Colorado Springs, CO - HDTV - Page 226

I have Comcast and a monitoring service that sends me a report every month of my streams and more data than I really need and my download speed has been conisistently 18Mbps and the upstream 3Mbps. Latency has been consistent and relatively low and packet loss minimal. So, not a fan of Comcast for TV but their internet has been very reliable and consistent.

I had a subscription to MLB.TV last year and was streaming HD for over 3 hrs every day and often an extra 3 in addition to Hulu and streaming from a couple of network sites and never came close to Comcast's limit (at least according to that chart they show on your account online).

Are you only subscribed to internet, or are you "bundled" to get a discount?

The main reason I don't have Comcast for internet is my dislike of them as a company, but since I'm consistently getting 6 Mbps for $5 less than Comcast charges for unbundled 6 Mbps service I think I'm doing well. I have a friend in C.S. with Comcast internet who says it peaks at 20 Mbps during the day, but draws down considerably during the evening.

I had a bundle with TV but it was so bad I dropped the TV. They're still honoring the intro price but I'm sure that will change shortly. I use a MagicJack for phone so there's no need there. Their internet has been good and fast so I can't complain even with the full charge. At least until Century Link gets a better speed in my area (max of 3Mbps now).

They probably still count you as a video customer. The reason I asked is I'm currently researching an article on video subscriber number inflation. Of the estimated 100 million "video subscribers" 34 million have satellite and a large percentage of those subscribers have high speed internet. The question is how many of those satellite customers are being counted by legacy cable as "video subscribers" due to bundling, and to what degree is that masking any real drop in overall video subscribers?

Last year satellite gained 496,000 subscribers while the top 4 publicly traded legacy cable operators lost a combined 1,161,400 video subscribers. Meanwhile, across the board, the legacy cable operators have been adding highspeed internet customers, and in many areas are either the best or only source of high speed wired internet. So, did multichannel video really grow by 839,600 subscribers, or did just the percentage of people who are being counted twice go up?

Wonderful. Just received my Comast bill with the usual 6 month price increasre (at least it seems like there's an increase every 6 months). No change in the cable portion (we have the lowest tier of HD service), but the HS internet went up $6.00/month. My question: Why? There was no justification in the bill. Just the usual "Pay up". Any thoughts?

The ConCrap accounting department consists of 4 chimps sharing an abacus, and I understand the head chimp quit last month leaving things in disarray.

Your bill went up because you and plenty of others won't do anything about it.

Or, can't do anything about it. I'm happy with my 6 Mbps service from CenturyLink, but if I wanted anything faster I'd have to get Comcast. I'm somewhat lucky since CenturyLink DSL varries so much depending on location. Some people are stuck with Comcast internet or nothing at all. That makes jacking the price up so much easier. Last I knew Comcast outsourced it's billing, so the chimps aren't even Comcast employees.

P.S. The unbundled price for CenturyLink 7 Mbps (which runs 6 at my house) is just under $5 less than the unbundled price for 6 Mbps from Comcast.

For the last 6 years I have been switching between Comcast & Qwest (have my own modems) since both only had 3Mbps in my area. I did this every 6 mos and always had the intro rates. Now, Comcast has the higher speeds and Century Link still hasn't upgraded and if they do they have different modems, so I may have to pay the regular Comcast rates if I can't live with the 3Mbps (which only runs to 2.5).

On another matter, I have some old electronic equipment (Denon AV Amp - AVR-4800unit with THX audio, Denon DVD/CD 5 disk player, and a VCR). The Amp appears to have a bad capacitor on the left front channel (crackling on that speaker). We replaced the equipment over the weekend (what fun). I could take the units to Goodwill for electronic scrap, but apparently there is interest in the Denon amp. However, if anyone knows of a shop that would like the units (I'll give them away) and wants to sell them, please send me a PM. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Noticed 3 new religious channels OTA (38.1-3) in the CO Spgs. area along with KRDO (13.1) now broadcasting in 5.1 surround. That only took 6 years.

Based on TVfool, I may even be able to pull it in with my northwest facing antenna. I can't get 51, but can get everything else. Of course, if it's still Daystar, I'm not really going to care.

Christian Television Alliance runs ch. 38 in Colo. Spgs. They also run ch. 23 in Denver.

http://www.channel23.org/

I know the purpose of this thread has more to do with TV service than it does ISP, but I am curious how you felt about the differences between the two services when you were frequently bouncing between the two. I have been waiting and waiting for DSL fiber based service to come to my area. It has been in the area three blocks from my home for over two years now but still not in my area so I'm getting tired. That and I have recently noticed that my old trusty DSL seems to be having serious performance issues lately so I've been considering jumping to the dark side of Comcast. It is a little bit more expensive, but I often hear people complain of annual price increases, being capped, throttled, etc. So I'm curious how you have felt about the two services, and particularly from anyone with Comcast in the Briargate area.

Thanks in advance.

Scott,
When both were only 3Mbps (and I could get 2.5 best on either) and it was before Qwest was bought out, the DSL was actually more consistent than Comcast. Now, with Comcast at 20Mbps there is no comparison since Century Link is still at 3 in my area. I can't complain about Comcast as my speeds are very fast and consistent. I actually have a monitor on performance as part of a study I'm participating in and their performance has been excellent. It's a shame their cable TV service doesn't match it. I do use my own equipment with a separate modem and router and the modem isn't that new (not DOCSIS 3). My son lives just north of you in Fox Run and has Comcast and is satisfied with performance (not price), but he can't get the faster DSL. My daughter is in northern CO and has Century Link High-Speed and her service is good. She streams a lot from like Hulu and the kids play games with no problems.

