 dnoyeBFerrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
 ·Comcast
| Bundling Bundling is an insult to me. All it amounts to is one less bill. They are not offering any discounts. Why would I bundle? That just makes it more difficult to make changes. Also makes it more difficult to understand all the fees.
Comcast is always offering to bundle some phone service but is not offering any competitive rates. Not sure what they are thinking. At least I don't have to pay for my modem. Although every now and then a modem fee will appear on my bill and I will have to call to get it removed...
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dnoyeB
"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. " Ecclesiastes 9:16
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 swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:4 | Best Buy is so crappy... Boy these idiots will do anything to make a sale / seem relevant in todays tech world wont they?
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts |
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| Google Voice + Obihai = free VoIP (essentially) Why bother with TWC phone service...essentially free is the combo of GV + Obihai's adapters = free VoIP service. They all run on the same pipes. |
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| Bundling. I agree, I have a VOIP line for a year I never used. |
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 roc5955Premium
join:2005-11-26
Rosendale, NY | They're probably trying to push Magic Jack on them. Anything for a sale.
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"Understanding is a three-edged sword." |
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 Camelot OnePremium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Greenwood, IN
kudos:1 | reply to swintec
Re: Best Buy is so crappy... I find irony in Best Buy suggesting people dump Time Warner's VoIP. I have always viewed it as the more expensive, lower featured, over hyped product.
Much like Best Buy. |
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Reviews:
 ·ooma
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FiOS
| dont' buy MJ buy Ooma instead..
I'm sure I'll get hammered for posting a referral code here, but go to the ooma forums and use one of those to get $40 off an Ooma... $139.999 and free shipping (maybe by dumb luck, you'll use mine) »www.ooma.com/forums/
then do a search for referral code
Tell TWC to suck an egg.. they could have softened the blow of the $4 fee by boosting the download by 20 megabits and the upload by 10... instead it's good old stick it to the consumer and charge more/get less. |
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 skeechanAi OtsukaholicPremium
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170
kudos:2
·Cox HSI
 ·Clear Wireless
| VoIPo, less than $8/mo including junk fees It's currently on special (ends today) for 2 years unlimited calling for $149 (plus $36 junk fee, includes adapter lease). Usually they have sales on Black Friday but since the current promo is the same as the last Black Friday promo I dunno what they'll do. Maybe $129.
I've had it for a few years for international calling and it works great, never down, good call quality, etc. |
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1 edit | It never ceases to amaze me... How short sighted Amerikan companies have become. They hire bright, young MBA's to try to squeeze every dollar from their customer's pocket. "Oh, the sheeple will just go along with it" they say. Well so very bright boys and girls, between you and every government entity, the sheeple have just been bled dry. They won't just go along with it because they simply can't.... they haven't the money. Gain $4 a month renting modems, loose ~ $30 for VOIP, there are other alternatives. You've all killed the cash cow, the goose that lays the golden eggs. Now what are you gonna do?
Best Buy is just taking advantage of other's stupidity... Good for them!
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Isn't it sad that those that raise their right hand and swear "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America" are usually the ones most likely to trash it. |
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 IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
·Comcast
·Verizon Broadban..
| Bundling is cheaper. With Verizon charging $65 for home phone (and does not include voice mail as the CO is not equipped), its cheaper to bundle the home phone with Comcast than it is to buy the services separately.
I need to maintain a home phone for safety reasons as the 911 call centers cannot locate a cell phone. You have to verbally tell 911 the location of the emergency (try doing that while having a severe asthma attack or in the middle of a home invasion). Cell phones may be able to transmit location to 911 but not verbally telling the dispatcher the location will delay response during a potentially life threatening situation. 911 calls from a cell phone don't even go to the responding jurisdiction, they go to state police dispatch and they transfer the call to the responding jurisdiction where a landline goes straight to the responding jurisdiction complete with exact location info.
My modem has a battery and I got it plugged into a UPS. Time Warner does not provide batteries for their modems.
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Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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| The TimeWarner modem that I had (and replaced) both came with batteries. |
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| reply to IowaCowboy
What IF? What If? What If? Are you EVER 100% secure, no matter what? Short answer... NO. When it's YOUR time... it's YOUR time. What did people do when they actually had no cell phones? What did people do before they had no phones period? WOW....most found a way to survive... The one's that didn't we don't miss much... Darwin rules!
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Isn't it sad that those that raise their right hand and swear "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America" are usually the ones most likely to trash it. |
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 Smith6612Premium,MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
kudos:22
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·Frontier Communi..
| reply to Camelot One
Re: Best Buy is so crappy... Maybe there is some merit to it, though. Yeah, I don't shop at Best Buy (why would I when NewEgg and Monoprice are awesome?) but I presume you know what happens to the signal levels when folks start running more than one modem on a single drop, right? I still feel this is a ploy to push something though, as typical with Best Buy.
