Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[bloom2708]

One month during the Olympics we used 1.3 TB.

Both cable internet providers are "unlimited" but may slow you down if you use more than 5 TB.

If you use Netflix, you can set the stream down one notch from the top and that saves some data.

 

[stephenson]

Spouse just told me Cox (northwest Florida) has increased internet access from about $50/month following pulling the cable tv plug, to $80/month ...

Anyone having same thing happen?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

How much data are you guys using? I recently got a notification that we've used 900gb of data in a month apparently we are capped at 1tb.

Seems high. Are you (or someone in the home) gaming a lot? Perhaps watching a bunch of 4K shows? Our highest usage has been about 600 Gb in a month but normally average about 550'ish. We don't game and don't do 4K...and TV streams are probably 5-6 hours a day (3 of which is DW leaving the TV on when we go to bed)

 

[SmallCityDave]

Seems high. Are you (or someone in the home) gaming a lot? Perhaps watching a bunch of 4K shows? Our highest usage has been about 600 Gb in a month but normally average about 550'ish. We don't game and don't do 4K...and TV streams are probably 5-6 hours a day (3 of which is DW leaving the TV on when we go to bed)

That's what I thought too... we watch 2-3 hours per day and no 4k shows.

 

[Midpack]

How much data are you guys using? I recently got a notification that we've used 900gb of data in a month apparently we are capped at 1tb.

Seems awfully high, we stream TV (prob more than 2-3 hrs/day) and surf both our iPads much more than I care to admit, and the highest we've ever been in 20 months is about 700MB - we have a 1TB cap but we've never been near it. Most months we're 500-600MB. And that's based on over a year with Comcast and a couple months with AT&T, so two "data points."

[edit: I see you answered this][-]Any chance you're streaming a lot of 4K TV? We rarely watch 4K. That would increase your usage significantly.[/-] Good luck!

 

[mpeirce]

Depending on your setup you may be turning off the TV, but not turning off the streaming. You think it's "off" because the TV screen is off but the Roku or AppleTV or whatever is still streaming and outputting video to the HDMI connection.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Agreed, I've turned the TV on and it's still streaming from the channel I was watching the previous night, I think it was Pluto TV. I try not to watch streaming TV in bed fro that reason.

 

[Midpack]

Depending on your setup you may be turning off the TV, but not turning off the streaming. You think it's "off" because the TV screen is off but the Roku or AppleTV or whatever is still streaming and outputting video to the HDMI connection.

That’s a very good point! You MUST close the streaming app, not just turn off the TV and Roku.

 

[davidfin]

I find my Fire Stick stops streaming in response to HDMI signaling that the tv is powered down. Interesting all streaming devices do not behave the same. There may be tv/HDMI configuration issues not allowing signaling.

 

[stevemac]

We have Roku and are able to use it to fall asleep without the streaming continuing after the TV goes to sleep. The "secret" in our case includes not using the Pluto channel -- which, yes, does continue streaming as it's live TV -- but watching shows that part of the "Buzzer" network (more about shows in a minute).

We discovered Buzzer when we had Cox cable and there was a Buzzer channel, and the main shows on it were game shows from the 50's through 70's (Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret, What's My Line, and Gene Rayburn doing Match Game). As the late night shows pivoted to highly-political we lost interest in falling asleep to that, and started watching Buzzer. Great way to fall asleep.

When we cut the cable cord we saw that Amazon Prime had the same shows, and that when we clicked on a show it began with the Buzzer TV logo and announcement. I can confirm from our experience that when we turn on the TV the next night the Roku is back at the main screen, and the number of shows "streamed" essentially matches the amount of the "sleep" timer.

We recently put a much smarter TV in the bedroom (which has an app for Amazon Prime) and the same thing happens, even without the Roku.

YMMV, but hopefully this helps.

 

[easysurfer]

For SlingTV, does the "DVR" of SlingTV allow for chase play? That is, watching the program and recording the program at the same time?

