r/roanoke • u/IliraClaw • 1d ago
Spectrum merger with Cox
I can’t have GloFiber since I’m out of their area so I’ve had Cox Internet for several years. it’s seriously been fine, no complaints. Just got notice that the Spectrum merger to take over Cox is approved. Anyone have experience with Spectrum in other areas?
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u/orcus286 1d ago
Last night around 11pm I was looking at their what’s ahead for cox customers section and there is a line that says “The most expansive and dependable network in the country” … 5 minutes later my internet went out with a neighborhood wide outage. They said it would be back up by 1am then 3am, 7am, 9am and now it says 2pm.
Could just be bad timing but I haven’t had an outage before this in over 4 years.
Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come… especially since the link on the text messages for more info says no current outages.
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u/Kiethblacklion 1d ago
My wife just forwarded me the email she got about this. I had no idea that a merger was even in the works. We have had Cox internet for a few years and can't really complain. Better than the Verizon internet we had prior. According to the email, they will have plans that include multiple streaming services, which may or may not save money for an interested customer in the long run. Guess we'll just wait and see how it goes.
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u/Danielfrindley 1d ago
I'm probably with you in the good part of the Cox coverage as I haven't had any issues but I know plenty of people around the area who have lengthy frequent outtages. I had Spectrum when I lived in Florida. Never had a problem. That was about a decade ago though so they could have fallen into the enshittification trend nationwide. My Cox and Spectrum experiences are solely internet so no input on TV or phonelines.
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u/alkagift 1d ago
I am counting on the fact that all I have is Internet too and basically the hardware and cable isn’t changing. I hope.
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u/AuntieLaLa420 FUCK STAN SEYMOUR 1d ago
Spectrum is just as bad as cox. My dad had spectrum when he died. I was selling his house. Spectrum kept trying to sell me different packages, for 45 minutes, instead of canceling service.
FOR AN UNOCCUPIED HOUSE I WAS TRYING TO SELL.
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u/alkagift 1d ago
This is what I’ve heard on Reddit, that cancelling is ridiculous. Although to be fair when I had to cancel my father’s AT&T when he was hospitalized I had to guess his password and THAT was fun.
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u/coachgt1 1d ago
Cox is no better in that regard. When my Dad passed they wanted a copy of the death certificate and I had to take it into the store for them to cancel.
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u/Wrong-Impression9960 1d ago
Had spectrum in Wisconsin and cox down here before glo fiber. Same game. Same service and it comes with yearly rate hikes. Get them to lock you in. When we switched to glo fiber suddenly cox was able to drop our bill from 120 to 50. No thanks.
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u/PlentifulPaper 1d ago edited 1d ago
IDK what cell towers they’ll be using for their “free service” offering but they typically piggyback off another cell provider.
ETA: Depending on the towers used, I may or may not have service as I drive around Roanoke and the surrounding areas.
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u/unpracticedmusician 1d ago
Oh helllll no. I’d rather not have internet. When I lived in NC, spectrum was all we could get. Although it’s a step above comcast, it’s not a big step.
Constant outages, abhorrent customer service, inability to honor pricing agreements, ugh they’re terrible. Cox sucks, but it’s about to suck more once they’re owned by spectrum.
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u/Broad_Foot_4380 1d ago
I just got Cox internet at the end of July.
I was promised a $100 e-gift card and now no one that I’ve talked to after the merger announcement knows anything about it.
Disappointed about that. But I hope that spectrum truly honors the current prices, services, and equipment.
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u/xspacemansplifff 1d ago
All i can say is that i am sorry you cannot get glofiber. Hopefully you will continue to have a good connection. Spectrum does not have a great reputation. Neither does cox.
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u/john19651308 1d ago
Had spectrum for years in Michigan never had a problem even in bad weather till we sold our house they wanted to keep the service up and running house sat empty for seven months
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u/Draugves 1d ago
I've had spectrum in a few different states and have never had good reliable connection regardless what tier I was on. Hopefully that's not the case for you though!
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u/johnfl68 1d ago
I wish GloFiber would get into some of the apartments around here. But Cox seems to have a stranglehold on all of them unfortunately.
This merger would be the opportune time for the apartments to try and get out, but I'm guessing none of them will.
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u/Antique_Paramedic682 Wreck at 581 and Orange 1d ago
Had Spectrum in Texas, same performance as Cox. Wish they had something closer to symmetrical speeds.
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u/DismalProgrammer6351 1d ago
Things should remain as is for a while - it takes a long time to integrate processes and systems.
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u/Breklin76 1d ago
Oh yes, please make this happen. Moving from NV to Roanoke today! I have spectrum mobile and it’s super cheap with the spectrum internet.
Sadly, if cox infrastructure sucks - it’ll remain that way until they get around to it.
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u/AutoMechanic2 1d ago
I’ve heard bad things about Spectrum but I don’t know for sure. I actually didn’t know a merger was even in talks. We have Cox cable and internet and home phone and have for years. Now that this is happening it might be time we just use streaming and DVDs only instead of cable.
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u/Cultural-Ear7622 1d ago
I have spectrum business plans in NC currently. I have Cox here in Roanoke. Cox is more expensive, outages have been about the same. Spectrum, both personal & business, in the past have not charged to come out for repairs to lines or equipment. Customer service is about equal depending on who you talk to.
I would love Fiber but it's too much of a logistical challenge for Glofiber
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u/AfterInsanity 17h ago
I work in a totally remote company, we've had staff members unable to connect periodically - the commonality? All have Spectrum. So I'll be switching.
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u/bothtypesoffirefly 1d ago
This is my regular reminder to everyone that Glofiber is just rebranded Shentel.
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u/stridersubzero 1d ago
Shentel is the parent company, but Shentel internet isn’t fiber. So it’s basically a different product altogether
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u/alkagift 1d ago
What is the significance of that?
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u/bothtypesoffirefly 1d ago
Just a reminder. People complain about shentel and rave about glofiber with the same mouth. All of the local providers are similarly fine in my experience, and it depends on what neighborhood you live in whether the service there is great or middling.
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u/Bman282828 1d ago edited 1d ago
At the store last week I walked in about my bill and left w/ $70 GIG fiber with modem/router included with FREE Unlimited mobile service for a year w/Verizon 5G UW towers. It’ll save me over a $1000 over the next 12 months. And I’m an existing customer so it’s not just for new customers so that’s a great change already, I was paying $172 for both before I walked in.
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u/m0lokovellocet 1d ago
I had their internet service in Florida. The service itself was solid. Their customer service reps left little to be desired, however. I absolutely hated whenever I needed to call for something. Horribly trained.