I have to side with this one since I'm in agreement that the rental fee is silly, especially if you have a phone modem that could give Internet. No sense making the phone modem free if it is not used for Internet. Still costs money and they are after all, DOCSIS 2.0 units without a router in this area still so they won't go for much either way. The Ubees are another question however, as I think Time Warner has some DOCSIS 3.0(?) Phone modems going around that also have built-in routers too. In essence, cancelling the phone is along the line of saying "We don't need this free phone modem that could give us Free Internet" while taking away the extra money Time Warner would get for having Phone + Internet on an account. |
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| reply to meeeeeeeeee
Re: Bundling is cheaper. I for one LOVE TWC Phone service! In addition the conveyance of Caller ID on TV has helped some people that I know with limited mobility because they can see who is calling, without having to struggle to move around and get to the phone. I also love the high-speed Internet service from TWC. It's the mediocre program guide that is the worst part of their service.
I always believed that TWC included the price of the monthly modem with the rest of the package, if you were on a bundle deal. We had to initially pay $11 more to get a wireless router from TWC, but when we got our own router, we dropped the $11 fee. For our area, the cost was always a part of the discounted bundle.
Is this $4.00 rental fee for everyone? Or just selected markets?
Satch |
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA Reviews:
·Comcast
·Verizon Broadban..
| reply to swintec
Re: Best Buy is so crappy... I love shopping at Best Buy. 95 percent of my gadgets come from Best Buy with a few exceptions like my iPad (since Verizon Wireless set up a payment plan so I could buy my most recent iPad in two payments by paying part of the cost up front and paying the rest on my bill) and cell phones (prefer to buy directly from a carrier owned store). Bought grandma a TV and a computer at the Biddeford Best Buy (too bad they closed and I have to go to Maine Mall to buy grandmas gadgets).
I'd be devastated if Best Buy failed.
I personally don't like shopping online because they hit you with shipping and you have to be home to sign for the package. I like going to the mall as you get instant gratification from your purchase, just go to the mall and pick up what you want and go home and unbox it. No sorry we missed you slips on my door from UPS or damaged shipments.
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Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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 jig
join:2001-01-05
Hacienda Heights, CA | reply to en103
Re: Bundling is cheaper. same here - our battery backup for the VOIP/data modem is built into the modem itself, and lasts at least 4 hours.
TW's phone service is actually great. no complaints. but, this is the first i've heard of the $4 hike. i'm about done with random price hikes. plus, we're on a bundled deal that i think protects us from such hikes for another year or so. adelphia had the family that was bilking the company out of 100s of millions... what the hell is going on with TW? there hasn't been an appreciable increase in service in years - certainly nothing i'd call a competitive advantage over the other providers (we're just locked in because the other providers don't exist in our area).
the reason why we moved to TW phone was because ATT/Verizon were charging us about $60 minimum just to have the phone active and not be limited to our own area code. it was a "we don't want to service you anymore" charge - i think the deal is that they want to get out from under all the old franchise contracts with the city that require them to share line access and provide low-income-tier service. all the fiber stuff is on a separate set of contracts and the FCC doesn't require fiber services to share. goodbye POTS.
anyway, this $4 is another sharp pinch, but i think we're still winning over most of the other landline services available.
aside from all that, the TW VOIP service uses bandwidth separate from the data bandwidth. if we purchased a standalone VOIP service, then i'd have to carve out some bandwidth to make sure the new system would always work. it's doable, but i'd rather not.
for us, i think the choice is solely between TW VOIP + cell or just relying completely on our cell phones. there are 911 and security system monitoring issues with relying on cell phones, so i think we'll have to stay with the VOIP. i'm certain the wife feels that way.
if we had a choice to go with FTTH, we'd do that in a second.
summary - if we are charged the $4 fee, then i'll call them up and ask why that isn't part of our bundle deal. if they push the hike through anyway, then i may threaten to remove all our TV portion of the cable bill and see if they'll cut us a deal. i'm on the fence. i like some TV live, but our whole family probably watches too much TV as it is. i haven't priced out SAT-TV in a while... but last time i checked, our bundled price/service wasn't going to be beat by mixing and matching SAT-TV and CABLE-DATA-VOICE.
my guess is that the reason why the hike is $4 and not $5 is because $5 would put the price difference within about $5 of mixing and matching. if i want the three services, i don't think i'll find a cheaper rout. let me know if i'm wrong.
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Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. |
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| reply to IowaCowboy
Re: Best Buy is so crappy... If you haven't heard, BB isn't doing too hott in terms of money. Amazon and Wal-Mart both are out selling them with no problems. Especially when Best Buy operates over 3 different pricing systems to rape their customers. People also avoid shopping in places that use high-pressured sales reps.== Best Buy. |
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bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY Reviews:
·VOIPo
·Verizon VoiceWing
| reply to skeechan
Re: VoIPo, less than $8/mo including junk fees Yes, I have VOIPo too with the prepaid plan. $185 /24 = $7.70 a month. Mine expires May 2013 and I will sign up again if they make the offer next year sometime.
I would even be willing to loose a couple of months if they made the offer again in Jan or Feb 2013. |
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| Too bad... Best Buy is full of crap. If you have only TWC VoIP, you are not charged a modem fee.
If you have Roadrunner and VoIP, then you are charged a modem fee.
If you get your own modem for Roadrunner, you are not charged the fee, and you still keep the old modem for VoIP only. |
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 PacketeersPremium
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
kudos:1
·Time Warner Cable
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to tmc8080
MagicJack Rocks paid $100 for the MJ and 5 year plan back in 2010 and i have not paid a dime for phone service or stupid taxes since.
 WINNING 
voip bundles from any isp is pure profit for them, that's why they bend over backwards to give you a free modem. |
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