My apologies if this has been discussed already. I'm interested in the experiences forum members have had with Internet and television providers in Sun City. The new condo currently uses Cox for Internet and Directv for television. We have Direct now so could bring the receivers. I don't know about suspending service during the summer with SC providers. Anyone care to share their experiences?
We had Cox for everything when we first bought here. Got rid of the cable TV and went to Dish when we moved here. Loved Dish but a year ago I wanted some of the new wireless Joey's and when I called they said it would cost me more. We switched to Direct (and saved about $50 per month the first year) and have regretted it since. The damn remote's continue to loose their connections, no big deal other than we need press some buttons to reconnect. I found Dish to be more user friendly. The day our contract with Direct ends, we'll be back at Dish. We've continued on with Cox for both phone and high speed internet. For some odd reasons in the last three months our Cox email has been acting up. My wife has called them and they said it wasn't on their end. The funny thing is we know 5 other people with Cox that have been having the same issues. Most often the problem is with our ipad's and not getting or sending some of those emails. My wife's is the worst; in some cases the emails come a day or more after they have been sent. I guess it's the nature of the beast.
I'm not a Cox subscriber but for many years we brought our DirecTV receiver back and forth from up north without a problem. The only thing that changes is that you get only the local AZ channels when here...not those from where ever you travel from. It just takes a phone call to make the switch each move. We still have DirecTV but use Centurylink for internet. We're here year round now.
I have the whole COX deal, only issues were the sub contractor they sent ( bad connections ) I know how bad the wind is by how many Dish trucks are around afterwards.
Sorry to hijack your thread Mullet, I'll just be a minute. BP - your e-mail issue. Do you have a wired or wireless connection when your devices are trying to send/receive your e-mails? Do you have any additional issues with your internet at the time? Is it around the same time of day? What happens when you hit the "send" button on the email? Pull together as much info as possible and then make them do something. That might be something as minor as coming out and checking replacing your router (if you rent one from them), but it is on their end. Now, back to Mullet's original question. I obviously have no answer, but am interested in what folks say.
No problem J+V. I thought this topic may be of interest to more than just me. Regarding Bill's email issue, can I assume you're talking about their email server? While J+V offers sound advice, I always recommend an Internet-based email service. That way if/when you change your provider, you don't lose your email account. I use gmail but there are others as well. Now back to the thread...
Good advice Mullet....I agree. I moved us to gmail, a couple of years ago in anticipation of leaving Seattle and Comcast.
I've used gmail for years and port it forward to my desktop Outlook...much better email IMHO. And many days I hate gmail with the way it stacks all the replies...I spend forever trying to find something once more than a few people and replies are on one subject. I rather have 20 separate emails. Search doesn't help either. Wish they'd give a choice to stack or separate.
The stacking can get a bit cumbersome and there's always a learning curve when switching. I love the portability. I've been using Gmail forever so I'm used to the quirks.
I was a very early adopter of Gmail. It used to be better...much less fluff. Google+ ruined it with all the tie-ins. They like to fix what isn't broken. Such as the recent changes to the map. So clunky now. I have no trouble adjusting to software changes, I enjoy a learning curve, but they now seem to make changes for no good reason.
Nice Emily - I would love to cut the cord to cable. Our problem is getting live sporting events. Everything else we can get through Roku. Cynthia - I hear you, I like to refer to it as "technology for the sake of technology". I imagine a group of people (I would have said guys, but I know as many gals who do it also) sitting in a room thinking of some stupid change they can make to a perfectly good product. I imagine them saying "Of course the people will love it, they just don't know they will love it".
I have had Cox since I moved to SC in 07 - landline, tv, internet. Anytime I have had a problem it has been promptly fixed. One thing I like is that I can go online and "chat" with a technician regarding just about anything. Early this year occasionally my landline was not working. Twice they sent out a technician and neither person could fix it. Eventually it began working all the time.
Here's the oddity V: My wife and I both have a pc (mine is hard wired, everything else is wireless) and both have an ipad and we both use Microsoft Outlook (though I have a gmail account I seldom use). Both of the ipads freeze on the email from time to time, but the fix is simple and found the answer online. The bigger problem for her is emails she sends never get there or emails she receives sometimes come way after they were sent (on the ipad only). Several of her friends from tennis have the same issues. She called Cox and they said it was on our end. My friend Ben is in Seattle right now and he has been having the same problem. Some emails send, some don't. He contacted Cox and they told him the same thing, not our issue, must be yours. We've toyed with changing, but there are the problems that come with doing everything online and having to change all of the email accounts with all of the various people we do business with. Several of my wife's friends have cut the cord on cable or satellite and use the antenna for the local channels and have Netflix or the Roku box for other programming. It hasn't been something we considered, because it appears the coming years will offer alternatives far greater. The other thing is my wife records every match from the tennis channel and the sporting stuff (other than local/national programming) isn't available.
^^Yup. By the way BP and anyone else that's interested, you can direct your other email account into Gmail (gmail settings). This is handy when you transition and after. When I moved to gmail many years ago, I did this with my Time Warner email. I left it that way until years later when I moved. Anything left on the old account was just junk by then.
My last APS bill was $133.00. My water heater is gas and so is my stove top. Gas bill was about $40. With APS I am on a schedule they no longer offer (I think). Lower prices on weekends. Needless to say, I do my laundry and dishwasher and any oven cooking on Sat/Sun. Now that Sundial Pool showers are available, that is where I usually shower.
