Landline, high-speed internet, cable

[puglogic]

If it were up to me, I'd ditch 'em all, but my husband insists on the first and the third, and I need the middle one for my business.

All three of them bundled together costs us more than $160.00/month, even for the basic cable, no premium anything. I hate this.

Can anyone suggest a combination of services that might meet these criteria, for less than that?:

Landline, VOIP okay
Keep our existing landline number
Basic cable
High speed internet


My brother suggests netTALK but I don't know how it works really...is that high-speed too? I start researching everything and then my brain starts to bleed and I stop. But it just seems ridiculous to pay so much for something I barely use (landline and cable anyway)

Frugal geniuses, help me! :D

[catherine]

I have no suggestions, but am anxiously awaiting replies, because I feel the same way.

I did have the chance to go with Fios (Verizon) and the sign-up charge was going to be 89.00 a month for a year, + a $200 Visa gift card. DH didn't want to switch because he doesn't like Verizon, but I'm not sure Comcast is any better.

[ApatheticNoMore]

No. A basic landline is costing me $35 a month and that's the bare bones basic, no long distance. Then slow DSL is $23 a month. I like internet a lot, but I'd also lose my job without it as well, as I need to be able to work outside the office, it's not optional. Oh the DSL is plenty fast enough to do everything I need to for work and read webpages to my hearts content, it's just not good for watching videos. Then a prepaid cell and even that's costing like $12 a month. No cable.

[Miss Cellane]

Call the cable company and ask if there's a cheaper plan.

My two year plan ran out this September. I'd been paying $125.00 for all three services, and since the two year plan was a "deal," the new cost was going to be $165.00. So I called the cable company and asked if there was a lower cost plan and was quoted a new "deal" of $115.00. Thought about it for a few days, as there is always the option of trying a digital "rabbit ears" antenna, but decided to go with the cable company.

Called back, got a different customer service rep, and got a new deal for $90.00/month, which included faster internet and a better cable box and more cable channels (my brother now comes over on Sundays to watch some football channel I didn't even know I had) and some HD channels, but not HBO or anything like that. (From what the cable guy told me when he came to install the new cable box, the one I had was so outdated I never should have been given it in the first place. The cable company no longer supports that type of cable box. And clearly the new deal is in part a move to get people to switch to the newer, digital cable boxes.)

So it doesn't hurt to ask. Even if you are on a plan that has months to go, sometimes they will let you switch over to a new, lower-cost plan, but just extend your plan end date.

Although the new deal gives you a clue about the size of the markup the cable companies must have on their regular service.

Two years ago, when I moved here, I did a lot of research into the cable services, satellite dish services, various internet providers, various landline providers. After doing a lot of math, the cable company three pack of internet, landline and cable tv was the cheapest by about $25/month. But you also have to balance what you are getting from each provider--cable offers things the satellite tv companies don't and vice versa.

There's an interesting article on why Americans pay so much more for broadband than people in other countries here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24528383

[SteveinMN]

Call the cable company and ask if there's a cheaper plan.
Great idea! First, cable companies are sensitive to losing subscribers/revenue to the competion (satellite TV and the local telco), so if you can find a package from another company (even a company you don't necessarily want to do business with), you can use that as leverage to ask for a lower price. We've discovered that "Basic" cable is not truly the lowest level of service; in our city, Comcast must offer "Limited Basic" cable: broadcast stations, public-access, and a few extras (shopping channels, C-SPANs, WGN, and a couple of others). The main reason we have it is that it is cheaper to get cable Internet with Limited Basic than it is without -- $7 for LB service gets us a $15 discount on cable Internet. There may be somewhat-slower tiers of Internet service, too, and you may save some money by "slowing" it down a little. Also, consider buying your cable modem rather than paying rental every month. The payback is around 12 months if you shop carefully.

Call the cable company, but know you'll probably need to ask for these programs; they won't volunteer them. The cable company's Web site may be of more help, as you can poke around screens and sometimes hard-to-find links.

As for the rest, I'm not familiar enough with VOIP at home services but that sounds like the kind of thing that's right in the wheelhouse of Mr. Money Mustache forum members. The member there who goes by I. P. Daley is a pretty straight shooter on what the technology does and isn't shy about mentioning why something may not be the bargain its vendor would like you to believe.

