Ditching Comcast for Uverse or DirecTV???

[MrsGungho]

We solved this by switching to.....nothing. The only TV we have is over-the-air. With a movie library numbering over 700 films, we truly haven't missed Comcast at all. Just wish we would have done it a long time ago.

this is exactly what we did a week ago. I LOVE IT!!! I rarely turn the tv on anymore and I don't feel tied to it to get my monies worth from Brighthouse

I pay for Hulu & Netflix. Between those 2 and shows on certain networks being on their webpage, I miss nothing I like to watch.

I kept BrightHouse for internet as they are just under everyone in our area for pricing

 

[Mad Macs]

If you have Amazon Prime you can stream a TON of content for free. We picked up 2 Roku boxes just for this (along with Plex) and haven't watched live TV in a month.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

If you like your current service you might consider just negotiating with comcast for a better rate. I recently did just that and got $40 off my monthly bill along with adding more channels. You might have better luck going to their service center in person than just calling them.

I do the same thing... Every year when my "current promo" ends I call them and tell them what I want and what I want to pay, and usually they can get into the ballpark. I have been doing this for at least 4 years now, and so far it has worked. If it gets to a point where they can no longer negotiate, then I can no longer do business with them. I will be more than happy to tell them to send someone out to collect their equipment.

 

[forgop]

I do the same thing... Every year when my "current promo" ends I call them and tell them what I want and what I want to pay, and usually they can get into the ballpark. I have been doing this for at least 4 years now, and so far it has worked. If it gets to a point where they can no longer negotiate, then I can no longer do business with them. I will be more than happy to tell them to send someone out to collect their equipment.

The only "offer" they could give me was to give me pretty much ALL of their premium channels for an additional $50 over my prior promo and still be cheaper than what my current bill switched to. My promo went from $160/mo to $261/mo after all taxes. The "upgrade offer" went to $188+ taxes.

Gonna shop the Uverse/DirecTV rates this afternoon and make the switch next week. I will further investigate the ability to drop it altogether though.

 

[jkaetz]

If you go DirecTV, have the installer walk you through what he wants to do before he begins. With Dish and Direc, the installers are just sub contractors and will do hack installs if you don't watch them. Most problems start with the installer's work. My dad's used to fade in and out during even light storms. We found that the installers attached the dish to the side of the house, they didn't bother to find any studs. It just wobbled away. He got his house resided last fall so I helped him relocate it. Once we got it mounted and re-aimed he now loses his signal for only a few minutes (< 5) in heavy storms (50,000ft+ clouds). You can get more install tips and such from dbs talk.

 

[forgop]

Idiot U-verse kids walking around our neighborhood trying to convert everyone despite a no soliciting sign at our neighborhood entrance.

I think I'm going to take a picture of that sign and post a picture of it on my door along with another picture of a gun saying that in case you were too blind to miss the first one, maybe the second may make their presence on my property a little more understood.

Idiots.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

I'm a good person to consult on this subject

Currently, I have Comcast.
I also have UVerse U300 + 25mb Internet

They are running side-by-side, I'm in my free month of UVerse.

TV:

UVerse has better selection for the price. By far. Bigger DVR too

Internet:

UVerse can't match up. I have their fastest package (non Fiber-to-the-house), and it can't keep up with what Comcast was providing

Depends which is more important to you. Call Comcast, tell them you're switching to UVerse, and they will offer you deal after deal to keep you.

 

[mrjarrell]

Keep Comcast for internet only and get satellite for TV viewing. That's what we did and it works out well for us.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Keep Comcast for internet only and get satellite for TV viewing. That's what we did and it works out well for us.

This is an option, sure, but warrants zero to no package deals. Typically, this will be more expensive.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Wifey got a roku and pays for Netflix and hulu. That and basic dish works out best for US in the hinterlands.

 

[pwoller]

Uverse has been good to us. We tried Comcast for a total of 24 hours and canceled it and went right back to uverse.

