and this is why I always regret chiming in on a forum, there's always someone that really doesn't get it but has to make the comments like they do.

I guess I get to start my 100 reasons I hate The Villages list. Who knows maybe just maybe someone will change that someday.

I'm out, this is ridiculous.

I'm an ex high tech geek in the IT sector for over 43 years. There is nothing liker fiber. I had 1000M AT&T fiber for over 5 years before moving here 2 weeks ago. I have a new house and I went with xfinity with 400M speed.
Most people don't realize that fiber is a much better transport than copper, it is quieter if streaming music, and with fiber, you get the same speed up or down. My 400M speed gets me 400M+ down (down from that during the day) and 20M up on a good day.
The other thing to watch out for is your house will probably not be wired for ethernet. My house, they used cat 6 cable but is terminated for phone (using 2 pairs of wire). You would have to get each cable re-terminated for ethernet.

No "sorry" needed at all.
Enjoy your opinions.

Wiz did bits & bites for 40 years.
I had IT departments report to me for ~40 years.
You hit it on the head........"wants & desires".
IT "wants & desires" were rarely a need, in my experience.

Very, Very few Villagers need crazy speeds, it's over sold.

Not exactly. TCP/IP packets are sent down the media with error detection and retransmission (all out failure, notwithstanding). You are guaranteed correct data and the data is digital. In The Villages, most people receive internet access via fiber trunks with coax to the house. The exceptions are those in the older sections with DSL over POTS and those with fiber all the way to the house. Whether the last 50 feet from the fiber trunk to your house is fiber or coax won't matter.

You are not guaranteed the same upload and download speed with fiber - it depends on the vendor and the service. For example, I have CenturyLink fiber to the house with 80 mbps download and 40 mbps upload.

Any house constructed within the last decade (or two) most likely has cat 5e or better in the walls. Rewiring the ends to use all 4 pairs for ethernet is trivial to do. Most people don't use ethernet since WiFi is fast enough and reliable enough and easy. The only place I use it is the home run from the ONT to the room where my router is located.

You can get century link for your internet service and they are fiber in most newer parts of TV and offer 1 gb

I just gave up and left them because of their constant price increases. Interestingly, none of their salespeople made any attempt to have me stay.

Thanks I am in IT and I can terminate CAT 6 cable. Looks like most of the new homes are Smart Home ready which according to the realtor means they have 2 ethernet drops. I can likely work with that and add additional ones.

Hi How are you able to get a 2 yr price plan? I am near Lake Deaton plaza using Comcast. My patio villa is a rental. I ask for a long term plan and they plan tell only 12 month is available. I play the cat and mouse game with them 1 year its in my wife's name and next year its in mine to get the promotional pricing. I have gone from $55 for 50mbps and 30 channels to $75 100mbps and 10 local streaming channel using my own roku. I would like too just get internet and use the streaming service Locast.org for about $60.00 a year. Comcast will not offer just internet only as a existing customer but as a new customer its available Spectrum I believe is available in my area now With Spectrum I would also have to play the cat and mouse game with them after 12 months
Its ridiculous what charge and they wouldn't give a long term pricing . I use a company here in Rochester NY which is fiber optic into the house a flat $50.00 a month forbase service 500 down and currently due to covid 500 up which I been paying for the 2yr I had the service none of this bs promotional prices
Leo

EdFNJ: We're about to cut the Comcrap TV cable and keep "Blast Internet" with YouTube TV. How do you find out how much data we use each month?
"$50iirc" ?

TIA, Skip

Century Link
 

You don't need a modem for 1 gb fiber service, just a router.

xfinity special
 

took advantage of their special a few months ago. 400GB for $50/mth. works great

Fiiber Optic Internet
 

Century Link 1GB Fiber to your front door. tests at over 900 MB, sometimes as low as 250 MB at wifi laptop. $65/month.

Robotic customer service, but reliable in Oceola Hills.

