Century Link or Cox for cable modem (internet only) ?? (Phoenix: home, buy)

[veritased]

Thanks Ponderosa, good to know. I have a netgear cable modem that I bought and it's router works well enough, as here in Bay area I have 300Mbps Comcast service and the router section of the cable modem has no issues moving that in and around the home. I have ethernet to my smart TV.

Doug, I'd highly highly recommend dumping DirecTV as I did, after having been a sub for 20 years, and going with youtube.tv.

You get almost all the same channels, here in Bay area, almost all the local channels (save one, KRON 4), AND more importantly, at higher resolution. Once you cut over to IP video, you'll see quality go up, as it's easier to send a few more 10's of Mpbs at the TV and get higher res, something DTV would have to modify satellite transponders to do most likely.

Youtube.tv is like $35 a month compared to your DTV bill, I suspect, and the DVR features of youtube.tv are just as good. And you get to throw that dish away, which DTV won't even want back. We had to take it to the dump.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by DougStark

I've had both companies for internet and currently have Cox for internet only. My monthly bill is a whopping $70/mo. That's more than my DirecTV bill.

Anyone else paying $70 for Cox internet only?

Mine's a bit higher but I ordered 100 Mbps service.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Century Link has, for now, dropped the call and cut price game and just offers a fixed price that won't ever change if you don't change service. Changing service though means just about any action on your account like going seasonal when you are not here. It could go up if they are not offering their promotion still.

I've had decent installers with both, cable is a self install usually. CL might want to send out a tech for the 100 Mbps. You can use your own modem with Cox too and save a bit. With CL you pretty much have to rent or buy their interface modem. I run that in bridge mode with a really good router in front of it as the CL combo box had a crappy router section at the time I first signed on. FWIW, most problems I see from friends and neighbors that are blamed on the provider are actually router issues caused by so many devices connected and congestion in the neighborhood on 2.4G wireless. A fast router with 5G everywhere you can get it to work, or ethernet for TVs, can help a lot whether its Cox or CL.

(if you plan to mess with modem and router settings - like bridge mode setup - make sure the CL installer gives you your ID and password)

For 100 Mbps service it is typically either Pair-Bonded DSL or Fiber to the Home, which will require tech installation. For the latter you technically don't need the CenturyLink modem as long as you have a router that supports VLAN tagging and PPPoE (although you will still require the PPPoE credentials). We use a TP-Link AC1750 with our 100Mbps CenturyLink fiber service without any issue.

[Ripper3785]

I'm amazed by the cost of internet in PHX. 200 Mbps is $45/mo here on an island in the middle of the pacific. I was intrigued by the talk of youtube.tv though. I'm begrudgingly paying $150 incl taxes/fees for 300Mbps, phone(unused), and a hefty TV package. Internet + youtube.tv + taxes/fees probably not a big enough difference to offset what's lost for us by changing, as much as I want to be a cordcutter.

Hopefully the market gets shaken up a bit when 5G household internet becomes a real player in a few years.

[veritased]

Ripper, true, but don't you need Internet anyway ? So you can subtract that $45.
The equation is like this, and I leave out Internet which is like electricity... a required basic utility:
$12 for HD Netflix, $35 for youtube.tv, Showtime Anywhere (free for life with AT&T wireless plan), Amazon Prime Video for free with Prime subscription, and I am probably forgetting another one or two freebies.
Cheap and again far better quality than DTV will have even in years.
The Netflix and Amazon Prime videos are frequently streamed in 4K HDR ... amazing quality.

[veritased]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

For 100 Mbps service it is typically either Pair-Bonded DSL or Fiber to the Home, which will require tech installation. For the latter you technically don't need the CenturyLink modem as long as you have a router that supports VLAN tagging and PPPoE (although you will still require the PPPoE credentials). We use a TP-Link AC1750 with our 100Mbps CenturyLink fiber service without any issue.

Nice. I was told we have Fiber to the house, but not sure if to a nearby pedestal box, or to the home itself. In any case, my particular place can only get 100-300Mbps, not the 1Gbps that others are offered.

But I'm confused by that since I am going to hook up a cable modem... not a fiber optic device.

So for your place, Pink, they just give you an Ethernet drop and static IP ? Then your router to that.
Interesting.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by veritased

Thanks Ponderosa, good to know. I have a netgear cable modem that I bought and it's router works well enough, as here in Bay area I have 300Mbps Comcast service and the router section of the cable modem has no issues moving that in and around the home. I have ethernet to my smart TV.

Doug, I'd highly highly recommend dumping DirecTV as I did, after having been a sub for 20 years, and going with youtube.tv.

You get almost all the same channels, here in Bay area, almost all the local channels (save one, KRON 4), AND more importantly, at higher resolution. Once you cut over to IP video, you'll see quality go up, as it's easier to send a few more 10's of Mpbs at the TV and get higher res, something DTV would have to modify satellite transponders to do most likely.

Youtube.tv is like $35 a month compared to your DTV bill, I suspect, and the DVR features of youtube.tv are just as good. And you get to throw that dish away, which DTV won't even want back. We had to take it to the dump.

Cox limits you to 1TB data per month on the base rate and potentially charges more if you go over that. If you leave the TV on in "background mode" like I do all day streaming can burn through that in a hurry.

[veritased]

I checked my Comcast here, because we do that here to keep our doggo entertained. And we have peaked at 800MB one month.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

For 100 Mbps service it is typically either Pair-Bonded DSL or Fiber to the Home, which will require tech installation. For the latter you technically don't need the CenturyLink modem as long as you have a router that supports VLAN tagging and PPPoE (although you will still require the PPPoE credentials). We use a TP-Link AC1750 with our 100Mbps CenturyLink fiber service without any issue.

Interesting. I have the AC2300. One of the reasons I have stayed away from 100 is that I did not want to shell out for a POS box from them @ $150.00 or a monthly rental. I doubt I have fiber to the house though.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by veritased

I checked my Comcast here, because we do that here to keep our doggo entertained. And we have peaked at 800MB one month.

The limit is a pain. I have a place in another state that has Spectrum and it includes modem in the base, runs faster, and has no data limits at about 2/3 of the price here. I don't know why Cox is so high in comparison.