TDS vs. Metrocast

Argie's Wife · 10-22-2011, 10:21 AM

We're Metrocast customers for phone/internet/digital cable but the monthly bills seem pretty high considering how little we watch TV. Our monthly bill runs about $150 after taxes, fees, etc., for the "all-in-one" service. We also subscribe to Netflix and TeVo, which adds another $27/month to our "entertainment" bill.

TDS recently sent out an ad for broadband/phone/dishnetwork for $85-$125 a month (there's three levels of service: $85, $105, and $125).

I'm curious if anyone here has switched from Metrocast to TDS? (Or vise-versa?)

If you have DishNetwork, can you still get WMUR, WMTW, WCSH?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Silverdale · 10-22-2011, 01:19 PM

We switched from Metrocast to TDS/Dish for their intro offer a year ago. Now its is nearly the same cost and we cannot get WCSH or WMTW. We miss the Maine and northern New England news as we feel WMUR is mostly Manchester south and politics. Wondering how others feel.

RLW · 10-22-2011, 03:43 PM

I do not belong to TDS, but have heard that the phone bill is quite high if, and I say IF one makes long distance calls say to family members. That is why I gave them up, plus the dish is not all it is cracked up to be in MY EYES. We have the MetroCast VIP 3 package deal and find it great for talking to family members in MA and the internet, but the TV is extremely high as most of their stations are repeated on many different channels. I had Verizon FIOS and I paid the same as Metrocast, but got over 175 DIFFERENT channels in their expanded basic.
If one company can offer that many different channels and make money why can't others also???
I sorry for not staying with the question, but think all can get my drift on the subject.

Argie's Wife · 10-22-2011, 09:48 PM

RLW - I didn't consider Verizon Fios... hmmm.... thanks for the info about that!

If it was up to me, I'd ditch cable altogether. The content isn't that great. I'd rather have a Hulu subscription and maybe some other internet TV subscription, because I'd still spend way less $ than I'm spending now. The TV we have now would work well as a big computer monitor - I'd be all for hooking it up to a small desktop (like a Dell Studio or a Mac Mini) and rolling with that...

Silverdale - thanks for the post. Much appreciated!

songkrai · 10-23-2011, 04:55 AM

Basic Cable
NetFlix/HuluPlus
Straight Talk unlimited/Tracfone
Google TV

SteveA · 10-23-2011, 05:30 AM

AG,

I really wanted to get Fios to replace our Metrocast, but they have very limited access in NH.

http://www.fiberexperts.com/new-hampshire-fios.html

I actually called them about a year ago, and the they said they have, "No immediate plan to expand in central or northern NH"

tis · 10-23-2011, 06:40 AM

It seems no one is really happy with cable. We had dish first and then lost our reception and despite cutting some limbs, we still couldn't get reception. We couldn't cut our neighbor's trees.

Years and years ago we had the big dish and I loved that, but the little dish just never worked. And even though we couldn't get reception and they told us there was nothing they could do, they gave us a really hard time, wanting to charge us for the equipment. It was so long ago I don't really remember the details.

Slickcraft · 10-23-2011, 06:48 AM

AW, satellite internet does not have a good reputation; it is the service of last resort when no other good internet option is available. You can do a search for reviews, most or all are based on the same Hughes satellite service.

Both Dish and Direct TV provide good TV service with reasonably priced packages that include some local stations. You need a unobstructed view of the sky in the direction of the providers satellites. It may take some searching but you can determine the azimuth (normally given as a magnetic north bearing) and the elevation to the satellites from a given zip code. If the general broadcast service and the local channel service are on different satellites you may need two antenna dishes. We have trees in the way so we can't get satellite service.

So my suggestion is to keep local internet service (Metrocast, DSL or cell based broadband) and look at the satellite TV packages.

fatlazyless · 10-23-2011, 07:12 AM

What a loser cable system! What they told me was; "no matter how much you pay per month, Metrocast Cable in Belmont, NH, does not carry the Tennis Channel" ......boooo!

www.tennischannel.com

SteveA · 10-23-2011, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

It may take some searching but you can determine the azimuth (normally given as a magnetic north bearing) and the elevation to the satellites from a given zip code.

