Cox, At&T or Direct TV

[bchris02]

I switched to DirectTV from Cox a year ago and haven't regretted it yet. We switched internet to AT&T but recently switched back to Cox. Cox is a lot more expensive but our AT&T internet was unbearably slow.

I agree. Average net usage today has moved beyond what can be acceptably handled by a DSL connection. It's fine if you pretty much do only web surfing and email but any kind of streaming, especially HD video chokes on DSL. Cox is the only real choice until one day Google Fiber gets offered.

[ctchandler]

Bchris02,
I have had DSL since January 2006 and have never had a problem. I stream a lot of video and audio. I wonder why the difference. At one time there was some degradation based on how far away from a certain connection with AT&T's hub(?). That may not be true or still a problem. It's been too many years and the mind is weak!
C. T.

I agree. Average net usage today has moved beyond what can be acceptably handled by a DSL connection. It's fine if you pretty much do only web surfing and email but any kind of streaming, especially HD video chokes on DSL. Cox is the only real choice until one day Google Fiber gets offered.

[gjl]

I've been with Cox since it was Multimedia serving Warr Acres in 1979 I was one of their first customers and am still in Warr Acres. My account # was 445 which I think meant I was the 445th customer they signed up. I presently have Cox digital cable with 2 DVR boxes, and analog cable on 4 other TVs in the house, Cox phone, and Cox Internet. My only complaint is the amount of money I have to send them every month. IMO, all the services I get from them are pretty good. I have very few outages and when there is an outage they seem to get the service restored pretty quick.

[QUAPAW5]

Read in the Oklahoman (under legals) last week where on March 14 ( Cox ) Rates are scheduled to increase again but if your locked in on the 2 yrs service agreement there is no increase till your contract time expires, well by the time my agreement expires my bill outta increase about 60 % if i still want cable ... Kinda like my House Insurance for this yr vs last Yr.

[oklip955]

I have Dish Network for tv. I started out when you bought your own equipment and installed it yourself. I'm on my second/third system (upgrades) and I still own my own equipment. If needed I can work on it or call and they will come out and work on it. I pay $5 extra for free repairs/parts. Internet from ATT. I'm out east of Edmond. I could upgrade to U verse but am happy with what i have. I also have att basic cell phone.

[BBatesokc]

Read in the Oklahoman (under legals) last week where on March 14 ( Cox ) Rates are scheduled to increase again but if your locked in on the 2 yrs service agreement there is no increase till your contract time expires, well by the time my agreement expires my bill outta increase about 60 % if i still want cable ... Kinda like my House Insurance for this yr vs last Yr.

Just call and tell the retention department you're going to switch unless they extend your current rate. Usually works.

We recently made some adjustments to our Cox account. We now have cable TV (basic with HD DVR) with HBO and Showtime, 50MB Internet, phone line (had to do it, our cell reception stinks in our east Edmond neighborhood) and I rent their all-in-one modem/wireless router. $136/month and I think that's not too bad.

[ChaseDweller]

Cox has by far the most compressed, terrible picture.

I've had Dish for 9 years and I'll never have anything else. The picture quality is the best and the equipment (Hopper/Joey) is just amazing and easy to use. Throw in an over the air tuner for $30 and you can hook up an antenna and have your local over the air (OTA) channels in all their perfect uncompressed glory, even on those rare occasions when the satellite signal is lost because of weather. The OTA channels are integrated right into the guide alongside the satellite channels. It's really an amazing setup.

[BBatesokc]

Cox has by far the most compressed, terrible picture.

I've had Dish for 9 years and I'll never have anything else. The picture quality is the best and the equipment (Hopper/Joey) is just amazing and easy to use. Throw in an over the air tuner for $30 and you can hook up an antenna and have your local over the air (OTA) channels in all their perfect uncompressed glory, even on those rare occasions when the satellite signal is lost because of weather. The OTA channels are integrated right into the guide alongside the satellite channels. It's really an amazing setup.

Don't know what you mean by 'terrible picture.' If you mean not as clear, I'd have to disagree or at least say it just depends on your combination of location and equipment.

We had to have our HD TV in the living room adjusted within the settings because the picture (from Cox) was so clear on our high end HD TV that many shows looked 'fake.' When we adjusted the settings down it looked natural again. I was actually a bit bummed I paid so much for a TV only to have to dial it down (so to speak).

