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Help a broadband/cable/phone noob

iramets Jan 31 2007 11:56 AM

I've had it with my dial-up (Verizon=$60+ a month) and have decided to gopher some package, probably TW's package (90 per month for the first year) plus installation, etc. I have some basic noob questions, for those of you who use it. (My mail often comes to "Flushing" though I actually have to take a bus and two trains to get to Shea, if where I'm located makes a difference.) The Verizon guy I spoke to said I ain't getting FIOS anytime soon. So I wanna know: What does TW's fee look like after a year (they ain't saying)? How many Met games do I get to see on TW? Other baseball? My TV is on a cart with wheels (I can turn it to face the couch or some other chair, or position it so its visibile from either, and even from the dining room)--can the cable be installed on something that moves around or am I going to have to pick a location and stick with it (believe or no, this has been a serious deterrent in the past)? Is there anything else about TW's service that sucks? Do they send someone out to install (and to check that it's working okay) or am I going to be in self-installation hell for a few months? (I could easily screw up installing a light bulb, so self-installation is something of an issue for me)? What does that $90 actually look like when I'm done with taxes, fees, spigot service, surcharges, insurance, title, undercoating etc.? Thanks muchly.

metirish Jan 31 2007 12:01 PM

They'll come and drop the cables even if you don't have a TV or PC at the ready....install is simple...it's just some cables...at least it was when my GF moved last year....that was cablevision ,though I would think TW would do the same thing.

Johnny Dickshot Jan 31 2007 12:12 PM

I have TW TV and Internet. Zero problems with the Internet in 2+ years; the TV is okay -- had a faulty box I had to return once. And their In Demand service blows -- frequently, you order something only to get a message that's it not available, try later. Your price depends on the level of cable (regular? digital? no. of channels? etc). They got me on the Digital package where I get too many HBOs, Cinemaxes, etc and my bill with taxes is usually ~120. You will get Met games on channel 26 (regular) or 741 (if you have a HD box, which you don't it sounds like). Your TV will be hooked to a receiver box, hooked to the wall. Just tell the technician who installs that you'd like your TV to be able to move some and they'll give you some slack. Of course its thick ugly whte cable you'll have to hide when you're not moving your stuff.

iramets Feb 01 2007 04:56 AM

Thanks, guys, really appreciate the info. Some more questions (or some reiterations of the above questions): I'd like my Internet broadband to be wireless--can they supply a wireless hookup? If I get a router and all that stuff from Radio Shack or someplace will they hook it up as part of the installation, or even supply it (for a goodly price, no doubt) themselves? Or should I arrange to install the wireless get-up completely apart and after TW supplies the broadband connection? I ask because I've got an old dinosaur of a PC, several in fact, but mainly I used my laptop (I'm getting a new one next month) and my current practice is to use it from various points around the house, pretty much anywhere I can get a phone cable to reach, and I'd like to continue that versatility. What do they do about mulitiple connection points--charge by the hookup? Tell you to pick the best one, or the best two? (This obviously doesn't apply if they can do wireless.) With TV hookup, do they check to see that it's working okay? How about stuff like DVD connctions, remote, etc--do they leave after every part of the system seems to be working ok, or am I going to be playing "OK, the red wire goes in here..." after they've gone? And, again, what happens after the first year in regard to rates? Do they jack them up sky-high, or is it a painless increase, or even no increase (but they wanna be able to) or what? Johnny, did you start at 90 and end up at 120 because the rates changed or because you added extra channels or services? Is that pretty much EVERY Met game (including the Channel 11 and FOX Saturday games I get now) or are some games still excluded? Is there any other baseball, or Knicks or Jets, included? I'm almost hoping for a negative here--the only thing that gets me out of the house some weekends is the notion that I'll have to drag my ass out to a bar if I want to watch a game.

sharpie Feb 01 2007 09:09 AM

I have TW cable and internet and one of the TVs (I have 2) in my house is on a rolly thing. My bill is about $100 (I get regular cable - not the premium package). Service has been really good. I got the internet that way because my phone service is incompetant. You get every Met game either on 26 or the way you have been getting them.

iramets Feb 01 2007 03:16 PM

So the sales lady I spoke to at TW this morning advised me to reject flat the $29.95/$29.95./$29.95 package deal they offer as their TRIPLE PLAY package of Digital Cable/ High Speed Online/Digital Phone. For some bizarre reason she kept telling me that this deal costs 97 dollars (I get $89.85 when I do the math) and would turn into 114 dollars after a year, while I'm eligible for a much deal: I can get all three for only 126.00 per month. "How is $126.00 better than 97 dollars?" ( I used her figure. Maybe that's 89.85 plus tax, or something? I dunno) "Because that's going up to 114 in a year." "Okay, that still less, isnt it?" "But if you take 126 per month, we wont charge you 30 dollars for installation." "Okay, but that's still cheaper with the TRIPLE PLAY package, isn't it? The installation is just basically one month's difference in the rates." "No, because the deal I'm offering you is better. The high speed internet were offering with the $126 deal is much better, much faster. Plus you get On Demand cable." "But the ad says the TRIPLE PLAY deal includes On Demand Cable." "No, it says it includes [u:b3f4e509b7]access [/u:b3f4e509b7] to On Demand. But if you want that access, you get charged extra for it." "Oh. Don't I already have "access" to On Demand cable, then? I mean, I have you on the phone. and I can order it through you, right?" "Uh, yeah." "So by your definition I have access to On Demand. All I have to do is agree to pay extra for it and I have it. So what you're offering me in the TRIPLE PLAY package, 'access to On Demand,' I have already." "Sir, I would advisse you seriously to take the 126 dollars a month deal. It's much better for you." "Let me think about it, okay?" "Have a nice day." So I'm here having the nicest day I can possibly have.