Internet service providers - recommendations?
- Thread starter re_guderian
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
What issues are you having with cox? Their internet has been good for me, but he tv portion has been aweful.
- Thread starter
- #3
frequent outages, crappy customer service. Really crappy customer service. Phone was just out for a week. It's a freaking phone. Not rocket science... Then they act all magnanimous when they "offer" to credit your account for the denied service. As if they wouldn't have done it unless I asked, which was probably true. Internet has frequent hiccups. When it works, it's fast. It also takes a long time to get someone out to "fix" it, then they BS you with what's wrong...
Unfortunately Rob, they seem to have the best internet service in tow currently. I know Century Link is an option but when we used them for DSL at several locations the service was awful. Google is coming to save us all hopefully. Also, the tv service through century link is horrible from what I hear. I am thinking about cutting the cord and just keeping Cox for internet. You can get a lot of good service through a roku device for tv and then add add a device like simpletv for local channels.
Load PDAnet on your phone and tether. It's not blazing fast but it's consistent and free if you have unlimited data.
I've been trying to cut the cord with Cox also. Friends who have Century Link or Comcast are less happy than I am, so I'd stay with Cox, but the price is more than I want to continue paying ($180/mo for phone, internet and cable with no add-ons). When I called them to ask about lowering my monthly, they graciously offered to reduce the bill to $150, I guess I just had to ask.
Rob, you're in the East Valley, correct? Cable America may be an option. I've heard some good things about them.
This is what I have, and I like it so far, but it takes some time getting use to it. There are surprisingly more channels on roku then I thought.
You don't need a device for local TV unless your TV is really old. Plug in an antenna and you'll get about 50 channels. About half are junk but there's still plenty of free TV out there. If your TV is analog, you will need a converter box.
- Thread starter
- #10
Thanks, I'll check them out. About ready to kill cable and the land line (<- yeah, I know, I'm an old fart...) I guess I could get a VOIP and keep the number. I DO have unlimited data with Sprint, but I'm about as happy with them as with Cox. I rarely watch TV anymore, so I wouldn't miss the cable. The teenagers might rumble at first, but probably not much. I already have a Roku. If it has HGTV, the wife will be OK with killing cable.
I can't complain about my COX service - midrange IP only, no TV or Phone - but it's only dropped once or twice in years. You might consider keeping only the data and adding something like HappyJack or BasicTalk (VoIP) for telco coverage. Or just go cell for phone service - a pain for monitored home alarms, but doable.
With any ISP, the equipment you use has a lot to do with the QoS. You may simply have a bad modem or router, or if WiFi is the issue too many neighbors on same default modem/router channels -- that can be a nightmare. Unfortunately, and not unlike auto mechanics, not every COX technician has the same level of understanding when it comes to what they install (I had to help some cable techs find the right cable wires coming into a house - or wait a week for the next tier to come do it - and there were only four wires, how could they miss?).
With any ISP, the equipment you use has a lot to do with the QoS. You may simply have a bad modem or router, or if WiFi is the issue too many neighbors on same default modem/router channels -- that can be a nightmare. Unfortunately, and not unlike auto mechanics, not every COX technician has the same level of understanding when it comes to what they install (I had to help some cable techs find the right cable wires coming into a house - or wait a week for the next tier to come do it - and there were only four wires, how could they miss?).
- Thread starter
- #12
I may do that. I've been in the same house for 13 years with Cox. I have upgraded modems 3 times, and routers seem to die about every other year, so I'm pretty up to date. I'm pretty tech savvy, so I hate getting BS answers from Cox technicians. I've lost track of the flip-flopping they do on signal boosters this, and location that, etc. etc. I can usually very quickly trouble shoot my own junk. I freaking HATE having to wait days to fix a issue with a telephone. I had called last Thursday (my phone had been out for 4 days by then - I just didn't really miss it...) and was told it was a system issue in my area. 4 days later, still no dial tone (and I had done all the modem resets and troubleshooting). Then from Cox, "Oh, apparently it was an issue at your box all along, we'll have someone out there in few days..." F-them...
Once had what I knew to be a problem on Comcast's end (a different house) ... signal coming and going ... after wrangling for a week demanding they were going to charge me a service call I finally agreed and they sent a real tech out and in five minutes with his spectrum analyzer in some weird QAM mode discovered a squirrel or other critter had eaten through the coax while making a nest in my wall - 9' off the ground :-O. Problems are not always obvious. The tech was a great guy, and signed me up for the service plan before he finished up his call sheet - saved me a few bucks that day.
The issue is it is high technology, and sometimes the trouble can be hard to find, and can be anywhere along the path from your house to the gateway - a mix of fiber and coax - or even a simple but bad setting in the gateway itself. When you stop to think about it, its pretty darned amazing it even works at all. And yeah - I ytook two years off and studied it in depth so I could understand it better for my work... two degrees later some of it is still FM (aka effing magic).
It all doesn't excuse a lack luster call center that isn't wanting to help ... next time, call to add a service ... and when the tech gets there and has it all working; change your mind.
The issue is it is high technology, and sometimes the trouble can be hard to find, and can be anywhere along the path from your house to the gateway - a mix of fiber and coax - or even a simple but bad setting in the gateway itself. When you stop to think about it, its pretty darned amazing it even works at all. And yeah - I ytook two years off and studied it in depth so I could understand it better for my work... two degrees later some of it is still FM (aka effing magic).
It all doesn't excuse a lack luster call center that isn't wanting to help ... next time, call to add a service ... and when the tech gets there and has it all working; change your mind.
I agree, the only way to get decent service from Cox is to either call them pretending to want to buy more product or threatening to cancel service altogether 
- and they keep jacking up the price for absolutely no increase in service quality/speed 
- and they keep jacking up the price for absolutely no increase in service quality/speed
The only reason I am purchasing this device is so I can DVR what I want.
I bought a widget for my computer that has an ATSC receiver (dual) so it works just like TIVO - but uses MS Media Center (or has it's own WinTV app).
It records two local channels at once. It is a one time purchase, no monthly fees, etc. They have USB single channel devices for $80, and dual receivers for just $130 list.
http://www.hauppauge.com/
What I use (today I might buy the DCR-2650 or 3250 external versions):
http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr2250.html
It records two local channels at once. It is a one time purchase, no monthly fees, etc. They have USB single channel devices for $80, and dual receivers for just $130 list.
http://www.hauppauge.com/
What I use (today I might buy the DCR-2650 or 3250 external versions):
http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr2250.html
Yes, as long as you have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, and not all of them are. If you are going to upgrade your modem do yourself a favor and get one from a Cox store, it's already been "blessed" (provisioned in Cox-speak, in other words their network already knows it's MAC address and it works without calling tech support)...
I've been Cox for internet, Sprint cell for phones, no land lines whatsoever, and Dish for TV. Yes, it's more than if you bundle with a single provider but I feel it's the best of what's out there. I like this setup and don't really plan to change, yet. Looked into the whole ROKU thing but too much of the stuff we like is either subscription, not available, or you still need competing platforms to get all you might want (Amazon, ROKU, Chromecast, Apple TV, Netflix...) so if you're having to subscribe to separate services the savings go out the window... I may change later when the technology catches up.