How to Get Rid of Your Cable Company and Replace it with Internet TV!
Posted: Monday, October 11, 2010
by Bruce Horst
WryteStuff
It's called 'price creep'. A few years ago Jean and I signed up for the Comcast Triple-Play which includes cable TV, Internet connectivity and telephone service, all for only $99 per month. At the time, it was a no-brainer because of the money it saved. This past summer we realized that this bargain had turned into a $220 behemoth of a monthly bill.
Now this process isn't for the technologically faint of heart. Not yet, anyway. There are quite a few companies now entering Internet TV arena. Not the least of which is Google with their Google TV, and Apple with their Apple TV and their newly designed Apple TV.
First I should point out that I'm an entertainment junkie. I work from my home, so I need to be able to relax from my home, otherwise I'd have to leave home if I wanted to get away from work. (That's what I tell Jean, anyway!)
My primary entertainment system consists of a 52 inch Sony Bravia LCD TV with a matching Sony 5.1 channel surround-sound system. For Internet TV to work for our family, I knew that it would have to be better than our Comcast system. There would be definite shortcomings, but they would have to be offset by definite advantages, more than just saving a bunch of money.
Since my family and I practically live on the Internet, we need a fast, reliable connection. We have had this in Comcast, but we also had a Verizon wireless broadband WiFi router for a backup Internet connection and for Internet when we travel. We had been paying $220 a month for Comcast and $60 a month for the Verizon wireless broadband.
Internet - Clear
I found that Clear 4G Internet was available in our area. Clear broadcasts through towers and is mainly available only in major metropolitan areas. Fortunately we happen to have a Clear tower about 500 feet from our back fence, so we get a very good connection from them. Clear also offers a few portable 4G Internet devices, we opted to get one that is both 4G and 3G so that even when were aren't close to a tower (such as when we are traveling) the device will still provide an Internet connection. We also opted for business-class service from Clear. This gave us a faster connection from home, a static IP address and better support if needed. All this for $95 per month, including all taxes.
Telephone
Our home phone was using Comcast's VOIP service. We don't use our home phone much and we were planning on just disconnecting it. We primarily rely on our cell phones, but since we had given our home number out to so many people over the years we thought it might be nice to keep it in some way. Fortunately we had the type of number that could be ported over to a cell phone, so we bought a cheap cell phone from Verizon and added the number to our family plan for only $9.95 per month. The only drawback is that we can't use this to send or receive faxes, but that's not a deal breaker. (Who uses a fax anymore, anyway?) There are other phone options like Google Voice, Skype, Magic Jack, and Vonage which are either free or almost free, but as far as we could tell we couldn't use our old phone number with any of these services.
Television Programming
Jean & I are fortunate to live in a city which has many over-the-air digital broadcast options. A cheap outdoor digital antenna, placed in the right direction, was all we needed to get great reception of all the major network affiliated stations plus a bunch of independent stations. I had no idea how easy this would be, nor did I understand that over-the-air digital broadcasts were such good quality. Apparently the digital signals are not compressed over the air, so if you can receive them they are better quality than even what you'd get from Comcast or other cable providers. I've read that the quality rivals Blu-Ray. Very cool.
Apple TV and iTunes
During the writers' strike of 2007-2008 I decided to test the waters of Internet TV by purchasing an Apple TV for my family for Christmas. The Apple TV has become a staple of our household as there are a few shows that we could only watch through Apple TV (unless we wanted to watch them on a computer, bleh!)
Apple has just released a new product, also called an Apple TV, but I haven't been able to figure out if they are going to discontinue the old one. The old Apple TV has a hard drive and runs a reduced-featureset of the operating system that runs on their Macintosh computers. The new Apple TV runs on their iPhone operating system and has no hard drive. I think the most important issue is that both work with iTunes and can be used to watch free video podcasts. For me, I like to watch shows like Cranky Geeks, the Engadget Show and a show or two from each of TechCrunch and Twit.tv. For you news hounds, iTunes also has some free programming from the major networks' news shows, plus shows from Fox News and MSNBC.
There are also shows which can be purchased on iTunes. Most episodes are $1.99 but Apple has announced that they will soon allow shows to be 'rented' for $.99 each. This past Summer Jean and I started buying entire seasons of episodes from shows that we hadn't watched before. Seasons usually cost from between $15 to $30. We've now seen every single episode of Criminal Minds and Mad Men. This is an option that we've never tried before. Once you try it, you will probably love it.