AG,

The only Satellite in my area, (Gilford) is so low in the sky from my property that there was no way to get a reliable signal.

Here is a good tool for checking your exact "aim" to the satellite. Note the cool little tool that lets you slide the red "pointer" alone the line of sight to the satellite.

http://www.dishpointer.com/

Here is what mine looks like, a "No Go".

Dog's Ear · 10-24-2011, 09:06 AM

We are now using SlingBox out on the island and are very happy with it. We purchased it for less than $200.00. No monthly charge just the initial purchase of the sling box. It is connected at our home in CT to the router and cable. We sign on to Slingbox on the internet, project our laptop to the tv and that is it. We can even access the DVR features. Of course that means we are not getting any local NH stations. The access is exactly what we have in CT.
This is working out great, much better than the dish we used to use. Our trees (and our neighbors) had just become too large to get any satellite signals. With dish we used to have problems whenever it was cloudy or windy (which is when we usually would want to watch tv) but now we have had access continually.

EllyPoinster · 10-25-2011, 03:24 PM

I signed up with TDS this summer for their telephone/DSL internet/Dish satellite deal. Opening monthly price was about $89 in year one, $15 more in year two. I added $5 monthly to upgrade to Dish's America's Top 200 so I could get NESN and another $6 for DVR service. So the total now is about $110 per month.

The telephone service includes only 30 minutes of long distance calling per month. This is fine with us - we use our cell phones for most long distance calls anyway.

The DSL service is 5MB which is plenty fast enough for our needs.

There is a two year commitment but we are permitted to pause services when we shut down the lake house for the winter.

Oh - and TDS threw in an HP laptop for 99 cents as part of the deal.

I'm happy.

Winni-Retired · 07-09-2012, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dog's Ear

We are now using SlingBox out on the island and are very happy with it. We purchased it for less than $200.00. No monthly charge just the initial purchase of the sling box. It is connected at our home in CT to the router and cable. We sign on to Slingbox on the internet, project our laptop to the tv and that is it. We can even access the DVR features. Of course that means we are not getting any local NH stations. The access is exactly what we have in CT.
This is working out great, much better than the dish we used to use. Our trees (and our neighbors) had just become too large to get any satellite signals. With dish we used to have problems whenever it was cloudy or windy (which is when we usually would want to watch tv) but now we have had access continually.

Just wondering .. eight months later any issues ??

BroadHopper · 07-09-2012, 07:51 PM

I keep unpluging the router at least twice a week and every now and then I lose my HD channels. I get a no or low signal error on my HDTV. Everytime I call Metrocast they ask the same questions over and over, like a recording. Why can't they just send a technician over and check it out?

Satelite TV does not have WMTW or WCSH. I don't have clear site to the satelite.

I gave up land-line and use my cell. Fairpoint have no intention of adding fiber optics in the area for DSL.

I did have an antenna until the stations went digital. After spending big bucks for a digital antenna and free converter, I complained to FCC, I have no reception. Not one word from them.

I tried Google TV using HDMI cable. My internet connection is choppy.

Anything else I can try?

magicrobotmonkey · 07-09-2012, 08:56 PM

Wait until Verizon gets LTE up here and buy yourself one of their 4g cell hotspots. It's as far north as Loudon, I got a 4g signal coming south out of the dead spot by rocky pond on 106 just last week!

ripley · 07-10-2012, 10:17 PM

I had TDS for the last 10 months,,, 125 channels and about 100 are ads ..buy this sell that or how to sew a pillowcase..I think they have a very poor selction and you must upgrade to watcg anything worth anything ,,I mean I couldn't even get NCIS so I shut it down

