Save roughly $7.00 per month on Comcast broadband internet if you are not a cable subscriber.

[cjchaps]

I am moving to a new house so I called up Comcast cable in Illinois. I asked them how much Broadband internet is if you are are not a cable subscriber. They told me it is around $58 a month, and if you are a cable/TV subscriber it is around $43 a month. I then asked them what the cheapest cable/TV service they had was, and they told me the cheapest basic non-digital service is $7.95 a month. I then asked if I subscribe to that service, what my bill would be, and they told me around $51 a month. Seems rather stupid that they make you pay an extra $15 if you are not a cable subscriber, but you can subscribe for around $8.00 a month, at least in Chicago. I believe other areas of the nation will have different basic non-digital service costs, but you might want to call up Comcast and see if yours is cheaper. Also, there are offers posted here and on FW that you can get broadband for around $20 for your first 6 months.

So:
Broadband internet subscriber without cable/tv subscription total cost: $58
Broadband internet subscriber with basic non-digital cable TV total cost: $51 ($43+$7.95)

Another benefit of doing this is that you will get the basic cable TV stations legally.

 

[kuhurdler]

Just an addition to this: in my state, city, they charge lots of taxes if you have cable TV, however, if I just have the high speed internet there are no taxes (exept on the $.95 "cable-guard" service) so be sure you don't end up paying the same amount in taxes for your cheap cable TV.
WHen I had comcast broadband we didn't subscribe to cable, but the salesperson actually told us we would be getting the first 24 channels for free if we did hook it up to our tv. they promoted it as a perk over DSL. So, I'm not sure it would be illegal

 

[nickmarine]

Same deal in Nor Cal
Cheaper for both so why not
I was told the deal is they want you to be able to buy the pay per view crap and this is why.
Don't know if this is true

Nick

 

[sparhawk6]

Is there something speciel that I have to ask them? Every time that I call up Comcast to order cable TV, they always swear to me that the cheapest package is some $40 basic cable package. What is the name of that $7.95 package?

 

[cjchaps]

It might be called the antenna basic package, or the local basic package. The channels you receive are the same ones you can pick up off the air waves. You might want to ask for a manager the next time someone tells you they don't offer that package.

Originally posted by: sparhawk6
Is there something speciel that I have to ask them? Every time that I call up Comcast to order cable TV, they always swear to me that the cheapest package is some $40 basic cable package. What is the name of that $7.95 package?

 

[nickmarine]

Hello,

The deal I have is with Broadband and the cheap cable is an add-on.
I had broadband and 2 digital boxes before and the $112 a month was just not worth
it so I took them back and asked just to have the broadband and the lady told me I could have the cable
also (no digital box-basic cable) and the deal would be cheaper so I went for it.

Hope this clears things a bit

Nick

 

[Madcat207]

Originally posted by: sparhawk6
Is there something speciel that I have to ask them? Every time that I call up Comcast to order cable TV, they always swear to me that the cheapest package is some $40 basic cable package. What is the name of that $7.95 package?

Yeah.. its an all-around Comcast deal.. Just try to talk to somebody else about it.

Anyway, this "deal" is not location specific, so have no worries folks.

 

[anazoal]

The analog cable package is usually divided into "tiers". The basic or "local channels only" tier is usually under $10/mo. Try and get a channel listing flyer from your local Comcast outlet or any of Comcast vans. Keep in mind that availability and lineup vary considerably across markets.

Edit:

BTW, look into the lineup/pricing for the other tiers (e.g. for $7 more I could get another tier that included Disney, FoodTV, HGTV, plus lots more - no news, sports, or music channels though).

 

[ObviousMan]

It is definitely true in Chicago area.

Check if you hav WOW cable (wide open west - fmr Ameritech cable) in your area, it is way cheaper than Comcast rip-off.

OM

 

[Noirish]

I'm paying $400 per year for broadband.
Nope, I don't have cable TV.
I guess I'm locked in

 

[r01axb]

If you get Broadband internet and not cable, can't you just split the signal and get free cable - premium channels - not just the local that your paying $8 for.

 

[farstar]

this is not just a Comcrap deal, the service is required by regulation, it is called "broadcast" service. Many of the salespeople will not mention it, you have to ask for it. Sometimes when you ask they will play dumb or maybe they really are. Talk to someone else if your cable company says they don't offer "broadcast" service.

 

[HighPsi50]

Same deal here in Arkansas, Comcast calls it Limited Basic or Lifeline Cable, something to that effect. And yes, it used to be that if you got just the limited basic, you could still get all the regular basic channels if you went around their box (they used to make limited basic customers have cable boxes on all outlets) Then they did away with the boxes and for a while you could get all the channels anyway. But now they have tunable filters that they install and they have pretty much filtered out everything but strictly the locals. But its worth the 11 bucks it costs, at least until DirecTV gets around serving us local into local.

 

[deahdeen]

This applies to Cox Cable in Virginia too. They charge an extra $15 if you don't have any cable service. The cheapest cable is $12. You only save $3, but I think its worth it. Plus, one of the channels you get isn't an OTA channel and it sometimes has NBA or NHL games on it when both local teams have a game at the same time an only one can be shown on the sportsnet channel. This channel also isn't on satellite so its usually the only way to see the game without actually going.

 

[grandeCC]

I believe that Time Warner offers Broadband w/o basic cable.
Wonder why Comcast is different...

 

[Bacinator]

Same deal in Maryland.

But no one really addressed, why:

If you have one service, it is likely that if you are dissapointed, you will pull anchor, and troll over to another company.

If they got you for 2 or more services (like cable, inet, AND digital telephone), you are much less likely to jump ship because of bad customer service.

Collecting less money ensures they keep you longer, and can continue to poorly fund their CSR's, resulting in commonly poor service, due to this poor business idea in the first place.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Comcast calls it Limited Basic or Lifeline Cable, something to that effect.

