Comcast or Satellite in WPB - close to water? (rental, how much)

[NathanSmith]

We have Comcast now and it makes me see red everytime I get the bill. Insanely priced. I picked them because I figured the satellite dish would get messed up anytime the wind blew. But they're soooo much cheaper than Comcast. I wish u-verse would hurry up and get here ...

Does anyone here have any real-world experience with a dish on your roof? Does it get out of whack during storms?
How about the DSL internet you have to get with it ... how does it stack up with Comcast's cable internet (I assume a lot slower ...)


We live close to the intercoastal - so we figure we'll be in for some new experiences with the weather this summer. I would hope our TV would stay on till the power goes out - and not before because of a wind gust.

Thanks

[rainroosty]

Originally Posted by NathanSmith

We have Comcast now and it makes me see red everytime I get the bill. Insanely priced. I picked them because I figured the satellite dish would get messed up anytime the wind blew. But they're soooo much cheaper than Comcast. I wish u-verse would hurry up and get here ...

Does anyone here have any real-world experience with a dish on your roof? Does it get out of whack during storms?
How about the DSL internet you have to get with it ... how does it stack up with Comcast's cable internet (I assume a lot slower ...)


We live close to the intercoastal - so we figure we'll be in for some new experiences with the weather this summer. I would hope our TV would stay on till the power goes out - and not before because of a wind gust.

Thanks

Go with the satellite. We live right on the Intracoastal. When it's very stormy you may get a little interuption now and then, but not enough to bother you much at all - especially when you can sit there thinking about the great price difference! The minor outages I mention are usually just for a few seconds.
You don't have to get your high speed internet from the satellite provider! We get ours from AT&T. Cable's internet is technically a higher speed than the DSL, but fast is fast, and the differences are not very noticable. We get the AT&T 6 MB service.
With the low price billing you'll be happy-happy-happy! :-) That's a very GOOD thing!
Satellite is really cool and I hope you get it......

[NathanSmith]

wow - you make a compelling argument! Do you work for direct tv?? - ha!

IF the dish doesn't go out at your place, and you're by the water - I'll dumping comcast and going that route too.

[rainroosty]

Nathan - we are so right on the water I often sit on our porch and see the mullet jumping. True! LOL! We have Dish Network, not Direct TV. - I'm sure there's no difference at all in the signal reception. Check out both services for the price and programming you prefer. We chose a package called Bronze 100+. A whole lot of channels and our bill is $51. a month.

[Capo]

How much does comcast's cable modem service cost these days?

What about AT&Ts 6mb DSL?

[TriMT7]

Has anyone done or have experience with the AT&T "bundles"?

I was looking at a package that would be Internet + Cable + Phone service, but don't know what to expect.

[NathanSmith]

Hello -

Thanks for all the replies. Good to know the dish might work out. Right now - I have a ComCast bundle with a phone, way too many tv channels, the fastest internet (12 mbps), HD-DVR box for $210 per month after taxes and fees. Don't know about you all - but that is too much for me to spend - especially when there's nothing on TV anyway!

So - the cable internet is $55 per month, I think, plus 5 or 10 dollar modem rental - so 60-65 monthly. This is at the highest speed provided. Honestly, I don't know how well it stacks up against 6 mb DSL from AT&T ... I assume twice as fast (based on the math)??? But that could be all marketing mumbo-jumbo.

The AT&T bundles is what I have been looking at to replace Comcast (since that is the only other choice in my area). You get satellite TV, At&T phone and internet - and somehow they stick it on one bill. Based on my reseatch - I can get a comparable package to what I am getting with comcast for a full 50% less - around $110 month. Now that I know the satellite dish won;t fly away with a wind gust - it's a no-brainer for me to cancel Comcast. It might be good - but it's not $1,200 a year extra good

[Capo]

Originally Posted by NathanSmith

Hello -

Thanks for all the replies. Good to know the dish might work out. Right now - I have a ComCast bundle with a phone, way too many tv channels, the fastest internet (12 mbps), HD-DVR box for $210 per month after taxes and fees. Don't know about you all - but that is too much for me to spend - especially when there's nothing on TV anyway!

So - the cable internet is $55 per month, I think, plus 5 or 10 dollar modem rental - so 60-65 monthly. This is at the highest speed provided. Honestly, I don't know how well it stacks up against 6 mb DSL from AT&T ... I assume twice as fast (based on the math)??? But that could be all marketing mumbo-jumbo.

The AT&T bundles is what I have been looking at to replace Comcast (since that is the only other choice in my area). You get satellite TV, At&T phone and internet - and somehow they stick it on one bill. Based on my reseatch - I can get a comparable package to what I am getting with comcast for a full 50% less - around $110 month. Now that I know the satellite dish won;t fly away with a wind gust - it's a no-brainer for me to cancel Comcast. It might be good - but it's not $1,200 a year extra good

Nathan,

What do you use your internet connection for? Unless you have many (4 or 5 or more) surfing AT THE SAME TIME and downloading lots of files, or if you download very large files on a nearly daily basis, or possibly if you are a big online gamer, the 6mbps DSL from AT&T will more than adequate for the vast majority of people - especially if it's a 50% savings.

Also, if you're paying 10 bucks a month to rent a modem - that is expensive. Do they allow you to buy theirs or one of your own or do they force you to lease theirs?

Unless your modem is breaking every few months you will definitely save money just by buying one.

[NathanSmith]

Capo -

Good questions:

We use the internet for my wife's job. She remotes in to an office in Texas. We think the 6 mb should work for her. It's not uncommon for us both to be using the internet at the same time in the evenings as well.

The modem: If you don't get the phone service, your modem is $5 per month. If you do get the phone, it's a different device, and thus the $10 month.

I did some research and the Motorola Surfboard is the recommended modem for comcast. It's $100 at best buy ... so I just rented. It came out to about a wash after 12 months, at which point, I would hope that U-Verse is in town.

[Capo]

If it's just 2 of you doing work the 6mbps will be fine - you may just want to make sure that the distance of your house to the hub isn't so far where you are actually getting no where close to 6.

You'll be fine for remoting in as well, 6mbps is plenty for that, even for 2 people.