Cox Cable Oklahoma City

[t3hwookiee]

Our Cox internet bill went up $4 I think. There was an insert a few months back, but I had forgotten about it. We canceled cable tv service two years ago, and haven't looked back! I like having a bill 1/3 of what it was, most of my shows are broadcast that I pick up and then record using my PC's tuner card and WMC as a DVR. ESPN I get from being an Xbox Live Gold subscriber. Works awesomely for us.

[SoonerDave]

Our Cox internet bill went up $4 I think. There was an insert a few months back, but I had forgotten about it. We canceled cable tv service two years ago, and haven't looked back! I like having a bill 1/3 of what it was, most of my shows are broadcast that I pick up and then record using my PC's tuner card and WMC as a DVR. ESPN I get from being an Xbox Live Gold subscriber. Works awesomely for us.

Do you get just the straight ESPN feed, or is it just selected programming?

[t3hwookiee]

It's not the straight feed, it is actually way more games than we had with the channel, with less filler crap shows. I get to watch *way* more soccer than before, more Michigan football (Go Blue!), and even judo and other sports you didn't often see on there. You can have it show you only the sports you want to, or everything. I was quite happy with the selection.

[WilliamTell]

over 2 years ago we cancelled cox after getting tired of the arbitrary price hikes and no true justification of the price increase. went to dish and its been the better than i could ever imagine, we have been extremely pleased with the service.

[UncleCyrus]

Just like Cox.net "said" they announced they would be eliminating personal webpages. (NOT)
They did however announce that they were eliminating news groups. That was no loss since Eternal Septembers NGs are free. The webpage issue caused me a lot of trouble though. Mostly they reduced at least 1/3 of my service and were charging the same amount. Not cool Cox. You don't deserve our business at this rate.

I did receive two emails about the personal webpages going away. I didn't like that either since I used that feature quite a bit. I very rarely visit the cox.net page so I didn't see if it was announced there or not.

[bluedogok]

I really thought that more people here have cut the cord. Most of the shows that most people watch are on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, all free and in HD over the air. Spend about $10/month for streaming service like Netflix or Hulu and you're good to go. I did this and save about $65 a month. I know it's not for everyone, but other than the four channels above, I would only watch Travel, FX, and Food Network on a regular basis. Totally not worth $65 a month to watch those 3 channels a few hours a week.

I have tried watching some things online, but not sold on that yet, it always seems like a hassle and poorer quality from what I have tried. I had the MotoGP HD subscription package and it wasn't too bad but I did have to go through teething issues the first few years. I have Directv mainly for sports, I have NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice though I will be dropping it after the season since I live in the home broadcast area of the Colorado Avalanche now. I have a HTPC setup for doing online watching but many times the quality is not as good as what I get from Directv.

This is the best post of the thread! I keep telling people that they know it! They have more HD channels than DirecTV and Dish, they have a one up on AT&T for reliability and the whole "streams", they don't go out when it sprinkles outside, and their internet is the quickest! I've accepted that it's a love hate relationship with Cox.

I switched to Directv when I lived in The Village, the Multimedia Cablevision service was all overhead lines and I moved in there about 4 months after the tornado went through that part of town. The cable would go out all the time, pretty much whenever the wind blew so I ditched them. I had no issues with their service in Edmond with underground lines, it seemed like they had no ionterest in fixing the lines in that area at that time. My parents have overhead lines and Cox seemed to work on the problem until it was fixed, I would imagine that since The Village is now a Cox service area the service is better than it was 13 years ago. I have been on Directv for almost 13 years now, had Sprint Broadband Direct (fixed wireless) for internet in OKC. We have Time Warner cable internet in Austin (it will get turned off in a couple of weeks) and have Comcast Xfinity for cable internet here in Aurora. I have been happy with the cable internet, most people that I know who have had AT&T or CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) DSL just seemed to have had constant issues, the U-Verse people seemed to have had better results but many had issues right after it was installed but things seemed to get sorted out after awhile and most seem happy with it now.

