Who are the internet/cable service providers in the Milwaukee area? (Whitefish Bay: home, movies)

[cwells3030]

I will be moving to Whitefish Bay in the next month and could not find a comprehensive list of internet and cable service providers.

What are the options and any positives or negatives with certain companies?

[northbound74]

Whitefish Bay's website might have a list. Where we live, it's Time Warner, AT&T, or a dish company.

We've had both AT&T U-verse and TW. AT&T's system and equipment is quite a bit better, but it's pricier. TW uses cable boxes that seem like 1st generational prototypes. Their channel lineup is antiquated. For example, you'll get up to 3 versions of the same channel: the original version, the digital version, and the HD version. Att's channel lineup is more streamlined, has a better box with better features and more memory for DVR.
TW has ALL the local channels.
Att doesn't have some of the extra PBS channels like Create. There are a few other independent channels that it doesn't have, or it didn't a few months ago last time we had that system.

Att's internet seemed to us to be slightly faster, and it's equipment is a modem and router in one. TW doesn't provide the router. They might sell you one.

Overall, I like Att better, but it's pricier with fewer local channels.

[cwells3030]

I should add that my primary concern is in fact internet as we'll probably just keep using our antenna for TV instead of getting cable.

[pete6032]

Time Warner internet tends to be cheaper and faster.

[Milwaukee City]

Which ever company you chose be prepared to grab your ankles. DirecTv and Time Warner did the same old trick of raising rates and said it was the new cost of service well after I got to $100.00 a month on both services(2 different years) I cut the cord and said see ya! DirecTv tried their best to keep me by offering me a 65/mo rate but it was still more than the $45 I was originally paying! Time Warner did the same thing slowly raised my rate per month and didn't seem to care that I was leaving unless we could do something to lower my rate. Just switched back to Time Warner and got the low price and it's only a matter of time before my bill is 100/mo again and we will do the same old song and dance again.

Any one else have this problem with Time Warner or Directv slowly raising rates?

[everwinter]

I started an internet plan for my home with AT&T about a year ago. They overcharged me for five consecutive months! It was unbelievable. I should have cancelled my service after the second months billing error, but I didn't. Every month I had to call them & wait on hold until I could speak with someone to tell them what internet rate I signed up for. I had to tell them that I should be paying $27 & not $53. Every time the person apologized & fixed the monthly bill & said they would fix it so the problem never happens again. They didn't fix it. After 5 months they started charging me $33 & I became tired of the hassle of calling them & said close enough. My sister in law & mother in law both experienced similar billing errors with their accounts.

I would not go with AT&T, but if you do (& they're offering a special), make sure you write down the rate they give you & maybe even the name of the person you speak with. Also, check your bill closely each month. They bill a month ahead which also confuses things.

My internet plan is a year special & then it goes up. I'm going to switch to Time Warner.

[sholomar]

time warner doesn't require a box for each television (they still have analog channels) which is why my father stuck with them. That gets expensive. They could send the digital channels unencrypted and let the customers TV decode them but then they can't easily sell pay per view movies and/or add remove movie channels on the fly, they prefer to nickel and dime the customer to death instead.

Mediacom is similar, an analog, digital, and HD version of the channels.. big waste of bandwidth. He just gave up time warner cable in the last two weeks. Too much money up front for nothing he really watched. All he really wanted was CNBC and maybe the history channel. Cable has become too expensive for one package for me to ever use it again as well.

[Milwaukee City]

With internet TV, netflix and other free streaming sites like first row and project free tv who needs cable or sat?

[northbound74]

I forgot to mention AT&T's customer service is terrible with billing issues and returning equipment through that UPS deal. They didn't have a physical location to take it back to. I had the U-Verse stuff.

I guess I'm old fashioned when it comes to TV watching. I still would rather just push a button as opposed to typing in searches or messing with a mouse.
I am tempted to ditch the cable just to save money though.

[pete6032]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

With internet TV, netflix and other free streaming sites like first row and project free tv who needs cable or sat?

People who watch live sports.