Unfortunately, I would get rid of my landline, but the package discounts through Comcast prevent that. I was going to eliminate the landline and reduce my Internet speed at one point, but the monthly difference would have been about $5. They got me.
C
I hear you. Bundling can be a double-edged sword, though. I just don't see how my wife can justify continuing with our AT&T bundle. All we have is the landline and their DSL Internet. The thing is, we're paying $100/month for 12 gbps Internet, and the landline (which even she rarely ever uses). But I've never "clocked" my Internet speed at much more than 7-8 gbps
on a good day! Normally I get 5 gbps.
After repeated visits by a technician and no improvement in speed, one very honest tech told me the problem wasn't with our house's wiring, our equipment, etc. It was the wiring and junctions and the like a few blocks away from our house which connect to the larger network. The guy said he honestly believed some of that crap was installed in the 1960s! And given we live in a small town about 30 miles outside of Indianapolis, upgrading their infrastructure here locally most likely doesn't rank very high at all on AT&T's list of priorities.
After (yet another) angry phone call to AT&T, threatening to cut everything off altogether, the sheepish Customer Support moron offered to slash our bill 50% for twelve months since I wasn't "getting what I was paying for." I said, "Okay. Then in a year from now, I'll be right back in the same boat I'm in right now. What are you going to do then?" All he could say was we could cross that bridge when we came to it.
To AT&T's credit (no pun intended), they cut our bill to a flat $40/month
for everything. Who knows what can happen between now and 8 months hence?
- AT&T might actually complete their fiber optic network, giving everyone in town a much-wanted speed bump (without raising prices).
- They may well permanently extend our discounted rate for less-than-advertised speeds.
- I can teach my wife's horse to sing hymns.
At any rate, my son has Comcast Internet-only, and is paying for a 25 gbps service, and my software consistently shows he's getting speeds well north of 40 gbps, and getting it for about $55/month.
We're already paying $100/month just for an enhanced "basic" cable service with about 150 channels. I think we'd be much better off switching. The thing is, when we got married about 20 years ago, I sold my house because my wife wanted to live here in her house, where she's had AT&T phone service since she first bought the place 30 years ago, so I've always let those things remain solely in her domain. That doesn't mean I might not get a burr under my saddle one day and just force the issue. I just prefer not rocking an otherwise blissful boat.