Comcast/Xfinity is cutting its own throat

[CatWoman]

My bill last month has risen to an outrageous amount.

Enough!!!!

It took me until last week to finally get thru and terminate all services save internet, as I need it for remote working.

I had already purchased a Fire TV stick.

After Xfinity cut off my tv today I installed the firestick, and VIOLA!!!

Best decision I've made in a long time and it feels so good.

I've noticed that most of the content offered by Xfinity is FREE on other networks available online or via Firestick.

I have their damn boxes, cables, remotes, etc. all packed up and tomorrow I will personally deliver to them.

I don't trust sending it in the mail.

Fuck you, Comcast.

[QED]

1. Make sure you get a receipt when you return the goods.

I'm sure you're planning on doing this anyway but just be sure. I didn't once when I was in a snit and regretted it.

[badhair77]

7. Take a photo of everything you're returning and

of the actual return.

[CatWoman]

12. great idea

[we can do it]

43. +1

[UTUSN]

2. Got rid of satellite more than 5 yrs ago. Got Roku plus air antenna and phone internet.

Last edited Sat Sep 9, 2023, 06:45 PM - Edit history (1)

And while there are any number of features on Roku, YouTube is way more than enough. Don't need cable yakkers, or just get short YouTube clips. TuneIn radio rounds out msnbc/CNN as needed, podcasts.

Welcome to cordcutters.

[ananda]

29. Roku user here also.

I get internet only from Spectrum and
stream tv shows.

It's working fine, and saves money too.

[UTUSN]

36. Yip, have saved tons from quitting Dish. Antenna for free Locals, $30 each for internet & phone.

[Disaffected]

30. I have a Roku as well (& ditched my satellite dish) but was wondering

how you get msnbc/CNN?

[UTUSN]

33. Well, since 2012 have cut down on cable "pundits". Only use TuneIn radio for

rare bits of msnbc/cnn - on RADIO, audio only, video clips on YouTube if needed. There are internet things that Cast to phone/tablet that I haven't used in years - ustv247.tv, 123news.tv, livenewswatch.com - that were sometimes blocked.

I only check MELBER a bit and in the morning the news before Joe SCABS and CNN - almost no pundits - TuneIn.

[hurple]

3. Hulu Live

Gets you pretty much everything you had with cable, plus Hulu streaming and Disney +. Add Netflix and Amazon Prime (which you get for the free shipping anyway, right?) And that's all you need.

I also add Peacock for the WWE content, but that's just me... lol.

[FreeState]

8. Just raised price second time within a year

I use to pay less than $60 for Hulu live. It’s now $89.99. Ridiculous.

[Silver Gaia]

24. Yeah, but it still beats cable for us

[FreeState]

28. I wish it did for us

We’re now over what we paid before streaming became our norm ($136, Netflix, HBO, Peacock, AppleTV+).

[Silver Gaia]

42. Yeah, we were paying a LOT more than that.

One reason we like Hulu Live is that in the Live tab, we can get all our local stations, plus MSNBC, CNN, etc., and FX, FXX, FXM, HGTV, NASA, NatGeo, History, Syfy, TBS East and West, TCM East and West, TNT East and West, The Weather Channel, and USA. So, for us, it's like cable, only cheaper.

We also get all the Hulu originals, like The Handmaid's Tale and great FX/Hulu shows like Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows. We get ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN2, MotorTrend, Food Network, Hallmark, IFC, etc. So, it works like basic cable for us, only is cheaper and has more of what we actually watch than cable did without paying even more to add various tiers to get channels we wanted. The bottom line is that it has MSNBC, and we couldn't do without that.

We were already paying for regular Hulu, as well as Netflix, Apple+, Disney, and Paramount, so that doesn't even factor into a comparison. We were already getting Prime Video anyway because we pay for Amazon Prime, and we pay less for Starz and HBO than we did with cable. We pay small amounts for AMC+, Peacock, and PBS Masterpiece, PBS Documentary, and BritBox. As cord cutters, we are paying more than $100 less overall, could be more than $200 less now. We have everything we could possibly want, and more, for less.

