| Author | Message | ||
     Fahren |
So I caved, and finally ordered cable TV service - just basic broadcast. When the service tech came to hook it up, I asked if we could just bring the RG-6 cable directly plugged into the the digital TV, and he said yes, so we did - no cable box. A week or so later, we receive notice that for our entire area (eastern Long Island), everyone will be required to have a cable box, "Because the signal is going fully digital." There is no more signal on the channels with the cable plugged directly into the TV - just a text screen from the cable company telling us we need to call to get a box sent out. WTF? I have the box hooked up, and now we get fewer channels than we were getting before. Is this just a con-game from the cable company (Optimum Cablevision) to make us use a cable box that I will have to pay "rent" for after a two-year free period? Why in the world is a box needed to bring a digital cable signal into a digital TV set? Is it just a question of scamming you for the box rent, plus uber-control of your cable access? Do the cable companies encrypt the signals so that you need the box to un-encrypt them? This transition to fully digital signals is new to me. Does anyone know what's up with this, and if there is anything to be done (other than cancel the service out of disgust)? | ||
| Froggy |
That is exactly what it is. If you look in the cable box you will see a creditcard sized card, it is similar to a SIM for your phone. You can get TVs with a CableCard slot in them, but then you still have to pay a couple bucks per month to rent a CableCard.
They are doing it because it saves them money. It reduces piracy, and by using digital formats they can compress the streams to allow multiple channels to use the same channel at the same time. This allows them to offer a greater amount of channels, and as result charge you more.
Switch to Fios, enjoy faster speeds, better service, better channel selection, and no cable company BS. TV is slowly dying anyway, you can be one of the many who have jumped ship and canceled their cable plans in favor of online streaming services. | ||
| Fahren |
Fios not available in my remote hamlet :-( Otherwise I would already be there... | ||
| Fahren |
Out here, Verizon only offers a package of DirectTV with "regular" Verizon "high speed" internet (.5 - 1 Mbps...a joke), upgradeable to 7.1 - 15 Mbps for another $15 per month. Today's Cable internet Speedtest (what I currently have - Froggy and Gentleman Jon, don't laugh):  | ||
| Trackdad |
Had a similar experience lately. Tried to save some $$$$$. Had Comcast triple play, phone, internet and cable. Decided to go Direct TV, Comcast internet and Verizon home phone...... now that the discounted beginning rates are over, combined I am paying approximately $25 more per month. In another year my contracts will be over and I'll be on the hunt for TV and internet....I'll be finished with a land line in the home!!!! | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Get good antenna for free HDtv (10-20 local channels) and Blue ray player for movies (with ethernet for netflix) Screw cable and internet tv. (not realtime) you will get up to 15 sec delay (antenna vs cable tv) Unless you want all those other channels hbo etc and the delay doesn't bother you... as Froggy said I think you can get most shows/channels online. | ||
| Fahren |
Those are good ideas... but being remote enough for Verizon not to bring us Fios also means we are remote enough that we get lousy antenna reception. I am fine without TV of any kind, but my 10-year-old? Not so much. We use Netflix a good amount, but this year, we decided we would watch the Super Bowl. I would definitely have gone to an antenna over any cable service, if we could have made it work out here. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Trackdad, do you know of an easily viewed caller ID that works with Verizon Home? I know this sounds silly but Verizon only show numbers, not names unless your device has a "phone book". Also, the one device that we could see across the room doesn't even display numbers anymore. This may not matter to you but I thought I'd check in case you saw something. Thanks. | ||
| Teeps |
Fahren Posted on Monday, February 20, 2012 Fios not available in my remote hamlet :-( Not just backwoods condition; I can't get fios either because att owns all the lines in my area. Verizon won't spend the money to install infrastructure to serve fios. | ||
| Rkc00 |
Here is mine.  | ||
| Xdigitalx |
 | ||
| Froggy |
*Yawn*  | ||
| Fahren |
^^^ Froggy: "Faster than 99% of US" Froggy is in the 1% LOL! :-) But Froggy, I thought you were on FIOS...? | ||
| Froggy |
Yea, but we have a 200 megabit connection with Cablevision Lightpath at my job. I'll do another test in the middle of the night and see what I can pull off of it. My home FIOS is still good for a solid 45 down 35 up. | ||
| Crusty |
 I've got FIOS. I'm happy with the speeds. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
We pulled the plug on live tv June of 2009. I'll be getting an antenna for the few live tv channels I need. Otherwise, cable and satellite can eat me. | ||
| Barker |
Somehow I have managed to live on never paying for cable/dish service. I did not steal it. I just never had it. Rabbit ears 4 life! | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Having a bit of a slow day here, usually get a little closer to 60 down, 8 up. Of course I have to pay an extra $15 a month for boost. Then after I paid, and didn't get the speed boost, I had to harass them to send me a new modem, for the third time. And then keep on them for about a month until they fixed all the problems in the street. Gotta love CableVision. The very exemplar of a predatory corporation.  | ||
| Trackdad |
Trackdad, do you know of an easily viewed caller ID that works with Verizon Home? I know this sounds silly but Verizon only show numbers, not names unless your device has a "phone book". Also, the one device that we could see across the room doesn't even display numbers anymore. This may not matter to you but I thought I'd check in case you saw something. Thanks. No I haven't found anything to assist in caller ID, but thats the same complaint I get from the bride. Wr're lucky that phone doesn't ring much! When the two year contract is up ITS' gone!!!! | ||
| Aeholton |
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| No_rice |
Trackdad, do you know of an easily viewed caller ID that works with Verizon Home? i remember the days where you had to actually answer the phone to figure out who it was... or listen to the amount of rings it rang(each ring cycle) to figure out if the call was for you or one of the neighbors... and cell phones came in a big bag with a cord(if you even knew someone that had one) and im not even that damn old! |