I'm curious about a couple of your comments:

1. What kind of performance monitoring are you doing and who is conducting the study?

2. Will study results be published?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

BTW I live about a quarter of a mile from a CenturyLink central office (a satellite office in Colo Spgs). So I'm presuming there's fiber nearby. Interestingly, according to the website for residential service I can get their "up to" 20 Mbps download/896 kbps upload for $25/mo. Of course the operative words are "up to" - wonder what it really would be. The highest small business tier is "up to" 12 Mbps but it doesn't state whether that's both directions or download only. The price is $85/mo. While no big fan of Comcast, their service is reasonably good. The cost though ... Grrrrr. Wish we had FiOS to the home.

Cheers

The reporting is through SamKnows.

It's a national study for the FCC to check broadband performance.

Just go to their site with the link above. You can sign up, but you need to use their router which sends them the data. Mine is a Netgear 3500 which is an excellent wireless n gigabit router with an added usb storage port.

Does anybody else in the area have experiences to share regarding CableCARD with a Ceton InfiniTV tuner? I've got one on the way and I'm kinda pumped about having all my channels on my PC.

I use one and it is great! The comcast guy was clueless who installed it, but I just kinda pushed him along and it went well. Thank God.

Definitely read up on the commercial skip setup and remote potato. They're my favorite features of it.

I got my InfiniTV 4 and have it set up. It's AWESOME! Only thing is, it only uses 2 of the tuners, but I can still watch one program while recording another, going to see how it works tomorrow morning with recording the E3 Nintendo press conference while I watch The Price is Right.

 

Edit: I moved the tuner card to a different slot, now I get all 4 tuners. Watching something while recording something else works beautifully.

 

Now, to make my PC into my Total Entertainment Center, I just need a turntable!

Edited by rockinricky - 6/6/12 at 7:11pm

You work for Comtrash (A.K.A. infinitely expensive by Comtrash) don't you?!!

Nope, I don't work for anybody, just an unemployed student.

Hmmm, I must have been feeling a bit feisty when I posted that.

As you might have deduced by my last post, I'm not a big Comcast fan.

Since it's been awhile since there's been a post on this thread, I thought I'd pass along my first reception of true OTA HDTV in
"captivating" Canon City. Didn't try very hard as I used an FM wire antenna w/ a 75 ohm jack.

Not surprisingly, I only got 5.1 & 5.2 courtesy of the RF 19 translator for KOAA. Per the FCCs TV query, the translators for
KKTV and KRDO are now digital, but still pretty low-wattage, so it looks like an outdoor antenna for them.

And with no FOX or PBS available via translator here, it looks like DISH gets to keep getting $30/month from us.

Well, looks like there will be some encryption changes coming to Cable provided basic tier service. The way I read it, QAM tuners on TVs may not be a viable option for basic tier service. You'll either have to have a STB or CableCARD. Here's the summary of a rule published in the Federal Register on 11/09/12:

"In this document, the Commission adopts new rules to allow cable operators to encrypt the basic service tier in all-digital systems, provided that those cable operators undertake certain consumer protection measures for a limited period of time in order to minimize any potential subscriber disruption."

The complete rule is at:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/11/09/2012-27350/basic-service-tier-encryption-compatibility-between-cable-systems-and-consumer-electronics-equipment

Cross posted on the COMCAST HDTV AVS Forum

I was aware this was going to take place. I've decided to get a clearstream antenna and I'm using XBMC. Cutting the cable tv completely.

That will give you a better selection of channels and better picture quality than "limited basic." No college channels and no Springs TV, but you pick up KBDI's subchannels. Folks on the north side may also be able to pull in Denver stations including THIS on KWGN, MeTV on KTVD, and Antenna TV on KDVR.

I have picked-up a denver station when I first moved, but haven't checked if I still get it. I've seen some internet offers from Peak Internet, but I'm weary to change.

Are there any HD Radio channels broadcast in the area?

The answer to the HD radio question is yes: http://www.hdradio.com/stations/Colorado-CO/Colorado+Springs-18

Anywhere North of the actual Austin Bluffs (which are North of UCCS and includes Palmer Park may be able to pick up Denver stations with a roof top antenna. TV fool says that the Denver VHF stations (KMGH and KUSA) are quite strong in the Academy and Dublin area, and I've picked up all the Denver full power UHF stations in the Focus on the Family Parking lot with a 5" loop antenna.

Does anyone know anything about Blind Captioning (please correct me on the term) on RMPBS? I recently rebuilt my HTPC and using a new tuner card and this morning I noticed that a narrator is describing what is going on. Took me a while to realize it wasn't really part of the show itself. I'm recording OTA if that means anything. Is it possible to turn this off? Is it burned into the audio track from RMPBS, or is it a separate closed caption track? Is it the tuner card that is picking this up and my old tuner card did not? I apologize for the ramble of questions. I haven't encountered this before and I don't have a clue how to begin removing it. I did do some searching but couldn't find much on it.

Cheers,
Scott