cable bills
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You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
You are currently reading a thread in /g/ - Technology
Does /g/ have any advice on dealing with cable companies for better deals? My parents have internet/phone/TV with time warner, mid-tier TV and 20mbps internet and they're paying a stupid price (somewhere around $200 a month, with a price increase in april.
To cap up how shitty this company is:
>$70/mo is the retail rate for 20mbps/2mbps internet
>They break the cable box rental fee into a cable box rental fee and a fee for the program guide per box, but it's effectively $12.75/mo per box
>they charge $10/mo for a cable modem rental; for this, they provide a DOCSIS 2.0 modem that's a decade old
Any tips? Or maybe general bitching about cable companies?
>>52139667
Get off your ass and help to pay the bills fucking dickhead.
>>52139684
I work full time and pay my own bills in my own house, dickhead.
Cancel that stupid plan and if theres no alternative, only get an internet plan, cable is obsolete.
Also you can get a phoneline running off your internet for less than like $30/year.
>>52139773
OP here, this is what I was thinking
>get a magicjack and have my parents pay $35/yr for phone service rather than $35/yr; just do this since TWC won't touch it
>buy own SB6141 modem for $70; pays for self in 7 months
>ditch the three non DVR cable boxes (about $40/mo to rent) and buy a Tivo Roamio multiroom DVR + two tivo minis; payback is about 2 years, and it's a DVR
>call TWC in april when their promo expires
>show that we've already bought the magicjack and cut out TWC from the home phone
>threaten to cut the TV in favor of dish network (will provide a DVR and similar TV service for $50/mo) and the cable in favor of Earthlink Cable (same 20mbps service provided by time warner, but they don't get paid directly and take a smaller cut of the money)
>bargain for something south of $100/mo with an internet upgrade to at least 30mbps a month
A large part of trimming the fat on the current bill will be removing the $40 in box rentals and $10 in cable modem rentals. The rest is them offering inferior promotions.
I pay 50 for 25/25 internet with global calling sooo...
>>52139879 here
>pay $35/yr for phone service rather than $35/yr
meant $35/mo on TWC. 12 months of service on magicjack for the price of one on TWC is a no brainer.
>>52139896
Lucky you. What ISP?
>>52139746
This. Cable tv is dead. Haven't had tv for a few years now. Home phone land lines are dead as well, have not had that shit for like 6years.
It's mostly the older generation keeping it alive. My mom won't cut her cable or phone line where I see it as completely useless and would never get either again now that I have gone without. All you need is internet and a cell.
>docisis 2.0
you could probably get free internet if you wanted to with a hacked cable modem.
>>52139920
OP here, cable TV is not dead for my parents. They like local channels, they like being able to surf. I am not going to teach them torrenting or visiting random websites or Usenet. They want to sit on a couch with an appliance. So it is. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus aren't there with the content selection.
Point is, they need TV (cable or satellite) but if they have their box it doesn't need to come via Time Warner. So my gambit is: Get time Warner to provide a competitive deal on the TV (have a choice) and a better deal on faster internet (have a choice to get the same service they have now cheaper through Earthlink) in order to capture the most possible internet. It really doesn't cost TWC any more to provide faster internet, but if they risk losing a majority of the revenue by not upgrading, I think they'll bow down.
>>52139937
Cable companies apparently watch for this like hawks and terminate service immediately. With zero internet alternatives (other than satellite which is fucking horrible) it's not worth the risk.
>>52139667
Holy fuck, even Comcast charges less than that for the same package. Move to a better town or city you dirty redneck.
PS: I can tell you're a redneck because Time Warner only operates in the dirty south.
>>52140001
Time warner operates in large parts of the northeast- in my parent's case, they are in New York.
Jesus Christ, I only pay like $100/mo total for 30/30 internet and two Google Fi lines.
>>52139667
Tell them you want to cancel your internet
They will try to give you a better offer, so that you won't leave
if it's good accept
>>52140034
Upper NY is pretty hillbilly.
>>52140051
The threat of cancelling the internet is hollow. Verizon doesn't even offer DSL to the address and TWC knows this. The only option would be satellite; cell service is extremely weak. It is LTE, but only because there's a 4G amplifier installed in the house.
>>52140074
As far as TWC goes, there really isn't a huge difference between upstate New York and Manhattan. My brother has TWC in NoLIta (neighborhood in manhattan) , and my parents have it in the Adirondack park. Either way they still charge ridiculous rates after your first year promo expires.
I have cablevision (much closer to NYC than the Adirondacks, but not within NYC) and I pay $60/mo for 101mbps/35mbps internet uncapped. A DOCSIS 3.0 modem is included in that price (e.g. there is no charge for the modem rental, it is included in the cost of service). TV service isn't an amazing bargain but the service quality is great and it certainly isn't that expensive.
