COX Question (Phoenix: rental, insurance, house)

[rogetsthesaurus]

Hello -

It's hard for me to believe I've been reading/posting here for the last four months and in less than one week I will be settled into Phoenix (leaving Indiana on Wednesday)

What do you know about the three tiers of Cox internet service?

There's one that is $29, $44, and $59. There's also something called Wiring Service assurance for $4.95/month. In Indiana I bundle my services, but I won't need cable for the first month I'm in PHX until I get a TV. Any advice on which internet service to choose? I have a wireless adapter, so I can make the internet wireless in my house to use on a laptop, right?

Thanks!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by rogetsthesaurus

Hello -

It's hard for me to believe I've been reading/posting here for the last four months and in less than one week I will be settled into Phoenix (leaving Indiana on Wednesday)

What do you know about the three tiers of Cox internet service?

There's one that is $29, $44, and $59. There's also something called Wiring Service assurance for $4.95/month. In Indiana I bundle my services, but I won't need cable for the first month I'm in PHX until I get a TV. Any advice on which internet service to choose? I have a wireless adapter, so I can make the internet wireless in my house to use on a laptop, right?

Thanks!

The wiring bundle insurance is a complete rip-off. It's basically insurance that covers improper installation. For example, if your cable isn't coming on and you call the Cox office and they can't activate it from there, they will send a technician to your place. If the technician can't address the problem by looking at the outlet and says he will have to drill behind the wall and do some additional work, you will have to pay for it but if you have that insurance, it will cover it. This almost never happens. Most problems can taken care over the phone. It's really just a scare tactic to get you to buy insurance you don't need. One Cox technician told me that you can always order it later. So if you have a problem, order the service and then call Cox a week later and it will cover it.

That's funny that they have three services now. Just two years ago, Cox offered two services: the 29 and 44 dollar service. The 29 dollar service is plenty fast. If you are a gamer and download a lot of heavy files (not music) then you may want the faster service but for 95% of us the $29 is fast. You can also start out with the 29 service and if its too slow, you can upgrade next month. Remember too that those quoted prices don't include the Cable modem rental (if you don't own one) and the additional taxes involved so it's really more than what is quoted.

Their internet service is wonderful though. I can't recall the last time I had an outage. They have a great internal firewall unlike Time Warner Roadrunner service. My computer used to get so much spyware(even with my Norton) when I had Time Warner Roadrunner.

[RCR]

Cox has plenty of options for bundles too. Often they waive installation charges when you order a bundle so it may save you to get everything now even if you don't have your tv. Also, don't forget to secure that wireless router, there are a lot of ID thieves around.

[military spouse]

We use the $29.00 service and have no complaints.

[MaxPower123]

The $29.99 should do fine unless you have something like Vonage.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by RCR

Also, don't forget to secure that wireless router, there are a lot of ID thieves around.

Whatever you do, don't pay someone to secure it for you. It's amazing how these companies like Best Buy want to charge you a $100 to come to your home and secure your router. Ask a friend or call the Cox people on the phone and they can walk you through it. Technicaly, they aren't supposed to do that but it depends on the personality of the Cox technical support rep who answers the phone; some are very nice and will just help you wile others are a-holes and will not help.

[SlowHeavyGroove]

Does Cox provide Usenet access?? Roaddrunner just stopped a few weeks back, and Usenet is where I get alot my tunes and movies.

[MaxPower123]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Whatever you do, don't pay someone to secure it for you. It's amazing how these companies like Best Buy want to charge you a $100 to come to your home and secure your router. Ask a friend or call the Cox people on the phone and they can walk you through it. Technicaly, they aren't supposed to do that but it depends on the personality of the Cox technical support rep who answers the phone; some are very nice and will just help you wile others are a-holes and will not help.

The manufacturers tech support would probably be helpful.

I leave my connection wide open for all to use

[roundball]

Cox does have usenet access. I have their fastest package and I noticed that in the last month my upload speeds have doubled. Its weird. I don't know about the other packages. Quest just installed fiber in our neighborhood and their prices are better and download speeds are faster. The upload isn't as fast as the top tier Cox. They also are giving out free modems. Something to look into. Especially if you are looking into getting a dish and a phone.

[asugraduate]

My husband works for Cox, so we basically get all our services for free. He takes care of setting everything up, and I just get to use it all. Wish I could be of some help, but I haven't had to take care of any of this on my own.