Spectrum, because I am an idiot

I’d been planning on just using my Visible data but canceling PF freed up ~$30/month. There was a sign visible from my front door that said SPECTRUM AVAILABLE HERE so I sniffed around.

Spectrum is not well-loved in El Paso, famous for outages and rate hikes. But if I could get it cheap enough I’d be fine as I have backup options (Verizon, TMO, and ATT).

The sign-up was a cluster. I ordered the lowest-tier service ($25/mo with no setup fee) but the order showed incorrect info in it. A CS chat that lasted about an hour said that that tier was no longer available and it ran the order into the virtual ditch. So why advertise it?

The cheapest actually available plan is $30/mo + $30 setup fee since this apt “hasn’t had Spectrum service before”. I have reason to doubt that (see below) but whatever. I dodged various upsells and a near-lie that suggested a separate $10/mo wifi router was required on the $30/mo service. I have my own wifi router and know how to plug in an Ethernet cable. The Opal will fail over from Ethernet WAN to wifi repeater (ie the van’s internet) as needed.

The hardware is due to show up on Jan 2. I’ll try a self-install since there was coax hooked to the wall when I moved in. Originally I thought it went to an antenna but I haven’t seen any on the roof. My guess is it’s the previous resident’s cable connection showing local OTA channels. If it works without a formal install I’ll call to see if they will credit back the $30 install.