Buying your own modem/router is definitely a worthwhile option if you are a new customer.
With Verizon, if you've had high speed internet for more than a year, you are no longer charged for the modem/router. So, that's helpful.
That's actually very nice for a provider to drop the rental fee. From the discussion it looks like you are being treated pretty fair. My provider on the other hand, wants every penny they can squeeze out of the customer.
@ $197 a month, I'm guessing that you had some premium channels in the mix.
I am embarrassed to admit, this is not the case. We initially received a few upgraded channels that were considered part of the package we were sold, IE Bravo and Encore. We did have most sports channels, no premium movie channels such as HBO and Cinemax. We never had the Speed channel or Velocity which I found odd as when selecting the channel the input would prompt, "you currently are not paying for this channel, call your provider to add it." As of August of 2014 we have lost several channels, granted 5 of the currently 7 lost we did not watch, however 2 of them we watched regularly. Those were two shows we enjoyed now gone. The price remains the same, and the online community is speculating more channels are to be cut in the not so distant future. I find the price of $195 now no longer embarrassing, but insulting.
The monopolistic agreements that the TV providers have struck really make it tempting to do things one shouldn't.
I couldn't agree more to this statement, and I'm just going to leave it at that ;-)
I can honestly say I never had a problem with my DirecTV service.
Honestly the issues my friend experienced were from the customer service end, he has never complained about signal quality. The customer service horror stories he has told me sound about on par with the customer service I'm getting from my current cable provider.
Amazon Prime is something I never would have joined, but last winter I bought an Otter sled and joining Amazon Prime for free shipping was cheaper than paying the shipping even from a lower priced vendor, I almost look at it as a freebee cause it saved me more than it cost the first time I used it.
We actually talked this over and we decided to keep Amazon Prime, so we will have three streaming services to choose from. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime. I have taken advantage of the free 2 day shipping as well and it does come in handy. I tend to order items I cannot find locally as well, so I shop maybe 5 times a year on Amazon. I am also sharing the account with my parents whom use Amazon to stream to their TV and do their own online purchasing.
or, I actually have a 25pair CAT5 cable running between my office building and my house and currently only using 2 pair for an extension of my office phone to my home and vice versa (I do not own a cell phone and never plan to). So hardwiring a router is not out of the question and has the advantage of giving my a better transfer speed between my home computer and office server
Well if this is an option then I would recommend this. I always prefer hard wiring vs going wireless.
Edit: didn't see Randy's post quoting Orange's exact same text.
That is an important point. Good bandwidth from the internet provider (5Mbps min) and a solid WiFi signal in the house (or hardwired to the Roku) is a must for cutting the cable, nothing worse than a slow/weak signal.
Signal boosters (repeaters) help but if using a second router best to configure it as an Access Point (AP mode) if possible. Repeaters don't require running cable but you pay for it in being limited to 1/2 data rate max (the unit must simultaneously transmit and receive). Access Point mode is better as you get full bandwidth at all locations; extra important if there are multiple users in the house watching TV (high bandwidth). Downside to AP mode is you must run a cable between the routers.
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Unfortunately, we are renting and our apartment is two story. The modem and primary router are downstairs, bedrooms upstairs. While we have never had an issue with electronics in our bedroom, my step son had a Unique situation. At one point, we all had iphones, and apple has a nice little messaging service that when enabled over rides text messages with imessages. From some unexplained reason his phone would not send imessages from his bedroom. So we used a the RT-53U as a range extender to help remedy the situation. Since he is now the only Apple product user in our home, so I feel the need to turn off the R.E. would probably help his devices choose better for one SSID vs the two being broadcast. He intermittently has problems with his playstation 3 and it becomes quite the fiasco getting the issues resolved. I feel the R.E. could be at fault, more troubleshooting on that tonight!
Nice to see another fellow Asus product supporter. Three years ago I initially was in search of a Buffalo router, sorry can't recall the model number. The reason being, Buffalo started using DD-WRT firmware. I was beyond excited to find this router, however, disappointed every time my local Fry's electronics was sold out when I would visit. I was engaged into a lengthy conversation with the sales guy about the current routers sold. To my surprise he was very knowledgeable and also a product tester that would write online reviews. He turned me on to the Asus RT-56U and said he loved it when he tested it. He then said, "take it home, and if you don't like it come find me and tell me what features you were disappointed in." This of course ignited my passion find a fail point or feature I would dislike. I found myself later going back and thanking him for his opinion and told him more sales people should be as knowledgeable and helpful as he is.
And switching back to cutting the cord topic. I am finding some insanely cool stuff and getting excited. Anyone see this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2093410