 

[Suprtek]

The only "offer" they could give me was to give me pretty much ALL of their premium channels for an additional $50 over my prior promo and still be cheaper than what my current bill switched to. My promo went from $160/mo to $261/mo after all taxes. The "upgrade offer" went to $188+ taxes.

Gonna shop the Uverse/DirecTV rates this afternoon and make the switch next week. I will further investigate the ability to drop it altogether though.

We had the lowest tier of television service and high speed internet (no phone service)and it was about $140 with comcast. After we talked to them we now have many more channels (still no premium channels though) along with the same high speed internet for about $100. If you really want home phone service, get a magic jack to use with your internet. It really is only $20 a year plus the one time cost of the device and it works. I've had one for a few years now and like it a lot.

 

[miguel]

We only have over the air TV these days.

Why pay $100 a month when there was usually two bits worth on any channel?

Nobody complained when we turned it off and nobody has since.

 

[Suprtek]

We only have over the air TV these days.

Why pay $100 a month when there was usually two bits worth on any channel?

Nobody complained when we turned it off and nobody has since.

If it were just the TV service I would completely agree with you. I'm mostly interested in the high speed internet. The cost for getting just that by itself is almost as much as what I am paying for all of it. There are other options for internet service but as others have said, nothing conventional comes close to the speed offered by cable. I have other reasons for needing a higher speed connection so for me its worth it. For others it may not be.

 

[chocktaw2]

Gonna shop the Uverse/DirecTV rates this afternoon and make the switch next week. I will further investigate the ability to drop it altogether though.

Idiot U-verse kids walking around our neighborhood trying to convert everyone despite a no soliciting sign at our neighborhood entrance.

I think I'm going to take a picture of that sign and post a picture of it on my door along with another picture of a gun saying that in case you were too blind to miss the first one, maybe the second may make their presence on my property a little more understood.

Idiots.

 

[forgop]

I can't stand people calling or coming up to my door unsolicited. If I called them first and requested their presence, fine, but interrupting me on my time...

That pretty much sums up how I feel about those SOB's.

 

[jbrownrfn]

Ive got uverse its been ok some issues here and there but so far decent price seems same as the rest...

 

[forgop]

Just scheduled the switch to Uverse for TV/Internet on the 17th. As much as I'd love to ditch cable, it's really hard giving up all the live sports carried on ESPN and everything else and there are too many shows we watch that aren't available on Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc. for free. Paying for them would result in the full cost of cable or more.

 

[searpinski]

Comcast sucks. We stuck with them for quite a while because their offered internet speeds are much better than U-Verse. They raised the bill on us all of the time. You can't get your bill back down unless you call in and tell them straight up "I want to discontinue my service." They will act offended, bewildered and flabbergasted as to why ANYONE would want to discontinue their wonderful service. I would usually respond with: (AT&T, DISH, Whatever...) is offering 5 bazillion channels, 2 DVRs, faster than tacobell inducing upset stomach internet for $100/mo that I'll be much happier with that deal. Then they'll offer to cut $10 off your bill. Keep refusing their offers but us as they start to lower the price, show a little interest. My bill stayed +/- $2.00 for two years before we finally discontinued. They are a bad company with terrible customer service. They also refuse local gunshops television advertising, so that's another negative in my book.

 

[jfed85]

Since venturing out into the world on my own I have had Comcast...meh. Uverse...meh DirecTV...BINGO. I love direcTV. Had it a year so far and havent had the service go out but one time for like 2 minutes in a real bad storm. I can live with that. Especially to get the uncompressed digital signal with amazing HD picture quality that (HD) cable never came close to. I am a big fan of DirecTV and it only cost me about $47 a month for a decent plan. Now I have to find reliable internet because the ATT high speed that we have is horrible...Like no signal for hours, cuts in and out at all times, new modem, new routher, reset modem, reset the line. Called Habib countless times to jump through the same hoops and him tell me nothing is wrong. Please, whatever you do...do not subject yourself to ATT DSL internet.