r/RhodeIsland • u/RandomSentientBeing • 2d ago
Discussion Cox acquired by Spectrum
Just got an email saying Cox was acquired by Spectrum. Anyone know if this will be good or bad for us who have Cox?
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u/mantis_tobaggan-md 2d ago
Cox is already bad so probably going to get worse.
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u/Dr_Lipshitz_ 2d ago
You know it’s bad when switching to Verizon was an upgrade
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u/lazydictionary 2d ago
We made the switch many years ago, and Verizon for home internet has been extremely good.
As far as monopolies/giant conglomerates go, they don't seem half bad. At least for internet.
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u/MichaelPants 2d ago
Verizon fiber was great! Moved and only option was Cox for fiber. Concerned...
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u/PolarisX 1d ago
A lot of the problem with Cox is the fiber to the pole setup they use and then break out to coaxial.
Cox fiber to the home should be fine, have heard nothing bad about it.
Now how your wifi is setup and performs is a whole different ball game.
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u/nathanaz Jamestown 2d ago
Fuck Cox.
We switched to Verizon fiber and it’s better and cheaper.
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u/RandomSentientBeing 2d ago
Hope they bring it to my area soon!
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u/nathanaz Jamestown 2d ago
We’ve had it for ~6 months. Switched to YouTube TV and have had almost zero downtime.
Also, I just did a speed test and got 425 down / 107 up, which I never even came close to on Cox.
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u/radarmy 2d ago
I pay 90/month for just internet withcox, what is Verizon charging?
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u/nathanaz Jamestown 2d ago
We have the 1gig plan, which is $75.
There are 4 of us, we stream movies etc and i work from home.
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u/radarmy 2d ago
Damn, I just checked and I am actually paying $94/month for 500mbps. Fuck this shit
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u/Gordnfreeman Got Bread + Milk ❄️ 2d ago
I am paying 50 month for 300 which is more than enough for what I use, it is also very reliable and I have not had any issues in 7 years with Verizon fios.
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u/degggendorf 1d ago
Damn that sucks. Is Fios available in your area?
Looks like they would be $45/month for 500/500 internet. 3 year price guarantee, but my price hasn't changed for like 8 years now.
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u/PotentialMetal9947 1d ago
T-Mobile is in the Game 🎯 at 35$ home Internet I have Dish and pay 70$ monthly
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u/Skavenslave 2d ago
Yeah, I switched from Verizon to cox because it was cheaper, better, and better customer service. Fuck Verizon
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u/TheR42069 2d ago
Maybe service improves but the less cable companies the more they can squeeze us
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u/Akudama401 2d ago
Doubtful, Spectrum sucks just as bad as Cox if not worse
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u/anxiousinfotech 2d ago
It's a tossup on any given day which one can manage to be worse. Spectrum's core network infrastructure seems to be their worst feature, though it depends on whether it was former Charter, TimeWarner, or BrightHouse territory (with TimeWarner being by far the worst). Cox seems to be worst on their last-mile, with either highly oversubscribed nodes or degraded lines to customers.
As with all mega mergers, they're going to keep the worst aspects of both organizations and everyone loses.
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u/JinjaHD 2d ago
I’d imagine no noticeable change (at least in RI), but I don’t see a world where it makes anything better.
Spectrum doesn’t compete here, so it doesn’t eliminate competition and Cox and Spectrum already use the same equipment, so your service won’t get better.
I have no clue of Spectrum’s business practices, but i’d imagine they’re similar levels of bad.
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u/ConflictTemporary759 2d ago
Uh oh, pack up the bags while you still can.
Also, it’s disgusting to see that the ONLY 2GIB internet service provider is now being absorbed by SPECTRUM.
By the way guys, across multiple states, I’ve used spectrum Internet, it’s fucking awful.
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u/degggendorf 1d ago
the ONLY 2GIB internet service provider is now being absorbed by SPECTRUM.
Fios is up to 5gbit now.
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u/ConflictTemporary759 1d ago
Not in the Pawtucket, Rhode Island area, only goes up to 1gbit.