Reason I'm asking is for sports. I have a hardware syncing device that allows me to sync a radio broadcast to the TV. But when trying last night watching a ballgame (without the DVR option) that was a challenge as the timing of the SlingTV livestream would drift. I'd get timing synced okay, then the stream would fall behind and I've have to try again and again throughout the game. Not a pleasant experience .

 

[jim584672]

My cable company Altice is offering 200mb Internet for $44.99 a month "for life". So I guess they are expecting Internet to keep getting cheaper.

 

[kgtest]

My cable company Altice is offering 200mb Internet for $44.99 a month "for life". So I guess they are expecting Internet to keep getting cheaper.

Or tue data demand will outrun the 200mb speeds where that level of service is no longer acceptable. Meaning 4k becomes 8k and data usage increases sorta like inflation.

 

[davidfin]

A recent episode of Podcast Market place with Kai Rysdahl ( last three days) interviewed a researcher who evaluated residential Internet data rates and quality of service. Basically the outcome was you need far less data rate (lower cost) then service providers recommend. Save some money and start slow before buying into I got a have 100MBS OR MORE. you know for most of us we’re one stream and a few low duty cycle demand devices.

 

[RonBoyd]

Basically the outcome was you need far less data rate (lower cost) then service providers recommend. Save some money and start slow before buying into I got a have 100MBS OR MORE. you know for most of us we’re one stream and a few low duty cycle demand devices.

I agree with that. I have 50 mbps DSL and have over 40 devices attached to our Local Area Network (LAN) -- not all, of course, access the internet but quite a number do. I have 5-6 devices that do nothing but stream 4K video and many more that access on a periodic basis (Alexa, for instance). It is not unusual for all of the streaming devices to be downloading at the same time. I have never had a "buffering" issue that could be linked to the Internet access. When it happens (very rarely) it has always been the (media) Provider's fault.

I might add a couple caveats, however: 95% of my streaming is wired and not wi-fi. Secondly, I am in a somewhat "busy" neighborhood with over 10 strong signals with wi-fi search. (Yeah, not all will be CenturyLink but quite a few are.)

 

[Midpack]

A recent episode of Podcast Market place with Kai Rysdahl ( last three days) interviewed a researcher who evaluated residential Internet data rates and quality of service. Basically the outcome was you need far less data rate (lower cost) then service providers recommend. Save some money and start slow before buying into I got a have 100MBS OR MORE. you know for most of us we’re one stream and a few low duty cycle demand devices.

We had 25 Mbps with Comcast for 16 months and never had any problems, and never exceeded our 1TB data cap (usually 600 MB/mo plus-minus). All our TV viewing was HD streaming (PS Vue etc. w Rokus), sometimes two TVs simultaneously. And we’re also both on our iPads several hours a day.

It’s only now that we have 300 Mbps with AT&T that we’re experiencing some minor issues with TV and significant issues with iPad/iPhone webpage loading. Only fixed WiFi when I brought my own router online, the “free” required AT&T gateway router is a POS...

As noted above, when 4K becomes the norm data requirements will change, but that’s years away for most users.

 

[explanade]

I don’t trust Comcast’s accounting of data usage at all, especially if you sign up for streaming services.

 

[Midpack]

I don’t trust Comcast’s accounting of data usage at all, especially if you sign up for streaming services.

We had Comcast for about 15 years, and used 600MB/mo (w 1TB cap) when we cut the cord and all our TV viewing was streaming for the last 16 months. We streamed and surfed more than I care to admit, I couldn't imagine how much more we'd have had to use to reach 1 TB, the closest we ever came was about 700MB at our worst. I never had any issue with Comcast's data usage, and you can see it every day or more often if you want to verify. YMMV

I am having much more trouble with AT&T, I had better service from Comcast/XFinity...