[Spartana]

Around here - SoCal - most companies offer the bundled plans for around $79 - $89/month. That's for unlimited local and long distance phone, DSL internet of medium speed, and cable with a bout 150 channels. That's usually thru Verizion Fios, Time Warner cable, AT & T and some others like Cox cable. There is often a contract of a year or more and you can get a $200 - $500 cash-back Visa Card to spend on what-ever. Of course that doesn't include taxes and fees, set-up charges, or charges for cable boxes, etc... I don't have such a plan myself - just basic local landline with some local long distance with Verizon for about $35/month with no contract and sis has internet hardwired into her bedroom with Time Warner for $35/month with no contract. No cable - rabbit ears. It would probably be much cheaper for me to get a bundled plan and get Wi-Fi too. Here's an example of what Verizon is offering in my area now:

Verizon FiOS Triple Play $79.99/mo for 1 yr - no term contract required; $300 gift card with 2 yr agreement
15/5 Mbps INTERNET + PRIME HD TV + PHONE for $79.99/mo. for 1 yr. $89.99/mo. for months 13-24 plus taxes, fees, equip. charges & RSN fee with 2-yr. agmt.

FiOS TV Prime HD 215+ channels including 55+ in HD.

FiOS Internet 15/5 Mbps

Verizon Home Phone

Unlimited calling with many calling features including Voice Mail,
Caller ID and Call Waiting.

One easy payment for all three services
Option to add HBO®, Cinemax®, and/or Showtime® 50% off for 12 months
.
Time Warner has a similar plan for $79 but you have to do a year contract and get no money back. However, with some of the plans, you get a free Samsung Galaxy tablet computer.

[AmeliaJane]

How much do you want in your cable package (ie, do you want some cable channels like CNN, or the REALLY basic "broadcast equivalent?"

Here is what I do: Comcast for high-speed internet only. I would look into Uverse (ATT) or FIOS (Verizon) but through some weird geographical quirk they don't serve my street. I'm due to move in a year and will re-investigate this because I HATE Comcast. ($70/mo)

Vonage for phone ($10 promotional rate, then $20 down the road)--still cheaper than when I had it through Comcast, and considerably cheaper than the traditional landline I had first. I actually switched because when I was with Comcast, I was inundated with scam and aggressive debt collection calls for various previous owners, so I chose a new number, but you can keep your previous phone #. I think there are even cheaper VOIP services but that kind of hit the sweet spot between ease of use and price.

I use a combination of a digital antenna, Hulu Plus and Amazon for television. A few cities also have a service called Aereo which puts broadcast TV on the Internet. Depending on how much you watch the cable stations, it can be cheaper to buy a few programs from Amazon or iTunes than to pay for cable. (That's how I get Mad Men, for instance).

[ToomuchStuff]

I was wondering if anyone uses Google Voice as their primary landline? I dropped my home phone when payphones, left the last location I needed them, but would like a separate number for CL things. (don't use up my minutes and don't have idiots that still try to text after no texts)

I am stuck with Comcast (no google fiber in my area yet), and considering going to their lowest tier service (have to go in an order it, it is similar to an always on 56k modem speed). Good enough for email, written stuff, Youtube after buffering and still be able to order stuff for work. (about 1/2 the cost).

[Onyons]

If you live in a big city you can find more options. I live in a small town, so my options are limited. However, here are some suggestions and a list of what I currently do.

1. I do not bundle. There are hidden bundle costs. I use different companies. I pay about 68.00 a month for what I use.

2. Cell phone contracts are tied to the phone and not the service. So I buy my cell phones on-line, that way I am month to month and switch over to a better deal if on comes along.

3. I have Verizon Wireless Home Connect for $19.99 a month for unlimited domestic calling. http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/device/home-phone-connect?selectedContractTerm=2
- Free with a 2 year contract or month to month if you buy the home connect unit for $99.00. Or you can buy one on E-bay for a lot less and avoid the contract: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=verizon+home+connect
The Early Termination Fee: $175 (2yr contracts). So buying the unit is cheaper. Current promotion: Activation fee of 25.00 is wave.
- You also have the option of keeping your existing home telephone number.

- AT&T has the same product

4. Instead of cable I have a ROKU box: Also a one time fee: http://www.roku.com/products/compare Prices start at 49.99. ROKU allows you to watch movies, TV shows, music, games and more on your TV by streaming it directly from the Internet. A lot of the channels are free but I pay for Hulu 7.99 a month and Net-FLIX 7.99 month. Several friends have antennas and they get 10 to 15 TV stations for free. The internet also has free TV available. There are similar products to ROKU: Apple TV, WD TV play, VIZIO Co-Star, BOXEE Box, Sony NSZ-GS7, and Google Comcast to name a few.

5. I Have Verizon DSL for 25.00 a month. This is dry loop, meaning I do not have a land line but still use the land line telephone jack to receive the service. You can get it form a third party authorized to sell Verizon DSL because Verizon is trying to switch everyone to FIOS. http://www.dsl-experts.com/verizon_dsl.htm I signed up using junk mail flyer. I started with 19.99 a month and the internet box was included for free. I have included an internet link that sells that same deal.
6. I have a prepaid AT$T cell phone. I pay 100 and the money does not expire for an entire year. It is 2.00 a day when I use it and you get unlimited everything for the entire 24 hour prescribed period.
7. Skype is another option. It is really cheap if you pay for the phone number and service a year at a time. I tried this for a while. My sister still uses Skype.
I hope this helps and is not information overload! I love helping people save money. I do not have a smart phone. Dum phones are cheaper. I have a refurbished I-PAD it comes with the same warrantee from APPLE as the new one. You can save money if you do not have to have the latest and greatest!


