Why I’m ditching cable.
Comcast/Xfinity
We have subscribed to the same TV and Internet Service provider ever since the 1980s when the services were first offered here in Jacksonville Beach.
I think the first company was called “Beaches Cablevision.” They were later bought out by a bigger company, Continental Cablevision and finally by the nationwide giant, Comcast, a company that now calls itself “Xfinity.” The only alternatives to that giant have been two satellite TV providers and our local telecom provider, BellSouth/AT&T for their DSL (over-the-phone line) internet service.
Over the years, as technology has evolved, our requirements have increased and Comcast has kept up for the most part. Lately, their data technology has fallen behind the fiber-optic services being installed in many places in the United States. Until very recently, fiber-optic data hasn’t been available in Jacksonville Beach. However, in the past few months, a fiber-optic company, IQ Fiber has become available on our street. Now AT&T is in the process of installing fiber-optic lines here as well.
Comcast/Xfinity, having just about a monopoly on internet and television services, has increased its prices more and more. A little over a year ago, to save some money on an upgrade in our data speeds, I agreed to a two-year contract. They installed a new hot-spot router for their faster, better wifi service. When I complained that I was getting a poor signal in a large area of the house, they sold me a pair of wifi extenders for about $200. The extenders improved the signal away from the router slightly, but never even came close to the 1200 megabit service that was part of my new plan. (I seldom if ever got speed that high, even close to that router.)
That slow and unreliable wifi also affected our TV service. Although the TV signal from Comcast is sent through the cable and connected by cable to the TV, many of the streaming networks that are included in their TV packages are not on the cable. The subscriber clicks on a link shown on their TV and is sent to connect via WiFi. Therefore, when WiFi is slow, those networks are extremely slow to load. We experience that frequently on our main, family room television.
Despite being in a contract, Comcast is now increasing my subscription fee. I guess their contract requires us to stay with them but allows them to change the terms halfway through. (I probably failed to read the fine print.)
In any event, it’s time to “Cut the Cord!”
Allen's Interests 