 

[explanade]

We had Comcast for about 15 years, and used 600MB/mo (w 1TB cap) when we cut the cord and all our TV viewing was streaming for the last 16 months. We streamed and surfed more than I care to admit, I couldn't imagine how much more we'd have had to use to reach 1 TB, the closest we ever came was about 700MB at our worst. I never had any issue with Comcast's data usage, and you can see it every day or more often if you want to verify. YMMV

I am having much more trouble with AT&T, I had better service from Comcast/XFinity...

My experience was completely different.

When I checked the app., it would show the account using tens of gigs between bedtime and the morning.

That happened only when I was on trial subscriptions of Hulu and Direct TV Now, neither of which offered 4K at the time.

There are similar stories all over the web.

 

[Midpack]

My experience was completely different.

When I checked the app., it would show the account using tens of gigs between bedtime and the morning.

That happened only when I was on trial subscriptions of Hulu and Direct TV Now, neither of which offered 4K at the time.

There are similar stories all over the web.

I am not doubting your experience.

If there was a lot of usage overnight, could be you were streaming without realizing it? Many folks find out the hard way that shutting off the TV doesn’t stop streaming...

 

[explanade]

I was streaming through Apple TV and iPad.

When you quit the app, some are made to continue to stream and some will cut it off entirely.

For instance, the Stream Comcast app. will stream through a minimized window. But now, I have Uverse and their app. when you quit out of it isn't streaming.

 

[bUU]

I went over 1TB once even though I wasn't streaming at all. Turns out it was a bad Windows Update, that kept failing and restarting (on several computers). There can be loads of data going back and forth that have nothing to do with video entertainment.

 

[ivinsfan]

We have Roku and are able to use it to fall asleep without the streaming continuing after the TV goes to sleep. The "secret" in our case includes not using the Pluto channel -- which, yes, does continue streaming as it's live TV -- but watching shows that part of the "Buzzer" network (more about shows in a minute).

We discovered Buzzer when we had Cox cable and there was a Buzzer channel, and the main shows on it were game shows from the 50's through 70's (Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret, What's My Line, and Gene Rayburn doing Match Game). As the late night shows pivoted to highly-political we lost interest in falling asleep to that, and started watching Buzzer. Great way to fall asleep.

When we cut the cable cord we saw that Amazon Prime had the same shows, and that when we clicked on a show it began with the Buzzer TV logo and announcement. I can confirm from our experience that when we turn on the TV the next night the Roku is back at the main screen, and the number of shows "streamed" essentially matches the amount of the "sleep" timer.

We recently put a much smarter TV in the bedroom (which has an app for Amazon Prime) and the same thing happens, even without the Roku.

YMMV, but hopefully this helps.

A 100% off topic here but how does watching TV help you fall asleep, that's contrary to everything I've read about good sleep habits..

 

[stevemac]

A 100% off topic here but how does watching TV help you fall asleep, that's contrary to everything I've read about good sleep habits..

As you quoted my post I'll weigh in that these particular shows (old B/W game shows from the 50's and 60's) just seem to have a rhythm to them that lulls, even though they're interesting. Now, we used to fall asleep to the Tonight Show, etc., but as the late-night talk shows have taken a very political turn in the past few years, they don't lull.

And as for being contrary, that's interesting as most people I know fall asleep to TV. In any event, as the TV is on a timer (usually 30 minutes) I drop off pretty quickly (versus having my brain running if there's silence), and I get a good night's sleep.

YMMV.

 

[mpeirce]

And as for being contrary, that's interesting as most people I know fall asleep to TV. In any event, as the TV is on a timer (usually 30 minutes) I drop off pretty quickly (versus having my brain running if there's silence), and I get a good night's sleep.

This is our habit too. In fact, I expect it's the habitual part that lulls one to sleep.

That and the fact the local news is pretty non-engaging most nights.

We settle down a little past 10 - time enough to buffer up the DVR so we can skip commercials - and I try to last until the full weather report (not that short teaser weather report ;-) ).

Thank goodness to the Sleep button on the remote...