Getting rid of cable

[broadbill]

I'm seriously thinking about this. I have a bundle right now that's running about $150 with a pretty fast bandwith connection. I need that for work. I talked to a rep, and if I dropped the cable, then my internet bill will go up to $82 a month. I don't know... they have me in a headlock.

So you are going to keep paying for a service(s) you don't want/need, to get a better deal on the internet service price? Dropping cables saves you $68, plain and simple.

 

[grathan]

I stopped watching tv maybe 10-15 years ago. If I ever start again, every re-run movie will seem brand new to me.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

They way they enforce their soft limits is to throttle your bandwidth. They slow down your maximum connection speed more and more depending on how much you use.

I have not noticed any throttling either. But, it may also be that our tier is high enough that when they do throttle it is not a major impact on performance. 100/20 (IIRC per last speedtest) cable iNet.

 

[BreezyBrew]

So you are going to keep paying for a service(s) you don't want/need, to get a better deal on the internet service price? Dropping cables saves you $68, plain and simple.

Well, dropping the cable will make them rip me off on the internet bill.

The main reason I haven't dropped cable is for football in the fall. Otherwise, it's useless to me.

 

[Beer-lord]

I know the technology is there to pick, choose and pay for only the channels you want but they refuse to give customers the options.
I recently asked Cox about this and they said it will likely be something cable companies will look to in the future. I think some satellite companies give you options similar to this.
I only watch about 15 or so channels regularly so why am I paying for 300? I don't want any shopping channels are 24/7 Mob Wives or the rerun channel. For Pete's sake, I don't go to the beer store for a bomber of Enjoy By and have to buy every other bomber that is in there!

 

[Black Island Brewer]

So much of the decision depends on what you "need", and what you need is dependent on current viewing habits you can't imagine giving up. 7+ years ago I disconnected cable TV out of necessity (a divorce and new living arrangements) and when I was in a position to afford to get it reconnected, I chose not to. I had become accustomed to filling my "TV time" with other interests, and was amazed at how much more time I had for other pursuits. We used Netflix for a time, but found we didn't watch enough to make it worth it, and then signed up for Amazon Prime, for both the streaming and the shipping. We recently bought a Roku stick mostly for the ease of navigating the few things we do watch, like Amazon video and PBS. There are lots of "channels" on Roku, but we honestly don't watch many of them, as our habit is no longer to sit in front of a TV. If either of us watched sports, then this wouldn't work, but we're not, so it's fine. We round out our viewing with Redbox, the library, and occasionally the purchase of a TV series on DVD.
In the end, we pay $96/month (inc. taxes) for internet (no cap, 6mbs down/1mbs up) and two mobile phones with "unlimited" talk, text and data (5Gb cap that can be busted twice a year).
Honestly, if I had not been forced to go without cable, I would probably still have it, thinking of it as a "must have". In the end, I'm glad to not have the wasted time or the extra expense.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Gave up cable since I moved out of my parents. I like channel surfing at SWMBOs parents house when we watch their dog or something, but I get really really sick of channel surfing after about 2 days, I want to go back to my PS3 with Netflix and Hulu. Some shows I don't mind watching week to week and sports I just go to a local bar to eat and drink and watch the game, otherwise I CANNOT stand waiting each week for a new episode of a show I'll put up with it on some shows on Hulu but I can watch it when I want to watch it.

I *LOVE* when charter calls me up and says "Hey would you like to sign up for a package deal and get phone/tv/internet and SAVE MONEY, YOU ARE SAVING MONEY" and I get to ask them this.

Arkot: "So I am saving money by getting TV and Phone and Internet?"
Poor Phone Operator that doesnt get paid enough to put up wtih me:"Yes you'll get all of those for 300 dollars"
Arkot:"Ok but, I get my internet service for free through my job so I'm not saving any money by signing up for your internet service."
Phone Operator: "Oh, well you'd have free long distance calls with our land line"
Arkot: "I already have a cell phone that you called me on, why would I ever need a land line? Even if theres any reasons to have a land line in this day and age why would I spend *more* money for phone service when I already have a cell phone, so you're not saving me money there"
Phone Operator: "BUt our cable TV service gives you blah blah blah channels and On Demand TV"
Arkot:"Ok but, I have Netflix and Hulu, I can "On Demand" watch whatever I want whenever I want to, or rent newer movies at a Redbox at the store, so unless you can offer me the cable TV part for under 25 dollars a month, the phone service for free, and the internet service for better than free you arent going to save me any money... Stop calling me"

 

[podz]

OK, I'm fed up with the high prices for services that I really don't want/need. I'm cutting the cord and going to put an antenna on my TVs. I'll have internet and will use netflix/huluplus to stream as I want. I still want a DVR to record over the air TV and looking at the Channel Master DVR+. Does anyone here have one or something else and how happy are you with it???

Yeah, here in Finland we pay 1.5% of gross income as tax to the public broadcaster, whether we watch them or don't even own a tv. Previously, it was about 185 euro per year for everyone and you could opt out if you didn't own a tv.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Probably the reason that cable companies will not do the pick and choose channel lineups is that it would not make them as much money. When you can make your own 'basic' cable package with the half dozen channels you actually watch, how will they manage to get the $100+/month that they normally do. Sure they could up the rates per channel for that package, but you would still lose out. Many of the lesser watched channels try to catch surfers with a show that interests you at the moment and as a result gain a viewer, these channels wouldnt get that exposure otherwise and they would then most likely go out of business. A probable more feasible option would be to have more granular of packages so they relate in genre. For example: I want sports channels, home renovation/DIY channels, as well as movie channels (FX, AMC, etc), I do not want the Liftetime and home shopping style channels. Maybe if they bundled channels in packages that way it would be a healthy medium and still be profitable in both cases aside from just being the basic cable then add the tiers and a few other packages that are that way, only the super premium channels.

