Legacy TWC Customer in NE Ohio asks: Should I change to Spectrum now?

@steelersruleman

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. We have looked at the rate plans for our area, and have discussed the channels we want to watch. Here's an excerpt of the Spectrum rate card (specific for our area) showing the variety of TV options and related costs.

Spectrum BASIC SERVICE $23.89

SPECTRUM SELECT (Includes Basic Service, Expanded Service and the following services where available - check your local lineup for availability: Bloomberg TV, Hallmark Movie Channel, Indie Plex, Movie Plex, Retro Plex) $64.99

SPECTRUM SILVER (Includes Spectrum Select, Digi Tier 1, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime - check your local lineup for availability) $84.99

SPECTRUM GOLD (Includes Spectrum Silver, Digi Tier 2, TMC, Starz, and StarzEncore - check your local lineup for availability) $104.99

DIGI TIER 1 $12.00

DIGI TIER 2 $12.00

PREMIUM NETWORKS (AVAILABLE WITH SUBSCRIPTION TO SELECT, SILVER OR GOLD)

STARZ ENCORE $15.00
EPIX $15.00
HBO $15.00
Showtime $15.00
Cinemax $15.00
STARZ $15.00
TMC $15.00
​

We prefer the channels included with the Silver package. We'd like the Science Channel, Military History and Destination America but these are only available with the Gold option or as part of Digi Tier 2 (a $12/month option) and not worth the additional expense to us. Aside from those 3 channels that we like, the Digi Tier 2 is mainly sports-related channels and others that we don't care about. We do currently subscribe to Showtime and want to continue that. Adding that to the Select package would add $15 to (Select's) cost and bring it within $5.00 of the cost of the Silver option, which already includes Showtime as well as HBO and Cinemax. We don't want to deal with Spectrum's cable boxes and don't care about offers/promos that provide them at no cost for 1 year. We have 2 Roamios (4 & 6 tuner) and a Mini that meet all our needs.

On the cable modem, I purchased our Motorola Surfboard in 2012, and while it has been trouble-free to date, I see the advantage of taking the one offered at no cost from Spectrum. And who knows, we may decide we want to increase our internet speed beyond 100/10Mb in the future, which our Surfboard 6141 is not capable of. And as @dlfl has mentioned, Spectrum has the responsibility for the modem should anything go wrong with it.

 

@HerronScott & @dlfl ... Thanks for your comments. I was just looking at Spectrum's online DOCSIS Modem Policy. They list both "minimally qualified" and "recommended" modems at this link. The SB6141 is listed on the recommended list as "Approved for Spectrum Internet Tiers up to 100Mb. It does not appear on the "Approved for Spectrum Internet Tiers up to 300Mb (although the SB6183 does).

It's not likely that my wife and I will ever want speeds above 100Mb (hmmm, we used to say that about 15Mb too!). But since Spectrum is willing to give me a modem that they'll be responsible for at no charge to me, it sounds like a no-brainer. My SB6141 is 6 years old, so who knows how much life it has left in it. My only concern is that Spectrum's modern will not be brand new. For example, a tuning adaptor they sent me last week (which was ultimately not needed because the problem we had was isolated to a noisy aerial drop cable) was 2009 vintage and had cigarette smoke stains on it. I sent it back and am still using my original TA.