jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Since I'm redoing the network wiring and eliminating the phone modem, I thought it might be time to get a new modem. The one I have must be at least thirty years old - from Time-Warner. It's an Arris SB6121 (discontinued). Since I don't have superfast Internet here, I don't need a $300 modem. There are some top-rated ones in the $50 range - Arris and Motorola.

Looking at my Spectrum bill, I don't see a rental charge for the modem. The billing looks awfully suspicious, though. I'm paying $150 for the three services, yet they are charging me an extra $40.90.

Bundled services - $149.99
Spectrum TV $6.00
Spectrum Internet $10.00
Other charges $24.90
Taxes $12.10

Comments and suggestions gladly accepted.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

We badly need to re-regulate telecommunication services in this country and go back to cost based rate of return pricing.

Stan

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Other charges could be things like franchise fees for certain channels.
We get a "sports" fee, or something like that......

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

So what are the "other charges?"

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

More income for Spectrum. I can see me canceling phone and TV with them, and my bill dropping from $203 to $200. When you're the only game in town, you can do whatever you want.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No extra channels. They must have a hundred people assigned to figuring out how to put these "packages" together. I think the basic TV deal gets you two channels, one from China and one from Syria. If you want the "Special" TV deal, you get five hundred more channels for only $100 a month. No matter what you want, it will always add a lot to the bill. Deleting things removes just a little from the bill. It's totally illogical.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

My spectrum bill is $94/month for 400mb down/12 up and VOIP phone, with them providing the modem (both for IP and phone). It’s too much, but the only good option at this point. I’m not clear how much it would drop if Iremoved the VOIP phone as their pricing is so variable and opaque.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'll be adding about $73 for YouTube TV to whatever Spectrum decides to charge me after dropping phone and TV.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

I've often thought that everything in the US was cheaper than here. But maybe internet speed isn't one of them. Your US $94 = NZ $151. I get 305mb down and 109mb up with phone over the internet but it costs me about NZ $92 and modem free (I think the modem cost me about $100 as I had to buy my own because none of the supplied models would allow me to change my internal address from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.100.x. Probably yet another example of cost saving ?).

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Spectrum sent me a card saying my modem was outdated and they will exchange for a modern one.

Jerry are you talking about the modem or the Router? The Router is your responsibility.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, I realize that. The Deco will be my router - I think.

Roger Dickinson Loc: Boston

Jerry, great topic.

We used Optimum (internet, TV & Phone) here in rural CT for ages. In January I called and removed phone and TV which reduced the bill a tiny bit. Last fall Frontier had strung fiber optic along our street and they just sent us an ad for internet that is a third of what Optimum’s new (and they said “special”) rate was for internet only. And 2x speed no less. With the Frontier advertisement in front of me I called Optimum again and after 45 minutes got another $10/month off. Wow. I then called Frontier to set up an installation! The guys came on Sunday, got it working with their free routers and extenders. I then called to cancel Optimum. This call took over an hour with multiple holds so that they could come back on the phone with a new rate. I could not cancel and they would not honor my multiple cancellation demands. Eventually, I got a supervisor and, you know what? He put me on hold and came back with a rate that matched Frontier. I was furious. What an ordeal.

And, yes, these firms grossly overcharge customers when they can. Unabashedly. But there is nothing like competition!

Roger

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Do you know what "Bundled services" includes?

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

I suspect that the other charges could be the Broadcast TV surcharge, but how do you get Spectrum internet for $10?

Tommg

The charges you show don't make sense ... I have Spectrum, and the charge for internet alone is $70.00/mo. Extra charges for the cable box and for the internet modem, all charges are detailed on the bill - look closely! I get the feeling you are not telling the whole story - cherry-picking information. Assuming your cable provider (Spectrum) has a franchise with either the city, or county that charge is also broken out on the bill. You do realize that Spectrum has to pay every supplier of programming and it's not cheap! Good luck