10-22-2011, 10:21 AM	#1
Argie's Wife Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Alton Posts: 1,908 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 533 Thanked 579 Times in 260 Posts	TDS vs. Metrocast We're Metrocast customers for phone/internet/digital cable but the monthly bills seem pretty high considering how little we watch TV. Our monthly bill runs about $150 after taxes, fees, etc., for the "all-in-one" service. We also subscribe to Netflix and TeVo, which adds another $27/month to our "entertainment" bill. TDS recently sent out an ad for broadband/phone/dishnetwork for $85-$125 a month (there's three levels of service: $85, $105, and $125). I'm curious if anyone here has switched from Metrocast to TDS? (Or vise-versa?) If you have DishNetwork, can you still get WMUR, WMTW, WCSH? Thanks in advance for your help!

10-22-2011, 03:43 PM	#3
RLW Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Alton Bay on the mountain by a lake Posts: 2,023 Thanks: 563 Thanked 444 Times in 311 Posts	I do not belong to TDS, but have heard that the phone bill is quite high if, and I say IF one makes long distance calls say to family members. That is why I gave them up, plus the dish is not all it is cracked up to be in MY EYES. We have the MetroCast VIP 3 package deal and find it great for talking to family members in MA and the internet, but the TV is extremely high as most of their stations are repeated on many different channels. I had Verizon FIOS and I paid the same as Metrocast, but got over 175 DIFFERENT channels in their expanded basic. If one company can offer that many different channels and make money why can't others also??? I sorry for not staying with the question, but think all can get my drift on the subject. __________________ There is nothing better than living on Alton Mountain & our grand kids visits.

10-23-2011, 05:30 AM	#6
SteveA Deceased Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gilford, NH Posts: 2,311 Thanks: 1,070 Thanked 2,054 Times in 497 Posts	AG, I really wanted to get Fios to replace our Metrocast, but they have very limited access in NH. http://www.fiberexperts.com/new-hampshire-fios.html I actually called them about a year ago, and the they said they have, "No immediate plan to expand in central or northern NH" __________________ "Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry he'll be a mile away and barefoot!" unknown

10-23-2011, 07:12 AM	#9
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,527 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 296 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	...no Tennis Channel on Metrocast! What a loser cable system! What they told me was; "no matter how much you pay per month, Metrocast Cable in Belmont, NH, does not carry the Tennis Channel" ......boooo! www.tennischannel.com __________________ ... down and out, liv'n that Walmart side of the lake!

07-09-2012, 07:51 PM	#14
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,512 Thanks: 3,118 Thanked 1,090 Times in 784 Posts	metrocast sucks I keep unpluging the router at least twice a week and every now and then I lose my HD channels. I get a no or low signal error on my HDTV. Everytime I call Metrocast they ask the same questions over and over, like a recording. Why can't they just send a technician over and check it out? Satelite TV does not have WMTW or WCSH. I don't have clear site to the satelite. I gave up land-line and use my cell. Fairpoint have no intention of adding fiber optics in the area for DSL. I did have an antenna until the stations went digital. After spending big bucks for a digital antenna and free converter, I complained to FCC, I have no reception. Not one word from them. I tried Google TV using HDMI cable. My internet connection is choppy. Anything else I can try? __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

10-22-2011, 01:19 PM	#2
Silverdale Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Powder Mill Road, Alton Posts: 12 Thanks: 2 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	We switched from Metrocast to TDS/Dish for their intro offer a year ago. Now its is nearly the same cost and we cannot get WCSH or WMTW. We miss the Maine and northern New England news as we feel WMUR is mostly Manchester south and politics. Wondering how others feel.

10-22-2011, 09:48 PM	#4
Argie's Wife Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Alton Posts: 1,908 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 533 Thanked 579 Times in 260 Posts	RLW - I didn't consider Verizon Fios... hmmm.... thanks for the info about that! If it was up to me, I'd ditch cable altogether. The content isn't that great. I'd rather have a Hulu subscription and maybe some other internet TV subscription, because I'd still spend way less $ than I'm spending now. The TV we have now would work well as a big computer monitor - I'd be all for hooking it up to a small desktop (like a Dell Studio or a Mac Mini) and rolling with that... Silverdale - thanks for the post. Much appreciated!

