[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by jrref

As you are aware, for the past four years here in the Villages I have been helping my friends, neighbors and any referrals I get cut the cord and switch to Quantum Fiber if they can get it. I don't have a business, just helping people who need it. That said, I don't have hard numbers but I've been keeping track of Villagers telling me they have buffering problems and then verifying if when switching to fiber, if they go away. In all the cases that I've been involved in, the buffering stopped when doing nothing but switching to fiber. This is for Quantum and Centric fiber. With fiber you have a dedicated connection with dedicated bi-directional bandwidth from your home to the swiching office where you are connected to the internet with common equipment as you mentioned. With cable, you have a shared connection with "X" amount of your neighbors until it gets to their switching office. The problem is, as more people stream, more data is being used over the existing cable infrastructure sometimes using all the bandwith at peak times. This is why your speed will also vary. The cable companies are supposed to monitor traffic and manage it, potentially adding capacity as needed but that costs money and is not being done much these days. I'm not saying everyone on cable will have buffering problems, just that I've been hearing this more and more as I interact with people here in the Villages. And it's totally dependent on where you live.

I don't know enough about the physical layout of fiber systems or where the switching centers are. I find it difficult to believe that Quantum installed several thousand strands of fiber from the Villages to wherever their switches are so there is likely some physical consolidation going on somewhere closer.

"the buffering stopped when doing nothing but switching to fiber". But is it true that nothing was done but switching to fiber? Just switching from Xfinity to Quantum means switching data centers and internet onramps. Certainly, the modem needed to be changed to accommodate a fiber input rather than a cable input. Unless the installation had separate modem and router boxes then changing the router also changed the modem. Then, you also advocate locating the router in different locations and using the wifi pods for better coverage.

It could very well be that an overloaded fiber infrastructure was causing buffering. It could also be a particularly active street, a faulty cable, a faulty cable connection, or a malfunctioning concentrator box. Without more investigation and numbers there is no way to prove just what it was. Switching to fiber solved the buffering but, there is a lot more than "nothing" involved when switching from cable to fiber.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by JoelJohnson

I've had Xfinity for many years, using the Firestick. Recently I was getting a lot of buffering. I have an app on my phone called "WiFi Analyzer". I saw what channel my WiFi was using and it showed that a better channel would do better. I went into the Router settings and changed each of the two WiFi (2.4 and 5) settings to the suggestions and my TV experience is better. It's not "rocket surgery".

Good advice. Our Arris modem/router broadcasts in both 2.4 and 5.0. Neither is better, just different. The 5.0 is faster but has shorter range and won’t travel well through walls. I have the TV next to the router tuned to 5.0 and all other devices running at 2.4. Any Mobil devices should definitely be at 2.4 so you have better range regardless of location.

[Bruceg0028]

Cutting the cable means dumping Xfinity not keeping it and live streaming it. They charge way too much ! Most households can get away with T Mobile or Verizon 5G wireless internet and a YouTube live TV subscription. Works great and you can get your bill down to about $140 per month. Mine is less than that since T-Mobile never will raise your price. So our internet is locked at $30 per month from signing up a few years ago. Works great!

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I don't know enough about the physical layout of fiber systems or where the switching centers are. I find it difficult to believe that Quantum installed several thousand strands of fiber from the Villages to wherever their switches are so there is likely some physical consolidation going on somewhere closer.

"the buffering stopped when doing nothing but switching to fiber". But is it true that nothing was done but switching to fiber? Just switching from Xfinity to Quantum means switching data centers and internet onramps. Certainly, the modem needed to be changed to accommodate a fiber input rather than a cable input. Unless the installation had separate modem and router boxes then changing the router also changed the modem. Then, you also advocate locating the router in different locations and using the wifi pods for better coverage.

It could very well be that an overloaded fiber infrastructure was causing buffering. It could also be a particularly active street, a faulty cable, a faulty cable connection, or a malfunctioning concentrator box. Without more investigation and numbers there is no way to prove just what it was. Switching to fiber solved the buffering but, there is a lot more than "nothing" involved when switching from cable to fiber.