There are also a lot of educational video podcasts which are available for free. Our middle son and I regularly watch lectures from Stanford through our Apple TV. (Yes, THAT Stanford.) The Apple TV also lets us watch videos from YouTube, and for those of you wondering, the 5.1 channel surround sound works with YouTube, iTunes, and every other video source that we've tried.
Here's something cool. When I purchase episodes from iTunes, it will automatically sync with my other devices so I can watch it on my Mac, Apple TV, iPhone, or iPad. (Like I said, I'm a techno-nerd!) When I watch an episode, it syncs again so that each device knows what I've watched and what I haven't watched. Pretty cool! I know some of you think it's crazy to want to have a TV show or movie on your cell phone, but the iPhone (and iPad) can connect to your television, letting you watch all your shows where ever you find yourself. This past Summer when my family and I were traveling, this was very useful.
Netflix and Hulu / Hulu Plus
We've also played around with Netflix and Hulu / Hulu Plus. These services (at $8.99, free and $9.99 per month, respectively) allows you to watch their library of programming online. They both have their strengths and problems, which is too much for this article. We rarely use these services, but our son who is in college uses them quite a bit.
I will say that I believe Netflix greatest strength is that it can be used on almost every device I've seen: computer, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, WD Viewer, Boxee, and on and on. Netflix greatest weakness is that it seems that their service is primarily for watching movies (they do offer some TV shows) it never seems like they have the movies I want to watch available to watch online. Most movies have DVD's which can be mailed to your home, but still, I find this very inconvenient.
Hulu's services are more geared toward watching TV shows online. NBC and ABC are both early partners in Hulu, and it shows. My problem with them is their clunky user interface and their poor video quality.
Other Video Streaming Devices
There are a number of other electronic devices made specifically for delivering video to your TV. Ruku and Western Digital both make these devices. Boxee is about to release their hardware device, though they already offer free software that runs on Windows computers, Macs, and Linux computers. They've got some bugs to work out, but they have the most mature Internet TV product I've seen, next to the Apple TV.
Google TV
Last week, Google announced the release date for their Google TV. This device is made by Intel and is slated to ship at the end of this month (October 2010, I pre-ordered mine already!) I think the missing ingredient in all these products is a company with the clout to get the networks to all work together, and I believe both Google or Apple have this clout. The main difference is that Apple demands a cut of the revenue from the video producers, where Google doesn't. My money is on Google TV.
Using a Computer for Video
It took a few weeks, but eventually after cutting off cable TV I decided I needed to have a computer connected to the TV for programming. I got an old unused computer and installed WindowsXP on it, and connected it to the PC input of my TV. I also had an unused wireless keyboard and mouse that I now use for this computer. It works surprisingly well, having the mouse on the small table next to my recliner.
The computer allows me view shows from the major websites like NBC, CBS and ABC. I also use it to watch The Daily Show and the Colbert Report on their respective websites. Now that the new television season has started, nearly all of the shows that I've watched through cable on the major networks are available online. The only exception is The Big Bang Theory, and my oldest son has just sent me a link to watch those shows. Another option, though I'm not recommending it, is to download shows and movies for free from BitTorrent. Only download the legal stuff, though!
DVR
We sometimes miss having a DVR. If you have never had a DVR, you won't understand this. If you've had a DVR, you know it has changed the way you watch TV. For some reason the only over-the-air DVR we have been able to find which doesn't require a monthly subscription is on the Walmart website. I haven't gotten that desperate yet.
What Internet TV does Better than Cable
As stated earlier, portability is nice. I've also connected a webcam to our TV computer so that we can sit in the family room and have a casual conversation with others who have web cams. So far we've only used this with our son who recently moved to attend college.
I think more than anything, the greatest benefit is that we have more to watch now. We all know that a secret to being successful is being able to fail without feeling condemned to failure. Recently I read that because there are so many options to for people to produce videos for mass consumption, there are many more opportunities for these video producers to fail spectacularly. Because of this, there are many more videos which succeed spectacularly. In other words, while there are definitely some really bad TV shows on the Internet, there are some really, really excellent shows, too. More so than have ever been available. And I agree.
