Dumping Cable But Somehow Keeping Internet...

[modhatter]

Through consolidation (a bad word) such as Comcast buying Dish now as an example, we are left without any real competition, and the monopoly is free to charge what ever they want, and you have nowhere to run. So you will soon see internet alone costing the same as bundled packages, or your megabits so restricted that any amount of streaming on line will cause you to go over your limit.

They are also fighting very hard now to stop Aereo from being able to obtain OTA signal and repackage it in a cloud format, and it is being challenged in courts siting copyright infringement, which they insist they must be compensated for. If they win this, then I can see them eventually filing suit down the road for a fee for the public use of OTA signals by the broadcasters using the same argument. I know it is not that way now, but things have a way of changing, and always as a minus for the consumers and a plus for the corporations.

They intend to get you eventually. They just need to have you were you have no choices left. Having to watch commercials in order to see programing wasn't enough. Then we went to five minutes of programing for five minutes of commercials. Today with cable, you have all of the above and have to pay on top of it to watch all those commercials. They stopped making full functioning DVR's here in the US. However, they are readily available in all other countries. I'm not counting Tivo since it is a subscription or a ransom fee to buy a lifetime subscription.

And the Magnavox and a couple of other they came out with don't work in the same manner and don't have the same capabilities. Why do you suppose that is? Do you suppose it is because we don't want them?

 

[W2R]

Through consolidation (a bad word) such as Comcast buying Dish now as an example, we are left without any real competition, and the monopoly is free to charge what ever they want, and you have nowhere to run. So you will soon see internet alone costing the same as bundled packages, or your megabits so restricted that any amount of streaming on line will cause you to go over your limit.

This is my concern, as well. I do almost everything on the internet, so I do feel that internet access is important to me. But, cheap internet access seems harder to find than it was ten years ago.

 

[Marita40]

Call Comcast and tell them you want to drop the service. They'll offer you some cheaper deal to stay. Take the deal and insist on at least 6 months to a year. Write the date down and call a week ahead to do the same thing over again. Works for me.

 

[BLS53]

I would drop cable if it wasn't for baseball. The obstacle is MLB's blackout rules on their internet streaming package, that force you to subscribe to cable if you want to see your local team.

Cable has become a huge wasteland. If you're over 50, with an IQ over 100, there's nothing on there to hold your interest.

 

[tmm99]

Comcast told me that my internet will go up by over $10 if I dropped my cable (Internet was already $60 even without the increase), so I dropped them both. I now have DSL - slower for sure (since they don't have the high speed available in my area), but much more reliable than the internet I had with Comcast. I now have OTA with Windows Media Center enabled AverTV ($45ish) so I can record/play later, and Hulu+. I used to pay $120 for both cable and internet. I now pay $35is for DSL (1 year or 2 year contract.. can't remember... Gave me $50 to sign up) and $9 or so for Hulu+ - savings of $75 per month... I cannot watch CNBC or TLC, but that's OK if I can save this much money...

 

[BLS53]

Through consolidation (a bad word) such as Comcast buying Dish now as an example, we are left without any real competition, and the monopoly is free to charge what ever they want, and you have nowhere to run. So you will soon see internet alone costing the same as bundled packages, or your megabits so restricted that any amount of streaming on line will cause you to go over your limit.

They are also fighting very hard now to stop Aereo from being able to obtain OTA signal and repackage it in a cloud format, and it is being challenged in courts siting copyright infringement, which they insist they must be compensated for. If they win this, then I can see them eventually filing suit down the road for a fee for the public use of OTA signals by the broadcasters using the same argument. I know it is not that way now, but things have a way of changing, and always as a minus for the consumers and a plus for the corporations.

They intend to get you eventually. They just need to have you were you have no choices left. Having to watch commercials in order to see programing wasn't enough. Then we went to five minutes of programing for five minutes of commercials. Today with cable, you have all of the above and have to pay on top of it to watch all those commercials. They stopped making full functioning DVR's here in the US. However, they are readily available in all other countries. I'm not counting Tivo since it is a subscription or a ransom fee to buy a lifetime subscription.

