My tale of cutting the cable – getting rid of cable tv and it’s over priced monthly bill
With my monthly cable bill costing me 150 bucks a month, I’ve been motivated to finally say I’ve had enough and snip that cable wire from my home. Currently, I have the triple play via Verizon FiOS, and for the time I’ve had it I can’t say that I can complain, as it’s been a good service. However, what irks me is how the cable companies have taken the stance of what the wireless carriers used to do. That is, who cares about our existing customers, let’s only offer the best deals to new customers. Why?…
On a side note, years ago I was Sprint wireless customer and I ended up ruining my phone because, I hate to admit, I washed in the washing machine. So, having been a customer of Sprint’s for a while, at the time, I somehow “swindled” my way into getting a new a phone at the price reserved for a new customer. Unfortunately, I ended up having to contact the dreadful Sprint customer service and when they found out that I didn’t pay full price for the phone the lady threatened to take away the discount – she even went as far as trying to find a way to do so. (Why? I pay my bill on time, everytime, what did I do to be treated this way?) Fortunately, she didn’t succeed but nonetheless the damage was done, and today I somewhat revel in Sprint’s demise – even though I once again am a customer, I swore not to be, but it’s via Virgin Mobile – a savings that’s totally been worthwhile.
On to cutting the cable. In Rhode Island I’ve got two options Cox or Verizon, which is better than when it was just one, Cox. This month, April, Cox is offering their Internet Preferred (~18/5 Mbps) service for just 29.99 for six months, and increasing to 51.99 after. Not bad at all, so I called Verizon to let them know I want to ditch cable and phone service. They came back with a monthly price of 74.99 (25/25 Mbps), which I have now, and 64.99 for 15/5 Mbps. Then a laughable, and I did laugh at the rep when she offered 3/1 Mbps for 59.99. I proceeded to let her know Cox is offering a service comparable to 15/5 for 29.99. ”Well Verizon is fiber optic” - yeah, so what…is it superior, probably, but I just want to stream shows, so that argument doesn’t hold water. Hey, can’t say I didn’t give Verizon a chance, but as I said, only the new customers get deals. (Hey Cox – I’m new!!!)
Simple Math
Regardless of the carrier, the package I had is going to cost about a 150. I have unlimited calling, “extreme hd”, two cable boxes – one being a DVR with multi-room service, and a very fast Internet (25/25). And with all that service, I still find I like watching shows via Netflix streaming, which costs a measly 7.99.
6 Month Cost of Cable Package: $950
6 Month Cost of just Internet: $180 + $50 (installation fee) = $230
6 Month Savings: $720 (76% savings)
12 Month Cost of Cable Package: $1900
12 Month Cost of Internet (w/ price increase to 51.99): 230 + 312 = $542
12 Month Savings: $1358 (71%)
Wow, put it that way and you can really see why more and more people are cutting the cable. I’ll tell you what pisses me off, is that it costs $360 a year to have two cable boxes with DVR service! In the meantime I can fire up Netflix and watch what I want, when I want and as much as I want for $96/year.
How I cut the cable
There ar e several ways one can go about it, so here is how I’m going to live without cable TV. First of all, I’m fortunate, I missed a lot of great shows, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Office to name a few. I’m fortunate, because I have a whole I can watch via streaming, and I’ve missed these shows because I don’t find I watch enough TV in the first place!
Back to the plan… I already have Netflix streaming, I just signed up for HuluPlus and Amazon offered me Prime for a steal ($39). All three services combined cost around 20 bucks a month. However, it’s really just HuluPlus that’s the additional cost as I’d have Netflix and Amazon Prime with or without cable, so I’m calling 8 for now, although, so far HuluPlus has yet to impress me. Why? Well, it still has commercials, only in one minute intervals, it’s content seems to be lacking in completeness, and it’s mostly ABC, NBC and Fox. Sorry CBS is out.
Step 1. Get an HDTV antenna.
If you are like me, an antenna just sounds dreadful. Bad memories of rabbit ears, low picture quality, adjusting the antenna every time you change the station… Well, I’m glad to say it’s a whole lot better, and in fact I’d say the HD picture quality is actually better – I’m simply stunned by it to be honest. However, I do have to say that reception issues can be still be a battle. I don’t have the patience or desire to go big and set up an outdoor antenna or place one in the attic so here’s what I have:
Mohu Leaf Antenna (~$36) – It basically looks like a laminated sheet of paper with a cable attached. It’s rather neat, different for sure, and the reviews on Amazon were overwhelmingly positive. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive and when it did, I hooked it up expecting great results and well I guess I’m not as lucky as the others as I don’t seem to be able to get the great reception people raved about. It appears in my ranch styled home that the west end doesn’t get reception as well as the east end. My hope that I could stash this antenna (which is white on the other side) in a window faded quickly. However, once positioned in the garage, the Leaf antenna ended up working with spectacular results. So good that I attempted to route a cable from the antenna to the west side with the assistance of an amplifier, but the results have been mixed.
RCA Basic Indoor Antenna (~$9) – It looks dreadful. I haven’t had a chance to use it just yet as I’ve just ordered it. Since my amplifier idea doesn’t seem to work to well, I’m going to give this puppy a shot. It’s so cheap I figure I can’t really lose, and like the Leaf, the reviews are quite positive.
Step 2. Get a streaming device, or two…or three.
The two HDTV’s I have are both pre-wireless enabled. So, what you’ll need for streaming will vary. To start, I already had an AppleTV, 2nd Generation. I have to say, that it’s been a nice device, easy to use and suited my needs for streaming Netflix seamlessly to my television. I can also access iTunes, or interact with my iPad, etc. However, what I can’t do, is watch Hulu or Amazon or anything else that the Apple Gods leave out. It’s the biggest downside to AppleTV.
Enter Roku!
I was able to grab a Roku 2 XD at Best Buy for just $70, I liked it so much I grabbed a second one! I love the channel store, the Roku works just like you are shopping in an App Store. It has hundreds of channels, which download and install to your Roku device. I’ve only checked out a few channels, but so far I have to say I’m impressed with Revision3 and TWiT (Leo Lapote, Theeeeeeee Tech Guy!) Additionally, Roku doesn’t restrict you the way AppleTV does, if you want Huluplus, you get it, if you want Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. you have it. It’s basically the App Store for Internet video content.
As I use the Roku, I can’t help but think of the disruption, and potential future for TV. If only Apple would get behind something like this, as they have clout to truly disrupt the way we access and consume content. However, Apple has always been closed ended, they ultimately want you to watch content via iTunes, I get that. I look forward to my experience living without the huge cable bill, it should be interesting, different for sure and only time will tell if I’ll go back to the cable companies begging for TV service!
Step 3. Enjoy the savings!
I figure it’s worth a try. The only thing I’ll lose is the investment I’ve put into the equipment I need, call it a couple hundred bucks. If I make it past two months then it will pay for itself, not a bad deal.
The one thing I hope though, is that the cable companies don’t kill the movement. There is a reason why some of them are moving to cap bandwidth and why the price of high speed Internet has gone through the roof. They know, they see it happening so they do things to circumvent you, such as, HBO GO, or as they claim “It’s HBO. Anywhere.” – um no it’s not unless your a cable subscriber. Even HuluPlus, will provide access to content sooner to Verizon customers for Fox shows…
