My father was in the cable TV business all my life so I know a bit about this. When I moved to AZ in 2005 I wanted to stick with cable, despite the surge in satellite companies, because of my dad. Back in '05, Cox was pretty good. I paid a fairly reasonable price for TV and internet that was comparable with everything else.
Fast forward to 2014 and they have fallen way behind. The introduction of internet TV has totally blown them away. I cancelled my cable and kept the internet about a year ago because I could watch everything I wanted on Netflix or Amazon for a much lower price. Therein lies the problem with paying for cable TV, a bunch of channels that you will never watch.
The internet was an even bigger problem. I pay for the Cox "Preferred" internet service at $50 a month that advertises 50mbps but in reality is around 36mbps. I have called customer support several times about this but they blamed it on my computer and modem. I bought a new modem from them less than a year ago after a tech came to my house to diagnose the slow connection. After researching online I found the modem was top of the line and there were no problems with my computer but I still get way less than what I am paying for.
After I talked to my dad I found out the real problem after I noticed something strange. I had cancelled my TV service but found out that if I just hooked my TV up to the wall jack via coaxial cable, I still got the basic TV signal. I cancelled my TV, how is this possible? The answer is because Cox was cheap when they installed lines in this area and most areas. They use the same cable run to the house for TV and internet. This not only slows your internet but also degrades your HD TV picture.
On the plus side, I have basic cable without paying for it. On the down side, my internet speeds suck. Cox will always be steps behind as long as they rely on a physical cable to distribute their services. My only plus for Cox is that my service rarely goes out and their customer service is average.