[OKCRT]

Don't know what you mean by 'terrible picture.' If you mean not as clear, I'd have to disagree or at least say it just depends on your combination of location and equipment.

We had to have our HD TV in the living room adjusted within the settings because the picture (from Cox) was so clear on our high end HD TV that many shows looked 'fake.' When we adjusted the settings down it looked natural again. I was actually a bit bummed I paid so much for a TV only to have to dial it down (so to speak).

Direct TV HD is quite a bit clearer than Cox HD assuming all cables and connections are top notch. Direct TV HD satellite beams directly to your dish through multiple LNBs whereas Cox sat. beams to their huge dish and then they send it via cable to your home. Cable is limited by the bandwidth of the physical cable. (Only so much water can be forced thru a given size pipe.) Satellite has virtually unlimited bandwidth by adding more transponders. I had both at the same time and it was very easy to see the pic. quality difference. Local HD through an OTA ant is pretty good,better than cable.

Cox for internet and Direct TV is the way to go if you can. If you get Direct TV add an OTA ant and you have the best of the best in HD TV. Plus you get much more HD content on satellite.

[JohnnyW]

Just call and tell the retention department you're going to switch unless they extend your current rate. Usually works.

We recently made some adjustments to our Cox account. We now have cable TV (basic with HD DVR) with HBO and Showtime, 50MB Internet, phone line (had to do it, our cell reception stinks in our east Edmond neighborhood) and I rent their all-in-one modem/wireless router. $136/month and I think that's not too bad.

Pretty good deal there. Is it possible to call retention and get lower rates? I really only want basic cable with HBO and the 25mb Internet which is what I have now but I feel I am paying way more than I should. Especially after seeing what you got.

[BBatesokc]

Pretty good deal there. Is it possible to call retention and get lower rates? I really only want basic cable with HBO and the 25mb Internet which is what I have now but I feel I am paying way more than I should. Especially after seeing what you got.

Typically all I've been able to get retention to do is offer specials that may have expired in the last year or so. That's what they did for me and were able to offer a 20% off to lock in the rate for 24 months.

We had basic cable with 25MB internet and it was close to $100 - which I thought was way too much - called back and they wouldn't lower the rate, but would add two premium channels, phone, 50MB Internet, all-in-one modern wifi for about $40 more per month. They got me to pay more - but I was far happier in the end.

Direct TV HD is quite a bit clearer than Cox HD assuming all cables and connections are top notch. Direct TV HD satellite beams directly to your dish through multiple LNBs whereas Cox sat. beams to their huge dish and then they send it via cable to your home. Cable is limited by the bandwidth of the physical cable. (Only so much water can be forced thru a given size pipe.) Satellite has virtually unlimited bandwidth by adding more transponders. I had both at the same time and it was very easy to see the pic. quality difference. Local HD through an OTA ant is pretty good,better than cable.

Cox for internet and Direct TV is the way to go if you can. If you get Direct TV add an OTA ant and you have the best of the best in HD TV. Plus you get much more HD content on satellite.

I guess that may be - but if I'm already having to tune my settings down with Cox, I don't see the advantage of a provider that also obviously going to have to cause me to dial it down with them too.

That said, we actually prefer projected images when it comes to movies and we either HD project to a huge outdoor screen or a smaller one inside. Feels more like the movie theater experience to us.

[td25er]

We were paying $140 for preferred internet, and advanced tv with 1 hd dvr. I talked with a "customer loyalty" rep 2 weeks ago and upgraded to advanced tv preferred with Contour. I got 2 hd receivers including the main record-6 dvr. My bill will actually be 15 cents cheaper for 12 months. At that time I'll call again and get another deal.

The guy wouldn't budge until I starting mentioning going to u-verse.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Just looked on my Cox bill. A rate increase will be coming March 1, 2014...Might have to move down from Ultimate Internet. The price is getting a bit high.

[SoonerQueen]

We have Cox too, and although it probably is higher than some of the other companies, I get what I want with it. I wish they carried The Blaze network, but they haven't added it yet. Lauri, I hope your surgery goes well and you recuperate quickly.

[JohnnyW]

How much more is that Dvr 6 and contour service a month? I just have one DVR and it's fine but it always runs out of room.

[Easy180]

How much more is that Dvr 6 and contour service a month? I just have one DVR and it's fine but it always runs out of room.