[Debzkidz]

Our Cox bill has not gone up, but I guess its because we accepted one of their offers for a year of free HBO a few months ago, so we are locked into another contract with them. We've always been to cheap to pay for it. Hubby decided we should try it and see if we liked it. So far, we've had it about 3 months, and we've watched it a few times, but really I know now, it's not worth paying for. We will drop it once the year is up.

I've tried several times to switch to U-verse, but they always tell me it's not available at my house. I find this really weird because when they first came to the OKC area with it, our neighborhood was one of the first in Edmond to get it. They put hangers on our door telling us that it would be available at our home in just a matter of a few weeks. I saw them working like crazy on it all over our neighborhood, and just down the street from us. I know neighbors that have it. A couple of months after all the activity I stopped by the AT&T store. They told me it was not to my house yet but would be soon. They would contact me. Never heard anything, so I checked back a few more times and was told the same thing. Finally gave up. So when I had to go get a new phone in November I inquired about it. They told me that it was still not available at my house. Guess I live on some anti-uverse island or something.

[SoonerDave]

Keep in mind that the clerks who tell you "go or no go" regarding any of those services is working from some sort of mapping system that tells them whether a given address is wired. Those databases are frequently wrong. Here's a bit of a personal testimony in that regard, ironically from Cox:

In 1999, we were building a new house, and from the areas where we wanted to build, I called Cox and specifically asked where they were present and where they weren't. Cox availability was important to me because they were getting ready to roll out what was then known as the AtHome cablemodem Internet service. The addition we finally selected was on their "new buildout" area, and sure enough, we picked a lot there, and during construction we saw Cox trucks crawling all over the area laying cable. Great, all was working as planned, right?

Well, not quite. After we moved in, I called Cox to sign up for cable TV and AtHome service, and guess what the flunky on the phone told me, "No, sorry, Cox isn't available in that area." After a discussion, I realized the clerk was clueless, so I hung up, called again, got someone different. This time, the answer was "No, sorry, your area has to be UPGRADED before you can get AtHome cable service." Frustrated, I explained to her this was a brand new addition, that a conversation with Cox's own engineering department said ALL new rollouts ready for AtHome service, and she insisted, "No, you're in an older area." I could not get the person to understand she was wrong, and whatever the computer was telling her was wrong. I told her Cox trucks were laying new cable in the area ALL WEEK, and she finally relented enough to say "Let me talk to someone."

After a few minutes on hold, the lady returned, and said "well, even though the computer doesn't show that you're in an eligible area, I've been authorized to approve you for AtHome cable service." She couldn't even admit she (or her computer) was wrong.

End of story: Cox came out a few days later, the AtHome cablemodem service was set up and worked flawlessly from day one. AtHome was a hot commodity back in the day, but the wrong folks took the helm of the company and insisted they become a *content* provider rather than a *broadband data* provider, and went bankrupt. Sure wish I'd sold my stock in them a lot earlier than I did, although I only owned about 15 shares

Point is, if you have reason to believe UVerse is available, ask to talk to an engineer or something beyond the sales flunky on the other end of the phone. You might be surprised.

[BBatesokc]

The thing that currently frustrates me the most with COX right now is their DVR. Some time ago they upgraded their software/Operating System/Whatever utilized by their DVR and I absolutely hate it. Before it was fool proof. The current version doesn't warn you if you've scheduled too many shows to record at the same time and it just dumps one without telling you, etc. I also hate that technology hasn't progressed to the point that the DVR knows if a show is running late or starting early.

[SoonerDave]

The thing that currently frustrates me the most with COX right now is their DVR. Some time ago they upgraded their software/Operating System/Whatever utilized by their DVR and I absolutely hate it. Before it was fool proof. The current version doesn't warn you if you've scheduled too many shows to record at the same time and it just dumps one without telling you, etc. I also hate that technology hasn't progressed to the point that the DVR knows if a show is running late or starting early.

Biggest problem there is that the scheduling system that populates the guide isn't tied to the system(s) that rack the shows, and they're rarely synced up very well. You can adjust the start/stop times of individual recordings by several minutes if you know the guide's schedule is typically wrong. For a program I really want to make sure I snag, I will add one or two minutes either side to account for the difference.