I've got more remotes on my table now, plus a wireless keyboard and mouse. It's definitely more complicated. I can now afford to buy a few new video streaming gadgets, subscribe to Netflix and Hulu Plus, buy a few episodes and seasons from iTunes, and still save over a thousand dollars a year. What's there not to like?
This Article has been viewed 4,146 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsIt is so amazing to know so much can offer these days to our lives, with a click button and things just come into picture.It is amazing. Thanks for your comments, Hilda!
I wish I could say I understood all of this, Bruce!! As I was reading I was hoping there'd be something I could latch onto. Ahah! I know what internet is, and cable (I think). But what on earth is DVR?!I thought I was at last beginning to achieve beginner-nerd status, but now I sincerely doubt it. I think I've just achieved pre-pre-beginner nerd alias faint-hearted status!Having said that, I think I understood enough to be able to say congrats for being so creative and resourceful, it's truly amazing!! Great article.Ooh ooh ooh! (Picture my hand waving frantically over my head.) I can actually answer the DVR question even as technologically challenged as I am. Digital Video Recorder. Now I just really hope that is right. :)You're getting there, Jennifer!
Dianne is right. A DVR kinda works like a VCR, except it doesn't record to a tape. They also usually let you record more than one channel at a time and watch channels while they are recording, so you can skip past commercials. I am most impressed with a DVR because it can allow a person to watch 3 hours of TV in 2 hours or less, by skipping commercials and promos.I think we've just got that facility here! No commercials and promos, bliss!
Oh, man... I am just aching to make the switch! Lots of good info here, Bruce.
I've been kinda avoiding this, as I've just got it in my head that it'll be lots of trouble for ultimately viewing that is sub-par to what I'm used to (when FIOS is actually working properly!). But you've got me ready to start moving on this project. Thanks!
-RobThanks Robert. I don't think it will be long until many make the switch. Good luck!
Wow, this article has sooooo much information. I'll be the first to admit that I consider myself technologically challenged these days. This is a lot to take in. Sounds totally like the way to go; certainly the price is amazing. I know that my brother in Fla. has had all TV shows he watches come through the internet. He uses a German company and has for some time. He gets all kind of German shows that he watches, British shows and, of course ours. I've asked him to explain this all to me and he tries. We just cannot get me to understand or my brother to explain it well. He had it installed by a very savvy technological friend. Your article brings my focus back to the subject. Think I'll have a few people read your article to start looking into options again. Oh yes, Right now we have a complete package from Cox.I would love to know the name of the company your brother uses. Apparently there are many more options than what I've been aware of.
Thanks for your comment!He's up in Canada at the moment for two weeks. I'll contact him soon.
This article gets a WOW! It's one of the few that I have printed out for further study. Thank you BruceBobThanks Robert, hopefully it comes in helpful.I agree that this article is a wow!. My son and I are thinking of doing the same thing getting TV through the internet.
Hi Bruce.
I've learned one main thing from your article ... I am technologically faint hearted. :) And I do still use a fax. :(
I think I will just be happy with things as we currently have them arranged. But thanks so much for all the information. I think.
Big hugs,
DianneThanks Dianne. If it ain't broke, well, what fun is it then??? I personally think it's my responsibility to blaze the technological trails so that someday, somewhere, someone might find the path easy to follow. But then again, I never have been able to figure out how to use our fax machine. I leave that up to Jean!The good news for both of you is no one's using faxes any more so you can forget about learning that! :)
Thank you for what I know will be an interesting article. I am so non techie I bookmarked it to read again.Thank you, Linda!
Ain't it great, Bruce? Comcast is a beast, often w/o competition...so there is no reason for them to contain costs...(see my arguments of health care reform)...but any way.My wife and I just bought the mobile hotspot from Virgin for $150.00...and for $40.00 a month we have unlimited internet access..can't beat it. We've even dropped our cell phone plans and bought prepaid "unlimited service" for $50.00 per month per phone...we've halved our phone internet costs.Rich
Thanks for writing this--I am a tech dummy and I learned from the article. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be a tech dummy, but a liitle less.
Steve
Is there a way to get my new Sony Bravia internet TV connected to the internet with a Clear 4G Mobile USB stick? I do not have the Router at my location... only the On The Go stick. I'd sure like to see what this TV can do and access the apps including Pandora. I have been searching the internet and found your website. Thank you!
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