I guess the tldr of it all is that it isnt profitable for them to do so, I mean who would subscribe to QVC or some of the other channels that only get watched by accident or you see something interesting in the TV guide listing?

 

[Marc77]

I'll soon be "dropping" cable as well. Google Fiber finally sent the email to let me know they're ready to install in the house. Nothing like one GB download speeds (they're saying the same for upload speeds). I watched my brother in law download a 4 gig file in 5 seconds.

At any rate, I'm still stuck for watching my shows recently. I've looked into using the torrents to get some of the shows I watch. Like someone said I've got another family member that I can get access to AMC to watch The Walking Dead and HBO Game of Thrones (when people aren't crashing the site). Past that for me it's watching football. Others have mentioned it but I'll be getting an antenna for that.

The thing I've been debating is getting a few Chromecast's to put into each of the three tv's we have. That way I can stream things from the iPhones and computer to the TV. Anyone have any experience with that? Is it simply streaming from the phone and saying send to TV?

 

[jcoxen]

As if there already weren't enough reasons to drop cable...check this out!

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150219/06580030068/cables-latest-great-idea-speed-up-programs-so-they-can-stuff-more-ads-into-every-hour.shtml

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yep, I don't think I've followed up, but y'all have convinced me.

I'm switching from XBMC to Plex.

I'm going to sign up for Sling TV, who is doing a "buy 3 months, get a Roku Stick free), and then buy another Roku Stick for the upstairs TV. (My third TV, in the garage, already has a Fire TV Stick and since I'm the only one who watches it, I don't mind it being a different interface than what the wife/family use).

That, and adding Hulu Plus, should cover it all.

As soon as March Madness is over, buh-bye DirecTV!

 

[podz]

I watched my brother in law download a 4 gig file in 5 seconds.

Minimum theoretical speed to transfer 4 gigabytes on a 1 gigabit network is 32 seconds and you can not achieve that without a coordinated effort on highly tuned devices. So. no you didn't.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yep, I don't think I've followed up, but y'all have convinced me.

I'm switching from XBMC to Plex.

I'm going to sign up for Sling TV, who is doing a "buy 3 months, get a Roku Stick free), and then buy another Roku Stick for the upstairs TV. (My third TV, in the garage, already has a Fire TV Stick and since I'm the only one who watches it, I don't mind it being a different interface than what the wife/family use).

That, and adding Hulu Plus, should cover it all.

As soon as March Madness is over, buh-bye DirecTV!

Plex is good. I had a crapton of issues with it through it's early relase with Roku and opted to go with PlayOn instead. I did really like how Plex organized a local DVD collection but it was really laggy, had a lot of buffering, and the occasional issue ID'ing a specific DVD title.

 

[Marc77]

Minimum theoretical speed to transfer 4 gigabytes on a 1 gigabit network is 32 seconds and you can not achieve that without a coordinated effort on highly tuned devices. So. no you didn't.

The last thing I saw for theoretical limits was written in 2009 and that gave you the limit of 125 MB per sec which is how you got your 32 seconds. I'm guessing a few things have changed since then because I know it was 4 gig and if it wasn't 5 seconds it was damn close.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If it wasn't 5 seconds it was damn close.

1 gigabit = 1000000000 bits
1 Gigabyte = 8000000000 bits
4 gigabytes = 32000000000 bits

32/1 = 32 ...

Thus, 32 seconds is the minimum possible transfer time on a perfectly configured system. And thus, not likely.

 

[djonesax]

I cut the cord 3 years ago.

I have a hauppage tv tuner card on my pc i bought for about 80 bucks. This is receives the antenna feed. I the use windows media center to record shows.

I use plex to play what is on the pc to my tvs. I do not have smart tvs, but i use roku for the netflix and for plex.

I find i watch less tv, which is a good thing. But when i want to watch it i gave plenty if options. My kids don't even know what cable is. Hah!

Good luck!

This...

 

[Marc77]

1 gigabit = 1000000000 bits
1 Gigabyte = 8000000000 bits
4 gigabytes = 32000000000 bits

32/1 = 32 ...

Thus, 32 seconds is the minimum possible transfer time on a perfectly configured system. And thus, not likely.

So I truly dislike people that lie and it really bugged me when this was proofed out along with Podz post. Which in turn made me phone bomb my brother in law til he answered.

I asked him about it and the short answer is we were all right. It was a 4 gig file and it did take about 5 seconds. You and Podz were right in two words...resume download. A-hole made me think he downloaded it in 5 seconds.

 

[podz]

So I truly dislike people that lie and it really bugged me when this was proofed out along with Podz post. Which in turn made me phone bomb my brother in law til he answered.

I asked him about it and the short answer is we were all right. It was a 4 gig file and it did take about 5 seconds. You and Podz were right in two words...resume download. A-hole made me think he downloaded it in 5 seconds.

By way of deception we shall make war. Or sales.