I was really interested in Cox's Whole Home DVR service, as it has an integrated/universal movie search guide, but they want $90 to install it plus the additional monthly charge for the service. I told them I'd install it myself, and they kindly advised me there was no self-install option. No thanks.

[bluedogok]

When we had our Directv hooked up in Denver we had to swap one of our HD-DVR's because it wouldn't update to the new location, it seems to be much faster than our other boxes and the guide seems to update on changes quicker. The Nascar race moved to Monday night was updated even though it was supposed to start around 10:00 AM (Mountain time) and moved during that day to prime time because of the weather. THings like that never updated in the past, so maybe they are getting better at that.

[WilliamTell]

The cox internet monster struck us this billing period.....

I posted earlier how we got rid of them for TV but we still have internet through them. Our bill went up 30 percent FOR THE SAME SPEED INTERNET.

I'm going to do some shopping around, i think i reached my limit with them on their price hikes.

[WilliamTell]

Anyone know of any internet services providers in the MWC/Choctaw area?

[Wishbone]

I have dish and love it but still have Cox for phone and internet. I wouldn't mind shopping around for cheaper internet as it is expensive.

[Bunty]

Cox cable can't live with it, can't live with out it.

How you get TV 10 years from now is bound to be different, thanks to advances in technology and cable TV pricing itself out of business.

[SoonerDave]

How you get TV 10 years from now is bound to be different, thanks to advances in technology and cable TV pricing itself out of business.

I'd sure like to see some apples-to-apples TV comparisons to see if that price difference bears out in reality. The satellite and cable providers do such an annoyingly thoroughly job of disguising their "real" monthly costs with teaser promotions, leader rates, and one-time-only discounts, its nearly impossible to get a truly clear comparison. I'm sure that's exactly the way they want it.

I personally think that so long as the general delivery format remains the same for satellite and cable - that is, mass packaging of as much content as they can find, ostensibly to offset the costs of providing the higher-cost channels, the difference and the future for those two isn't as different as some would claim. The real "next-revolution" in content delivery is the one thing cable and sat providers fear and loathe the most - true ala carte programming. The streaming services sorta kinda do this, but anyone thinking streaming is a one-for-one replacement for conventional delivery will be a bit disappointed. It good, but it still has problems.

Whomever figures out that business model first, and who knows, maybe that's what Google is trying to do, will be the next-generation media king. I can't help but think companies like NetFlix are trying to poise themselves for just such a world by surviving as a movie provider, getting the infrastructure in place, but if they *ever* figure out a way to license up the live stream (not just selected content) of things like ESPN, A&E, TLC, etc etc, that will shake things up. Can you imagine how cool it would be to, for example, ring up NetFlix and tell them you'd like to sign up for, say, ESPN, Food Network, and TLC, and that's all? Ala carte programming is the death of companies like Cox and Dish, and the other cable and sat providers will fight that notion to death for precisely that reason, too.

[RadicalModerate]

So . . .
We have been with Cox Communications for well over 10 years.
Maybe even close to 13 years.

We bought-in when we were living in an apartment on the far north fringe of OKC primarily because the dial-up internet service provided by The Phone Company was atrocious. Unapologetically Atrocious: I called and told The Phone Company that I had been getting better internet service from some little independent phone company way out in the sticks around Choctaw. Their response was that we lived too far away from The Phone Company hub to expect anything better and they had no plans to improve the lines or whatever.

When Cox came around to the apartment complex with phone and internet service we signed up immediately and were very happy with the purchase. It was a really good deal. We liked them so much that when we were planning to move into a house in a different part of town we got on the waiting list for digital phone service. When it became possible to "Bundle" we bundled.

Over the years, I noticed that there was always some sort of Promo or Special Deal going on to attract new subscribers. Extra Good Special Deals. Yet there was never a thing for people who had been with the company for years. I had heard about some sort of "Customer Retention" program that you could get into if you called and complained, but I never did . . . until about three or four months ago. The next billing cycle my bill went down from about $150 a month for basic cable, phone and internet to about $120 a month.