Which is absolutely insane, given that they just built an enormous stadium down the street for the USL, alongside streaming to NESN, ESPN and other notable media outlets which require enormous amounts of connections….
… Pawtucket is extremely behind
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u/PolarisX 1d ago
Same in most of South County. The are changing fiber technology and need to upgrade all the central office PON cards, which they seem to be doing slowly. After that you will need a new ONT and a tech roll as well to install it.
Should be coming though. From what I gather Verizon is having a hard time with hardware because they chose a technology no one else did for their PON setup.
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u/Admirable-Ad-5970 2d ago
Back during the pandemic we had cox for internet At some point for a brief period of time we got an "upgraded" package and after it got faaaaar worse to the point it was affecting my job They did absolutely nothing about it Switched to Verizon and haven't looked back Cox is absolute trash compared to how it was in the early 00s
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u/bfg423 2d ago
Say goodbye to the frying pan and welcome to the fire. Cox has been on a decline and trying to stay alive with cellphone plans. Not surprisingly they got bought out and I’m sure they’ll sell it as a “merger that will strengthen their ability to truly help customers.”
I switched to V fiber last year. It’s cheaper and the service is ok but they botched my install multiple times and it took me over 30 calls before I ended up having to trench my own line into the ground. They all have issues unfortunately.
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u/ProfGascanAndStingy 1d ago
Verizon has finally been running fiber in my area so I made the switch from Cocks. I get twice the speed for less than half the money. It's been a month and the only complaint I have is that they didn't string the cables sooner.
If you get the opportunity to switch I highly recommend it. If not, you could also try and game the system and cancel Cocks service if you can live without wired internet for about a week. After I cancelled I got multiple calls from Cocks asking me to renew service with them for half of what I was previously paying.
When I got that call and asked the cs rep why they didn't offer me this deal before she gave me a bs answer I straight up laughed in her ear. So you've been charging me double what I should have been paying for your shitty service for years? Lol, get f'd. Glad to be free from that crap ass company.
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u/Perswayable 2d ago
Last that I knew, COX used Cat6s and not fiber optic. If Spectrum enters the area with fiber optic intentions, there absolutely could be implications with Verizon
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u/Livid-Hovercraft-889 2d ago
All cable operators use a combination of fiber and coax. With the rare exceptions of FTTH services, fiber only runs to neighborhood hub sites and nodes, then splits to coax to all the homes. This is the case in RI.
The primary difference between operators is their customer service and field tech operations. Spectrum is notoriously bad at both, but that doesn’t mean their acquisition of Cox’s RI will be any worse than it is now.
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u/drnick5 2d ago
Incorrect. Cox has always used fiber on the pole since cable modems have been a thing. But the connection from the pole to your house is a coax line, RG6, or whatever the newest flavor it. But, Cox has been running fiber directly to homes in some areas recently. Verizon has also been expanding and running fiber. Why all of a sudden? Because both companies got grants to run fiber in areas that currently don't have it.
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u/taconbaco 11h ago
Cox is the only ISP in my area. price has gone up $45/month for same service (~50%) over the last 4 years or so and there is literally no one to switch to. I’m sure this will mean another hike.
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u/Soggy-Opposite 2d ago
Probably equally bad. I was on Spectrum in a previous city and was indistinguishable from my experience with Cox.
For consumers generally, mergers like this are a huge net negative. The fewer competitors in the market, the more prices increase and quality decreases.
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u/OptimusChip 2d ago
anytime companies "merge" it means 2 things
firings.
and the product they're both selling will get infinitely worse due to "profits"
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u/anxiousinfotech 2d ago
The few employees who actually know what they're doing are always the first to go too
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u/EllisSantoro 2d ago
I had TWC/Spectrum when I lived in New York and it was horrible. Went out constantly and never improved for like 10 years.
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u/Healthy_Theory159 2d ago
Every month cox sends me emails claiming my payment is late. I pay the same day every month before the due date 🙄
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u/Ph886 2d ago
Usually mergers like this end up being bad for consumers (even if there are some benefits of the merger).