Cable/Internet banter (again).

[ScrimpAndSave]

The townhome community that I am moving into has very limited services as far as cable, internet and phone are concerned. It is considered a "rural" area, although it is being developed quickly.

My local cable company is one of my only options unless I want some sort of satellite network. I'm not into the satellite thing because they have to basically put this huge dish above my front door - and well, watching tv is not all that important if it is going to totally ruin the aesthetics of my house. (Which I am sure some of you may understand...).

I called today and found out that I can get limited cable (29 channels) for $18.99 a month and "economy internet" for $29.95 a month. Both options are the lowest possible services (I asked if they offered a cable service less than 29 channels and they do not). The "economy internet" is 3 megabytes...does anyone know what this means? Is it turtle slow? I am not watching movies or playing games...mostly only window shopping and posting on this message board.

I find it funny how many of my single, busy, working friends pay $100+ a month for cable and internet and rarely even use it...I really wanted to try to keep it at or under $50.

[Broken Arrow]

Perhaps you mean 3 megabits per second (Mbps)? Megabits per second is the usual measurement of bandwidth speed, while megabytes usually refer to storage capacity.

If it is 3 Mpbs, it is fast! That's what I just upgraded to, and at its best, can stream (low end) HD video. In fact, I'm a little surprised that they consider that as their "economy" speed. Both of my cable and DSL providers have at least one slower speeds (and costs) below that.

[ScrimpAndSave]

She said it was $10 more a month for 7 megabits...you are probably right with the megabits part.

[Broken Arrow]

Interesting. My cable provider also tells me I am eligible for 7 Mbps and 10 Mbps.

However, my prevous cable connection was 1.5 Mpbs, and even then, I can experience the slow downs. But then, I also have a lot of college kids for neighbors, and they seem be almost as fond of the their cable connection as I do.

For that matter, I also qualify for 6 Mpbs for DSL. However, when I run it through the speedtest, the best that I can get is still 3 Mpbs.

So, what I am saying here is that, even if you wanted faster speeds, advertised theoretical speeds does not always reflect real world speeds.

For me, I upgraded from 1.5 Mbps cable to 3 Mpbs DSL, and the difference was massive. Getting 7 Mbps would not have made much difference for me because I think I would still be bottle-necked by my internet-happy college neighbors. And 3 Mpbs is the only real world top speed I'm actually getting through DSL.

And that's technically why I don't go faster. Not only would it cost more, but I also would not have seen much real world difference. For me, 3 Mpbs is plenty, and that's coming from a net junkie / online gamer.

[elessar78]

I work for a cable/internet provider who's subscribers are mainly in rural areas. We offer 8 MB/s for $24.95 and 1.5 MB/s for $19.95. But the disclaimer is "as high as" 8 MB/s so it probably doesn't hit that regularly.

[disneysteve]

I'd go with those options. Really, if 29 channels isn't enough, you can always stream stuff online from network websites, hulu and fancast.

[ScrimpAndSave]

This is what I think Steve. It works for me because I an a local channel news junkie. I will miss my HGTV...but that is what daddy's house is for...we love to watch that together anyway.