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Steve P

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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Steve P » Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:56 pm

Robin Garr wrote:
Steve P wrote:I can't believe ya'll still have cable...DirecTV is the -only- way to go.

Two serious questions:

1. Does it work when it's raining? Stormy?

2. Does it give you high-speed Internet of sufficient quality for streaming movies?


I will -occasionally- lose a signal during a very heavy thunderstorm (two, maybe three times a year) but the outage is usually brief...a few minutes, not hours. I've also lost my signal a time or two (in the past 15+years) when the dish became covered with snow and/or ice...but as long as you've been smart enough to mount the dish where you can hit it with a broom, no worries.

I don't get my internet through DirecTV and to be honest, I'm not even sure if it is available...Since I don't "stream" it's really no big deal for me.

BTW, just as a little test, as I was typing this I called DirecTV customer service...I was talking to a real human being in about a minute. Try THAT with your cable company or AT&T.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Mark R. » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:12 pm

We abandon cable in favor of U-verse almost 2 years ago and haven't looked back. The price is a little cheaper but not a lot but the customer service is much better! The service people that come to your home are also always AT&T employees, not some contractor like the cable companies use. We have television, Internet and telephone through them. They have Internet speeds available locally up to 45 MB and will be going to 75 and 100 MB service in the next year or so.

I've had satellite and definitely won't ever consider that again unless it's a last option. Of course they also don't offer high-speed Internet of any kind so you have to get it from someplace else and are thus maneuvering between 2 different providers instead of just one.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Phil Scott » Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:18 pm

Classic example of two wrongs not making a right.

I would have switched to DirecTV a long time ago if my condo allowed the dish. Seems like quite a few restaurants and bars have DirecTV packages that I frequent, and I've rarely seen an outage.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Paul S » Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:44 pm

I am genuinely surprised whenever I hear that any fairly tech savvy person has not switched to DirecTV.

I went with U-verse internet because there was a two year $10 off per month deal going on at the time, and I've had no issues streaming Netflix and online videos.

Also, if it goes out during a storm, you can still watch DVR... Only frustration with storms would be if I'm trying to watch a live sporting event.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Steve P » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:10 pm

Paul S wrote:I am genuinely surprised whenever I hear that any fairly tech savvy person has not switched to DirecTV.



I really don't -do- "tech"....I don't own a "device" and don't pay much attention to the latest and greatest gee-wizz stuff out there. That said I did spend some time on the DirecTV website over the past day or two and it would appear there are some features I haven't been taking advantage of but will look to do so in the future. Just more reasons to stick with DirecTV.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Doug Davis » Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:10 pm

I dont think federal regulators will allow this merger to go through anymore than they allowed AT&T to buy out T-Mobile.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Mark R. » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:02 pm

Doug Davis wrote:I dont think federal regulators will allow this merger to go through anymore than they allowed AT&T to buy out T-Mobile.

There is actually quite a big difference between the 2 cases. With the AT&T- T-Mobile merger there were many markets where they were in direct competition with each other so the merger would have reduced or eliminated competition in those markets. In the case of Comcast and Time Warner there are no markets where they are in competition with each other so that is not so much of an issue with creating a monopoly, they both already are in a sense.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Doug Davis » Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:26 am

Mark R. wrote:In the case of Comcast and Time Warner there are no markets where they are in competition with each other



Comcast and Time Warner are both available in NYC.
I know the NYT said they dont compete in any markets, but when I moved out of the upper west side of Manhattan 5 years ago they were competing. Additionally, both companies websites still list Manhattan as a market.

Im sure that isnt the only market.

Additionally if they were to merge they would control more than 30% of the market share of customers. Which in the past has been the FCC's unofficial cut off number to deny mergers or acquisitions.

I might be wrong. They are going to use their money and lobbyists and throw a LOT of money around in Washington.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Mark A. » Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:06 am

Well, I just switched my internet and phone from ATT to Time Warner and have been pleased so far. Hope Comcast doesn't mess things up. Directv for my TV viewing....only way to go.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Steve A » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:43 am

To each their own.