No Wildwood City property tax1

Check this out - AT&T vs. Xfinity: Compare Internet Service Providers

Both spectrum and Xfinity have lousy service. They charge you to go to the box and it’s about $100. If you use the software that calculates the speed you will find all wifi companies here lie about the speeds. In 2 years my cable wifi for one TV went from 127 to 225. The wifi and cable broke down 10 times in 24 months. They also do not prorate your bill. If your service period runs one day over in the month you pay for the extra 29-30 days - no exceptions. The villages prewires for Xfinity however a technician needs to go to the box to convert to spectrum. I’ve had both companies up north however the worst experience in my life is in Florida! Wait until you try to use your cell phone here! If you use Verizon there are 4 companies piggybacking on their hardware and it’s just awful. I’m moving and relieved I don’t have to deal with either ever again. They’re so lazy here you can’t hand in your equipment you have to go to a designated UPS store. Buy as much of your own equipment as possible. The hardware here is also older than God.

And they are awful ! I had them up north they were fine but they are crooks here and you can call 5 times and get 5 different answers. No training

View data usage..
 

Login to your Xfinity account, look at Devices> data usage .
Poke around a bit... all kinds of knowledge threin.

Hi when you said the cable was wired for Xfinity but the tech had to wire at the box for Spectrum. So I assuming that no new cable was run from your junction box into your house ? It is work done on the outside box? I agree both are crap The only advantage with Spectrum is if you have cable tv also and you have a home up north you can stream your Spectrum cable tv thru a app like on the Roku ( out of market) where as Xfinity you have to be in your Xfinity home network

I'm in the same boat. I currently have Fios, and can't work unless I have pretty close to gigabit speeds. I have 4-5 separate VPN connections with minimum throughput that have to be up that uses around 600mb plus all the traffic outside of the VPN.

Sorry Dewilson58- Your bullying isn't compensating for your lack of knowledge on this topic.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Thanks
 

Thanks, found it. We average 200-270 GB/month. (And we have been using YouTube TV for the last 2 months in preparation of cutting the cable.) I guess I'm good with their 1229 GB data cap.

Again "$50iirc" means what?

Skip

We use Xfinity internet and get 800mbs speeds and we don't have their fastest option. It is reliable and stable. Their cable service is also good but expensive. We will try YouTube TV, which we use in our summer home when we get back. You should also be able to get Spectrum internet/cable service but I can't comment on price or quality. I do know that there is fiber optic cables to the house but I don't know who, if anyone, connects to these fiber cables.

Don’t go with CenturyLink! They raise your bill monthly. I spent more time on the phone with them than I can tell you. Terrible!

My contract is about to expire. I called to renegotiate this morning and had only a 3 minute wait. Still not satisfied with the price I was quoted but I have 2 weeks to research and try again.

I had FIOS with Verizon when I lived in NJ. It was by far the best service I’ve had. I wish they were here.

A lot of people make two mistakes when dealing with Xfinity. First of all, they don't know when their contract expires. So, the monthly rate increases and they get mad at Xfinity because they don't realize that it is because they no longer have a contract. And, second, they try to establish a new contract by talking to Xfinity on the phone with someone who is trying to make a huge commission on an upsale. Don't do that. Know when your contract expires, and make a personal appointment with the Xfinity store several weeks in advance of the contract expiration date, so you can meet in person and discuss all of the available discount plans with a live person, face to face.

CenturyLink does not raise my monthly bill. I have a "one price for life deal". The price is fixed unless I change the level of service. I do, however, only have internet access with them. I agree that talking on the phone, on the rare occasions when I needed to, was a bit painful. However, their internet service has been reliable and they do deliver the bandwidth they promised.

Most of the newer homes have Quantum Fiber all ready at the house. You will see a loop somewhere on the side of your house where the cable comes in. It was owned by Century Link and spun off to Quantum Fiber. $65/month for bi-directional 1Gb internet.

I’m a tech geek too. I have 1.2 GB for my download speed and it’s been very reliable with Xfinity.

I use the Xfinity app and it shows your monthly usage. You can also login to your router and there will be someplace that can show you your monthly usage.

If you strike out, let me know. I’m happy to help you figure it out.

I am not sure if many of you realize the fastest and greatest internet speed you may have is only as good as the device you are using . Think of this way you pay for a gigabit internet plan but your fastest device whether it be a computer , smart phone , gaming box or streaming device is only able to go as fast 100mbps due to the hardware limitations in the device, so your paying for a extra 900mbps which you'll never use unless you upgrade to a device capable of reaching that speed

We have centurylink fiber into the house, they call it 1 Gigabit service, typically runs 7 to 800 m/b. Not available in all sections of The Villages. $65/mo for life incl tax

I don't think people who pay for 1GIG or 400Mbs service have devices that old, they usually know what they are doing.