But like I said, we will stick with Hulu Live for MSNBC if nothing else! We can't survive in this crazy world without the perspective they provide. It keeps us sane. I think?

[Demsrule86]

53. You could lower that but I would bet you have way more TV...

I could never get the channels I wanted in a package I could afford. Now I can pick and choose.

[IbogaProject]

4. Still on their internet?

We cut the Cable TV wire 19 years ago, but we still get Spectrum Internet, it's a deal for those with kids.

[CatWoman]

6. Xfinity and ATandT

pretty much have a lock on this area; Spectrum is not available.

[nwliberalkiwi]

5. Another Service Provider

Another Service Provider like Netflix and Amazon Prime is: MHz. You just pay by the month and there is no yearly contract. Really like their programs especially: "A French Village"

[MyNameIsJonas]

9. How much did yours go up? Mine is almost $300 a month.

I'm sick.

[Wonder Why]

10. $300 per month? OMG! What and how much do you watch that you spend that much?

We are now spending:

$40/mo - 300 MB internet
$10/mo - home phone via Ooma
$5/mo - PBS Passport*

This varies as sometimes we want to see different things so we had Sling for a while so she could watch her old movies on TCM, then BritBox for 6 months so we could binge watch their stuff. Now it's PBS and free Tubi. Keeps us busy enough.

We don't really need the home phone but it works great. I give out that number as my phone so it gets spammed a lot instead of my our cellphones but we don't answer it unless they are in our Ooma contact list.

[MyNameIsJonas]

16. I have their internet bundle + home phone + cable...

The cable eats the most up. I have a pretty decent sports package + HBO and Showtime.

AND I'm not even paying for the most - as I don't have Starz or a couple other movie packages.

[Demsrule86]

51. FUBO has a great sports package for less that $100. But games are increasingly available

at other channels too like prime.

[moonscape]

56. Yikes! I keep cable because I

remain addicted to my Tivos and need cable cards for them. I pay 195/month including garbage fees for 185 channels, HBO, Showtime, Peacock. 1 Gbps overkill speed, 3 cable cards, phone, internet, all from the annoying xfinity. But, I do get $30 off my service monthly due to low income. Have my own modems and router so at least no monthly fees for that.

$300 is dreadful

[MyNameIsJonas]

60. We're not that far off.

I'm at $270 or something total (rounded to $300). But I also get my internet bundled and phone (I keep a landline because cell service in my house is awful) so on cable alone I'm paying $145 before fees (service fees and boxes, stuff like that).

[CatWoman]

13. same here

and that's what pissed me off

[TheBlackAdder]

15. Verizon pulled that and I cut TV and just kept 1GB internet and phone, down to $90/mo inc. taxes.

.

Most of the TV shows were reruns or channels I'm forced to subsidize, like FOX, OAN and Newsmax.

It's been two years and I don't miss it at all.

.

[MyNameIsJonas]

17. I need to do that.

I don't watch much TV anyway. And with the Pac-12 folding soon, I don't need the Pac-12 Networks.

[videohead5]

11. Get you a TV antenna

You can get the networks and local programming. I get 90 channels plus I watch the free streaming services.

[Xolodno]

14. I just got notice my Hulu Live is about to go up $15.

I said nope. I'll cancel before that happens. We have Prime and Disney+ already and the channels we watch on Hulu Live are only a few. Going back to Sling which is half of what Hulu Live is and has the channels we watch. Except for my wife, who watches QVC, but if you download the app on Fire TV you get it for free. And she likes the Hallmark Channel during Xmas, but you cant get that for $6 a month and since its only two months, no big deal.

[iluvtennis]

18. Check out this Disable My Cable website - lots of good recommendations

Last edited Sat Sep 9, 2023, 08:37 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.disablemycable.com/streaming-services/

[Joinfortmill]

20. Thank you for sharing

[CatWoman]

22. thanks very much

[sarcasmo]

19. Save your receipt for years after you drop off the cable box.

Comcast tried saying I didn't drop off the cable box, brought my receipt in and Comcast dropped their nonsense.

