Cable TV: Arrgghhh!

"can't get a satellite dish?" ... if you have a patio area with a southern exposure, you can get a dish.

See the FCC rules at:
FCC Dish Rules FAQ

We've used dish network for the past 6 years and love the dickens out of it, we'll never go back to cable again.

Don

 

Galaxee:

I fully understand and sympathize with you. I was a poor college student too, a long time ago.

I have Shaw cable here in Winnipeg and they're great. Last year they upgraded the internet service to Extreme, which is average 5 Mbps, so my downloads are usually never lower than 350-450 KB/s.

They use Motorola digital boxes. I have one on the TV in the living room and another in the bedroom and they work perfectly.

Pricing: depending on what bundle you pick, they compete or are within 5% of what Bell ExpressVu or StarChoice offer, and the only way Bell can offer internet is with a clunky DirecPC thing.

Hope it works out.

Jay

 

I can sympathize with you about Time Warner. Believe it or not, their service has gotten better over the years. They have been our cable company for 15 years. When we moved into our and had them install cable, they drilled a hole in our bedroom wall which we had to demand they fix. The fix was really shoddy at that. We can still see the bump in the wall.

When we had the installation of our cable line for the Internet done the installer had no idea what he was doing. Fortunately, I had done my homework and understood how to get connected. The problem is the Time Warner contracts out a lot of their service, especially installation. If you can get passed them and get a senior tech out, your problems will get resolved much quicker.

 

gee gal, sorry to hear about your TV woes. i have had a few problems with cable...Comcast here. got rid of them and use DirecTv. im in an apartment, and here you cant block installation of satellite. even had a court case won by someone because some housing association thought they marred the look of the neighborhood... an 18" disk?? oh please!!

but anyway... hate to burst your bubble, but DirecTv doesnt approve a run of more than 100' because of signal loss. (that can be stretched to about 175') so 1000 feet is out of the question

keep your chin up and remember... TV rots the brain, so maybe someone is actually looking out for you by trying to reduce your usage.

 

[font=Comic Sans MS:1295cf01db]While it probably won't do much good, you can always complain to the local government entitiy (city or county) which permits TWC to operate in your area. If the franchise board, or whatever the entity is called, is strong, they may help intercede to get you better service. Look in the government pages in your phone book for Cable TV.

Good luck![/font:1295cf01db]

 

What is a grad student going for a PhD doing watching TV....?

:mrgreen:

 

for a grad student, internet connectivity would be critical.

you might want to check out verizon wireless if you have them to see if they have broadband service in your area.

here they have EVDO over cellphone network which provides a complete wireless solution for a laptop thru an "aircard". only requirements is a laptop that has a type II or Type III PCMCIA cardslot

typical speeds are 400-1000 kbps.

the other day, i was stuck in traffic on I-5 (as usual) used the laptop to plot an additional route off the freeway home or at least around the blockage. also downlded a 370 MB file in about 41 mins (that was averaging over 1 Mbps)

now because it requires a stronger signal than a cellphone does, coverage can be spotty. in the building i work at, it comes and goes (i work in an annex which is nothing more than a large metal storage shed...very large!! ah the cost of cheap-skate expansion. this was the temp solution now 5 years old) also couldnt connect when camping but that was because i was sitting in the middle of 100-250 ft tall firs. (really sucks if you want a tan since little or no sunlight gets in, but it does keep the campgrounds a good 10-20º cooler than the fishing and boating area which is all open) i could get service at the playground so i know its the trees.

broadband coverage is weak right now with only 90 million coverage but it expeced to be 175 million by years end. the service will automatically trottle down to national access speed if EVDO is not available (nat access is a dog though, its nominal speed is 40-60 kpbs or dialup modem speed, but it covers 90% of the US or 289 million people)

 

Dave:

That's what Rogers Wireless provides here in Winnipeg. I have their Sony PC Card wireless adaptor in my notebook and it usually works very well.

My office window is less than half a block from one of their GSM towers, so I usually get good data rates. Not as good as regular cable internet if working properly (In Galaxee's case, it's not working properly).

Otherwise for cell phone I have MTS Mobility, which in most parts of Manitoba is 1X compatible. My Nokia has a minibrowser that I can use to check email in a pinch.

The company gave me the cell phone so not much choice in service providers, the Rogers Wireless is strictly for my own use. Around $80 a month but coverage is only in Winnipeg city limits, and spotty at that.

The Shaw Cable Extreme at my condo has been very reliable, but it's also near their city-center equipment. Had a 2 day outtage in May when some guy running a backhoe dug the wrong side of the intersection and cut fiber optic cables, cable lines, phone lines, and knicked a natural gas line.

The idiot ran away and hid at home when he heard and smelled the natural gas escaping. In an hour some angry folks from Winnipeg Police Service, MTS, Centra Gas, and Shaw were knocking on his door.

Jay

 

We had nothing but trouble with our cable company (Charter). The rate increased by over 50% in a 2 year period. We finally got rid of cable and watched broadcast channels until we moved into a house and got satellite.

I still chuckle over the cable ads mentioning all the problems with satellite. Yeah, the feed goes out during a storm, but it always comes back on its own withing 30 minutes. When our cable went out during a storm, it could take over a week for the cable company come out and fix the problem.

At least the satellite companies have a little competition to keep them honest.

 

i dont have a landline either. in fact, as soon as i started the verizon wireless broadband service, i turned off the landline and the DSL that was with it. that was $45. consider the $80 for verizon wireless (yes its only $80 as it is not for telephone service there is not the laundry list of surcharges taxes and fees)

 

G:

Hang in their kid. One day the hard work and sacrifice will pay off.

I've Been There and Done That.

J

 

G:

You bet it is. Just keep plugging away and one day it WILL pay off.

Hang in there.

J