We might be some of the last people on the planet to have a land line and cable and will be cutting the cord in 30 days. We at the same time will be changing our internet from cable to fiber optics (now offered in our area with what I would consider decent pricing). (Our primary email addresses are related to our cable company -- My bad to set those up vs using email address that were not provider dependent 15 years ago, but my ignorance then.), and we are updating lots of accounts, etc. with our new email addresses (not tied to a service provider) that I just setup before switching over. At the same time, we are updating lots of accounts with our cell phone numbers instead of our land line number too or taking out landline to just have our cell phone numbers as contact numbers. This part is painful for sure, but doable.
We'll be doing the AT&T fiber optics up to 300 Mbps plan for internet (tier above the basic option) and the second level of AT&T TV called Choice (streaming on fiber optics not cable or DISH). Fiber Optics is relatively new in our area. This is the first streaming service that I found that includes in their 90 channels (second of five tiers that they offer) all 14 channels that we watch and want to have access too, and unlike Charter we don't have to pay an extra $15 a month for Hallmark and a cooking channel DH who is retired likes and $10 extra a month for a sports upgrade, just to get the Tennis channel (the only sport we follow and my husbands very favorite channel - the one he watches the most) on top of Expanded Basic. Those are included in the 90 channel Choice tier. Also, for DH there is one box and when you turn it on it will be a lot like cable, going right to TV without and an extra step. And every channel he is interested is right there (no need to go to the Apple TV and do other streaming, etc.). It has a channel guide and a DVR type option too (makes the streaming experience very much like the cable experience which my retired husband will appreciate -- happy husband, happy life lol). Reviews say that this is an expensive option for streaming, but a fabulous channel lineup and the most like the cable experience. Reviews of the fiber optics 300 Mbps plan are fantastic. A big complaint about what we are going with on the TV side is the two year contact as well as it being more expensive than other streaming options, so I am not at all suggesting that this is a good option for everyone for sure. It's a big savings over cable for us, though, and the first combination of things that I've found that I thought would satisfy DH. Our wonderful young 20s son who is living with us to save money right now will have access to everything too thru his Apple TV (with charter - no box for his TV -- he doesn't have DVR access, etc.) He has some of his own streaming services that we have access to too that he enjoys and uses, but that we rarely use -- Amazon, Netflix, Disney Plus).
I am now working at home full time with the company I work for (They are releasing 1/3 of our office space, and I just went back to work for a quick visit to clean out my office last week - first time back since March 12th), and although my cable internet has been fairly stable, it is sometimes (video especially) a little shaky in Zoom meetings and in Microsoft Teams calls. Also DS who lives with us has been unhappy with download speeds of movies, videos, etc. (sometimes it works fast and other times it's really slow for him). He works different hours than I do too and has noticed degradation since I have been working full time from home.
I looked into cutting the cord about two years ago, but at that time even though our cable bill would have gone in 1/2, we would have only been able to get seven of the 14 channels we watch. Our per channel cost of what we watch would actually have been the same. With DH recently retired and not being on that tight a budget, this for us was not the time to get rid of half of the channels that DH likes to watch either. Also thru cable internet, streaming was sometimes pretty iffy for us with lags and issues sometimes downloading things (from what I read the fiber optics and higher tier we are getting should take care of that issue).
I will report back after we make the switch. I am excited. I have had Charter cable for 31 years and am so ready to cut the cord.
We'll be doing the AT&T fiber optics up to 300 Mbps plan for internet (tier above the basic option) and the second level of AT&T TV called Choice (streaming on fiber optics not cable or DISH). Fiber Optics is relatively new in our area. This is the first streaming service that I found that includes in their 90 channels (second of five tiers that they offer) all 14 channels that we watch and want to have access too, and unlike Charter we don't have to pay an extra $15 a month for Hallmark and a cooking channel DH who is retired likes and $10 extra a month for a sports upgrade, just to get the Tennis channel (the only sport we follow and my husbands very favorite channel - the one he watches the most) on top of Expanded Basic. Those are included in the 90 channel Choice tier. Also, for DH there is one box and when you turn it on it will be a lot like cable, going right to TV without and an extra step. And every channel he is interested is right there (no need to go to the Apple TV and do other streaming, etc.). It has a channel guide and a DVR type option too (makes the streaming experience very much like the cable experience which my retired husband will appreciate -- happy husband, happy life lol). Reviews say that this is an expensive option for streaming, but a fabulous channel lineup and the most like the cable experience. Reviews of the fiber optics 300 Mbps plan are fantastic. A big complaint about what we are going with on the TV side is the two year contact as well as it being more expensive than other streaming options, so I am not at all suggesting that this is a good option for everyone for sure. It's a big savings over cable for us, though, and the first combination of things that I've found that I thought would satisfy DH. Our wonderful young 20s son who is living with us to save money right now will have access to everything too thru his Apple TV (with charter - no box for his TV -- he doesn't have DVR access, etc.) He has some of his own streaming services that we have access to too that he enjoys and uses, but that we rarely use -- Amazon, Netflix, Disney Plus).
I am now working at home full time with the company I work for (They are releasing 1/3 of our office space, and I just went back to work for a quick visit to clean out my office last week - first time back since March 12th), and although my cable internet has been fairly stable, it is sometimes (video especially) a little shaky in Zoom meetings and in Microsoft Teams calls. Also DS who lives with us has been unhappy with download speeds of movies, videos, etc. (sometimes it works fast and other times it's really slow for him). He works different hours than I do too and has noticed degradation since I have been working full time from home.
I looked into cutting the cord about two years ago, but at that time even though our cable bill would have gone in 1/2, we would have only been able to get seven of the 14 channels we watch. Our per channel cost of what we watch would actually have been the same. With DH recently retired and not being on that tight a budget, this for us was not the time to get rid of half of the channels that DH likes to watch either. Also thru cable internet, streaming was sometimes pretty iffy for us with lags and issues sometimes downloading things (from what I read the fiber optics and higher tier we are getting should take care of that issue).
I will report back after we make the switch. I am excited. I have had Charter cable for 31 years and am so ready to cut the cord.
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