What Cable/Internet/Phone Provider Do You Have?

lah1177

Right now we have a cable/internet/digital phone package with Time Warner that expires on Friday. We have been locked into this package for two years. My DH called them today and our package rate is going to really increase, of course! I already think we pay a lot right now ($170 a month including taxes and fees) but it is going to jump to over $200 a month BEFORE taxes and fees. And the kicker is, if we did not call by Friday, they automatically lock you into the package for another two years (at the much higher rate).

So we are debating dumping cable altogether, we rarely watch shows that are not on network TV. We need internet and we have a home phone b/c we have a security system, but my DH can get a radio through his work that will connect the security system to the police/fire department, so we can dump our home phone as well and just get Internet.

I am curious what provider you all use and what package you have (and how much it costs, if you do not mind sharing). I just can't imagine paying more then we do now, especially when we rarely watch cable (I will have a hard time parting with my DVR though!).

Thanks so much!

becki777

We do not have cable or a home phone. We have a digital antenna and get all the network stations plus some others including UNC Kids.

We have TWC Road Runner Lite - it's $27.95 a month. We buy a lot of MP3s online plus watch streaming videos and our connection is plenty fast.

ECUGirl2004

If you call TWC and tell them you're going to cancel, they will offer you a lower rate. We had digital cable & DVR and Roadrunner and decided to cancel the digital cable & DVR. They offered me much lower prices when I asked to cancel.  I think they even went lower than I had been paying.  We still cancelled anyway, but that was becuase we had decided that we didn't watch enough TV to make it worth any price.

veronicacorningstone

I am interested in the responses, too.  We have a 2 year deal with TWC for phone/internet/cable.   We had an issue with them last week and I seriously thought DH was going to cancel on the spot and pay the disconnection fee.   So yeah, we might just keep TWC for roadrunner, but go with DirectTv or something like that when our deal is finished.

Temp782982187506089

We don't have a home phone, use RR internet for around $40 a month (but both DH and I do some work from home, so I need some fast speed), and Direct TV with a ton of channels and DVR for $50 a month. 

lah1177

ECUGirl2004:

If you call TWC and tell them you're going to cancel, they will offer you a lower rate. We had digital cable & DVR and Roadrunner and decided to cancel the digital cable & DVR. They offered me much lower prices when I asked to cancel.  I think they even went lower than I had been paying.  We still cancelled anyway, but that was becuase we had decided that we didn't watch enough TV to make it worth any price.

I am not sure if my DH threatened to cancel when he called, but it did not sound like they were willing to work with us at all and he even called our local branch who he does a lot of business with through his company. Even if they hold our current rate, I still think we are going to dump it b/c we don't use it that much and I am already excited about saving the money! You still have Internet, right? Who do you have it through? Does your work cover it? Did you have to get a digital antennea like Becki for network TV?

cate1119

I would definitely try negotiating with them.  We threatened to cancel and they lowered our "promo" rate by $30 / month.  We also are not locked into a contract which is something my DH made sure to negotiate that (we are debating whether to cancel or not now). 

ECUGirl2004

lah1177:

ECUGirl2004:

If you call TWC and tell them you're going to cancel, they will offer you a lower rate. We had digital cable & DVR and Roadrunner and decided to cancel the digital cable & DVR. They offered me much lower prices when I asked to cancel.  I think they even went lower than I had been paying.  We still cancelled anyway, but that was becuase we had decided that we didn't watch enough TV to make it worth any price.

I am not sure if my DH threatened to cancel when he called, but it did not sound like they were willing to work with us at all and he even called our local branch who he does a lot of business with through his company. Even if they hold our current rate, I still think we are going to dump it b/c we don't use it that much and I am already excited about saving the money! You still have Internet, right? Who do you have it through? Does your work cover it? Did you have to get a digital antennea like Becki for network TV?

Yes, I have RR now and work pays for it. We do have a digital antenna, but we barely even watch network TV.  We mostly watch shows when they are available on the network's website, and we've been watching DVDs of other series (Battlestar Gallactica, Mad Men, John Adams, etc).

When I called TWC and told them I wanted to cancel, they transferred me to another department.  They have people who specialize in trying to convince people to stay.  I think they offered me 2 lower rates before I told them that I didn't want cable unless they wanted to give it to me for free.

mrsNnearly

Our new neighborhood has ATT's Uverse available so we are kicking TWC to the curb and going with ATT. No contract and we are getting all the same channels and HD for less than TWC. I am so excited b/c I loathe TWC and have been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of them!

WendyNC

We left TWC over a year ago and I don't remember them really trying to cut us a deal to stay.

We now have DirectTV.  We like it but they have been very underhanded in some of their practices and their customer service has sucked.  We were put in a 2 year contract and never told about it.  And the price has gone up for us after 12 months.

We have At&T for home phone and wireless interet.  It's not cheap either and between the DirectTV and AT&T, we are paying pretty much the same that we were paying with the home bundle for TWC.  Also, haven't been too impressed with AT&T.

It's all an expensive bunch of racket.

I've also not heard good things about Dish.  I think my MIL had some major issues with them. 

Kudos to people who just cancel and live without it.  It's really ridiculous how much it all costs!

dbertagni

Right now we are locked into a two year contract with Dish through CenturyLink (formerly Embarq). I really, really, HATE them. I had a $1200 bill one month because they charged us 6 times for a Hockey Package DH got and it went on like that for 3 months before they fixed it. My Dish goes out in storms and overall the customer service stinks. I think we may keep them for internet because DH company is going to pay for that up to $50 but otherwise come June we are doing exactly what Becki did, we have a digital antenna and will use that. Right now we pay over $200 for Dish, unlimited phone, and the very highest internet speed.

Mrs. KG

We've been using AT&T for the home phone and internet and I think we are paying about 80$ per month. We just suspended our service with DirecTV because of some issues with the reception, it was just easier to do that until we move than try to arrange to have it fixed.

 I am not thrilled with AT&T mostly because of outage issues this winter, but if I wasn't relying on the connection for work it wouldn't be as much of an issue. 

BackthePack

We have TWC for digital phone/internet/HDTV Cable w/ some extras for DH and now, it's a really good deal. However, it took my DH calling to cancel part of our service before they offered us a better deal. We're now paying like $40-50 less/mo than we previously were.

uncharch7

we have dish, $70/mo (HD on 1 tv, 1 box for 2 TVs, and DVR-HD) and RR lite, $20/mo. we don't have a home phone.

anderson92207

We have internet through time warner but use dish network for tv.  We have two hd dvr receivers for less than one was with time warner.  We have had their service for over a year and have been very pleased.  You also get more recording time with their dvrs.  I think it is like 300 hours.  We use cell backup service for our alarm and just pay a few extra dollars each month for that.  We don't use a home phone, just our cell phones. 

erin_aaronsbaby

We also have a bundle package through TWC for cable/internet/phone. They are the only home phone line providers in our area right now, and had the best rate for internet/tv. I'm glad you said what you did about the expiration of the contract, that way I can keep an eye out for when mine is due to expire!