And the Magnavox and a couple of other they came out with don't work in the same manner and don't have the same capabilities. Why do you suppose that is? Do you suppose it is because we don't want them?

The cable industry seems intent on thwarting any new technology that infringes on their current business model of ripping off consumers.

Good thing the horse and buggy industry didn't carry this amount of clout.

 

[Katsmeow]

Sure you can just get internet from your cable company without having TV. You could try DSL which I don't like as I find it too slow. We currently do have TV since it wasn't that much more to have TV than it did to have internet by itself.

 

[calmloki]

We get one channel OTA up north and none down south, so we count on Netflix (price going up a buck for current subscribers in a few years), Hulu, and Amazon. Also have Ooma, so we count on our internet. Down south we have Time Warner, who has sold out to Comcast. Not impressed with TW, but Fios is our only other option, and they want to charge on a two year contract, which isn't very handy if we are only here six months out of the year.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The cable industry seems intent on thwarting any new technology that infringes on their current business model of ripping off consumers.

Good thing the horse and buggy industry didn't carry this amount of clout.

+1. I always feel like contributing to these threads on how to drop cable TV is a form of a public service announcement.

The cable companies are very sneaky the way they raise your rates without any advance warning and just hope you don't notice.

 

[Janet H]

About every 6 months or so I get a letter from Charter cable about my rates going up. Each time I call them up to renegotiate the deal or cancel. Their knee jerk response is that the deals are for new customers only and that I just need to accept the rate increase. When I push however, they transfer me to an "account retention specialist" who seem empowered to negotiate lower rates.

I HATE having to do this twice a year but it is effective. As a data point I pay 124.00 including taxes and surcharges for phone, A good size TV package that includes HBO and 30 Meg internet. Good luck.

 

[bssc]

When we dropped cable and kept Internet with Cox, it was just a matter of dropping off the convertor box and DVR.

My only TV show is on CBS. The best part is that it is available same day without commercials. Almost an incentive to drop it.

 

[wolf]

San Francisco, Bay Area, OTA, 40 - 50 channels. About 1/3 foreign.

Still, free. If you can, try an outdoor antenna. Depending on where you live you might be surprised at the number of good clear channels.

 

[Covbro]

We cut cable tv and have no landline. We have Internet DSL over our existing phone line. We installed an antenna in our attic and receive 55 local channels with excellent high definition picture quality. We were paying $130/month when we had the bundle - cable, landline and internet. Since we only have Internet now we only pay $35/month. We also have Netflix using Apple TV. We got tired of the semi annual cable TV rate increase.

 

[Chuckanut]

The market seems to be speaking loud and clear.


Sent from somewhere in the world with whatever device I can get my hands on.

 

[razztazz]

I am with the cable company for internet only. I ditched cable TV 3 or 4 yrs ago.

I am not a tv maven ie not a sportsoholic or movieoholic so over-the-air tv is sufficient when combined with some online steaming stuff

 

[bUU]

The market seems to be speaking loud and clear.

Yes: Lots of complaining, but lots of eventual accepting of the situation and paying the high price of multi-channel video entertainment.

 

[W2R]

I want to either go OTA, or to get bare bones basic cable TV instead of my present service.

Today will be my LAST DAY of cable TV!! As I type, I am watching OTA television and I get a lot of local channels. Reception is beautiful. This is ALL that I will ever need.

Tomorrow I am taking my cable boxes back to Cox Cable and telling them all I want is internet. Free at last, free at last.

 

[REWahoo]

The market seems to be speaking loud and clear.

+1

I just heard another one speak up...

Today will be my LAST DAY of cable TV!!

Free at last, free at last.

