yadkin

I can't find any economical internet prices. TWC/Spectrum is wanting $56/mo for internet only (12 mb). Yadtel charges $10 per month more than their advertised price if you don't bundle. So, their 12 mb internet only price would be $51.99+$10 = $61.99.

I did have century-link for the while I was a rebel from TV/Spectrum. It was ok. There is also yadtel but I don't know how much they charge.

A friend of mine bought a subscription to slingTV and it's got a pretty good lineup but again you do need the internet.

Depending on where you live, and if someone nearby has TW, you can actually share the TW bill and buy equipment that will let you "beam" an internet signal up to 100 miles. It's actually not that expensive either. But make sure you are on good terms with whoever you share the account with as you can see each other's networks ;)

Thank you for the response. Time-Warner, now Spectrum, does not serve my residence address. And Time-Warner has not been a "good neighbor" at other property I own-- to say the least.

oh, forgot to mention about the phones.

whatever you do, do NOT EVER "BUNDLE" anything. complete scam and total revenue generator for companies. they drool, rub their hands together greedily, and mutter "exxxxxx-cellent" whenever a customer goes for any ridiculous "bundle". The phone service they offer you only costs them 85 cents a month, so think of that.

Just get internet, and you can get yourself a VOIP phone. While magicjack is cheap, you can get the same 85 cents a month phone by getting your own voip account and configuring your own voip router that you plug into your phone or house wiring. For a small consultation fee, I'll even set it all up for you :) just PM me

Sorry for late response. I have been with TimeWarner forever... BUT I also call every year (or when the price rises) and ask for a new/current promotion, and if they say they don't have one then I say to end my service as it's too expensive. They say "hold on, let me see if there's something else I can do" then they usually find something lol. One time I actually had to cancel it as they refused to offer a lower rate so I had to go with a DSN internet provider for a few months. But the speed was way less. I called TW back to see if they could give me any promotions and they did. And it was then part of my customer record that I really would leave them if they kept jacking my rates... so they do whatever they can to keep me within reason. I also have an excellent upload/download because I've optimized my network and equipment to be as efficient/fast as possible (I work in IT).

You can get basic cable TV for $10 a month by the way from them but I went for free TV.

For free TV, you should go to http://antennaweb.org/ or a similar site to find where the transmission towers are around you. This is very important as you will need to know which tower you want to point to, and then get the compass bearing so you can position your antenna correctly. Obviously, if you can point to charlotte you will get way more channels (but less local news) but you will also need a larger and/or more sophisticated antenna.

For antennas, I recommend http://www.solidsignal.com/ to find the right one but there are tons of sites selling high quality digital antennas - or check amazon for recommendations. Generally, the cheaper/smaller/slimmer the antenna... the more you WILL waste your money. If you want a quality signal, find the largest and strongest antenna you can afford (and antennas have come way down in price so don't think you will spend a ton for a solid antenna).

Digital signals are not like analog, which get snowy or fuzzy if they lose signal strength, so digital signals completely block out and are unviewable if they experience any drop in strength so you need to ensure your antenna is able to pull in any weaker signals (translation: it must be a big/long antenna or be designed specifically to enhance signal acquisition). It also depends if you are mounting outside or inside. For me, I did the attic as that eliminated any lightning strikes or wind disruption to orientation (which would require getting up on a tall ladder and re-adjusting if it is outside). Plus I did not want any visible antenna outside. Note that you will need to account for loss of signal due to your roof blocking some of the signal and may have to go with a larger or more expensive antenna than recommended, just to compensate for your roof.

Being greedy and seeing that there are many choices of towers either to the east or the south, I decided to get 2 identical antennas and point one toward the east and another toward the south. You must use a signal combiner to eliminate ghosting and interference ( http://www.solidsignal.com/...p?p=cc7870) if you do this, but the result is worth it... 50 channels for me (your results WILL vary depending on where you live, and other possible signal blockers)... and you also need to have the exact same length of antenna cable from each antenna to the combiner.

Note that the 50 channels DO have repeats... I get CBS/NBC/ABC/etc from the winston-greensboro markets, and the CBS/NBC/ABC/etc lineups from the charlotte metro market. But they do have different shows and are not 100% identical in broadcasting. It ALSO matters what kind of quality TV tuner you have... my cheap westinghouse TV does NOT get all those channels (maybe half), but my new 80" Sony Bravia definitely gets them all. The Insignia and Vizeo TVs do pretty good, but again not all 50.

Good luck but it's worth it if you want to save $$$. I figure I've saved $6800 or more since I put those antennas up in 2011. Never had a problem with anything once set up.... but you'll need a compass and a the bearings of the antennas, or a professional to get your antennas pointed optimally.

"I pay $30 for 20MB download speed 5MB upload Internet. That's plenty fast."
That sounds great. Who is that provider?

yadkindogs, What kind of antenna do you have in your attic? In addition, I don't understand the 50 channels from Greensboro and Charlotte for free. Didn't know there were 50 channels in Greensboro and Charlotte.

I pay $30 for 20MB download speed 5MB upload Internet. That's plenty fast.
My phone is 85 cents a month and 1 cent per 10 min talking.

You can get basic cable for $10 a month but I haven't had cable TV since 2006. I have the right antennas in my attic and get over 50 channels from Greensboro and Charlotte for free.

You can look into sling TV which is cheaper than cable.

Is Yadkin Valley Telephone- yadtel- in your area?
If so, talk to them.

My Time-Warner bill keeps going up. What do you use for tv/internet that may be less costly?