We have contour and I think the service itself is $10 a month. Guessing the contour receivers are also a little higher but can't remember the exact pricing. We got it for the dvr storage and it comes in handy with the kiddos watching everything at least 10 times

[Midtowner]

I switched to AT&T... I had an AT&T door to door salesman come by, I called Cox and asked to talk to their retention department. I made them compare what they could do for me right then... AT&T won.

[pw405]

I am currently doing all my homework on Dish/DirecTV/Uverse/Cox - I understand you can't watch the Thunder games on Dish, is this still the case? From what I've seen of Cox HD, it does suffer from quite a bit compression picture quality reduction, especially when the frame is in rapid motion - compression artifacts everywhere.

[ChaseDweller]

Thunder is on Dish every game.

What I meant by picture quality is compression artifacts. Cox is so much more highly compressed that you get more mosquito noise and banding than you ever will on OTA or satellite. Watch a live sporting event (especially one with fast moving crowd shots, like NASCAR or Football) and notice how when the camera pans the picture gets fuzzy and has the look of mosquitos buzzing around the image. That's a result of overcompression. The compression algorithm can't keep up with the picture changes because the information just isn't there. Dish, DTV and OTA are all less compressed than cable. It's just a bandwidth issue.

What you're talking about "turning your tv down" is turning off the motion smoothing feature of the TV. It interpolates frames to make motion seem smoother. It also makes film and TV shot on film look like a soap opera. Most people hate the look but never turn it off because they don't know you can. It has nothing to do with picture quality from the provider.

Dish and DTV will be approximately equivalent on price. I just happen to be a Dish fan. Partly because its what I know and partly because the Hopper is the best DVR, hands down, IMO.

[pw405]

Thunder is on Dish every game.

What I meant by picture quality is compression artifacts. Cox is so much more highly compressed that you get more mosquito noise and banding than you ever will on OTA or satellite. Watch a live sporting event (especially one with fast moving crowd shots, like NASCAR or Football) and notice how when the camera pans the picture gets fuzzy and has the look of mosquitos buzzing around the image. That's a result of overcompression. The compression algorithm can't keep up with the picture changes because the information just isn't there. Dish, DTV and OTA are all less compressed than cable. It's just a bandwidth issue.

What you're talking about "turning your tv down" is turning off the motion smoothing feature of the TV. It interpolates frames to make motion seem smoother. It also makes film and TV shot on film look like a soap opera. Most people hate the look but never turn it off because they don't know you can. It has nothing to do with picture quality from the provider.

Dish and DTV will be approximately equivalent on price. I just happen to be a Dish fan. Partly because its what I know and partly because the Hopper is the best DVR, hands down, IMO.

Oh good, that is great to hear. they really need to take this down: A Note About Dish Network | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

^ that is one of the to google results when you search for Thunder on Dish.

I can't agree more about CFI (creative frame interpolation), or "smooth motion". The idea makes sense, if you add more frames to an image in motion, it will appear to have more detail. Problem is, the technology isn't quite there yet. The interpolated frames lose detail and cause certain parts of the screen to move in a more linear fashion thatn others which in my opinion creates a jumbled mess, especially during camera pans.

I'm with ya Brian regarding a projected image. Projector technology has got so good in the last few years that you can get stunning quality in a projector for a way better value than these stupid LCD TV's that over saturate colors and have slow response times. "Turning your TV down" is likely producing a more natural, calibrated image.

does anybody with Uverse know how it actually works? Is it broadcasted on fiber optic lines like Cox? Seems like they came out of nowhere with a service that seemingly requires massive infrastructure before you could deliver to households. How is their image quality?

[warreng88]

I have heard AT&T's internet can be a little slow at times. Has anyone else had this problem?

[ChaseDweller]

Oh good, that is great to hear. they really need to take this down: A Note About Dish Network | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

^ that is one of the to google results when you search for Thunder on Dish.

That page is a leftover from a couple of years ago when Dish and Fox were feuding over rates and Fox was gone from Dish for a week or so. It does need to come down.

Another reason I really like the Hopper is Sling is built in. I can watch my DVR (recorded or live stuff) on my computer, tablet or phone from anywhere I can get a decent internet connection. I've watched Thunder games when out of market that way. Also, you can transfer any recording on your DVR to your tablet and watch it without an internet connection. It's really awesome.