Lifeline cable??? I've heard of Lifeline Phone, but cable?

My university in Santa Barbara, California, has set up a monopoly where you get one and only one choice in cable. It's $40 with the basics including two CNNs, two ESPNs, an MTV, a VH1, stuff like that. No option for more (ie. no movie channels) or less. Of course, Ethernet is free regardless of your cable situation...

I long for my days back at UIUC where we had ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS coming over the airwaves. Here, we have ABC over the air. That's it.

Kill me.

 

[Bacinator]

Originally posted by: r01axb
If you get Broadband internet and not cable, can't you just split the signal and get free cable - premium channels - not just the local that your paying $8 for.

Passive Theft means having active cable service in your residence without notifying the cable operator. (Example: You move into a new apartment that has active service but you do not notify the cable operator.)
Cable Theft dot com

They've had Cable Company / Police sting units working on this earlier this year. They inspect the boxes, audit connections, any illegal terminations, connections, wires, etc, are traced/tracked back to the offending person/cable reciever (either phsyically, or digitally), and people are slapped with a bill for as long as they've lived there, or the last time the box was audited, and failure to pay the bill results in the cable company (Comcast in this case) filing multiple criminal charges with the police. Fun.

Other Links of info:
Cox - Cable Theft FAQ
Comcast - Integrated Solutions - Handheld Scanners Help Curb Cable Theft [3rd paragraph
SECTION 633 ? CABLE COMMUNICATIONS POLICY ACT OF 1984
Excerpt from last link:
?(C) In any case where the court finds that the violator was not aware and had no reason to believe that his acts constituted a violation of this section, the court in its discretion may reduce the amount of damages to a sum of not less than $100.

Read it again. It says if you DIDNT know you were stealing it, and the court proves it, your still obligated to pay NOT less than $100.

EDIT:
Simple answer to the quoted question. No. They put a 'blocker' in the box, where they patch your cable feed, to their signal (usually <100ft from your house). They have digital AND analog blockers, and also now use network addressing for computers, router, modems, and some cable boxes. If you remove this blocker (aka Filter), and/or bypass their other protections, you are 'intentionally' commiting a crime.

 

[Noirish]

Currently I'm paying less than $35 a month for Comcast Broadband.
I don't have their Cable TV service.
If they ever decided to charge me more, DSL here I come.
They are cheaper and faster now.

 

[ericlp]

Originally posted by: Bacinator

Originally posted by: r01axb
If you get Broadband internet and not cable, can't you just split the signal and get free cable - premium channels - not just the local that your paying $8 for.

Passive Theft means having active cable service in your residence without notifying the cable operator. (Example: You move into a new apartment that has active service but you do not notify the cable operator.)
Cable Theft dot com



Good luck for that to hold up in court. If you buy / rent a house that has cable feed comming into it then they can't F*** with you. The only way they can take action is if you mess with the cable box or go up the pole to uncap the fillter on the line. Even if they did notice that someone did it more then once they could not do anything unless they had proof ... Pics your fingerprints on the filter..etc..etc.. Other wise who's to say someone else even the cable dude himself was not messing around with the box? Most of the time they will just lock the box.

Read it again. It says if you DIDNT know you were stealing it, and the court proves it, your still obligated to pay NOT less than $100.

Yeah, I read it again, what should be in caps and underlined is PROVES IT...

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: Bacinator
Same deal in Maryland.

But no one really addressed, why:

If you have one service, it is likely that if you are dissapointed, you will pull anchor, and troll over to another company.

If they got you for 2 or more services (like cable, inet, AND digital telephone), you are much less likely to jump ship because of bad customer service.

Collecting less money ensures they keep you longer, and can continue to poorly fund their CSR's, resulting in commonly poor service, due to this poor business idea in the first place.

Unfortunately, many apartment complexes in Maryland have only one choice for broadbad: $60/month Comcast.

If you live in Maryland, check out Starpower, they seem decent. Not all residences can get Starpower, though.

 

[Lurker1]

I originally got AT&T broadband. My house came pre-wired for cable and SOHO, so when they installed it, they tested the connection by hooking it up to my TV... So, we had free basic cable initially. Selection was crap, though, so got Dish Network. Then bought a widescreen HD mitsubishi, and for a couple of days we had a bit of fun switching between cable and dish, comparing the stations, and noting how poor cable reception was. Convinced us to not use cable, so it sat unused.

Then Comcast bought AT&T cable assets, and one day during a particularly bad storm, the dish temporarily lost service (happens about 2 times a year, fyi, and usually the outage only lasts for 5-15 min until the storm clouds move on) and I switched to cable. Lo and behold, comcast had placed filters in their boxes - no cable! No biggie, and don't have a clue when they did it. I do wish the service cost would come down a little, however, they apparently are doubling our max speeds, so for the same price I suppose I can live with that :-D.

 

[RDMustang1]

In the Dallas area they don't charge more for not having cable tv. It's $42/month for broadband through Comcast if you have cable TV or not

 

[unknown]

For those that reside in the following States - Earthlink (powered by Comcast) is available for $45/mo.
This worked to my benefit as I have DirecTV and didn't have a need for cable TV.
Earthlink Cable is avail in the following states:
Washington State
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Maine

 

[woodscomp]

Originally posted by: unknown
For those that reside in the following States - Earthlink (powered by Comcast) is available for $45/mo.
This worked to my benefit as I have DirecTV and didn't have a need for cable TV.
Earthlink Cable is avail in the following states:
Washington State
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Maine

Hmm I live in WA state and have Comcast (Communist Cast) and it cost $53 a month weather you take the basic cable or not. Nothing available in my area that has Earthlink attached to it except dial up.