Well I do know how Quantum's fiber infrastructure is layed out since I worked in this area at Verizon and with speaking to the tech's at Quantum it's very similar. So the way it works is each customer does have a unique glass fiber from their home to a nearby hub. From that Hub each customer has a unique multiplexed connection via lighwave to the central office. The central office could have connections to the internet gateway or it could be routed to a main gateway hub in Lumen's network. In doing trace routes from my home, we are connected to one of the main Lumen hubs where the gateways are located. With cable, the back-end systems and gateways are similar to Quantum's as you alluded to. They have fiber infrastructure as well. The difference is the cable connection from your home to their fiber infrastructure is copper and is using shared bandwidth of that copper cable which is limited compared to fiber and thus once of the possible causes of the bottleneck. Many cable companies have expanded their fiber network to get it closer to the subscriber but the last mile as they call it is copper with all the physical limitations of that technology.

With fiber in some areas of the Villages, whether you need it or not, you can get up to 8GBs internet service vs a max of 1Gbs from cable. Just different technologies.

You are correct in assuming the change out of the WiFi equipment could also make a difference and it would but in all cases I evaluated the cable WiFi placement and equipment and it was fine.

All this said, my findings are not scientific since I don't have enough cases to reference. The purpose of my comment was just to point out what I have been seeing in the switch-overs to fiber that I've been involved in. In all cases, the Villager I was helping relayed the before and after performance to me and was very satisified with the better performance of fiber.

Hope this helps.

[Raywatkins]

This is a good subject.
Everyone will find that their needs can be met several ways.
Ours was price.
So we went to the Xfinity store and they gave us a great deal to switch to their streaming service. That can only be used if you subscribe.
We opted to buy Xumo boxes (around $60 each at the time) Like the OP we have a mix of Samsung and Sony TV’s. The Xumo remote is programmed to operate any of the boxes. There is an advanced option to change a remotes transmission channel if required.
We have just reached the end of our stream contract and Xfinity wanted to jack the price by $50. So I looked at Quantum and Direct TV. I took the findings to the Xfinity store and within minutes my Stream cost fell below what it had previously been before by a few dollars.
Xfinity know they now have competition and therefore need to compete. But and it’s a big but, they rely on customer inertia. If only a small percentage of customers challenge them they are more than happy to give those that challenge a good deal.
The Xumo box works well, once installed and you have loaded your favourite channels and signed in to you apps. Other options are similarly easy to load and operate.

[bumpa]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

YouTubeTV definitely works on fire sticks - watched it last night.

HuluLive is another option for network channels.
EDIT: HuluLive may not work with some internet providers, particularly T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. Check for any reports of compatibility problems before going this route (a free trial period should also let you find out)

suppose.tv is a great site for selecting the channels you want to have and learning which streaming services need in order to get them.

We use T-Mobile Home internet and HuluLive. No issues.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by bumpa

We use T-Mobile Home internet and HuluLive. No issues.

Thanks. Good to hear the issues have been resolved and Live is now an option.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by elle123

I'd get a different internet provider and just pay for the Apps you want.

Internet providers in the Lake Sumter Landing area are limited.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

I am in the process of cutting the Cable cord. I have Xfinity Cable and have three TVs connected. Each TV is a different make. Samsung, LG and SONY.

One of the features I am trying to retain is commonality of remotes which will cease once I cut the cord. I have chosen to use firesticks to cure that.

I have successfully downloaded Xfinity Stream to all TVs and can successfully operate with the individual Firesticks. However, when I stream to Xfinity Stream, one TV (The LG) operates all the XFINITY Stream Channels with closed Captioning. That is the only APP that shows closed captioning on that TV. Even went to the LG control and insured that closed captioning was off.

Seems like a long telephone to Xfinity to resolve.

Just wondering if one of our senior experts has a simple solution?