[soldierant]

23. Or scan it

and save it that way.

I'm not a big fan of paper myself. It gets lost too easily.

[dchill]

21. But they NEED MONEY! They're so strapped!

[hydrolastic]

45. Worked on the Comcast yacht in the 2000's

And was like holy crap this is an impressive boat! Later I found out it was only one of the vice presidents.

[dchill]

55. One word - upkeep!

[kellytore]

25. I got rid of those crooks 2 years ago.

I get home internet through Verizon which is $40 a month since I have phone service with them. I signed up for the ACP program that saves me $30 a month so my home internet is now an unbelievable $10 per month. I was paying Xfinity $150 a month so my savings are $1680 per year. I bought an indoor HD antenna for $30 and I receive all of the local channels plus around 25 other channels I didn't even know existed. The Roku channels are free and there are at least a hundred of those. Oh and one more thing, Xfinity would slow down their speeds during certain hours which made streaming awful. Good for you and anyone else that leave that company.

[CatWoman]

27. can you tell me the brand name of the antenna?

[kellytore]

31. Ostrat 2023 Upgraded TV Antenna for Indoor, Outdoor, 560+ Miles Range Amplified Digital

This is an upgrade from the one I purchased a couple years ago. This one goes for $45 on Amazon. The first antenna I bought was terrible so I sent it back. A friend of mine told me the Ostrat is one of the best antenna's on the market. I noticed the cable on this one is 36 ft. long so you should be able to find the right spot in the room for the best reception. For me it was not near a window but rather on the mantle above the fireplace.

[GoCubsGo]

35. A great resource is "Antenna Man" on YouTube.

He's a professional installer, and he has a lot of good advice on which antennas to buy, as well as ways of improving your reception. He reviews antennas and other equipment, and also keeps folks up to date on FCC and other activities that affect over-the-air TV.

https://www.youtube.com/@AntennaMan

[CatWoman]

37. you guys are great!!

thanks

[barbtries]

26. welcome to digital entertainment

i haven't had cable for almost 16 years and very rarely have i missed it.

it's the commercials. i really hate commercials.

[hunter]

34. Me too. Commercials make television unwatchable for me.

My wife and I quit Comcast a long time ago. Then we moved our television to another spot in the house and didn't bother to hook up the antenna. We were only watching DVDs for a long time. Then one of our children, who was home from college, set us up with Netflix.

Now we usually subscribe to two or three commercial-free streaming services at a time. We're still on the least expensive "Standard Definition" Netflix plan which, sadly, has been discontinued for new or returning customers.

I try to keep our monthly television spending around $35, and that includes DVDs I find in thrift stores.

[barbtries]

38. i used to watch tv when i was in a hotel,

and the last time I started watching a movie. Then the commercials began. i muted them and continued the movie. like 5 minutes later, another bunch of commercials. this time i muted and COUNTED the number of commercials.

ELEVEN. They ran 11 commercials one after the other. I turned off the tv and used my computer and watched netflix, hulu, or youtube the rest of the time.

Eleven commercials. I could not tell you what any single one of them was trying to sell me. Some were for drugs.

omigawd.

[hydrolastic]

46. You tube tv is getting almost as bad for commercials

was watching wheeler dealers on you tube and was amazed at the volume of commercials. Thing is you know they monitor how many watches they get and are just hoping they can get us up to the level of the late seventies when it was 25 minutes of commercials per hour. I am getting older now I don't want to waste time in front of the boob tube!

[msfiddlestix]

63. I have YouTube premium which means no commercials. I stream using Roku for TV and prefer youtube on

my tv But I use it for specialized music purposes only. I don't do their movies. I pay like $12.99 a month.

Because I use it as a source, a tool, and for some entertainment reasons, I need streaming without ad interruptions.
But I used to pay 11.99. if they keep jacking up their prices, i'm going to have to figure out a different means to do what I do with youtube.