Certain packages (usually the ones with the 400Mbps and above) internet tier which I have are 2 years unless it has changed since Mid Feb when I renewed. You also need a TV service as well. NEVER CALL THEM, ALWAYS DO IT ONLINE!

Just login to your online account and go to this link: Xfinity xFi


or get the app on your cellphone. This is from my PC.

Wow you are getting close to the 1229 GB monthly limit. I see why you would want unlimited service.
One problem users have is that they don't shut down the streaming apps when they are done watching. That means that the app keep streaming all day whether you are watching or not. We make sure we "EXIT" every app (keep going "Back") when we're done viewing.
Thanks for the info.

Skip

I'm also a retired tech guy.

Left my 1Gbit FiOS service in Oregon, which provided 2 phone lines, TV, and internet. Fast and reliable, though FiOS was originally Verizon, then Frontier, and was transitioning to Ziply when I left.

Choices in Village of Marsh Bend are limited to Comcast/Xfinity and Spectrum for cable tv/internet. T-Nobike is also marketing cell based Home internet.

I chose Spectrum, and found that the basic 200Mbps service and lowest tier cable TV satisfied my needs, despite my tech background. Reliability is the most important factor for me. I chose Spectrum because of no caps on internet usage. It's been reliable for that. Traded original 2-tuner DVR for a 6-tuner one, so happier when I need to record.

Most tv viewing is streaming, and no problems with basic 200 Mbps service.

Only deficiency is upload speeds, but that is the problem with cable internet technology.

One other thing, I don't use the wifi that Spectrum provides ($5/mo).

Instead I installed my own mesh WiFi network with several hubs spread around the Designer Iris home. Better security.

So... Your internet and tv choices are determined by the Village you choose to move into.

Related, I have ATT for cell service. When I moved here into Marsh Bend in Oct 2019, service sucked. I used my cell hotspot for Internet, and it was ok as an intern solution until Spectrum was available. I located the hotspot near the window that had the best connection. It was just under 100Mbps most of the time. Cell reception for calls varied within the home, and most of the time sucked.

In Spring 2020, ATT upgraded it's towers, and reception within the hole improved greatly, but we had learned to use WiFi calling which works great if your phone has that capability.

We also installed Panasonic Link-to-Cell cordless phones so we didn't need to have our cellphones nearby. The cordless phones act just like a convenient land line even though it's really cell service. Cellphone connects via Bluetooth to Panasonic base station, which in turn connects to cordless handsets with their proprietary wireless tech.

T-MObile internet
 

I've had TM for about 8 months now. I was on the beta program. I pay $50 a month, no data limit. DL about 100mbs. It can only get better. I had a conversation with an area manager for Comcast and he said there would be no more investment in fibre in TV. The new thing, obviously, will be OTA data reception. Depends on your location. TM will be doing 5G OTA data, Should be like a lightning bolt. Can't wait. I run 3 tvs, 2 ipads, iMac, and PC without problem.

Assuming you have T-Mo coverage at your location which is the downfall of any cell based data service. I am currently on one of their 30 day "testing" data accounts on my iPhone 12 Pro get 3X the data speeds in LTE than I do in so called 5G. On LTE I get 85Mbps+ DOWNLOAD but .13 (POINT 13) Mbps UPload. On thgeir alleged 5G I get maybe 12-15Mbps DOWNload and virtually ZERO upload. On my current Xfinitiy Mobile (Verizon MVNO) on LTE I get about from 50/20 to 70/30. Don't get any alleged 5G coverage here, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. I could never deal with ANY of them as my home internet service.

OP - I feel your pain. I am also a tech geek with 43 years in IT field. I also had 1Gb AT&T fiber in GA for 5 years without 1 issue. I have 400Mb here and its terrible. Copper internet gives you decent download speeds but 1/20th of that for upload. I have a brand new house and the wiring that was put in was CAT6 but they used it for 3 phone lines (2 pairs). I rewired all the cables for rj45 and setup a 2nd router for better wifi coverage because the ISP modem/router doesn't cover the whole house.
I saved around $700 doing the terminations myself instead of the original installer wanting to come in and do it.
I have around 25 devices on my network due to whole house automation, multiple computers, iPads, iPhones, apple watches, door locks, garage doors, ecobee. and other devices