If it were up to me, I'd ditch 'em all, but my husband insists on the first and the third, and I need the middle one for my business.

All three of them bundled together costs us more than $160.00/month, even for the basic cable, no premium anything. I hate this.

Can anyone suggest a combination of services that might meet these criteria, for less than that?:

Landline, VOIP okay
Keep our existing landline number
Basic cable
High speed internet


My brother suggests netTALK but I don't know how it works really...is that high-speed too? I start researching everything and then my brain starts to bleed and I stop. But it just seems ridiculous to pay so much for something I barely use (landline and cable anyway)

Frugal geniuses, help me! :D

[profnot]

My local land line phone company finally joined the 90s and started offering VOIP service.
For $70/month including taxes, I get land line, VOIP, and high speed internet.

I cut the TV cable/dish service 5 years ago. I get news from radio and internet. I get DVDs and books free from the library system.

I'm about to indulge myself and sign up Netflix for $8 a month.

I'm not interested in sports. For those of you who love watching games, giving up TV must be tough.

Check your local land line company. I'm glad I did because their customer service is terrific. Most of Vonage's customer support techs are in India, Phillipines, etc, and spend most of my time trying to sell me stuff. DONE with that!

[Simply Divine]

Can anyone suggest a combination of services that might meet these criteria, for less than that?:

Landline, VOIP okay
Keep our existing landline number
Basic cable
High speed internet


StraightTalk Home Phone:
http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/homephone/


StraightTalk Mobile HotSpot:
http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/hotspotserviceplans (http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/hotspotserviceplans#.UvBYH_RDtdQ)


HuluPlus (instead of cable):
http://www.hulu.com/plus (http://www.hulu.com/plus?cmp=205&pdv=c&mkwid=j8bnLK23&gclid=CPL2lKq9sbwCFUFo7Aodw0MAYw)

[Teacher Terry]

I used Virgin Mobile for prepaid cell for a few years and it was cheap & good. However, now that my consulting business is causing me to drive to rural areas they do not have reception so had to go back to a major co. If you live in a bigger city you may want to explore this and other prepaids.

[onlinemoniker]

I have FIOS internet only. I do not have a landline or cable television. I have been paying $49.99 per month for high speed for 4 years. My phone is from Straight Talk $30 per month, 1000 texts and 1000 minutes. I just bought a new phone bc the one I had for 3.5 years died in December. I paid $89 for the new one which is essentially the same phone I had before. Neither my phone nor internet are accounts but pay-as-you-go and charge directly to my CC each month. I do not have Netflix bc I don't have a TV. If I could stream everything Netflix has to offer for that $8. per month deal, I would be sorely tempted to get it but the last time I looked @ Netflix streaming, very little of it streamed.

[carly]

If you don't want or need a lot of channels, get a pair of rabbit ears. I paid 35 for mine and bought the box (65$) that streams to the tv...needed. That' it forever. No me tv cable bill. I kept the internet for 40$ and the landline for 10$ ----50 a month. I have HULU for 7.99 a month and I have more there than I can watch. Very happy. I do not have a cell phone. Total a month for tv, internet and phone is 58 bucks!!

[carly]

try HULU on the computer----great!

[ToomuchStuff]

If you don't want or need a lot of channels, get a pair of rabbit ears. I paid 35 for mine and bought the box (65$) that streams to the tv...needed. That' it forever. No me tv cable bill. I kept the internet for 40$ and the landline for 10$ ----50 a month. I have HULU for 7.99 a month and I have more there than I can watch. Very happy. I do not have a cell phone. Total a month for tv, internet and phone is 58 bucks!!

What form is your internet service?

[mschrisgo2]

Unbeknownst to me, I uttered magic words today, Cancel This Account, while I was on the phone with AT&T. Suddenly, after nearly 2 full hours of run-around, I was transferred to the "Loyalty Department" where I was treated well, all questions and concerns taken care of, and I was given AT&T High Speed DSL for $35 /month, retroactive to November when I opened the account. Finally, after 4 months, I've gotten what I asked for when I opened the account!

[joy]

use SSH ..:D. http://watchfree.me/20/w.png
http://watchfree.me/20/w.png

[ToomuchStuff]

use SSH ..:D. http://watchfree.me/20/w.png
http://watchfree.me/20/w.png


SSH is Secure Shell, just a transport layer. Not sure what your meaning here.