[Martin68]

32. We use an Apple TV box and pay for a bundled iTunes and Apple+.

We also pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime. That gives us everything we need, and we buy seasons of good series and the occasional movie. Limits costs, and we only watch what we want. We tried with ads, but that just reminded of why we hated broadcast TV. Cable is just too expensive and includes stuff we don't want. The main thing is, we don't watch sports. That's a huge expense.

[Grasswire2]

39. I have a firestick, but no clue how to use it.

So I don't watch TV.

[Demsrule86]

50. install it in your HDMI and it will tell you what to do. I think ROKU is easier and it comes with

a free station.

[Pacifist Patriot]

40. We did the same recently with Spectrum.

They continued to cut services and raise their fees so we stripped them down to internet only. Cable TV is a tech dinosaur these days. Not necessary at all.

[CatWoman]

54. a truer observation has never been made

Cable TV is a tech dinosaur these days. Not necessary at all.

that's why I say Comcast is cutting its own throat.

They charge an outlandish amount for content that is free on many sites/applications, and people are fed up with it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

58. I am old enough to remember when people debated if...

Cable TV was the future or a fad. I was of the opinion it would supplant broadcast until something else replaced it. Now I am wondering if I will still be around when something replaces streaming services.

[KewlKat]

44. Bookmarked this thread. Need to kick Spectrum to the curb

[Pacifist Patriot]

59. We did that a week ago today.

Doing the free trials of YouTube TV, Sling, and Hulu in succession switching between my husband and myself. Figure we will have a few months before we have to land on something. But one week into the YouTube trial, kinda liking it.

[Blaukraut]

47. They have a stranglehold on customers

We got rid of their cable service last year, but are basically forced to use their higher speed internet, and still end up with a bill of over $130. (modem rental, tax, etc etc).
We got Hulu Live at the same time, for $69.95 or something like that. Now they're raising their rate to $89.95. So basically we're right where we started in the first place.

[Demsrule86]

49. Try sling...or Philo.

[Blaukraut]

52. We did use Sling but they only had one local channel

We even bought an expensive antenna. Turned out we would need a roof antenna to get any local channels. So our options are pretty limited. Will look into Philo, though.

[Demsrule86]

48. That is why I cancelled Spectrum. Also, I went back briefly to ATT but the deal they promised

did not exist and my first bill was huge...made me pay for local stations so I canceled. I have not looked back. I use Roku myself. Like the free Roku channel. But I have used Firestick before...that is free after purchase, right? It has been a while. There is so much TV out there. If you want news, you can get Sling for I think 30 a month. Look around. There is so much out there.

[hunter]

57. The industry that created Donald Trump, fanned the flames of war in Iraq...

... and promotes our grotesque health care "system" needs to die.

Aside from my frugality and irritability, that's the primary reason I don't watch any television supported by commercial advertising.

I don't have cable, satellite, or broadcast television and I don't see any television commercials in my daily life.

[Prairie_Seagull]

61. Bookmarking, also very near 300 bucks and that's if I don't rent movies.

Promised myself I was going to do it. Need tequila. haha

[questionseverything]

62. We recently got rid of cable but kept the internet

With nothing new on tv because of the strike it seems like the easiest time but honestly I miss scrolling , way cheaper though and peacock and paramount plus have most of my regular shows

My grandkids lol and said ,”about time “

[ecstatic]

64. lol. I cut the "TV" cord with them over 6 or 7 years ago and I promise you

they didn't give a single fuck. lol. And I was an autopay customer that was paying over $200/month. The thing is, I think they don't care because we're still forced to use their internet. And of course, they will have the last laugh with the TV thing too because all the streaming services keep going higher and higher. The only reason why I'm not back with xfinity for tv is because I'm on a youtube tv family plan that I'm not paying for so it's not my issue right now. However, at the end of the day I'm paying more than ever between all the ridiculous services like Peacock/Hulu/Disnes/HBO/AMC/Paramount. Some of them I shouldn't even have but they snuck a renewal on me before I could cancel.