Xfinity Cable Service Increase
- Thread starter bobpbx
- Start date
But you should be able to keep your existing Comcast hard-wired internet and just drop the cable TV part. I assume that's what others who posted here have done and not switched to wireless/5g.
I pay $80/mo for 500mbit/sec Verizon FIOS, would think you can get something similar from Comcast, based on what people posted above. When I include $50 for Sling it's $130/month for TV and internet. That also includes a hard-wired telephone, but I have never plugged one in.
I pay $80/mo for 500mbit/sec Verizon FIOS, would think you can get something similar from Comcast, based on what people posted above. When I include $50 for Sling it's $130/month for TV and internet. That also includes a hard-wired telephone, but I have never plugged one in.
I finally ditched xfinity and fios... for TV anyway. Back to fios for internet.
I have YouTubeTV and even with the increase I think I save about $80 a month.
Bonus is you can have multiple users so I saved money plus my kids get it free at dorm & apartment.
I still use my roof antenna for 70% of TV. It would be even more if I didn't use YouTube as my DVR
I have YouTubeTV and even with the increase I think I save about $80 a month.
Bonus is you can have multiple users so I saved money plus my kids get it free at dorm & apartment.
I still use my roof antenna for 70% of TV. It would be even more if I didn't use YouTube as my DVR
Yep, YouTubeTV is one of the best moves I made a few years ago. Even with all the price increases, it's still much cheaper than I was paying Comcast for a basic setup. What I love best about YouTube TV, as you mentioned, you can actually legally share the accounts and give everyone their own setup as well as the unlimited number of recordings that you can have. Sorry, not trying to turn this into a commercial.
As a moderator at MacRumors, I frequently see people say how happy they are with YouTube TV. Google is a necessary evil for me, but I've almost completely given up on YouTube, I just don't like the whole experience on their website.
But I still like to have an open mind. Why are you so happy with YouTube? Do they have sports that aren't available on other streaming services? Or is it just that you can share your account? I'm not interested in sports and have no need to share. Although my Sling package includes a DVR, I never use it. Just looking at their site, the YouTube Basic plan costs $83 for 100+ channels. That seems very expensive to me, think I pay $53 for Sling which has a lot more than 100 channels - and it often convinces me that there's just nothing worth watching.
People have said there's an ad-free option on YouTube, don't know if that means they block the ads or they actually have an ad-free service from the providers. There are SO many ads on the usual cable channels, you would only have about 40 minutes of content per hour if your blocked them. How does that work? Does that cost extra?
Looks like YouTube would cost me $360 more per year and wouldn't give me anything I don't already have. But I'm probably missing something.
But I still like to have an open mind. Why are you so happy with YouTube? Do they have sports that aren't available on other streaming services? Or is it just that you can share your account? I'm not interested in sports and have no need to share. Although my Sling package includes a DVR, I never use it. Just looking at their site, the YouTube Basic plan costs $83 for 100+ channels. That seems very expensive to me, think I pay $53 for Sling which has a lot more than 100 channels - and it often convinces me that there's just nothing worth watching.
People have said there's an ad-free option on YouTube, don't know if that means they block the ads or they actually have an ad-free service from the providers. There are SO many ads on the usual cable channels, you would only have about 40 minutes of content per hour if your blocked them. How does that work? Does that cost extra?
Looks like YouTube would cost me $360 more per year and wouldn't give me anything I don't already have. But I'm probably missing something.
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I'm happy with YouTubeTV because it saves me $80 and I've lost nothing compared to Xfinity.
I've gained a bunch of sports channels.
TV stations was probably a wash for me but I didn't watch many to begin with.
Paramount, Discovery and Motortrend were a requirement for me. Motortrend since folded as a channel.
I get up early morning so DVR a bunch of primetime, YouTubeTV takes care of that too.
Sharing is nice, you could actually split the cost with several people if you wanted.
Think it's been 5months since I switched, I did compare with other services but don't recall differences.
I also went from Xfinity back to fios for internet because the rate was better.
Fios used to use coax but changed to cat(6iirc) cables since last connected, so rewiring was necessary.
I've gained a bunch of sports channels.
TV stations was probably a wash for me but I didn't watch many to begin with.
Paramount, Discovery and Motortrend were a requirement for me. Motortrend since folded as a channel.
I get up early morning so DVR a bunch of primetime, YouTubeTV takes care of that too.
Sharing is nice, you could actually split the cost with several people if you wanted.
Think it's been 5months since I switched, I did compare with other services but don't recall differences.
I also went from Xfinity back to fios for internet because the rate was better.
Fios used to use coax but changed to cat(6iirc) cables since last connected, so rewiring was necessary.
Cool... that makes sense for you then. But sounds like what I thought, nothing there for me except a $30 higher monthly fee.
Happiest days of my life:
(1) Wedding Day
(2) Birth of children
(3) Birth of grandchildren
(4) Calling Comcast and canceling
(1) Wedding Day
(2) Birth of children
(3) Birth of grandchildren
(4) Calling Comcast and canceling
I had Comcast for 12 years in Medford, but there was no cable or broadband of any type when I moved to my current hideaway in Pines in 2006. I embraced it and didn't watch any broadcast or cable TV until 2020 when I got Sling during the COVID lockdowns (got FIOS for internet only in 2017). If you've never tried disconnecting completely, it's something to consider. It gave me 3 or 4 extra hours in the day to spend outside and that's also when I started making maps. boydsmaps sure wouldn't be what it is today if I had spent all those years sitting on the couch! 
