Advice re: broadband/ bundle providers (Austin, Round Rock: appointed, real estate, rental)

[jeevmon]

Hi all! We are going to be relocating to the Austin area (probably north/ near Round Rock) sometime this summer, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on broadband Internet or bundle/ triple-play providers. I've tried plugging addresses from various properties on the real estate listings into the AT&T U-verse, Verizion FiOS and Comcast XFinity sites, and the sites never seem to be able to find the properties. Have these services not been rolled out in the Austin area yet? It appears that Time Warner has a bundle but I had Time Warner for a while in Chicago and was not impressed.

Right now, in Chicago, we have a patchwork system of Speakeasy for phone/ DSL, DirecTV for TV and AT&T for our iPhones. We're paying more than we probably need to, but AT&T screwed us over a few years ago and Comcast jerked us around before failing to install a triple play package that was the precursor to Xfinity, so I've got negative feelings about both. Nonetheless, if that's the route we have to go, that's the route we'll go.

I saw a thread from last year about this, but a lot can change in a year, so any updated advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[CptnRn]

I have the AT&T Uverse bundle in SW Austin, and like it more then when I had a similar package with Time Warner. Costs are about the same. Service has been better with AT&T.

[jeevmon]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Service has been better with AT&T.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen those six words in that order before.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by jeevmon

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen those six words in that order before.

You've obviously never used Time Warner

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

You've obviously never used Time Warner

I've had the exact opposite. Nothing but trouble with at&t and nothing but good service from TW. I swear it's a flip of the coin.

You won't find Verizon or Comcast in those areas. You should be able to get ATT Uverse, Time Warner, Direct TV with DSL, and maybe even Grande in some areas. Bundled services will definitely save you money.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

I've had the exact opposite. Nothing but trouble with at&t and nothing but good service from TW. I swear it's a flip of the coin.

You won't find Verizon or Comcast in those areas. You should be able to get ATT Uverse, Time Warner, Direct TV with DSL, and maybe even Grande in some areas. Bundled services will definitely save you money.

Yup, def luck of the draw and it's an always changing situation. When I had TW, I didn't start having my issues until I upgraded to HD (many moons ago). I'd have the receiver constantly resetting and my RR would drop sometimes almost daily. The real killer though was the customer service and in particular, one specific incident that was basically "the straw".

I would like to switch over to uverse, primarily to get their faster internet , but also with an eye towards getting their tv service as well. I cant get past the lousy HD quality though (compared to Dish). I checked again at an AT&T store just a couple of weeks ago and was very disappointed, it looks like they are doing some seriously heavy compression, even on the "big boys" like espn.

[milytaylor]

For $10, I picked up an antenna from Best Buy and hooked it up to my TV. I get all the digital local channels very clearly. With the antenna, Apple TV, netflix, and Hulu plus, I have more TV than I can ever watch. I won't ever go back to cable. My only regret is not dumping cable sooner but there isn't alot of information out there on how to do it.

I used TWC for internet access and for the most part, I'm happy with that and am able to get all Netflix streaming and Hulu plus without issues. I have the cheapest internet package that they offer ($35, taxes included)

I use Verizon for my phone needs and haven't had any trouble with service here.

On the AT&T note, I would not go with them. I made my request for what I needed, they couldn't get me set up until 4 days after my initial move to Austin. They tried to charge me for repairs for the land line even though the guy didn't come into the house and I had the in-home warranty. They couldn't get me set up with wireless internet in the house and when I used my own equipment they said they wouldn't support me. I disconnected them after 1 day and then went through 5 months of hell trying to get them to stop billing me $200. I had been with AT&T most of my life and I was extremely disappointed with the service I got here in Austin.

After AT&T, I went with Grande. I was extremely happy with Grande but had to give them up when I moved from the rental to my home.

Hope that helps!
Michelle

[rhino5]

Originally Posted by milytaylor

For $10, I picked up an antenna from Best Buy and hooked it up to my TV. I get all the digital local channels very clearly. With the antenna, Apple TV, netflix, and Hulu plus, I have more TV than I can ever watch. I won't ever go back to cable. My only regret is not dumping cable sooner but there isn't alot of information out there on how to do it.

I used TWC for internet access and for the most part, I'm happy with that and am able to get all Netflix streaming and Hulu plus without issues. I have the cheapest internet package that they offer ($35, taxes included)

I use Verizon for my phone needs and haven't had any trouble with service here.

On the AT&T note, I would not go with them. I made my request for what I needed, they couldn't get me set up until 4 days after my initial move to Austin. They tried to charge me for repairs for the land line even though the guy didn't come into the house and I had the in-home warranty. They couldn't get me set up with wireless internet in the house and when I used my own equipment they said they wouldn't support me. I disconnected them after 1 day and then went through 5 months of hell trying to get them to stop billing me $200. I had been with AT&T most of my life and I was extremely disappointed with the service I got here in Austin.

After AT&T, I went with Grande. I was extremely happy with Grande but had to give them up when I moved from the rental to my home.

Hope that helps!
Michelle

This is what I've been thinking of doing! The one problem I foresee is televised football games... I hate to pay for cable just for football season but don't know how to get around it.

[mark311]

Verizon FIOS and Comcast are not in the Austin area. Your options are:

1. Time Warner
2. AT&T Uverse (just started about 3 years ago in the Austin area so it hasn't been rolled out everywhere).
3. Direct TV/Dish
4. Antenna
5. Some parts of Austin have Grande Communications (smaller company)
6. Some outlying areas like Georgetown have Suddenlink (bought the area from Cox communications) and it's pretty bad.

Those are all the ones that I can think of right now.

[sanmiguel]

Originally Posted by rhino5

This is what I've been thinking of doing! The one problem I foresee is televised football games... I hate to pay for cable just for football season but don't know how to get around it.

Try Justin.tv and Filmon.com