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I also have been on Over-the-air and Netflix (Cox internet, 2nd-cheapest package) for about three years.
I made the mistake of going with the absolute cheapest internet they offered, it was like 29 then 32 dollars a month. But I got tired of the buffering trying to run Netflix on 0.5 to 1 MBPS, so I finally upgraded and now I pay about 52 dollars a month but the speeds are much better (seems to run between 5-20 MBPS on Netflix) and picture quality is better for Netflix. You definitely don't need the top-of-the-line cable packages if all you want to do is watch Netflix, surf the net, watch Youtube, etc.
That said, Cox goes out a lot. Maybe once or twice a week the internet goes down. Usually fairly briefly, but maybe once or twice a month it'll go out for a few hours. I have no idea why and I'm tech-savvy enough to restart everything and check the network and all that and I've had other people check as well and it does not seem to be anything on my end. So that is definitely frustrating. I don't know if I live in a bad area for Cox or what, because when I lived in Phoenix, I had Cox and it only went out maybe once a year.
The main reason I dropped my TV package with Cox was so that I'd spend less time watching commercials and marathons of TV shows I didn't mind but really wasn't passionate about. It does help somewhat with that, but when you find a new show on Netflix and it's got nine seasons...it can be a huge time-suck just like cable.
I definitely miss having more live sports, BUT, I am married and have kids and it's better for my family and my marriage if I limit my sports to Cardinals games and occasional other events like the NBA Finals. I think it does make it easier for me to get things done around the house because I can stop it, pause it, and come back to it, much like a DVR. If I go back to cable/satellite, it would only be with a DVR for this reason.
So for me, it was more of a "lifestyle decision" than anything. I feel better and more free without cable -- I waste less time. Yes, there are frustrating times when I don't have anything I want to watch, but that forces me to get up and do the dishes or be more productive. And there are like 50+ over-the-air channels now so there's a fair amount of stuff on there if you decide you want to channel-surf although I try to avoid that. But I do enjoy being able to catch the news and the CBS Weather channel, etc.
I also have been on Over-the-air and Netflix (Cox internet, 2nd-cheapest package) for about three years.
I made the mistake of going with the absolute cheapest internet they offered, it was like 29 then 32 dollars a month. But I got tired of the buffering trying to run Netflix on 0.5 to 1 MBPS, so I finally upgraded and now I pay about 52 dollars a month but the speeds are much better (seems to run between 5-20 MBPS on Netflix) and picture quality is better for Netflix. You definitely don't need the top-of-the-line cable packages if all you want to do is watch Netflix, surf the net, watch Youtube, etc.
That said, Cox goes out a lot. Maybe once or twice a week the internet goes down. Usually fairly briefly, but maybe once or twice a month it'll go out for a few hours. I have no idea why and I'm tech-savvy enough to restart everything and check the network and all that and I've had other people check as well and it does not seem to be anything on my end. So that is definitely frustrating. I don't know if I live in a bad area for Cox or what, because when I lived in Phoenix, I had Cox and it only went out maybe once a year.
The main reason I dropped my TV package with Cox was so that I'd spend less time watching commercials and marathons of TV shows I didn't mind but really wasn't passionate about. It does help somewhat with that, but when you find a new show on Netflix and it's got nine seasons...it can be a huge time-suck just like cable.
I definitely miss having more live sports, BUT, I am married and have kids and it's better for my family and my marriage if I limit my sports to Cardinals games and occasional other events like the NBA Finals. I think it does make it easier for me to get things done around the house because I can stop it, pause it, and come back to it, much like a DVR. If I go back to cable/satellite, it would only be with a DVR for this reason.
So for me, it was more of a "lifestyle decision" than anything. I feel better and more free without cable -- I waste less time. Yes, there are frustrating times when I don't have anything I want to watch, but that forces me to get up and do the dishes or be more productive. And there are like 50+ over-the-air channels now so there's a fair amount of stuff on there if you decide you want to channel-surf although I try to avoid that. But I do enjoy being able to catch the news and the CBS Weather channel, etc.
From what I understand, when you have cable internet, you share that connection with your neighbors, so during high traffic times your speed can be throttled. With DSL you have a direct connection that you don't share. I can tell you that even though my speed was cut in half when I left Cox and went with CL, I have not noticed any difference in performance. It's been just fine on lower speeds but with DSL.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
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We're moving to AZ in a couple weeks and are currently wrestling with this very issue. Cox seems to suck, people complain about Direct TV, so there aren't any real choices (other than to circumvent the cable/satellite companies). Problem is, it doesn't seem like just having Netflix or any of those similar services...or even over-the-air) will get the breadth of programming we're accustomed to. It would be really difficult to give up live sports programming, especially with my beloved Packers on National TV for 12 of their 16 games this season. What do people do for live sports coverage without cable/satellite? Going to a bar to watch games can get really expensive...maybe I just need to hope one of our neighbors has Direct TV with the NFL package...
I had Dish Network, that was fine, now I have had DirecTv for about 8 months, so far so good. Have had Cox for internet service for a long time, no complaints there either.
And if you're a Packers fan, Casey Jones Grill by 32nd Street and Bell in Phoenix is your spot.
Well, after much consternation and pulling of teeth I finally decided to go with Direct TV.
I called to order and set up installation. I was told that the installation would be on August 20th between 12 and 4. I then received a "welcome" e-mail from Direct TV saying the installation would be on August 16th from 8 to 12. (That's a problem because I specifically mentioned that we will not be in AZ until the 19th). I sent an e-mail to Direct TV customer service again telling them we were told installation would be on the 20th from 12 to 4 and that's the specific day and time we need it. I did this via e-mail because I wanted something in writing verifying the date in case they actually show up on the 16th to an empty house.
