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rdsport323
join:2001-05-28
Irvine, CA

rdsport323

Member

[CA] Is anyone thinking about trying the new Cox Flarewatch?

Cox flareWatch beta brings IPTV with 60 HD channels, cloud DVR for $35 monthly

»www.engadget.com/2013/06 ··· ch-iptv/

It's testing currently in Orange County, CA... and since I hardly watch TV, this might be helpful in reducing my cable bill. But I'm curious though, since most of the channels are streamed, will it go against my internet bandwidth monthly cap? Or how will that be handled?
ajwees41
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE

1 edit

ajwees41

Premium Member

I wonder what hardware cable box is going to be used?
DarkFlow
join:2011-09-04
Lakeside, CA
ARRIS SB8200
Asus RT-AX58

DarkFlow

Member

said by ajwees41:

I wonder what hardware cable box is going to be used?

It say's the Fanhatten.
»www.engadget.com/2013/05 ··· -tv-stb/

tspangler
@verizon.net

tspangler to ajwees41

Anon

to ajwees41
Here is the original story on Variety with details:

»variety.com/2013/digital ··· 0503094/

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

4 edits

skeechan to rdsport323

Premium Member

to rdsport323
»watchflare.bistasolution ··· ntact_us

They are saying 90 channels on the order page, 60 of which are in HD.
quote:
flareWatch is available only to Cox High Speed Internet subscribers with Preferred tier or higher who reside in Orange County, CA service area.
Does this mean the device has to be on Cox's network? I am a Cox OC customer but want this box for my office which isn't using Cox. The TOS says premier tier or higher, but the actual system requirements just say 11/2 service or faster. The TOS also says they will use geolocation and other info to ensure you are using the service within OC. I couldn't find anything about having to be connected to Cox's HSI service during a quick read through.
quote:
flareWatch is offered in Orange County, California. We may restrict access from other locations. If you exceed your Service Plan's usage limit, including by downgrading or not renewing your Service Plan, you may no longer be able to access flareWatch. We may impose other restrictions on use of flareWatch.
And what is the usage limit? As as the OP asks, since it is Cox selling it, does usage count against the monthly cap? At 11Mbps that isn't going to amount to much video usage.

I may be stopping by the Cox store in Irvine today.
rdsport323
join:2001-05-28
Irvine, CA

rdsport323

Member

Yeah I'm curious about this too, if we will be able to use this device at my office, that would be so incredibly convenient and awesome.

If you manage to go to the Cox store today, please let me know what you find out. I'll have to pay a visit sometime mid week and see what they offer.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

I got tied up. I may stop buy sometime this week but looking at the TOS it doesn't look good. Slingbox is probably a better option.
rdsport323
join:2001-05-28
Irvine, CA

rdsport323

Member

Alright, I might swing by the Cox store tomorrow afternoon, and I will report back with as much details as I can.

awesomer
@in-addr.arpa

awesomer to skeechan

Anon

to skeechan
you can only use this in the Cox subscribing home and NOT able to take it with you on. This will not count against your cap limit.
Maltz
join:2011-01-08
Fayetteville, AR
Calix 844G
Netgate SG-2100
Ubiquiti U6-LR

Maltz

Member

As more of these streaming services that don't count against your cap come out, it's becoming pretty obvious that caps are more about keeping you from ditching TV service for a 100% streaming service (or at least, a third-party streaming service) than it is about network congestion... Otherwise, why didn't they impose caps a decade ago when network congestion was a much bigger problem? Why does netflix still count against caps?

Smells kinda anti-competitive...
DarkFlow
join:2011-09-04
Lakeside, CA

DarkFlow to rdsport323

Member

to rdsport323
If they bring this to San Diego, I'm dumping Cable in a heartbeat. I'm about to dump it anyway, $100 a month is not worth it to me for the amount of TV I watch. With this they will at least get another $35 out of me, as opposed to $0.
cookiesowns
join:2010-08-31
Irvine, CA

cookiesowns to rdsport323

Member

to rdsport323
So wait, we get flarewatch but not the speed upgrades?

Makes perfect sense. I suppose cox is looking at upgrading the OC -> LA and OC - SD links before we get the upgrades. COX is already well saturated on certain peering links in LA.
bleomycin
join:2010-11-28
Newport Coast, CA

bleomycin to rdsport323

Member

to rdsport323
I was all set to try this, went to the local cox store to grab one but tested the display model first. The picture quality was absolute garbage, the amount of artifacts on screen made a 240p youtube video look good. Their idea of "HD" is a sick joke, you would need to be half-blind watching on a 7" TV to tolerate the quality.

Next I asked if it would count towards my bandwidth cap, both reps at the store assured me it WOULD count against my cap. I thought that couldn't be true, they must just be confused, they're going to limit how much TV i can watch on their service? What happens if it gets left on streaming 24/7? They assured me my pathetically low 400GB/month cap that I already hit fairly often was more than sufficient, and not to worry because "we don't do anything anyways when you go over the cap."
rdsport323
join:2001-05-28
Irvine, CA

rdsport323

Member

Yeah I went into the store earlier today.. and wasn't too impressed with the quality of the video.. I don't know how they can pass that off as HD..

Another thing they told me was that the price is going up from 34.99$ to 39.99. And here's another weird tidbit. You have two options, either go with the $39.99 price from flare, *OR*, you can keep BASIC CABLE from cox.. which is like channels 1-60, and then only pay $5 flarewatch service. Seeing that basic cable runs roughly 29.99 + 5 flarewatch = 34.99.

That doesnt make any sense.. Because, basically the SAME channels being offered by flarewatch, ARE the same channels in basic cable.. I don't see the point in having us keep the basic cable service from Cox.

Oh and also, if you ever move out of a Cox servicing area.. The box that costs $99, is basically dead weight. You might be able to sell it but only to someone in COX service area.
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

Rakeesh to rdsport323

Member

to rdsport323
Why not just subscribe to economy ($32) and use a cablecard? I spend $38 a month on TV that way (3 cablecards).

My whole cox bill (internet is premier with a discount to $32) is $66 a month.