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Thread: Telecom bargain (I think)

  1. #1
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    Telecom bargain (I think)

    I am in a position to rethink telecom provisioning. I currently have Comcast 600/25 internet with conventional TV costing $147.00/month. I'm pretty sure I can do better. I don't do any cloud stuff so don't really care about internet upload speed. NVMO cell phone at $27.00/month for 4 GB data.I'm thinking I could go with their lowest internet speed - 200/10 and see how that goes. I don't care about 4K tv, our TVs are 43" - 46". I've read 4K is not really beneficial for TVs less than 55". I could always go with a faster tier if necessary. Lose the 'conventional cable TV', I watch maybe a half dozen TV channels so pick a streaming service.

    Comcast is promoting the crap out of their cell service. They're offering the 200/10 internet PLUS unlimited cell service AND a free Pixel 6 cell phone. Price good for 2 years so about $35/month for unlimited cell service and internet service. Does this seem too good to be true? From a technical standpoint I'd prefer Verizon Fios but Verizon isn't even close to competitive on their pricing.

  2. #2
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    Comcast's antiquated cable based technology that has pitiful upload speeds is a big turn-off to me. You can get FiOS 300/300 for about $40 a month and then pick whatever you want to stream from a variety of sources. I happen to use Hulu+LiveTV, but there are other options such as YouTubeTV, Sling, etc., depending on what you want/need. There are reasonably priced cellular service available if you shop around and you can generally port your number so to the rest of the world, nothing has changed. We use TMo, but I have four lines (we cover both of our daughters) and it was the most reasonable for the way it's used, but if it was just Professor Dr. SWMBO and I, there might be a different choice.
    --

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  3. #3
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    FIOS isn't an option for much of the country. Locally I can get really slow Centurylink, or Comcast/Xfinity. I go with Comcast/Xfinity. It works fine for working from home for the past three years. I download software directly to a server at work because if I download the software to my laptop and then upload it to a server at works it takes hours sometimes. A few neighborhoods in the Minneapolis area can get fiber optic Internet, but not any neighborhoods near my house.

  4. #4
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    That's a good point, Brian...geography matters so one has to choose from what's actually available and in many cases, the cable-co type hookup, despite its flaws, is actually the best and fastest option. My answer was pretty specific for Curt since he lives nearby...literally...and the primary choices are Verizon FiOS or Comcast XFinity.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
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    Verizon has been pushing internet over their cell phone signal. Not sure if that is the same as a mobile hotspot. I am sure other cell providers have similar plans. I checked a month ago and it was not available here. They sent another add to my email and it is available now. Of course that may be wishful thinking on their part.
    Bill D.

    https://www.verizon.com/home/
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 03-17-2023 at 5:17 PM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    Verizon has been pushing internet over their cell phone signal. Not sure if that is the same as a mobile hotspot.
    It's similar to a hotspot on a phone or small portable device, but generally has better radios including supporting more current WiFi specifications. It's designed as a "home" based solution. They can also deploy it whenever they have appropriate coverage. Therein lies the rub, as some folks have discovered. It might appear there should be service available in a particular area, but VZ's own internal map database is more granular and they will not setup service for folks in some places where they either feel the signal isn't strong enough or that there are already too many subscribers. Some carrier's cellular based home Internet offerings also ge "second dibs" on bandwidth over mobile users in some situations. Ultimately, a very large percentage of high speed Internet access in the US will likely be via cellular, but that's a way off, even with new investment financial incentives to help with that.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Comcast's antiquated cable based technology that has pitiful upload speeds is a big turn-off to me.
    I'm aware of that but I thought about how much I upload and it ain't much. Comcast is deploying something called mid-split or something like that which bumps the upload speeds to around 100 mb./sec but the rate of deployment seems glacial. The real incentive for me would be unlimited cell service. I do stream audio when driving and the cell service I have now doesn't cut off data but does reduce the speed to 256k. 256k should be okay for streaming audio but I suspect if I regularly exceeded my data limit by quite a bit, I'd get a suggestion to up my plan's data.

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