Possibly the final straw with Cox Cable (Phoenix, Sun City: live, price)

[Voebe]

I wasn't really paying attention, but I just discovered, if I'm understanding this, that even with my cable-ready television, I'm going to be required to use a cable box, for which they will of course charge me every month. This may finally be the last straw, enough to make me give 'em up.

Am I right about the box? How are you taking it, if you have Cox?

[ajonesaz]

Cable is almost extinct. I have an antenna, a Tivo, Netflix and a few other things. I pay under $20 a month. Trust me, you won't miss cable. I will activate my Sling subscription for the month if there is something exclusive on ESPN I don't want to miss, but other than that I am happy without cable.

The Phoenix area has more HD channels through antenna than cox has with their starter cable package.

[Voebe]

Yes, that's what I'm thinking, just over-the-air broadcast. But I'd compose a long, stinging letter cataloguing all of Cox's screw-ups over the years.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Voebe

Yes, that's what I'm thinking, just over-the-air broadcast. But I'd compose a long, stinging letter cataloguing all of Cox's screw-ups over the years.

What he's talking about is more than just over the air, but still a lot cheaper than cable.


That letter might make you feel better, but Cox will toss it and not care and not change a thing.

[ShampooBanana]

I haven't paid for cable in 6 years. It's not worth the price. Almost anything can be streamed now, anyway. I just have an HD antenna and Netflix streamed through a Roku stick (which also has tons of other free channels) and total cost is right around $10/mo. The only thing I miss on occasion is certain sports games but if there is a big one with one of my teams I just go to a friend's or the local sports bar to watch. Why pay for something for which you are only going to watch 1 or 2% of what they give you, anyway?

[Dewey59]

Agree. Cable is soooo 90's! ;-)

I too went the over the air / netflix / slingtv route. Pay $30 a month and have more than enough options and variety.

CUT THE CORD!

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by Dewey59

Agree. Cable is soooo 90's! ;-)

I too went the over the air / netflix / slingtv route. Pay $30 a month and have more than enough options and variety.

CUT THE CORD!

Unfortunately there isn't a widespread reliable/acceptable alternate to cable internet. Most people who want fast and reliable internet find cable only option. Cable is far from extinct as has been said earlier in this thread.

[JGMotorsport64]

I called and complained about my service and the price hike they tried to impose on me earlier this year. Eventually I got to their "Customer Retention" department and pretended I had a quote from DirectTV and that I didn't necessarily want to switch but the price was leading me that way considering the quality of the service. They cut my price back. Give it a shot, but don't bluff too hard.

[Arizona Renegade]

I noticed several mentions of Sling TV service (which seems to be a pretty good, and affordable, service/option), and I was considering trying out Sling myself (especially, because you can get a 30% discount on the basic package, if you're a T-Mobile customer), but I'd also heard a lot about Sony Vue, which is what I'm currently checking out the free trial of right now. And I have to say that, so far, Sony Vue is really impressive. I've only watched it on a small LCD TV so far (27-inch, I think), but the HD quality looks to be really nice and the streaming live TV has worked really well, with little-to-no buffering/lagging that I've noticed.

Sony Vue has 4 channel packages, for $30, $35, $45, and $65 (which includes HBO and Showtime) per month, and something that I really like is that the service has a built-in DVR option that saves the shows you record to a cloud, where each show is saved for 28 days, and then is automatically deleted. And, from what I can understand, there is no limit to the amount of shows/episodes you can record, as the cloud storage for the 28 days is literally unlimited. However, as I mentioned, after 28 days, the show/episode is automatically deleted.

FYI, the reason I'm sharing this information is because I would not have even heard of Sony Vue, if it weren't for people (including on here) posting about it, so I thought I'd try to make others aware of it, as well. There's also a Sony Vue section on the CordCutters forum on reddit, which is where I got a lot of information from, and is what made me decide to go ahead and try out the free trial of Sony Vue.

Btw, another reason that I'm suggesting Sony Vue is that I've read lots of complaints about Sling having buffering/lagging issues, and Sony Vue seems to have less buffering/lagging issues and to be more reliable. I will say, though, that I am currently using an (older) Amazon Fire TV Stick with the Sony Vue app, and it works very well to watch TV with, but the menu navigation is slowed down because the Stick is apparently a little outdated/not powerful enough. From what others have said, the Amazon Fire TV Box is supposed to work very well and be fast and smooth when using Vue's menu, as is the newer Amazon Fire TV Stick. I think the newer Roku devices are also supposed to work really well, but I only have a Roku 1 (which is older/outdated, and is still in the package, as I haven't even tried to use it yet), so I can't say for sure.

Sorry for rambling there. I just wanted to suggest trying out Sony Vue, if you don't mind paying $30-$45/month for the service. I will admit that I've only been using the free trial service for 2 days now, but it really seems to be a good service. And the Cloud DVR option is really nice to have. I should also mention that I only have 12Mbps Internet service right now, but it seems to be sufficient to be able to smoothly stream Sony Vue with.

I realize that many people want to spend less than $30-$45 per month, and that's understandable; but if you're willing to pay a little more to have a good amount of channels, HD-quality, good reliability, and a Cloud DVR service, I would say that Sony Vue is definitely worth checking out. And there's a free 7-day trial available, if you want to give it a shot!

[ILikeEveryone]

So if you drop Cox for internet, who have you gone with?

I have internet only for the last two years and the price keeps rising. I "bargained" with CS rep and now pay $57.99 a month for Internet Essential, no contract. I don't want or need a bundled package. I am in Sun City. I rarely use the internet for streaming. I basically need a secure connection for surfing and some financial. Any recommendations?

When I started with Cox two years ago, I had the Preferred at $39.99 a month.