I received an e-mail back apologizing for the confusion and saying that according to their records, the install is scheduled for August 20 from 8 to 12. Okay...but we were told it would be 12 to 4, which is what we need because our moving delivery is scheduled for the morning of the 20th...which includes our three TVs.
I then received a follow-up e-mail from a different Direct TV customer service person clarifying that our delivery is, indeed scheduled for the 20th, from 8:00 - 6:00. (Yes, those are the hours listed. No, I'm not making this up).
I should also mention that my initial welcome e-mail contained the phrase, "We will be shipping your receivers". Again, since we won't be there until the 19th I was worried that the receivers could be dropped off and sit in front of a vacant house. I called back and spoke to customer service and I was told that they NEVER ship receivers...they are brought out by the installation guy. That makes sense, but what DOESN'T make sense is why they would say they would be shipping them, if they NEVER do that.
I can only wonder what future fun and games we'll be in for going forward.
Oh yeah...I still need to decide which internet company to go with. I can hardly wait...
From what I understand, when you have cable internet, you share that connection with your neighbors, so during high traffic times your speed can be throttled. With DSL you have a direct connection that you don't share. I can tell you that even though my speed was cut in half when I left Cox and went with CL, I have not noticed any difference in performance. It's been just fine on lower speeds but with DSL.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
This is a myth that DSL salespeople use to lure customers away from their fast cable internet with Cox to their slow crappy internet with CL.
All broadband is shared and all broadband is oversold. The only difference is where the sharing starts.
Even if there are some temporary slowdowns with Cox in a highly oversold neighborhood, cable internet will almost always perform better than DSL.
My goodness - thank you all for the replies, more than I ever expected.
SteveK64, thanks for the helpful links, although it's not yet clear to me what exactly Sling is.
Pbenjamin, I'm not sure that saying Cox is no worse than any other cable company is praise at all. The first thing it makes me think of is the awful things I've heard about Time Warner.
ElleTea, the problem I'm finding all over - including but not limited to Cox - is that companies only solve the immediate issue without solving the underlying issue. As an example, I had problems with outages for 2-3 years(!) until someone bothered to spend an extra few minutes to deduce that some outside wiring hadn't been properly wrapped.
Wow, Scottsdale Mark, can't believe that kind of constant outage with Cox. I've had a huge range of problems, but I have to say few of them involved outages for me - more like billing misinformation, techs not showing up, payments being lost.
That said, Cox goes out a lot. Maybe once or twice a week the internet goes down. Usually fairly briefly, but maybe once or twice a month it'll go out for a few hours. I have no idea why and I'm tech-savvy enough to restart everything and check the network and all that and I've had other people check as well and it does not seem to be anything on my end. So that is definitely frustrating. I don't know if I live in a bad area for Cox or what, because when I lived in Phoenix, I had Cox and it only went out maybe once a year.
I highly doubt a Cox is having widespread outtages once or twice a week. This is most surely an issue on your end.
Cox can tell when their network is down and they would be all over network problems that happen once or twice a week. I'd be willing to bet that you have a router, modem or connection that is causing the problem.
While I agree that Cox TV service has a lot to be desired, their internet service really can't be beat.
Pbenjamin, I'm not sure that saying Cox is no worse than any other cable company is praise at all. The first thing it makes me think of is the awful things I've heard about Time Warner.
What I'm saying is, a lot of people just don't like cable and will complain about whatever company exists in their area. If you are in that group you aren't going to like Cox. Within the context of cable companies, however, there is nothing particularly wrong with them, at least not in my opinion.
This is a myth that DSL salespeople use to lure customers away from their fast cable internet with Cox to their slow crappy internet with CL.
All broadband is shared and all broadband is oversold. The only difference is where the sharing starts.
Even if there are some temporary slowdowns with Cox in a highly oversold neighborhood, cable internet will almost always perform better than DSL.
Actually ElleTea is correct. DSL gives you a dedicated connection back to the ISP's central office via a telephone line, whereas with cable everyone in the neighborhood does indeed share the same circuit back to the cable company's head end equipment, so if the neighbors are using a lot of bandwidth it can slow down performance for others on the same cable segment. It's not actually throttling, though, it's simply congestion. Throttling occurs when the ISP deliberately restricts a customers bandwidth.
Now, with that said, LBTRS is also correct that the CL salespeople overplay this difference. They will also tell you that they will provide you a fiber optic connection directly to your house. This is often not true, they are instead giving you a connection to their fiber infrastructure over the existing copper telephone lines into your house (which is DSL). Those lines go back to their central office just like they always did, and that's where you pick up the fiber connection. DSL's speed is very dependent on the physical length of the telephone cable from your house to the DSLAM in the CO, as well as the quality of that copper line. If you're in an area where they can actually offer you a 100mbs service, you likely will have a true fiber optic connection end-to-end.
I highly doubt a Cox is having widespread outtages once or twice a week. This is most surely an issue on your end.
Cox can tell when their network is down and they would be all over network problems that happen once or twice a week. I'd be willing to bet that you have a router, modem or connection that is causing the problem.
While I agree that Cox TV service has a lot to be desired, their internet service really can't be beat.
Thank you...could you advise on what you'd recommend? I already replaced / upgraded my wireless router. It's nothing we have been able to diagnose. I don't imagine a modem would intermittently cut out...or would it? It's the intermittent nature of it that makes it hard for me to figure out what the issue would be.
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