Today, I just paid the current bill: $135-plus.
(and not even a discount coupon for some Vaseline . . .).

[rcjunkie]

So . . .
We have been with Cox Communications for well over 10 years.
Maybe even close to 13 years.

We bought-in when we were living in an apartment on the far north fringe of OKC primarily because the dial-up internet service provided by The Phone Company was atrocious. Unapologetically Atrocious: I called and told The Phone Company that I had been getting better internet service from some little independent phone company way out in the sticks around Choctaw. Their response was that we lived too far away from The Phone Company hub to expect anything better and they had no plans to improve the lines or whatever.

When Cox came around to the apartment complex with phone and internet service we signed up immediately and were very happy with the purchase. It was a really good deal. We liked them so much that when we were planning to move into a house in a different part of town we got on the waiting list for digital phone service. When it became possible to "Bundle" we bundled.

Over the years, I noticed that there was always some sort of Promo or Special Deal going on to attract new subscribers. Extra Good Special Deals. Yet there was never a thing for people who had been with the company for years. I had heard about some sort of "Customer Retention" program that you could get into if you called and complained, but I never did . . . until about three or four months ago. The next billing cycle my bill went down from about $150 a month for basic cable, phone and internet to about $120 a month.

Today, I just paid the current bill: $135-plus.
(and not even a discount coupon for some Vaseline . . .).

This is the major reason why I decided to forgo cable or dish when I moved to Tenkiller a couple of years back. I must add that I don't miss it one bit and lead a more active lifestyle because of it. (spend most of time outside)

[ShiroiHikari]

We use Cox for cable internet and that's it. We don't subscribe to cable at all (waste of money!) and we don't have a landline.

I've noticed our bill goes up every once in a while, but frankly, I'm sticking with Cox because they have yet to let me down, and I hate AT&T. :P

My friend has U-Verse, and I go over there to watch a couple of shows every week. Maybe she just has a bad one or needs to have a tech look at it, but her DVR is a piece of crap. It skips like crazy and goes out of sync all the time.

[stick47]

Cox just raised their rate for internet only to $52/mo. I requested they downgrade my connection to the 3mb speed for $40/mo. Still outrageous when you consider it.

[RadicalModerate]

I agree.
However, there are other options since Cox is not (yet) a monopoly.
It could be worse: There could be a Department of Internet Service based near Washington, D.C.

[venture]

I have some friends back north and they live in a town where the local cable company covers most of the metro area that they live in. They have a pretty decent stranglehold on the market since AT&T has always struggled there. They recently redid all their rates and started charging something like $10 per 1GB of data transfer over 3GB to combat people using Netflix or other online streaming. I'm just hoping Cox doesn't follow the same path otherwise I'm screwed. LOL

[oneforone]

Cox just raised their rate for internet only to $52/mo. I requested they downgrade my connection to the 3mb speed for $40/mo. Still outrageous when you consider it.

The service is optional. Gotta love America whine about convenience services while others in the world would be honored just have that problem to complain about.

[bchris02]

Cox just raised their rate for internet only to $52/mo. I requested they downgrade my connection to the 3mb speed for $40/mo. Still outrageous when you consider it.

That doesn't sound too bad actually. Comcast charges $60+ for Internet only and Time Warner, who I have now in Charlotte, charges $50 for a crappy 7mbps/384kbps plan. $40 for 3Mbps is pretty much on par with most DSL providers if you don't subscribe to their home phone service. Phone companies like AT&T are also regulated by the federal government to they stick you with $10-15 in government fees on your bill, BEFORE taxes, so that $40 for 3mbps quickly becomes much higher.

[bluedogok]

My Comcast internet here in Aurora is 50 a month and that is a middle internet-only package. I have Directv and NetTalk VOIP for phone. We just changed to a Verizon family plan after our move and the end of my wife's AT&T contract, there is about $28.00 of taxes and fees on our bill every month and my bill alone dropped about $8.00 when I switched from Austin to Aurora as my primary residence.