Spectrum, because I am an idiot

watching myself slam my finger in the car door

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.

In the unlikely event that the Spectrum service is OK I’ll pause or cancel the Visible feed and be ahead by $30.

update - hardware shipping

The hardware was due here today, Jan 2nd. Not only did it not arrive on time but it hasn’t even shipped. Not an auspicious start.

Don’t get me started on how they had all the information needed to email notification of the delay, no contact with Support required. Corporations are stupid.

Sub-update: shipped the next day. This strongly suggests the first rep didn’t order the hardware in the first place. And that it wasn’t “delayed because of the holidays”.

update - install

The self-install didn’t work because the coax inside the apartment wasn’t connected to the drop point outside. A hardworking young worker bee had an open service slot and arrived within about 30 minutes. The apt is on the second floor so there was more ladder work than usual, perhaps. After 1.5 hours the cablemodem had a solid connection and has been performing admirably. Props to this contractor.

update - after about three weeks

Working fine, so I canceled the van’s mobile data line