You know what slays me about cable TV/Fios?

[Anonymous]

Not the bill for content. That's high, but it's pretty transparent.

What slays me is the cost to rent the equipment needed to access the content for which you are already paying.

I just realized I have a HD box with DVR on one TV and another HD-ready box on another TV. Total: $30 per month, before taxes.

I think I'm also paying for the freaking router, although I cannot figure out how much it actually is. Let's say it's $5 per month. Meanwhile, a router is $30 at Best Buy. But I don't think you can just buy a TiVo and access the broadcast channels without a cable card, right?

Wow, just wow.

[Anonymous]

Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

I won't, because I'm addicted to Nats baseball and want MASN. I also find the content on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime gets really stale (and Prime's video quality sucks -- too dark).

[Anonymous]

Buy your equipment where possible

[Anonymous]

I agree. Pisses me off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

I won't, because I'm addicted to Nats baseball and want MASN. I also find the content on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime gets really stale (and Prime's video quality sucks -- too dark).

We use a splitter so we can use one cable box for two TVs. The drawback is you can only change the channel on the second TV from the box so you either have to bounce the remote signal off the walls or pick one channel on the box and be content watching that in the other room. Works for us because we put on one channel and watch a little TV before bed.

[Anonymous]

What really slays me? Paying $180 for 2 years and having it jump to $230 now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

+1,000


The adjustment is at first jarring, like going from a Chateau laffite 62 to urine in a paper cup, but you get accustomed to it. Bonus points my kids have never seen a commercial, I don't get pestered for shit.

[Anonymous]

RCN doesn't charge for the first 3 boxes. 2 are tivo and one is a regular box.

[Anonymous]

Live sports is the only reason I still have cable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

+1,000


The adjustment is at first jarring, like going from a Chateau laffite 62 to urine in a paper cup, but you get accustomed to it. Bonus points my kids have never seen a commercial, I don't get pestered for shit.

Still need the freakin router for that and Fios wouldn't let us use our own. Yes, it's ridiculous to rent a router when they are so cheap but they have to get you somehow. Oh and for having JUST internet be $100 by itself. Because you're not bundling, see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy your equipment where possible

Yep - get a Tivo box.

[Anonymous]

my husband would die without his texas longhorn network. We pay an effing fortune, but our TV is the one place we will not cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drop cable and get hulu, Netflix and amazon prime.

+1,000


The adjustment is at first jarring, like going from a Chateau laffite 62 to urine in a paper cup, but you get accustomed to it. Bonus points my kids have never seen a commercial, I don't get pestered for shit.

Still need the freakin router for that and Fios wouldn't let us use our own. Yes, it's ridiculous to rent a router when they are so cheap but they have to get you somehow. Oh and for having JUST internet be $100 by itself. Because you're not bundling, see.

I have fios. It's $50 a month, off promotion. You need to call back.

[Anonymous]

^^^I'm not doubting the previous poster, but this is something that pisses ME off about cable/FIOS (I'm not the OP) -- how the pricing structure seems to be completely at the whim of whatever customer service agent you happent to connect with that day.

Don't get me wrong, I use it to my advantage; when I had Comcast, I used to call every year to threaten (nicely) to discontinue service unless they put me on some kind of promotional deal. It always worked, which is fine, but it leaves me with zero confidence that there's any rhyme or reason to how cable companies price their services.

Right now I have FiOS, intenet only, for $39.99. In a year, it will jump to $79.99 unless I can negotiate something different. Why? Has it suddenly become that much more expensive to get service to my home? The Internet service won't be getting any faster. Its just ridiculous.