Success. I found the solution to my closed caption problem. Even though I have many APPS , only Live TV programs on Xfinity Stream were displaying closed caption.

In my attempt to delete the Xfinity Stream APP in order to reinstall, I was directed to go to the LG Remote. As I passed through various options I came across a closed Caption check off page which showed CC on. Turned it off and went back to Xfinity Stream and my problem is gone.

Thanks for all suggestions.

[JGVillages]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

I understand that if you cancel XFINITY you cannot use XFINITY Stream. I am limited by location to use XFinity for internet at a speed that allows streaming. That cost is around $90, I am currently around $195. If I go to Xfinity Stream, by dropping the 3 Cable Boxes at $12/ea, I am at about $161. I know that there are other options such as SLING, UTUBE TV etc. In time I might go further.

My current problem is with one TV having Closed captioning on Xfinity stream. The other TV's no problem. This is only a problem when I stream on Xfinity stream. I have entered XFINITY Stream and gone to settings / Accessability/ SAP Turned OFF and still get Closed Captioning. Perhaps I should reinstall the Xfinity APP on this TV.

You may have close captioning turned on in your Firestick. Just search how to turn off on a Firestick. Might be the issue??

[BrianNotFromNYC]

Pretty sure you will need one TV account to keep streaming TV channels offered by Xfinity. But as long as you have that figured out etc., I remember the same frustration. I think I sort of remember a setting for the TV for handicapped people had to be disabled, regardless of whether or not you disabled screen captioning. Hope it helps.

[DrHitch]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

OP, if you want to continue watching the Xfinity channels, the most likely replacement would be to subscribe to YouTubeTV, which will cost you about $93 per month

YES...most importantly
You will need some sort of streaming provider if you want to retain "live" TV including Orlando networks, premium channels (eg golf, HGTV, food, etc.

So, either keep subscribing to a Comcast package or go to some other carrier like YouTube TV...

Using over the air digital antenna has mixed results in The Villages.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by DrHitch

YES...most importantly
You will need some sort of streaming provider if you want to retain "live" TV including Orlando networks, premium channels (eg golf, HGTV, food, etc.

So, either keep subscribing to a Comcast package or go to some other carrier like YouTube TV...

Using over the air digital antenna has mixed results in The Villages.

You are right, basically that's it. What people don't realize is how easy it is to switch from traditional cable to streaming YouTube TV. Even at $93/month, you will still be saving a significant amount of money by dropping cable.

[Flyers999]

I want to thank all the cheapskates here who dropped comcast. My upload/download speeds are always greater that the Xfinity plan I'm paying for, which Xfinity constantly reminds me of. No more stuttering, pausing or dropouts either. So there's always a silver lining.

[Desiderata]

Originally Posted by jrref

As you are aware, for the past four years here in the Villages I have been helping my friends, neighbors and any referrals I get cut the cord and switch to Quantum Fiber if they can get it. I don't have a business, just helping people who need it. That said, I don't have hard numbers but I've been keeping track of Villagers telling me they have buffering problems and then verifying if when switching to fiber, if they go away. In all the cases that I've been involved in, the buffering stopped when doing nothing but switching to fiber. This is for Quantum and Centric fiber. With fiber you have a dedicated connection with dedicated bi-directional bandwidth from your home to the swiching office where you are connected to the internet with common equipment as you mentioned. With cable, you have a shared connection with "X" amount of your neighbors until it gets to their switching office. The problem is, as more people stream, more data is being used over the existing cable infrastructure sometimes using all the bandwith at peak times. This is why your speed will also vary. The cable companies are supposed to monitor traffic and manage it, potentially adding capacity as needed but that costs money and is not being done much these days. I'm not saying everyone on cable will have buffering problems, just that I've been hearing this more and more as I interact with people here in the Villages. And it's totally dependent on where you live.

Do you know if the village of Dunedin has access to fiber? Ive been using Spectrum for internet and their prices just keep going up.
Thanks.