Back to watching TV again but there's truly very little that interests me most of the time. Have not ruled out the idea of dropping it all again. During all those years without cable, I built a collection of about 1200 DVD's. Ripped all of those to a media server starting in 2016, so there's no shortage of stuff to watch right on my own network. I remember the first time I showed that to my son in law he said "Wow... it's like you're running your own Netflix!"
Back to watching TV again but there's truly very little that interests me most of the time. Have not ruled out the idea of dropping it all again. During all those years without cable, I built a collection of about 1200 DVD's. Ripped all of those to a media server starting in 2016, so there's no shortage of stuff to watch right on my own network. I remember the first time I showed that to my son in law he said "Wow... it's like you're running your own Netflix!"
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Don't confuse YouTubeTV with YouTube. I'm talking TouTubeTV. I share 2 of my sub-accounts with my son and sister. They send me a few bucks a month for using it, bringing my cost down. I absolutely love the ability to record any and as many programs as I want. Except for news from time to time, I can't tell you the last time I watched a program live.
Except for the History channel (I think that's the one), it has all the programming we want and had several years ago, when we were paying Comcast $120+ per month and only having extremely limited DVR capabilities, in addition to not having sub-accounts.
Except for the History channel (I think that's the one), it has all the programming we want and had several years ago, when we were paying Comcast $120+ per month and only having extremely limited DVR capabilities, in addition to not having sub-accounts.
The main reason I don't use the DVR function on Sling is that it's not needed. With most channels you can just scroll backwards through the schedule to watch a program that you've missed, it lets you go at least three days back that way (maybe more) and lets you resume watching a program where you left off - even on another device. For most series you can also stream any episode at any time. News channels don't let you do that, so I guess you'd need to record those if you want to watch yesterday's news. I don't watch sports, maybe you need a DVR for that?
Obviously I know that YouTube TV is not the same as YouTube's website. But "don't confuse" Google/YouTube with some kind of charity that gives you free stuff. Their whole business model is based on invading your privacy and using what they learn to sell you stuff through their partners. Your TV viewing habits are a gold mine for that kind of information. True, all the streaming services are also interested in that, but they don't have the resources and money to do it like alphabet can.
It still sounds like the only "advantage" I'd have with YouTube TV would be a bill that's $30 higher every month. And... wow... no History Channel? How could I watch Ancient Aliens? But it sounds like a good solution for you, so that's fine. Just be aware of what's happening behind the curtain... 
Obviously I know that YouTube TV is not the same as YouTube's website. But "don't confuse" Google/YouTube with some kind of charity that gives you free stuff. Their whole business model is based on invading your privacy and using what they learn to sell you stuff through their partners. Your TV viewing habits are a gold mine for that kind of information. True, all the streaming services are also interested in that, but they don't have the resources and money to do it like alphabet can.
It still sounds like the only "advantage" I'd have with YouTube TV would be a bill that's $30 higher every month. And... wow... no History Channel? How could I watch Ancient Aliens?
But it sounds like a good solution for you, so that's fine. Just be aware of what's happening behind the curtain... 
Many people over buy their internet by selecting bandwidth greater than needed and pay a higher price for it. Xfinity is very good at convincing people that if they stream they need added bandwidth. Unless you do a lot of downloading, or uploading, the default 75 to 100mb bandwidth is more than most people will ever need. I stream 2 TVs, 2 iPads, 2 phones, 2 smart TVs, numerous echo dots, a couple cameras, etc. and bandwidth has never been a problem, and when I worked and actually measured bandwidth consumption, 100mb is more bandwidth than I would ever use.
Agree, I went low on bandwidth when I switched. Was slightly concerned but never had an issue yet.
The same can be said for cellular, I've never paid extra for "unlimited".
I think that's getting better at so the day may be coming even if I don't need it.
The same can be said for cellular, I've never paid extra for "unlimited".
I think that's getting better at so the day may be coming even if I don't need it.
If you've never tried disconnecting completely, it's something to consider. It gave me 3 or 4 extra hours in the day to spend outside and that's also when I started making maps. boydsmaps sure wouldn't be what it is today if I had spent all those years sitting on the couch!
...Back to watching TV again but there's truly very little that interests me most of the time. Have not ruled out the idea of dropping it all again.
I'm not sure I could completely disconnect, but I wouldn't miss a subscription service too much with a stand alone DVR and my antenna. If money was tight youtubetv would be the 1st thing dropped. I watch free YouTube more...
Of course I know that all of that data and our information is being stored, used, and sold. Anyone that doesn't realize that is not living in the real world. It's a choice we all take and the fact that we're all connecting to the internet in some fashion means that your information and data is being gathered and used. It's just a matter of to what extent. We each have to decide at what level we're comfortable with and whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantage.
I have Comcast and I’m really dissatisfied with it. The internet service is horrible. I always keep WiFi shut off on my phone because the cellular connection to the internet in my house is 5x-10x faster than my home WiFi connection, and I have a top of the line router with signal extenders. This summer they raised my monthly rate to $339 a month (cable, internet, land line) When I called and told them that was more than any monthly car payment I have ever had in my life and I was cancelling everything, they dropped my bill to $278 a month.
By the way, 4 weeks(?) ago Comcast was giving away gourmet popcorn if I came in and picked it up. I did, and I then got a card saying they have more rewards and perks for me and said to log in and "pick as many as you want - they're all yours". I've been busy, have not done it yet, but it's a sure bet none of them are price decreases.
Edit: I looked to see what they are. "Special events, special offerings, etc, etc. Plus a bonus - you have to agree to receive offerings from our "partners".
Edit: I looked to see what they are. "Special events, special offerings, etc, etc. Plus a bonus - you have to agree to receive offerings from our "partners".
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