Remember that old Springsteen song 57 channels and nothing on? With inflation it's now more like 300 channels and nothing on. You pay for all the stuff you don't watch, which I assume includes most of the Home Shopping/MTV-VH1/Disney/Honey Boo Boo channels.

Even if you're getting a rockin' deal on satellite TV, when you combine that with an internet connection and home phone (if you have one) your monthly outlay is what, about $150 including taxes?

The "tech" to replace this isn't rocket science. Here's what you can put together for around $70 a month:
  • Cable internet connection
  • Roku box - one time outlay of $80
  • Subscription to a combination of Hulu+, Netflix on demand, Amazon Prime (Amazon's the only one that requires an annual commitment, but has additional benefits)
  • Internet phone (requires a $50 box that you plug your home phone into)
  • Rabbit ears for local TV, sports
The drawbacks to this plan:
  • Not all sporting events are available over the air, though you can probably find most of them on a screen at a local pub
  • You can find most popular cable series, but you might have to wait until the regular season is over to see them
But hey, choice is good. If what you have works for you, more power to you.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Doug Davis » Sun Feb 16, 2014 1:49 pm

My only problem with most of the Roku, , Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc options is most of the programing I watch is on HBO such Game of Thrones, Newsroom, True Detective, etc.

There is an option being offered through AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner currently to get base cable (just local channels), HBO and internet for something like $50 (comcast) to $70 (AT&T or TW) per month.

We are looking at doing that.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Steve P » Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:02 pm

Seems like everyone I ever talked to that took advantage of one of these Internet/TV/Phone/Kitchen Appliance/Dog Watering bundling deals always discovered some kind of "catch" built into the billing and/or service.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Robin Garr » Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:44 pm

Steve A wrote:TThe "tech" to replace this isn't rocket science. Here's what you can put together for around $70 a month:

Steve, that's very similar to what we did, with a couple of exceptions. We have a Roku but discovered you can do just as well without the additional hardward (assuming you have an iPad) by simply connecting the iPad to the big screen via HDM1 and viewieng Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, etc., by that route. A friend who used to be chief engineer at a local TV station gave us a fancy, high-tech digital antenna which we put up in the attic, and get much better quality broadcast - including all the sub-carriers - than we ever got on cable. And we did keep one landline with no features to use for fax only; all our old landline numbers now answer on the cloud via Grasshopper.com, which sends us the voice mail message in Email. Our friends call us on our cellphones. We're certainly saving at least $50/month this way, probably more. although TWC doesn't let you have Internet-only for cheap. I think we're paying about $60 for 20mbps, which I'd love to be able to improve on.

I'm also thinking that I'll have to either go back on cable for a month or hack some way to view BBC through a proxy server when it's World Cup soccer time ...
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Ray Griffith » Sun Feb 16, 2014 4:10 pm

Robin Garr wrote:
Steve P wrote:I can't believe ya'll still have cable...DirecTV is the -only- way to go.

Two serious questions:

1. Does it work when it's raining? Stormy?

2. Does it give you high-speed Internet of sufficient quality for streaming movies?


I know your questions are directed to Steve. Nevertheless;

1. No. A good rainfall associated with a thunderstorm usually knocks it out and when it happens, it's usually brief. I'm not home enough/doesn't happen enough for it to be an issue. Even when it happens, I can turn it off or watch something that I had recorded. I've been lucky so far that a weather related interruption hasn't affected me as far as any big games.

2. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that Direct TV offers internet service. They do have a billing agreement with AT$T. Either way, my tuner connects with my wifi signal (AT$T U-verse) and I am happy with the speeds for streaming of movies.
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Re: Comcast to buy Time Warner

by Todd Antz » Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:07 am

Has anyone tried the home internet option that Verizon Wireless has been showcasing in their retail stores? The speeds seem reasonable, and the pricing was not bad if I remember, but I was curious to see if anyone had actually used this as an option at home yet.
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