We are moving to Waco, need to select a TV and internet provider. Want a package that gives best Baylor sports coverage. Suggestions please. Thanks much.

Some questions:

1) How much is money an object? Obviously, no one asks to over-pay, but are you comfortable funding the "big as I can get" cable bundles, or are you looking to economize?
2) How technical are you? Do you want a "turn-key" solution that plugs in to your TV and you just watch it, or are you OK with multiple inputs and streaming?

Grande Cable 300mbps down 20 up. ~$60/month.

Apple TV 4 or Roku Ultimate (one for each TV)

PS VUE Core $44.99/month You get all the ESPN's, All the Fox sports channels in this region, CBS Sports Network. I haven't found a televised baylor game I can't get.

Optional

Tablo Dual lite $139.99 ($50/year for guide, you'll want that). plus antenna for local stations.

Watch all that stuff on any device.

^^^^^
That's the optimal setup. I run my PSVue on an AmazonTV box, but the AppleTV will work as well or better.

Thanks for the replies. I am into simple, money not a big concern. Wondering if Grande is any better/worse the Spectrum?

HepCat said:

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Thanks for the replies. I am into simple, money not a big concern. Wondering if Grande is any better/worse the Spectrum?

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Worse, but only marginally. I've had both and they both love to screw you by consistently adding fees, and taxes, and surcharges to raise the price you thought you agreed to. With Grande my bill nearly doubled over a couple years period without me adding any channels or services or changing my agreed to contract price in any way; Spectrum is not as bad as Grande but they will also nickel & dime you to death with increased fees and taxes and surcharges.

As might be known, I don't watch much TV outside of sports, but my Internet connection has to be bulletproof. In that regard, I had MUCH better luck with Grande than Time Warner/Spectrum/AT&T/whoever owns them now. Of course, I ask it to do a lot. YMMV.

MrGolfguy said:

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HepCat said:

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Thanks for the replies. I am into simple, money not a big concern. Wondering if Grande is any better/worse the Spectrum?

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Worse, but only marginally. I've had both and they both love to screw you by consistently adding fees, and taxes, and surcharges to raise the price you thought you agreed to. With Grande my bill nearly doubled over a couple years period without me adding any channels or services or changing my agreed to contract price in any way; Spectrum is not as bad as Grande but they will also nickel & dime you to death with increased fees and taxes and surcharges.

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I'll agree but also disagree. Grande will raise your rates and nickel and dime you; however, I call them once a year and they lower my bill.

Overall, Grande is cheaper than Spectrum, but you have to manage them.

Grande's customer service in infinitely better than Spectrum/TW/Roadrunner. 24/7 service via phone and they can usually have someone out to your house the next day if you have an issue that needs to be resolved physically.

Grande's channel lineup is arranged much better than Spectrum's.

I am biased. I've had Grande since '99 in Waco.

Coke Bear said:

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I'll agree but also disagree. Grande will raise your rates and nickel and dime you; however, I call them once a year and they lower my bill.

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I did call Grande every so often to lower my bill until it became pointless. It finally became "Why am I playing their little games? I shouldn't have to keep them in check." The way they treat customers and do business is borderline criminal imo.

Grande does have pretty good customer service and their consumer Internet is pretty rock solid (for a consumer product). I too was tired of their games with increasing rates, that's why I ditched them for an over the top internet service. While the initial setup is somewhat confusing, I don't find it difficult to manage, especially on an apple tv. Every source is right there whether its netflix, amazon prime, movies from iTunes, Fox Sports Go, Watch ESPN or even my streaming music (I use Apple Music, but Spotify or even Pandora would work as well).

The major benefit is that if I feel PS Vue is screwing me over, I just switch to a service I like better. Nobody to call, no equipment to change out. When ESPN and Fox Sports offer stand alone subscription services, I might drop PS Vue. Just need sports channels, the locals/networks, Netfilx (the utility of which I am beginning to question), Prime Video and iTunes.

You might also check on Hulu's live TV offering. You can get a tier with the standard Hulu offering included.

Grande is likely looking at getting acquired. Even after the merger between RCN, Wave Broadband and Grande last year they do not have the bulk to compete with the nationals. Consolidation continues in the internet business. And that's the portion of the business that has future value, being an ISP. Cable, while far from dead, has a limited future.

Waco has been burying fibre furiously over the last 6 months. I'm hoping someone's about to offer me a true "fibre to the wall" option.

As a breakdown, all the TV channels carried over cable now are "digital". That means they're sent as data, rather than the analog "wave" stuff that your cable box used to get. At that time, the cable box was a "tuner" that interpreted those waves. Nowadays, the cable box is just a computer running a program that turns those digital data streams into video for display on your TV. It's like when you use Windows Media Player to watch a video file on your computer.

You can use other hardware, and that hardware runs other programs. I'm an Amazon Prime customer, so AmazonTV boxes make sense for me. They're cheap, and powerful. One thing they can do is run an app called "Sony PSVue". You sign up for the channel package you want (on the website), download the app on the AmazonTV box, launch it, log in, and you're watching TV like you have a "cable box" (complete with cloud DVR).

CorsicanaBear points out that PSVue has no contracts. Cancel (or change service offerings) anytime you want. It also lets you run 5 devices at the same time. I typically take my Amazon Fire tablet with me to Baylor games, connect to the wifi, and watch ancillary games in the stadium.

Thanks very much for all the info. I will go with Grande for now as we have a short fuse on getting this done. I can be a real jerk to providers if they jack with my account, guess I need to be vigilant. Thanks again!

I can't add much to the conversation other than to say there's a lot of very good and accurate information given. I had two problems with Grande that caused me to switch to Spectrum. Their "basic" DVR/cable box is horrifically obsolete. The channel guide and remote were straight out of the '90s.Number two, I'm not a fan of their version of Tivo, simply because the apps it brings along (Netflix, YouTube, etc) I already receive by way of my Roku TV. Also, the Tivo doesn't have a **** clock on the display which drives me crazy (YMMV here).

My other reason for using Spectrum was they offered a two year pricing package instead of Grande's one year deal. The internet download speed on my package is 400 mbits vs. Grande's 300 mbits, with both supplying 20 mbits up. I'm not a gamer, so this wasn't as much of an issue for me as it could be for others.

Also, the young lady representing Spectrum was very well informed and adorable, while the Grande guy was a mouth breather who acted as if he would prefer to be doing anything but trying to earn my business. Again YMMV.

Things may have changed but I Iive in downtown Waco and Grande told me I was not in their service area, by a few blocks. This was 2 years ago.

Grande doubling rates in 2 years is quite right. You can't get emotionally or habitually attached to one ompnay or the other. Choose one. When they begin to price gouge after a couple of years, get the package from the other. It's inconvenient but the only way to get a decent price.