[Footer]

I find it a better deal to cancel service when leaving. If gone for more than 3 months you are treated as a new customer and get the introductory rate.

[Arctic Fox]

It works well if you are a true snowbird and are in TV for one extended period and away for one extended period as you are allowed just one "hold" per year and it is for a minimum of three months.

If TV is more of a "holiday home" for you and you visit several times a year you can still only put the service on hold once.

Turning the hold on and off is very easy - just a phone call to an automated service. You have to provide departure and arrival dates, but you can change these. We have arrived without remembering to activate the service but a phone call had it up and running within the hour.

Our experience of cancelling the service then coming back on the cheap, introductory deal has not been the same as an earlier poster's. Xfinity keep your account details and, in our experience, won't treat you as a new customer until you have been away from them for two years.

[JTW]

You were lucky with Century Link. The sales rep told me I would have the same speed as I had with Comcast so I switched. Biggest mistake I ever made! When I called Century Link to complain they said they couldn’t up the speed because of my location (village of Caroline)...I kept getting dropped from my recorded programs and well as live TV. I was back with Comcast within a month and have not had an issue since. Be aware of false promises. Century Link HAD to know I wasn’t going to get enough speed to stream and yet they promised I would have no issues at all. 😣

[B-flat]

Originally Posted by kathyspear

If Century Link is available in your area you might look into their offerings. I think that is the company that has decent rates and grandfathers people in, so your rate won't ever go up as long as you keep the service. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

kathy

You are correct re: Centurylink.

Something to think about in our absence we kept CL internet live because we had 2 NEST cameras so we could keep our eyes on the interior of the home.

[Mrbill1500@gmail.com]

We have Century Link for our internet with the Grandfather pricing for 80 Mbps. Recently we put it on vacation mode, when we called to have it turned on they told us that they only have 25 Mbps at $49.00 available in our area. Sent a message to talk to a supervisor and still waiting for a explanation. We have always been very happy with their service but think that this is their way of getting out of the original plan we had. I guess this means buyer beware!!!

[dhdallas]

Originally Posted by smurphy

There are some limits on the vacation holds for the service. I think you can do it only once a year and it is really geared for snowbirds who might want service for 6-7 continuous months. You can't turn service off and on for a long weekend.

25mbps should be plenty for watching those services on a single TV at a time. Might need to up it if you are trying to watch 4k content or multiple TV's at once. Talk to them, if you find you are buffering, you can add more Mbps for a small $$$ increase at a later date.

I have Spectrum Internet (only) for $49/month with up to 200 mbps. On a good day it is only 3/4 of that (and there are few good days). I have 2 TVs streaming Netflix, Hulu, etc. and I still could use more bandwidth. A streaming channel can buffer forever until I exit out, go to my wireless connection, disconnect and then reconnect. I have to do this at least 2-3 times per day if not more. I really wanted CenturyLink with their fiber optic service but they said our new build in Bradford wasn't covered.

Trust me, do NOT get their 25 mbps! You will be sorry.

PS: Not to be rude but if you can afford to buy a (I assume 2nd) home here with all the fees and so on and fly back and forth to here, don't be a cheapskate and skimp on the Internet.

[Nell57]

Originally Posted by Footer

I find it a better deal to cancel service when leaving. If gone for more than 3 months you are treated as a new customer and get the introductory rate.

Yep...cheapest easiest way to go.

[biker1]

The nominal bandwidth that you contracted for (200 megabits per second) is not your issue. Netflix consumes about 4-5 megabits per second for 1080p and about 15-20 megabits per second for 2160p (aka 4K). We have had no issues with streaming Netflix at 1080p to two sets with a nominal bandwidth of 10 megabits per second. You have something else going on. For example, if you are using Wi-Fi to your sets then perhaps you have a very poor Wi-Fi connection.

Originally Posted by dhdallas

I have Spectrum Internet (only) for $49/month with up to 200 mbps. On a good day it is only 3/4 of that (and there are few good days). I have 2 TVs streaming Netflix, Hulu, etc. and I still could use more bandwidth. A streaming channel can buffer forever until I exit out, go to my wireless connection, disconnect and then reconnect. I have to do this at least 2-3 times per day if not more. I really wanted CenturyLink with their fiber optic service but they said our new build in Bradford wasn't covered.

Trust me, do NOT get their 25 mbps! You will be sorry.

PS: Not to be rude but if you can afford to buy a (I assume 2nd) home here with all the fees and so on and fly back and forth to here, don't be a cheapskate and skimp on the Internet.

[retfc2@yahoo.com]

Be aware Xfinity has the worst customer service! Put me on hold forever. Left my number no callback, for a simple billing problem.

[KRM0614]

Originally Posted by kathyspear

If Century Link is available in your area you might look into their offerings. I think that is the company that has decent rates and grandfathers people in, so your rate won't ever go up as long as you keep the service. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

kathy

That’s incorrect

[Carla B]

Re: Century Link: The service you can get from them is location-dependent. We are between 466 and 466a and they are only able to supply 10 mbs in our area. So Comcast is our only choice for anything faster, as far as I know.

[allenpegg1@gmail.com]

BUT - if you PAY for 50MBS and you're only getting 25MBS, contact the provider for a refund of the difference in cost. I don't think they can charge you for a service you're NOT receiving.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by allenpegg1@gmail.com

BUT - if you PAY for 50MBS and you're only getting 25MBS, contact the provider for a refund of the difference in cost. I don't think they can charge you for a service you're NOT receiving.

If you're paying for 50MB and you're only getting 25, then plug your device directly into your modem, and don't use a wifi router. The speed is for direct connection to the cable, NOT to a router that acts as a go-between for all your devices.

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

After over five years, we are finally considering getting high speed internet service at our Villages home. Xfinity offers a budget internet only plan that is 25 Mbps for $20 per month for the first year, then it jumps to $43 per month based on current pricing. They also stated that part time residents can turn the plan on and off based on when they are at their homes. When the plan is turned off, they charge $8 per month to keep the plan on hold.

My two questions are: 1) has the putting the plan on hold thing worked as seamless as Xfinity claims? Can you simply call if you are flying down for a couple of weeks at various times throughout the year and easily turn the plan on and off? 2) are you able to stream video content, without buffering, from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime with 25 Mbps? I would greatly appreciate feedback from anyone who has experience using this service. Thanks : )

Believe me that $43. dollars that 2nd yr. “won’t stop there. Remember they’re in business to make money. Within 5 or 6 yrs. you’ll be paying $150. a month. Good luck but if I were you, check with someone that has Infinity, I bet you’ ll be shocked to here that that $43. won’t stop there! All cable Co. raise your bills every year.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by OhioBuckeye

Believe me that $43. dollars that 2nd yr. “won’t stop there. Remember they’re in business to make money. Within 5 or 6 yrs. you’ll be paying $150. a month. Good luck but if I were you, check with someone that has Infinity, I bet you’ ll be shocked to here that that $43. won’t stop there! All cable Co. raise your bills every year.

Yup they do. And all you have to do, to mitigate that, is wait til your last month of your yearly contract and tell them "I want the current deal for new customers." If they say it's not available for existing customers, you tell them "Okay then I don't want to renew my contract next year. Please cancel my service. BUT - before you do that, just keep in mind the second you do, I'll be signing back up as a new customer so I can get the new customer deal. So how about we just save everyone time and energy and you renew my current contract and pricing for the next contract period?"

That's exactly what I did, and continue to do, every time the contract is up for renewal.