Ah, the creeping up of Atlantic Broadband fees begins...

[imaref]

Well that didn't take long.

From the internet billing statement I just received from Atlantic Broadband:

"We have continued to incur significant costs for ongoing improvements to our internet infrastructure. As a result, beginning with your October statement, we will be introducing the following new fees:

$3.25/month High Speed Network Recovery Fee for internet customers"

Wonder if those who have both TV and internet will get stuck with this fee as well, or if it's just for those of us who have internet service only...

Recovery fee? Just call it what it is--High Speed Network Increased Dividends to Our Shareholders Fee...

 

[Gilligan]

If it was such a lucrative business....it wouldn't have been sold/transferred five times since I first got cable. I sure wish we had another option...because the dead technology that is cable is "too damned high".

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Metrocast use to do the exact same thing, when I had cable my bill would go up by 10-15 cents a month it seemed.

 

[stgislander]

If it was such a lucrative business....it wouldn't have been sold/transferred five times since I first got cable. I sure wish we had another option...because the dead technology that is cable is "too damned high".

It would still be faster than our current T1 service.

 

[Gilligan]

It would still be faster than our current T1 service.

But even less reliable...there's the rub..

 

[mitzi]

Well that didn't take long.

From the internet billing statement I just received from Atlantic Broadband:

"We have continued to incur significant costs for ongoing improvements to our internet infrastructure. As a result, beginning with your October statement, we will be introducing the following new fees:

$3.25/month High Speed Network Recovery Fee for internet customers"

Wonder if those who have both TV and internet will get stuck with this fee as well, or if it's just for those of us who have internet service only...

Recovery fee? Just call it what it is--High Speed Network Increased Dividends to Our Shareholders Fee...

High Speed Network Recovery Fee? Several times a day for over a month now, mine gets sluggish. I've run some tests and it's not my PC, it's the service. Let's "recover" some speed.

 

[mitzi]

If it was such a lucrative business....it wouldn't have been sold/transferred five times since I first got cable. I sure wish we had another option...because the dead technology that is cable is "too damned high".

What was it before Metrocast? I can't remember.

 

[imaref]

I think it was GMP Cable. Not positive, though...

 

[SamSpade]

I noticed that too and this time I finally got angry enough.......

I SO wish I could get my family on board with this, because with the outrageous bill from ABB - *AND* the handful of growing streaming costs they all want in addition - I can barely handle it all.

At the bottom of it all - I absolutely have to have their Internet package. I work from home, and I need the speed, and no one else offers it where I live.

I don't know of an alternative arrangement I can create that will -

1. Abandon ABB for TV
2. Keep a working house phone
3. Be able to record live TV and
4. Keep up to a whole season's worth of ANY show
5. Be able to watch any one of those in any room in the house that has a DVR.

We subscribe to a number of streaming services. While they offer reruns and such - the BEST
some of them offer is to watch the show a day late, but sometimes a week - if at all. We might
miss a season of shows - and find that our service keeps only five - if that. Or doesn't carry this
or that network, when - if you have a DVR, it will record absolutely anything.

Of course, there's also - LIVE TV. Breaking news, morning weather, local news, local events.

When I add it all up - I don't see significant savings.

I'd be much better off not watching TV at all.

 

[Gilligan]

What was it before Metrocast? I can't remember.

GMP?..and Western Shore before that...going back any farther would tax the old bean too much. ;-)

 

[mitzi]

GMP?..and Western Shore before that...going back any farther would tax the old bean too much. ;-)

Yes, Western Shore is the one I was trying to remember. I lived in the north end of the county until 96 and we had Jones Intercable back then. I think that changed to Comcast.

 

[mitzi]

I noticed that too and this time I finally got angry enough to call and ask how much I was paying for cable. $106.oo for expanded basic and at least 70% of that is crap I never bother to watch. So I jotted down what I really watch and what I could live without and went with Sling. I found out later there were actually better offers out there with more options than Sling as well. At any rate, I no longer get the majority of local channels (which I seldom watch anyway), nor MSNBC and Fox. I do get CNN, which I don't watch religiously, which means I no longer get much political news. Win win, after two days I realized that I don't miss it.