 

[F4mandolin]

I just got zapped this morning by Direct TV......they offered us a few channels for free for 3 months back in Feb. I called today to cancel so I wouldn't have to pay for them when the period ends. When I asked to be put back on my basic package......it isn't there anymore. I would have to have another package that cost $1 more and had 13 less channels. Can't help but wonder if they did it on purpose. I won't be accepting anymore free offers from them just in case they have another motive....... Another year and I will be going internet for everything.

 

[W2R]

Took back my cable TV boxes this afternoon so it's a done deal. No more cable TV at my house. I will be retaining cable internet.

My bill went down from almost $172/month, to $62/month, roughly a $110/month decrease.

That is almost like getting a second mini-pension!! Only I didn't have to work at all in order to earn this one.

My dear F says laughingly that I am going to be insufferable for a few weeks since I have been more than a bit vocal with my glee. It is a great feeling, that's for sure.

Cox Cable made no offers whatsoever to try to keep me from canceling my TV service. Not one offer, not a penny off what I had been paying although I made it clear that my motivation was to lower my bill. I wouldn't have accepted any offers anyway, but I thought that was interesting.

 

[F4mandolin]

Recommendation.....Kingdom, with Stephen Fry.....classic. Think it's on YouTube anyway......

 

[W2R]

Recommendation.....Kingdom, with Stephen Fry.....classic. Think it's on YouTube anyway......

Thanks, I'll check it out on Youtube. But for tonight, it's the American Idol semi-finals for me! I want to see whether Caleb makes it to the finals or not.

 

[RockyMtn]

I'm probably going to get bashed for this but here goes....

Cable/Satellite/Internet is like any other good or service. If you don't like the price don't buy it or buy something cheaper.

I'm sure we would all like to drive nice cars but that doesn't mean we can afford to. We might like to live in a nicer house or apartment but we choose not to. If you don't like the price of cable don't buy it. Why should tv/internet be any different than any other good or service? So tv used to be free...gas used to be a dime a gallon too. Want free tv then put up an antenna and watch free tv. Can't get OTA at your house? Well if you can't get it now you probably never could get it even in the days before cable.

There...I said my piece.

Now for some constructive thinking....Here are some other options for you to consider that might lower your cable/internet bills.

1. OTA antenna
2. The oft mentioned Netflix, Hulu, Roku, etc. They still cost something.
3. Get dvd's from the library.
4. Get wifi free at McDonalds or Starbucks.
5. Get shows off of the various networks websites.
6. Dump your landline and get a magic jack.
7. Downgrade to a cheaper cable package.
8. In many markets you have multiple distributors. A cable company, Dish, DirecTV, ATT Uverse and/or Verizon FIOS. Call around...make a deal. Change providers every six months.
9. Read a book.

Me, I wouldn't give up my Directv. I think it is one of the best values out there in terms of entertainment. Been to a movie lately...it's like $12.00 a ticket. Been to a sporting event lately....for a halfway decent ticket and a dog and a beer figure $500.00 for a family of four for a NFL, NHL, or NBA game. Maybe $200.00 for a MLB game.

I like sports and I like the pristine HD picture on my 55 inch Plasma. My beer is cheaper and colder, my bathrooms are cleaner, my chair is more comfortable and I don't have to listen to a bunch of loudmouth drunks.

 

[Mulligan]

Rocky Mtn, I am a big sports fan so I have to agree with you. I remember the "good old days" when you were very lucky to see a few games that you really wanted to. Now, you can literally see practically any team every game. Break it down on a daily basis, it's a good deal for me. Though I still feel like my chain is getting yanked when other people get better prices for same package just because they are new customers, I would give up my a/c before I give up my sports packages.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Took back my cable TV boxes this afternoon so it's a done deal. No more cable TV at my house. I will be retaining cable internet.

My bill went down from almost $172/month, to $62/month, roughly a $110/month decrease.

That is almost like getting a second mini-pension!! Only I didn't have to work at all in order to earn this one.

Excellent news!