The Best Guide to Cable Packages and Alternatives

Bright House Cable Packages

Bright House Cable Packages are provided by Bright House Communications, an independent cable operator.


Bright House Communications (sometimes misspelled “Brighthouse”) is a cable provider with a wide range of areas, including Indianapolis, Detroit and Bakersfield. However, by far its primary location is central Florida, where it has become the dominant cable provider by a wide margin. Bright House was originally a part of Time Warner Communications, but, due to managerial differences, decided to split off and become an independent company.

This has led to quite a different corporate culture than you might be used to in a cable company. Bright House is a very independently minded company, who has gone to battle with Time Warner and even Fox Television over attempts to control the way that they do business. This independence of mind really shows up in their cable packages and the way that they are structured.

Note: The below information is focused on Central Florida, but if you live in one of the other service areas, the basic structure is similar.

Cable Bundles

Bright House offers a surprisingly large number of cable channels, given the price of their cable packages. One of the nice things about their bundles is that they include a large number of high-definition channels. One of the ways in which other cable companies trick you into spending more money than you’d like is that their basic package doesn’t really include very much in the way of high definition. In order to upgrade, you usually need to purchase a package that not only includes high definition, but is also larger, substantially increasing your cost.

Bright House, on the other hand, provides all of their high definition channels when you order the channel itself. In other words, the first package to include A&E will also include A&E in high definition. So, you won’t constantly be shoved up the ladder of package size in order to get high definition versions of the channels that you want.

They have two standard packages, which really aren’t very different from each other except in terms of the number of channels that they offer. One is called “Combo” and the other is called “Combo Plus”. At the time of this writing, they cost $94.99 and $115.00 respectively. Each includes their basic high speed internet service at 10 megabytes per second. They also include hundreds of channels (not the 50 or so you might be used to). Finally, they both include unlimited calling within the United States. (Both also advertize that they provide “free” HDTV, but it’s rather apparent that it should be called “included”).

One of the excellent things about their prices is that there is nothing hidden about them. These aren’t “introductory” prices, where the long-term cost is buried in fine print or where you need to begin your order before you find out what things will actually cost. Instead, Bright House has focused on giving people excellent service at a reasonable (though not cheap) price. Be aware, though, that they do have installation fees, but those fees are transparent. Just be sure to ask.

Internet Speeds

One thing to be a little cautious of with Bright House is that both of their standard packages actually include the lowest of their high speed internet services. They refer to their high speed internet service as “Road Runner” service (which, probably not coincidentally, is also what Time Warner calls it, probably because they were entitled to keep the name). Their high speed internet comes in three different speeds:

  • Road Runner Standard: Road Runner Standard is the one that comes with their basic cable packages. It provides 10 Mbps.
  • Road Runner Turbo: Road Runner Turbo provides 20 Mbps.
  • Road Runner Lightning: Road Runner Lighting provides 40 Mbps.

The cost of upgrading to these services depends on your service area, even within Central Florida, so I can’t give any prices here. Be aware, however, that this additional cost will be on top of the Combo and Combo Plus packages that they offer. The 10 Mbps that comes standard is the same price in every jurisdiction.

One should be a little cautious with some of their claims about their packages. For example, they say that a 10 Mbps package is insufficient for gaming, which anyone who played games before a few years ago is a pretty silly claim. They also claim that it is insufficient for watching movies, which is true for sites like Netflix, but it will handle other sites, like Youtube, just fine.

Conclusion

Bright House provides some of the easiest to follow cable packages available, and they don’t have a set of options designed to force you to purchase more than you need to get what you want. A lot of this is because of their independence. In a cable corporate culture that tends to try to trick customers, Bright House has gone in the opposite direction, providing solid service at a reasonable price.

For more information, you may visit their official site.

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