What I did get, is a $29.00 month bill that gives me my most watched channels AND I packed up all those stupid boxes and got rid of all the cable wires including 300 feet of cable that I was forced to use with a splitter in order to make cable/internet work in my son's room. Metrocast was never able to fix that little problem despite my constant bitching.

So far I've been really happy with my choice and was able to binge watch Mayans MC and The Purge to my hearts content. AND just yesterday I found out it has a pause feature!!! Who knew? What a great idea! (I'm not so much technically savvy)

I finally broke down and got a Firestick. I just couldn't keep paying over $100 a month to watch TV. There are downfalls and it's a big adjustment. I always watched the news on the local stations. Firestick comes with 2 browsers and you can get local news live on the local stations thru their website on the browser. You can't watch most of the stations without a cable provider sign on, but I found a way around that. No live TV at all, so everything you have to watch a day or so later. Certain special programs that my be live streamed you can get thru the station's website on the browser. It's a big adjustment and I'm still not used to it. But the savings is worth the adjustment to me. I can use that $100 plus for much better things than just wanting to watch TV. If you have an Amazon Prime account you are able watch tons of good movies, that's a bonus.

 

[stgislander]

You can't watch most of the stations without a cable provider sign on, but I found a way around that.

This is what I want to know... the work around. Some of the providers have an app you can download if you have a Windows 10 compatible PC or laptop to plug into your TV. Is that the work around you are talking about?

 

[mitzi]

This is what I want to know... the work around. Some of the providers have an app you can download if you have a Windows 10 compatible PC or laptop to plug into your TV. Is that the work around you are talking about?

No lol. My work around is my daughter lets me use her log in to the cable company.

 

[stgislander]

No lol. My work around is my daughter lets me use her log in to the cable company.

 

[stgislander]

A $4.00/month Sports Programming Fee for any customers who subscribe to any TV service that includes our Expanded Basic or Digital Plus Service.

 

[imaref]

...but you can rest easy knowing that Atlantic Broadband's investors will be happy with their dividends...

 

[jazz lady]

My bill went down...





















by a penny. True story!

 

[jazz lady]

And that didn't last long...

My bill went down...





















by a penny. True story!

Got my latest bill today and it went up $7.98 a month. The breakdown:

• Local TV Surcharge increased from $10.50 to $11.00 for a net increase of $.50 a month
• New fee: High Speed Network Recovery Fee for $3.25 a month
• New fee: Sports Surcharge for $4.00 a month

If I hadn't locked in for a year for their BasicPlus Turbo for $99.99 a month when I started my service in March, it would be $178.80.

 

[hitchicken]

Look at OTA. I get 45 channels on my worst day to 73 on my better days. Many are HD. (It ain't your grandfather's analog OTA any more.) I get all the local news from Washington, Baltimore & Salsbury (2,4,5,7,9,11,13,16,20,45...). I get all the Redskins, Ravens games (except when exclusively offered by ESPN and NFL networks). It's free after a 1 time cost for 'fringe' antenna, rotor, booster, powered splitter and coax (about $350)... as many TVs as you want playing different channels. No internet needed. The downside is it's ugly (ghetto appearance - I keep mine in the back yard), and it's susceptible to air traffic.

I have 4 old Rokus, 3 smart TVs and stream Netflix and Amazon Prime along with all those 'free' streamer channels available on the Fire, Roku or virtually any wifi streamer hardware. I use home internal cable rather than wifi whenever possible.

Be aware. Sling, Netflix, Fire, Roku and all streaming channels all still require a decent high speed internet connection and that's what ABB provides. They got a lock. You FIOS people are lucky (but the price is still high). Otherwise, U outa luck.