Cable Service (Gastonia, Huntersville, Gaston: 2009, apartment, homes)

[flyfast]

Hi,
First time post.

I just received my cable bill with TWC and of course it is going up again. Now I know this has been discussed before on this forum, but I just cannot seem to justify the expenditure for the service provided. I am considering dropping TWC entirely for satellite service or maybe even an old fashion antenna and (heaven forbid) dial up internet service. I live east of Gastonia, and would appreciate any advice or experience others have had with satellite
service and/or dialup for internet.

Thanks and Happy New Year

[LoveBoating]

We had satellite (Dish) in Colorado when we lived there. It was great, except for when it snowed hard and the satellite (picture) went out and we had to go outside and clean the snow off of the dish. Don't have to worry about the snow problem here though! At that time, my wife worked for Dish Network so we got a nice discount on the service. As far as dial-up internet service goes, we hope we would never have to go back to "dial-up" again after having fast DSL. Now that we live here in Huntersville, we have to have TWC because we live in an apartment. TWC is nice, but not as nice as Dish was. We also have DSL with TWC.

[flyfast]

Thanks LoveBoating,

When we moved here BellSouth dsl was "sold out" and not taking any new customers which pushed newcomers to TWC. In less than one year our bill for cable and roadrunner has skyrocketed. I plan to check out the satellite company offerings soon. BTW all attempts to call TWC have been met with a
busy signal.

Happy New Year

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by flyfast

I am considering dropping TWC entirely for satellite service or maybe even an old fashion antenna and (heaven forbid) dial up internet service. I live east of Gastonia, and would appreciate any advice or experience others have had with satellite service and/or dialup for internet.

Have you considered dropping TWC for television and keeping it for internet so you wouldn't have to deal with dial-up? AFAIK, you are not required to have tv to have cable internet. I've heard nothing but good comments from people using Dish Network or DirecTV rather than cable, but ditching cable for dial-up is cheaper, but one of those decisions that I think you'd regret.

[DawnW]

We have TWC for our modem but Directv for TV.

Dawn

[jmm051]

I would caution going for the "antenna route." Well, maybe it would work for the time being.
All televisions in the US will need to either have a cable box, satellite, or a digital converter box by February 17th 2009. They have started receiving applications for $40 vouchers for homes to purchase the converter box.
So basically (imo) they are making it so the general public will have to choose a cable/satellite provider.

[DawnW]

Another thing you might consider is to call and ask for any promos they are running. Threaten nicely to switch to satellite if they can't give you a better deal. They might offer you something.

Dawn

[slowlazygc]

i had dish in colorado too and relocated, never had to go out and clean. i came here few weeks back and got dish again. 30 bucks when i pay twc 40 and then it increases after 3 months. for internet i have cable from twc/road runner and for 30 it is not a great but a decent deal. I paid 20 to comcast in colorado.

[Whytewulf]

Cable is a monopoly, I think people seetle for DSL and Satellite, IMHO. Remember not everyone can get Satellite, DSL has slow downs, depends on your priorities. TWC is not cheap, but its pretty close to most other large providers. Just gotta get a 12 month promo every 13 months, it helps. Yes you pay one month at full price then go after them asking for a deal, they usually give you one, especially if you multiple services. I know some people have had issues with TWC, other than pricing, mine works fine.