Time to change internet providers...

hilljack13 · May 10, 2025

I have had Spectrum for 4 years. Started at $50 and just this month all the discounts expired and they refused to match or come close to other deals. Bill is now $104 so that isn't going to fly. WoW internet is about the next biggest in my area, but local reviews are abysmal. Overall reviews from other locations are about the same as Spectrum. So I come here seeking others experience with these. Should I make the switch or find another? I can get my same speed for about half of what I pay now or get up to 1Gbps for $75, which would be a nice, but unnecessary increase. I use my own equipment.

Snuffy · May 10, 2025

hilljack13 said:
I have had Spectrum for 4 years. Started at $50 and just this month all the discounts expired and they refused to match or come close to other deals. Bill is now $104 so that isn't going to fly. WoW internet is about the next biggest in my area, but local reviews are abysmal. Overall reviews from other locations are about the same as Spectrum. So I come here seeking others experience with these. Should I make the switch or find another? I can get my same speed for about half of what I pay now or get up to 1Gbps for $75, which would be a nice, but unnecessary increase. I use my own equipment.

If you can stand to do without it for a week or so, Call and make a big deal about it costs too much and you are going to have to cancel if they don't give you the original deal again. They will tell you it is only a rate for new customers and they can't do that. So cut it off - and then within 3 days you will be contacted by Spectrum offering you a deal to re-subscribe. If you have your own equipment, they just flip it back on and you get another year at $50/mo. It's like a stupid game you have to play. And they may even pile on some web channel deals like Hulu or Netflix.

firerat · May 10, 2025

Snuffy said:
If you can stand to do without it for a week or so, Call and make a big deal about it costs too much and you are going to have to cancel if they don't give you the original deal again. They will tell you it is only a rate for new customers and they can't do that. So cut it off - and then within 3 days you will be contacted by Spectrum offering you a deal to re-subscribe. If you have your own equipment, they just flip it back on and you get another year at $50/mo. It's like a stupid game you have to play. And they may even pile on some web channel deals like Hulu or Netflix.

We had to do this with Xfinity for years.

Now my internet is included in my HOA, which is about the only thing positive about my HOA.

Deadalus · May 12, 2025

I used to play the call up and threaten to cancel game every year or two with the cable company. They'd even answer the call with, "We see you've been a customer for over 10 years!" then proceed to offer a crappier rate than a new customer. I'd have to go as far as asking to be transferred to the disconnection agent. I'll mention though, due to archaic business/state/local rules, we couldn't get another cable company even though the other company serviced some homes in the same neighborhood. It was divided up by street! Cut the cable tv but we were stuck with the same co. for cable internet until we finally got a fiber optic line on our street.

We haven't had to pay to rent equipment, which is good since there's a box that the fiber line comes into first, followed by a router which is specialized for fiber and can also do phone service (skipped doing that). The company also provided an Eero mesh system with two units but then sent us another 4 units. Allegedly they may start to rent the Eeros for new customers but we aren't charged for them. I think we are paying $89/month for one gig speed. It's through Frontier. They offer 1/2 and 2 gig plans too.

I wired most of the house with Ethernet (cat 6) so the coverage is silly with 6 Eeros. The router off the fiber connection even has wifi too.

Agent · May 12, 2025

I'm paying $65/mo for a 6mbps service with ~5% downtime.

So when Spectrum finally arrives, I'll be more than happy even at full rates.

betarhoalphadelta · May 12, 2025

Deadalus said:
I'll mention though, due to archaic business/state/local rules, we couldn't get another cable company even though the other company serviced some homes in the same neighborhood. It was divided up by street! Cut the cable tv but we were stuck with the same co. for cable internet until we finally got a fiber optic line on our street.
.

Agent said:
I'm paying $65/mo for a 6mbps service with ~5% downtime.

So when Spectrum finally arrives, I'll be more than happy even at full rates.

Yeah, occasionally I go into the Costco and am approached by AT&T offering high speed internet. I tell them "trust me, you can't help me". They enter my address and see that the only service they offer at my house is 1.5 mpbs DSL! That's obviously a non-starter.

Our only high speed option is the cable company (Cox), and so I'm paying $105/mo for just internet (we use streaming, not cable, for our TV).

I wish I had another option because competition would likely drive down rates as opposed to Cox bending us over. But it's an older neighborhood and I don't think anyone wants to put fiber into the ground, so we'll probably not have an alternative until a 5G (or beyond) home internet buildout happens... Which also may be a LONG time as it's a suburban neighborhood of single family homes, so it's not dense enough to be a priority for 5G.