Asking about cable vs satellite in the villages
 

New to the villages. Wonder on whether to get cable and how many to pick from ...OR....go the satellite way....direct vs dish? Idea on costs?

Depends where you live. If you are in a newer section Prism from Century Link may be available. I have Prism and the cost is $165.00/mo. for HD, 4 boxes, DVR capable of recording up to 4 shows at once, all premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Flix ) and internet. Tonight internet is 14.37 Mbps download and 1.02 Mbps upload.

We have Century Link and the TV's keep freezing up - we live south of 466A - called and issue fixed yesterday but freezing up today - you may want to check all Companies before signing.

We have Dish - had it up north and brought it with us. About a year ago we upgraded to the Hopper - whole house DVR - and love its features and the quality of the picture. And yes, we loose reception occasionally with some storms. But I keep reading about Prism freezing up for unknown reasons. At least I'm always sure that my reception will return when the storm lightens up.

There were just a couple of long threads about satellite vs cable. Have you done a search for the subject? There are too many to list, but do two searches: one for DirecTV and the other for Comcast. You will get many opinions.

Directv
 

We have Directv in Lynnhaven and it works fine.All services have pluses and minuses.For us Directv had the best programing and costs.$60 a month.(At least for the first 24 months)If you go with Directv,use the refer a friend promotion with my account #71382469.You and I will save $10 a month for 10 months.Directv has the best vacation plan,no charges when the service is on vacation.A good deal for a snowbird.

If you can get bright house it is worth it

I live south of 466A and have Century Link Prism and the service has been very good, no issues with the picture freezing up. I have had Bright House & Direct TV, I no issues with Bright House but with Direct TV the weather was an issue. Price was never a concern for me but it pays to shop around and see what specials they are offering, that's what got me to switch from Direct TV to Century Link.

Brighthouse works best for us
 

We are in Gilchrist, south of 466A and I just tested and got 32.6Mps download and 2.68Mps upload. In addition, we just got back from upnorth and we were able to put all services (TV and Internet) on hold for up to 6 months for a small fee, then no other charges until turn on. In addition, through the Brighthouse Rep, we got a special first month, no increase promise for 2 years and plenty of channels and higher speed internet.

Dish, dish.

Here are a few dumb questions about cable. Thanks in advance.

1) If your home is new, is cable already run to the house or is that done only when you order it?

2) If you switch cable providers, does the new provider lay new cable or is the original used? I assume the latter.

3) Is the cable (used regardless of whether your provider is cable or dish) in a typical cement/block/stucco home run through the attic? The reason I ask is that I want to know how difficult it would be to put cable on a wall that doesn't already have it.

It is really your choice and preference. The only one I have heard a lot of BAD about is Century Link. We had it at a rental house in January and it was horrible. When we moved into our home we went with Brighthouse and like it a lot. Dish & Direct have a lot more recording options if you are a TV nut.

Antenna
 

Antenna and HuluPlus, Netflix, and Amazon Prime works for us. Tom from Villages A/V showed us how to get network channels plus a few others. Cost per month: $0. Then we use HuluPlus, Netflix and Amazon Prime to get TV and movies from all over the world. Cost per month: $25. Did you know that UCF has a channel called Create that's a travel, cooking, home and garden channel? Way better than HGTV. Anyway, my frugal soul is so much happier than it was when we were spending $100 for 700 channels we never ever watched.

magic jack
 

How many have tried AT&T's "Magic Jackk" when going from one service to another and dropping the first service phone coverage. Did you like Magic Jack?:read: