Quote:
Originally Posted by Pairadocs
(Post 2226861)
Am at the same point. Honestly either do not understand "streaming", the concept yes, the actual process to switch, no. Have comcast, started at about $99 a mo. years ago, never had any kind of service problem except many years ago during the "big one" the hurricane around 2004 maybe. But, the monthly bill has of course doubled. Hubby has no interest in these things (TV providers, options, etc.) but we have two newish ( 1 yr old Samsung, and a Vizio 5 mos.) "smart" TV's and I was interested in exploring dropping cable. Heard these ads about only $40 a month, some less, for all the channels you could want including local ones, etc. etc. But (pardon my ignorance of this subject) seemed to me that price would be misleading as internet would surely be required also ? Right ? So I call Comcast, bill now up to $188 a mo. with over $20 in "fees" (???) of every kind. So I asked about taking only the internet service. They told me that my internet ONLY would cost $92 a MONTH, plus, "fees". They could not give me any information on the additional "fees", said it "depends on too many factors" (exact words !) and I then asked for a FEW examples of what kinds of "factors" determine the "fees", and was told (I know, unbelievable but true) by the person "it's just TOO COMPLICATED to answer your question with any accuracy" ! ! So I said, would you tell me what an "average" amount of "fees" would be in this area of Florida, should I figure somewhere in the $10 range ? $20 range ? and once again, they just do not have any average figures. I know this is NOT possible, they do have a "rough" idea of what the fees come to in a particular zip code of Florida. So, again since I am very ignorant of the subject, to use "apps" on the smart TV, do you also have to take internet service from Comcast ? Are there other companies ? I known some neighbors (Lake Sumter area) used to get their internet service from Embarq (?) but have no idea if that service is still in business. So, how does one "cut the cord" to Comcast, and then go about getting a new internet service and use the "smart" TV ? Seems if one could get an internet company for $45-$50 a month, and then can get the same 200 plus channels as Comcast (we have no special channels like HBO, Show Time, etc.) for another $45-$50, we'd be cutting our bill by approximately $100 ? But, how to accomplish ?
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I went through the same confusions for MONTHS before we moved in, trying to figure out how it all worked. So here's the deal:
Get Xfinity internet service - no phone, no TV channels, for $50/month. That's the "new customer special" price, good for a year. You never ask them to tell you the best rate. You tell THEM the best rate, and instruct them (politely) to honor it. The only way you can find out what the rate is, is to plug in the address of a vacant home in your immediate neighborhood when you go on their website. Never plug in your own address, it will only give you the rates they want you to pay, as an existing customer.
You want a house that doesn't have any internet service - thus - a vacant home. The current special will be $50/month for wifi only, NOT including a modem/gateway. You want to bring your own modem (MUCH MUCH cheaper to buy your own). No fees. it's just $50 a month, period. If you do autopay out of your checking account they'll give you $5 discount to only $45 a month.
THEN - sign up for whatever TV service suits your needs. We use YouTubeTV, and we've added Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. So for us it's $70 for YouTube, plus $7 for Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video comes with our Amazon Prime subscription at no extra cost, but the prime subscription is $119/year, so call it $10/month.
So - 50, plus 70, plus 7, plus 10 = $137/month for all the channels we want, plus premium channels, and a kajillion free channels that come with just having a Roku stick like All James Bond, All the Time, and RetroTV where we can watch 6 hours of Bewitched and then 6 hours of Beverly Hillbillies if we're in the mood.
another option would be Sling TV, they have a couple of different plans to accommodate different needs.
But you'll need 1) internet service, 2) a device that allows you to access television stations using that internet service, and 3) a service that provides you with the group of channels you're interested in watching on a regular basis.
For me it was xfinity, roku, youtubeTV and Netflix. For someone else it might be Sling Orange plus HBO and HULU.