20Mb upload speeds while my 1200Mb (1G) has 30-40Mb upload speeds. Why I mention this is because if you stream tv and record to the cloud which most do, you can run out of upload capacity. The main reason I don’t use a streaming service is because we record up to 5 or 6 shows at 1 time and that would take up all the upload bandwidth. Plus, recordings are only kept for a few months. I have 1 off concerts/shows recorded from years ago and I can keep them forever if I want to.

Streaming
 

What you can use will depend on where you live the The Villages - a patchwork of available carriers.

For streaming, I assume you mean YouTube on a Smart TV? That is good. There is more.

I recommend Firestick and/or Chromecast and/or hdmi with radio keyboard/mouse.

You can easily stream just about anything on Firestick. There is also "jailbreaking" your Firestick (term can be googled) where opens up many more possibilities.

Chromecast will send any window in your computer to the screen, making it very easy to request programs, surf around until you find something, etc.

A laptop hooked up to an hdmi with radio keyboard/mouse will put your computer on your TV screen. You will sit on the sofa/in the recliner, type on the keyboard, and watch on your TV wtih a screen so much bigger than your laptop. This is my preferred method, though I really like Firestick since it can do 4K and laptop does 3K. (Picture quality difference between the two is not all that noticeable if your laptop has good resolution.)

Same. Everytime Xfinity raises the bill I wonder why the monoply? Am I missing something relating to choice in the Marshbend area?

Curious how you got $60 from Quantum. I've been with them since they started. 1GB speed is $65/month including taxes and fees. If you get it for $60, I want to know how so I can call them!

Fantastic service and speed. Had Xfinity for quite a while before Quantum, but got tired of playing the call to get good price game every year. The last year I was with them, the best they could do was $74.99/month + taxes and fees for only 300MB. When I called to turn it off after installing Quantum, then they said, "oh you should have called us first, we would have given you a better deal". Too late.

I'm now on a fixed price as long I don't turn the service off.

Xfinity south of 44. They installed plenty of coax to all rooms. If one wants Spectrum they can only bring the coax through the exterior walls. Satisfied with Xfinity. My Brother has an antenna in the attic for TV. Great signal.

Again with this claim???

I'll ask again, what do you use for "streaming" that requires the data to come to your home and then be sent out again for recording?

I have Hulu Live for streaming. There is NO bandwidth used when I record to their cloud DVR. I assume Youtube TV is the same but I haven't used it.

As I understand it, some TV shows that you "record" to the cloud are not actually recorded at all. When you watch the show, you are actually watching an "On Demand" version of the show. The same thing happens with uploaded music. This is not true for all shows and music.

Home internet and wifi
 

I believe most people in the villages use Comcast Xfinity for Internet. It’s ok but pricey. For streaming TV, we have used both Hulu and YouTube TV. Both are adequate for getting all channels. You can try one, then change later if you don’t like it. Changing channels on YouTube TV is easier but they have strict rules about designating your home area if you are a snowbird. Hope that helps.

I have CenturyLink running over a fiber optic line with Gigabit speeds in Santiago and we are very pleased. I avoid any cable provider if a dedicated line is available. Cable is shared by the neighborhood which could impact speeds.

I then run YouTube TV (3 TVs in the house) all over Roku Sticks. That makes using just one remote type for all TVs. The wife likes that. Some TVs have the YouTube TV built in, some do not.

You are correct about YoutubeTV. The "claim" in the post you referenced that data has to come down and then go back up to be recorded is not true for YoutubeTV.

EDIT: Just read this more closely.

That may actually be true and would explain the mixed experience we have had.

With Hulu Live we can record shows to the DVR. I can't remember how many total hours but it's pretty high for what we use. However, many of the shows we record are also available On-Demand. If we choose the copy on the DVR then we can fast-forward through commercials but if we choose the On-Demand version we cannot. SOMETIMES, we try to watch the DVR version but either can't fast-forward or the playback freezes. Perhaps those times are examples of where it really wasn't recorded at all but was just presented that way while they actually sent the On-Demand version.

Note that, if you like to watch the Hallmark channels, they are not available on Hulu, but they are available on YouTubeTV.

OmniVision. $365/yr streaming TV.
 

Get your Internet from Xfinity or Spectrum or whatever serves your neighborhood.

Omnivision runs on a Firestick ($50 ea). 5 Firesticks included in the $365/fee. They don’t all have to be in Florida. OmniVision Provides ALL cable, news and network channels (hundreds of local ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX TV stations), ALL pro and college sports, ALL teams, ALL games, PPV channels, plus hundreds of On-demand TV series and movies with Search feature
.
Call Rodger Edmondson, (352) 222-8638. He will come to your home and set it up. Will include a couple free movie/TV programs such as Cinema and the free Youtube channel. Has “Favorites” and “Recently viewed” features plus Video on Demand for past sports games.

We have comcast since it’s the only one available in our area, 100 MB/S. Have used both Roku and Google Cast to get YouTube tv.Got better performance from google cast device for YouTube tv.

Internet
 

Spectrum has worked well and using You Tube TV is great.

I have Xfinity internet and a firestick. I have Dish back home and watch Dish Anywhere while here. All my recordings from home and live Dish TV.

Hulu charges about $70/month for networks in ONE market. YouTube charges about the same for networks in ONE market. DirectTV can provide network stations from ONE market. Cable providers carry networks from ONE (ok, sometimes two) market. Yet OmniVision can provide networks from ALL markets plus five firesticks for only $30/month???

If it sounds too good to be true....

I use spectrum because it has never gone out on me like infinity used to do on occasions. I also use DIRECT STREAM, because of so many channels. Total is a less the $200.00 per month.

Fiber!
 

I have Xfinity for TV but CenturyLink FIBER for internet/wifi. Bonus: When Xfinity goes down, which it does from time to time, I still have internet access and, therefore, alternate access for TV, too. Also, as others have said, Xfinity continues to raise their rates but my CenturyLink rate is locked in.

Antenna
 

Can you tell me who installed your antenna in the attic?

Spectrum
 

I have had spectrum. Love their service

Question
 

If you have a smart TV with apps, do you need a Roku stick?

Never Mind

T-Mobile for me
 

I just ditched Xfinity and replaced it with T-Mobile. It works with my computer, tablet and TV. I do not have cable but stream Prime, Passport, Netflix, Hulu. I am very satisfied and saving $ to boot