For years we have subscribed to a cable service both for our TV and the Internet connections. It terms of the TV service, it was okay. It did not deliver zillions of channels but just enough to keep me busy during the few hours of the day that I watch TV - mostly the History Channel, Discovery Channel, CNN, ESPN, AMC, Bravo, etc.
The real problem was with the cable.
In theory cable is supposed to deliver fast Internet connection but there is a catch - that is true if you are the only one connecting to the Internet through cable. You share the cable with others in your neighborhood. If there are 100 people on the Internet on your particular cable line, then the speed gets divided into 100. If there are 1,000 people on line, then it gets chopped by 1,000. They don't tell you that when they install your cable but you find it out soon enough.
The result - there were quite a few evenings when we had to sit before our computers watching "paint dry." The connection speed at times slowed down to such a crawl (especially on weekend evenings) that you couldn't tell whether we were using a cable or the good old 56K modem.
Now, after a year of procrastination and hesitation, we signed up with a fiber optic service for our TV, Internet as well as the phones, for pretty much the same monthly price we were paying to cable plus phone service. And the installation is free on top.
We now not only have the same phone service and almost 200 working channels (with regular package) but also great and always fast Internet connection. To get more than this you need to have your own T-1 line at about ,500 a month.
I implied I didn't watch much TV to start with but I have to confess - now that we have access to all these amazingly high-quality channels that I didn't even know exist, I noticed I started to watch TV more than before. Not good for my reading and movie watching habits but very educational all the same.
If you are a movie or a TV fan and you like your Internet connection fast and reliable 24x7, go with fiber optic -- if it is available in your area.
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