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Old 08-26-2014, 11:33 PM
 
29 posts, read 66,506 times
Reputation: 41

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I've recently moved to Carlsbad, and I'm trying to get settled in. The cable co. who monopolizes the area in which I live is Time Warner Cable. I've never had them, but I can't seem to find any positive reviews on them. I don't know anything about AT&T Uverse, and my experience with DirecTV wasn't so great, but that was on the east coast.

As for our tv usage, I typically watch sports (not local teams) or a few HBO shows. The Mrs. prefers HGTV and the Food Network. For internet, we will often have two, sometimes three devices sharing bandwidth. We would like to FaceTime with relatives back east, so a speedy and reliable wifi is important to us. Other than FaceTime, internet usage consists of typical web-surfing, and also streaming Netflix.

It occurred to me I could combine Time Warner for internet and DirecTV for television, if Time Warner is as bad as their reputation for TV. Or is their rep equally as bad for Internet? Also, I'm wondering if DirecTV's service is better out here, with less cloud cover and fewer big storms. Can anyone comment on that? And is Uverse a worthy option?

Thanks in advance.
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Old 08-26-2014, 11:45 PM
 
Location: Hookerville, formerly in Tweakerville
15,117 posts, read 32,224,737 times
Reputation: 9699
Neither of them are that great, and AT&T has horrible customer service.
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Old 08-27-2014, 07:23 AM
 
Location: San Diego
50,149 posts, read 46,802,981 times
Reputation: 33983
Out of all those(me too) I took TW.
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Old 08-27-2014, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Lyon, France, Whidbey Island WA
20,834 posts, read 17,038,614 times
Reputation: 11534
Gosh I hear that about ATT and we have had nothing but superior service and phone support. We pay about $110/month for hi speed wireless internet Uverse 300 and a wired and wireless TV.
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Old 08-27-2014, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Santee
35 posts, read 51,236 times
Reputation: 44
I hated being forced to use Time Warner in Kansas because nobody else was available in our area. Their customer service was horrid. I was paying extra for faster internet but half the time we weren't getting the bandwidth we were paying for. TV was terrible too as on demand didn't work have the time and the ancient box they gave us would freeze up at least once a week and require a hard reboot.

Since moving here, we have gone with AT&T and have had no issues whatsoever. Bandwidth is less but actually seems to work better than what we were getting before. I'm currently only using internet and don't have a TV service, so can't comment on that.
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Old 08-27-2014, 09:43 AM
 
1,324 posts, read 2,008,938 times
Reputation: 1075
i have tried them all over the past few years. in the end, i went back to time warner for high speed internet with sub-basic cable channels (meaning only local channels), along with using a roku for netlix, etc. if i want to catch a game, i will go meet up with a friend at a bar or something. i just got tired of the rates, extra remote/equipment/wiring, and thought it was better not to have something to encouraged me to be a couch potato. i took a couple of months to adapt, but now i don't even think about it.

just like not having a home land line. i only use my cell (and skype) these days. imho land lines only let solicitors call you and leave voice messages. no thanks.
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Old 08-27-2014, 09:52 AM
 
Location: California
10,090 posts, read 42,340,733 times
Reputation: 22175
We are forced to use AT&T U Verse....not much choice here in a Fallbrook. After 2 years, they still aren't able to straighten out our billing, that THEY screwed up on. Plus, one of their wonderful agents decided to our credit card to pay her rent on apt. and furniture. And they asked did I really want to press charges?
Hell, yes! Given the choice, I'd drop them in a heartbeat! We do use DirectTV, without any issues. No choice for TW, wish there was.
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Old 08-27-2014, 11:38 AM
 
79 posts, read 150,394 times
Reputation: 65
I think Uverse is great. Their interface and systems are much more advanced and modern than Time Warner. I never had Direct Tv but knew others that did and they thought it was a great service as well. Just avoid any of those monopoly cable companies at all cost. They are complete garbage.
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Old 08-27-2014, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Orange County, CA
807 posts, read 894,597 times
Reputation: 1391
Commenting primarily about internet access:

I can't speak about DirecTV but did subscribe to Time Warner Cable about 10 years back in North County's inland. Service was average, what you would expect from cable companies but the internet speeds were generally good for that time period. I had no problems with their customer service nor with service outages (cable TV or internet) back then, just occasional late night internet down time for routine maintenance. A couple of recent news headlines for Time Warner include Comcast's attempt to merge with them and a contract dispute with CBS that left Southern California sports fans in the cold for a while.

AT&T has a universally bad reputation for customer service but maybe this varies regionally. One alternative to explore for DSL service: Check if DSL Extreme services your area. I've used them before in North County (inland). They are an internet reseller who used to be reliant on AT&T's network but provided much more responsive customer service and consistently better prices. I hear that they're not as good today as they used to be but they might still be better than AT&T.

EDIT: Speaking of the devil, Time Warner's making the news today for a nation-wide internet outage in the early hours of the morning. I think this is a one-off, maintenance downtime isn't unusual if that's what really happened, but it sure doesn't help their reputation.

Time Warner Cable Internet outage fuels opposition to merger - LA Times

Last edited by DriveNotCommute; 08-27-2014 at 11:55 AM.. Reason: Added news link
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Old 08-27-2014, 02:04 PM
 
Location: San Diego
50,149 posts, read 46,802,981 times
Reputation: 33983
Quote:
Originally Posted by ltrrtl218 View Post
I think Uverse is great. Their interface and systems are much more advanced and modern than Time Warner. I never had Direct Tv but knew others that did and they thought it was a great service as well. Just avoid any of those monopoly cable companies at all cost. They are complete garbage.
Not much choice, I wouldn't use ATT again if they paid me to use it. I'd probably go with dish so that I could take it with me in the RV.
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