10-23-2011, 04:55 AM	#5
songkrai Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 725 Thanks: 35 Thanked 145 Times in 98 Posts	Basic Cable NetFlix/HuluPlus Straight Talk unlimited/Tracfone Google TV

10-23-2011, 06:40 AM	#7
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,410 Thanks: 719 Thanked 1,381 Times in 957 Posts	It seems no one is really happy with cable. We had dish first and then lost our reception and despite cutting some limbs, we still couldn't get reception. We couldn't cut our neighbor's trees. Years and years ago we had the big dish and I loved that, but the little dish just never worked. And even though we couldn't get reception and they told us there was nothing they could do, they gave us a really hard time, wanting to charge us for the equipment. It was so long ago I don't really remember the details.

10-23-2011, 06:48 AM	#8
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and West Alton Posts: 3,218 Thanks: 1,173 Thanked 2,002 Times in 915 Posts	AW, satellite internet does not have a good reputation; it is the service of last resort when no other good internet option is available. You can do a search for reviews, most or all are based on the same Hughes satellite service. Both Dish and Direct TV provide good TV service with reasonably priced packages that include some local stations. You need a unobstructed view of the sky in the direction of the providers satellites. It may take some searching but you can determine the azimuth (normally given as a magnetic north bearing) and the elevation to the satellites from a given zip code. If the general broadcast service and the local channel service are on different satellites you may need two antenna dishes. We have trees in the way so we can't get satellite service. So my suggestion is to keep local internet service (Metrocast, DSL or cell based broadband) and look at the satellite TV packages.

10-24-2011, 09:06 AM	#11
Dog's Ear Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Whortleberry Island Posts: 81 Thanks: 130 Thanked 20 Times in 10 Posts	We are now using SlingBox out on the island and are very happy with it. We purchased it for less than $200.00. No monthly charge just the initial purchase of the sling box. It is connected at our home in CT to the router and cable. We sign on to Slingbox on the internet, project our laptop to the tv and that is it. We can even access the DVR features. Of course that means we are not getting any local NH stations. The access is exactly what we have in CT. This is working out great, much better than the dish we used to use. Our trees (and our neighbors) had just become too large to get any satellite signals. With dish we used to have problems whenever it was cloudy or windy (which is when we usually would want to watch tv) but now we have had access continually.

10-25-2011, 03:24 PM	#12
EllyPoinster Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 160 Thanks: 13 Thanked 25 Times in 20 Posts	I signed up with TDS this summer for their telephone/DSL internet/Dish satellite deal. Opening monthly price was about $89 in year one, $15 more in year two. I added $5 monthly to upgrade to Dish's America's Top 200 so I could get NESN and another $6 for DVR service. So the total now is about $110 per month. The telephone service includes only 30 minutes of long distance calling per month. This is fine with us - we use our cell phones for most long distance calls anyway. The DSL service is 5MB which is plenty fast enough for our needs. There is a two year commitment but we are permitted to pause services when we shut down the lake house for the winter. Oh - and TDS threw in an HP laptop for 99 cents as part of the deal. I'm happy.

07-09-2012, 08:56 PM	#15
magicrobotmonkey Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 158 Thanks: 40 Thanked 43 Times in 30 Posts	Wait until Verizon gets LTE up here and buy yourself one of their 4g cell hotspots. It's as far north as Loudon, I got a 4g signal coming south out of the dead spot by rocky pond on 106 just last week!

07-10-2012, 10:17 PM	#16
ripley Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 55 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	I had TDS for the last 10 months,,, 125 channels and about 100 are ads ..buy this sell that or how to sew a pillowcase..I think they have a very poor selction and you must upgrade to watcg anything worth anything ,,I mean I couldn't even get NCIS so I shut it down