More Advice Please And Thank You (Cleveland, Cleveland Heights: prices, to move, bill)

[Minervah]

So, I am all set to move. I will be in Cleveland on the fifth of June although my stuff won't be there until the twelve but that's how it goes.

Anyway, I will be looking for new phone and Internet service so I would like to hear opinions about what others use. I will be in the Cleveland Heights area so it will have to be services that operate there. No cable please, I don't do cable or dish.

Any and all suggestions are welcome but it has to be international service because I will be calling my sister in Canada. I am not a big cell phone user, I just have a cheap-o $26.00 a month cell phone service that doesn't provide international service which I need. I hardly ever use the cell and have about 3,000 minutes on it. I have a landline and Internet with Comcast in Portland.

I am thinking of just using a cell phone and dumping the landline but I am not sure if I want to do that.

So, what recommendations do people have for Internet and phone service? Thanks for any input.

[L2DB]

AT&T U-Verse for Internet

Ditch the landline and just use your cell.

IMO.

[ECBeastor]

Originally Posted by L2DB

AT&T U-Verse for Internet

Ditch the landline and just use your cell.

IMO.

I second AT&T and the ditch the land line sentiment.


AT&T prices can get steep once the initial promos run out but, IMO, they offer the best products and services right now. Having said that, all cable prices have been skyrocketing at probably 400x that of overall inflation over the past 15 years so you'd have that problem with all of them. You just have to beat them back down once the 12-month promo price runs out.

Getting your rate reduced can be a laborious process, that can take an hour or two on the phone, but I've never failed in the past 3 years getting them back down to close to what the promo price was (around $30/month knocked back off). Just tell them you can't go over a set price and make that set price around $10-$20 less than what you are will to pay. Know the competitors promos and turn down their first offer as well (it's almost always an upsell to a package with more channels which leaves you at the same price you're trying to bargain down from but it is a shorter promo i.e. 3 months). Eventually they'll escalate you to a retention department (or a manager further up in retention) who with start packing on more discounts.

[ehfp]

At&T is still phasing in U-Verse in Cleveland, but if it's available on your block, I second the recommendation and would suggest just using U-verse for both internet and phone. (I think their "voice unlimited" plan includes Canada.)

[SquareBetterThanAll]

If you aren't doing cable but are streaming instead (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) keep in mind AT&T has a 250GB cap.

[Minervah]

Wow! That's three for U-verse. Looks like so far they make the top of the list. I am not married to a land line by any means so I am willing to go the cell phone route. It's going to come down to cost I think. Comcast is ridiculous and nasty to deal with. I am glad they are not even an option.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

If you aren't doing cable but are streaming instead (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) keep in mind AT&T has a 250GB cap.

No, I will be using those someday though. Believe it or not I am a OTA TV watcher. I have a 14 year old analog TV set with a digital converter box. It works and the picture is great so I still use it. I don't need a zillion TV channels. I get network and retro channels where I'm at now. I subscribe to Netflix and watch shows online so I am happy until my old TV dies at which time I will invest in a smart TV and get into streaming.

[Clevelander216]

time warner

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by Minervah

No, I will be using those someday though. Believe it or not I am a OTA TV watcher. I have a 14 year old analog TV set with a digital converter box. It works and the picture is great so I still use it. I don't need a zillion TV channels. I get network and retro channels where I'm at now. I subscribe to Netflix and watch shows online so I am happy until my old TV dies at which time I will invest in a smart TV and get into streaming.

I had to dump AT&T once they started enforcing the cap because it was doubling my Internet bill with the overages. I ended up getting 3x the download speed for about $10 less per month through Time Warner with no data caps.

If it's only you streaming it may not be an issue though, our data usage is much higher because it's multiple people.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

I had to dump AT&T once they started enforcing the cap because it was doubling my Internet bill with the overages. I ended up getting 3x the download speed for about $10 less per month through Time Warner with no data caps.

If it's only you streaming it may not be an issue though, our data usage is much higher because it's multiple people.

One thing that concerns me about Time-Warner is their proposed merger with Comcast. I have Comcast now and they constantly add on unasked for services and then raise their rates. Plus they make crazy mistakes like canceling the wrong people's accounts and taking months and numerous phone calls to fix the problem. This happened to two friends of mine who had them.

They used to be really good and you could negotiate with them but no more. That is, until Google started making noise about coming to Portland, then all of a sudden Comcast customer service became a bit nicer. I still wouldn't want anything to do with them if they became a part of Time-Warner. I don't know what the latest is on that score though.

Does the Cleveland area have any smaller companies that just do Internet service? We have a couple here. They are not the speediest but they work. Like Earthlink for example. I could look it up but personal endorsements are always the best.