Since not every reader lives in an area with access to these providers, let’s give you some context to help you understand internet and TV bundles. Below we’ve listed the pros and cons of bundling internet and TV and how to pick the best cable TV and internet bundle.
Most people look to TV and internet packages for the discounts or the convenience of one combined bill, but consider the following factors to evaluate if it's worth the money:
Bundle discounts exist, but cable TV is still expensive.
Internet providers often provide discounts, internet deals, gift cards, contract buyouts, or other benefits for new customers signing up for multiple services like TV, phone, or whole-home Wi-Fi. However, bundles aren’t cheap. The cost of adding a TV plan to your internet may be more than double the cost of an internet-only plan, and you may experience a price increase after your first or second year of service.
Popular channels cost extra.
TV plans often include lots of unnecessary channels. Internet providers may even separate popular channels into exclusive channel packs that you pay extra for. Rather than looking for a high channel count, check that your plan gets the channels you actually want to watch.
You might be better off selecting a streaming service.
While cable TV packages can get pricey, internet providers often include free or cheap streaming service subscriptions with their cable TV plan or as an add-on to your internet. Although this might seem like you’re saving money, you might get a better deal by signing up for streaming services that come with live TV options.
Cable TV and internet packages can get unnecessarily complicated. To make sure you pick the right one, consider the following before signing up.
Pick the best internet provider in your area, even if it's not a cable company. Although there are tons of enticing entertainment deals, it’s best to first look for a fiber internet provider that can offer the best speeds and reliability for your household internet needs. If the fiber provider doesn’t offer a TV package, don’t worry, you can always get top channels from YouTube TV, DIRECTV, or Hulu + Live TV. To find the best internet providers for your exact zip code, use our search bar below.
Check channel listings for each TV plan tier. Even if the TV plan is called “Entertainment” or “Starter,” that is not an accurate description of what channels you can get. The cheapest TV plans usually have only a few good channels and the rest are shopping and advertising channels you’ve never heard of. In order to get the most popular channels that you actually want to watch, you need to pay for a more expensive plan or a channel add-on.
Get internet with unlimited data. According to our screen time report, the average American adult spends three hours a day streaming TV. This ends up using over 200GB of data for one person per month. So make sure when you’re picking an internet provider to check if you get either at least 1TB of data or unlimited data to stream all day long, every day.
Find out how much internet speed your household needs. Fellow Reviews.org staff writer, Brianne Sandorf, recommends getting at least 100Mbps per person. You can first check what your current internet speed using our Internet Speed Test to get a ballpark estimate of how much speed you currently get.
Many internet providers advertise gigabit speeds, but most households don’t need that much speed. The more speed you get, the more expensive your plan is, so make sure to choose a plan that makes sense for you. Of course, some providers, like Google Fiber, only offer the fastest speeds. In this case, I would still recommend getting Google Fiber because you get the best speeds for the same price as other slower providers.