Cable and Internet? (Scranton, Luzerne: crime, how much, vacation home)

[LinnieLee33]

I'm hoping someone can tell me what the best cable and internet companies to use. I'm looking for a bundle package. Thanks!

[DavidWebb]

Your choices are limited to what area you are living in...

[Gettingouttahere]

Yeah. There's no competition. There's Blue Ridge Cable/PTD -- cable/internet/phone package with a low introductory rate that goes up after six months. We have it and are reasonably satisfied. It goes out a few times a year. But no real complaints.

There are the satellite companies, but you might not be able to get the signal (we couldn't - we live in the woods).

[thecoalman]

In this area most places only have one choice for high speed internet and cable TV and which company that is depends on the area. It varies, DSL for internet might be available from the phone company too but no where near as fast as cable. That's fast enough for most people unless you're going to use high bandwidth services like Netflix.

[theatergypsy]

Originally Posted by LinnieLee33

I'm hoping someone can tell me what the best cable and internet companies to use. I'm looking for a bundle package. Thanks!

Linnie, since you're new to the area, you're going to find it's a lot different than living in a large metro area. This board alone, for example, covers many counties, and each of those counties have many towns (and a few cities), and each of those has their own government.

I live in Luzerne County in a very small town (less than 5,000 residents) and just across the bridge is the city of Wilkes Barre, also in Luzerne County. My cable/internet is Comcast. Wilkes Barre is Service Electric. We are literally minutes away from one another. And it's the same all through the region.

You're going to find that the best source of information for your own immediate area will be your neighbors. Having already lived here, they'll know all the information about the particular area. For instance, cable/internet, cell phone service; trash collection; best shopping areas; PA (strange) liquor laws; hospitals and doctors; stuff like that.

As for general questions about NEPA, this board will be very helpful. There are people here who live in all the different counties and many of the towns are represented. Good luck with your move.

[jtab4994]

We're pretty happy with Blue Ridge for cable and internet. Our avg monthly bill is around $135.00 for G7 cable and HD cable with DVR and no pay channels.

Our kids play high school sports and BRC does a fair job of covering their teams even though we're one of the smaller schools in the area. I doubt you'd see any local high school sports coverage with FiOS or satellite dish.

How much local coverage you want (I mean REALLY local not just crime and corruption in Scranton/W-B) may factor into your decision as well.

[LI2PA]

Rates all over seem out of control and with me looking for a vacation home, there is no way I will pay the same as I do here on Long Island, it just isn't worth it being I will be there only part time. I wish the old antennas still would work...so I guess we will stock up on DVDs. I will miss the internet.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by LI2PA

I wish the old antennas still would work...

They do, if you have a TV made after 2007(if I recall correctly) it will have a ATSC tuner, all you need is the antenna. If it's an older SD TV or made prior to 2007 you probably have to get a digital converter box that will have the ATSC tuner.

There is no such thing as a "digital antenna" or "hd antenna" so don't fall for the hype. If you get reception it cannot be improved with a different antenna. You can use any antennae including those 60 year old rabbit ears. The only reason you may want to consider a better antenna is if your existing one or cheap one doesn't get good reception. In that case you may be able to get reception with a better antenna.

Depends on your area but you should get all the networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS etc. There is multiple channels for each network, e.g. PBS might have 3. One is the local feed, one is the national feed and the other is a home improvement/cooking type channel.

Believe it or not these transmissions are superior to what is on cable as far as quality goes. Cable programming is compressed considerably to preserve bandwidth. There is no such limitations for OTA transmission so you can get the full HD stream.

[Cpt.Trips]

Originally Posted by LI2PA

Rates all over seem out of control and with me looking for a vacation home, there is no way I will pay the same as I do here on Long Island, it just isn't worth it being I will be there only part time. I wish the old antennas still would work...so I guess we will stock up on DVDs. I will miss the internet.

All iPad models come with built-in Wi‑Fi. If you want to access the Internet in more places, choose a model that supports cellular data and sign up for data service from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon — right on your iPad.

Now, how difficult was that???

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Cpt.Trips

All iPad models come with built-in Wi‑Fi. If you want to access the Internet in more places, choose a model that supports cellular data and sign up for data service from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon — right on your iPad.

Now, how difficult was that???

That assumes you get cell service, cell reception is terrible where I'm at. We need an "extender" which uses our cable internet connection for cell service.