Cutting the cord (this again!)

[shrpshtr325]

you are the one that referred to it as such......

Correct since the new phrasing groups and phone number linked to an address or wall phone as such. Maybe house phone is a better terminology these days? Wtf do I know even work is trying to give us all cell phones and take away the landlines to our desks 🙄

about the discount, on the back end, any call terminating or attempting to terminate at that number pays a fee. it is fractions of a cent, but with all the wardialing and telemarketers, any connected phone makes money for the end point. They know your phone isn't connected, so it lets it ring, sending it to generic vmail which probably doesn't take a message, cause it isn't setup. Still a connected call.

More info here.

This is interesting so that means they pay for your unlimited calling per outgoing connection too and don't charge you for it? Residential phones must make a drastically small number of outgoing calls

 

[Patrick]

Correct since the new phrasing groups and phone number linked to an address or wall phone as such. Maybe house phone is a better terminology these days? Wtf do I know even work is trying to give us all cell phones and take away the landlines to our desks 🙄




This is interesting so that means they pay for your unlimited calling per outgoing connection too and don't charge you for it? Residential phones must make a drastically small number of outgoing calls

Yes - if you make a call, and it is carried onto another network, they pay the settlement fee to them. it is a big thing.
there is also back-end reverse bidding to carry traffic - all the dark fiber that was installed during the .com boom is coming online.

I doubt distribution companies put a pipe in the ground without a fiber bundle running next to it. even if it is for their own network use.
When I was at PSEG, they ran their own phone network. Military has an independent, and software defined network.

in my mind, land line means a twisted pair running from a central office to your phone (home distribution) which is independent from any other device,
and will work if the power is out, cause it is powered over the twisted pair. I would bet cell phones in a densely populated area are more resilient now.
can always charge them from your car, or b/u battery. Once call traffic leaves the central office to the interconnect (PSTN?), there is route diversity, so you'd expect that if the line to your house still has dial tone, it will work. Cell towers have diesel generators, and multiple ways to back-haul (ie fiber, tower to tower. or satellite uplink, etc)

I'm sure lots of things are new and shiny as it has been awhile since my phone-head days.....

 

[qclabrat]

We just told Cablevision to pound sand. Finally. They truly suck. FiOS unavailable here in S. Edison.

We went with T-Mobile for internet and YouTubeTV. About $140/mo cheaper. no more pixelation, more channels. Got Prime, Netflix and Disney+ adders. So far so good. Will report back after the honeymoon.

I had Cablevision when we lived in N.Edison. Was bad but not as terrible as DirecTV when they only did the dish thing. Experimenting with T-Mobile at my mom's apartment in Brooklyn but she has a great signal and on the 12th floor. We have T-Mobile for mobile but have weak service at home. If you complain enough they will send you a signal booster. It works and gives us two more bars. Problem with wireless Internet is that it's not way as fast as FiOS. Fine for streaming shows but isn't stable for when I work at home. Those days I tell others in the house to limit streaming and player online games.

 

[qclabrat]

that landline phone was VOIP - they get money when someone calls you, which is why it is less. They don't want you to actually use it to call out

@qclabrat - did you look at Zoom international calling? use the app and run it voice only? They have a bridge service to connect to phone numbers, so not just app-to-app. It isn't free, but should be very competitive for non-business.

That's what I was trying to explain to MrsQ that we don't have physical phone line active in the house since getting FiOS.

 

[qclabrat]

The streaming price and bundle game is a bit annoying as it is ever changing and even more annoying when it is linked to your cell phone plan or some other promotion. It isn't particularly straight forward (by design).

There was never an incentive till recent to drop cable as the bundle for phone and Internet was only $10 less. Recently they upgraded the Verizon infrastructure and along with it new bundle options. We now save $80 when dropping cable and even move up a notch on Internet speed.

 

[qclabrat]

Comcast raised the price again for basic cable - so for 185 channels plus internet, most of which I only watch four channel and zero sports I was $221 a month. Xfinity told me this is one of the cheapest bills they have seen in a long time - I don’t buy it but maybe I am more analog then I think.

After an agitating day at work I figured I was ready to go to Xfinity in Manahawkin, because let’s get honest - the call center is useless and they purposely put you in a loop of entering your info over and over to get you no where hoping you hang up and self diagnose. And no I do not want another “app”

The tech was helpful, I shut cable off and it put my internet to $123 a month. Tech told me if I come back next month a promo will be sent to me to bring that down to $105 for internet. I have a feeling I will shop that.

Frankly, the TV channels that come with the internet are fine for me. I felt like a failure at first for being an 80’s kid without my beloved cable - but now I feel like I have been throwing that money away for years.

Hoping to go spend my savings on two burgers and a beer at happy hour this evening and watch their TV. The boys will get over it.

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I was same, most of the cable usage was for local stations and some weekend sports. Will need to figure out how to get my daily news fixes.
What speed is your Internet? Have you considered Starlink as your paying over $100?

 

[Patrick]

When Verizon 5g home becomes available, i'll switch phone carriers and use that - then add subscriptions as needed.
It is a fixed wireless solution - and is mostly limited by town agreements with their current supplier - usually 10 year contracts?

 

[Johnny Utah]

I was same, most of the cable usage was for local stations and some weekend sports. Will need to figure out how to get my daily news fixes.
What speed is your Internet? Have you considered Starlink as your paying over $100?

I think 500 or more. We need reliable internet right now as I work from home a good bit. The internet has been solid thus far.

 

[SAM]

I finally got rid of Comcast/Xfinity for TV. They kept raising prices and cutting content. Went to the Xfinity Store (don't even try the phone) and they couldn't do anything for me. I'm sick of shopping promotions and getting stuck with one to two year contracts anyway. They truly suck in every possible way.

I went with Hulu Plus Live TV which includes more live channels, Disney+ and ESPN+. Soooo much more content than what I was getting for a higher price from Xfinity. No contracts, so I can switch to a different streaming service anytime, if needed.

I kept Xfinity internet (for now) but saw no need to keep the 1200 Mbps (1.2 gig) speed tier they had slowly raised me up to over the years (and charge more for). All the ISPs lie about what the average home needs for internet speed, suggesting that at least 500 Mbps or even more is needed for 4K streaming. I read that 150 Mbps was more than enough to run four simultaneous 4K streams and more bandwidth is only needed if downloading massive files from the internet.

So, when I dumped Xfinity TV I also reduced my internet speed to 300 Mbps, a $30/month savings for me. I've been at 300 Mbps speed for several months now and have not noticed any issues streaming Hulu Plus Live TV and/or Netflix at the same time on several TVs. No noticeable difference in internet speeds on computer connections either.

Here are Xfinity Internet prices for my area. I had to add the actual speeds of the different "named" tiers to the screen shot because, of course, that info isn't included anywhere on the same web page. You just have to rely on their deceptive descriptions of the capabilities of the different speed tiers, which are included on that web page.


These are out-of-date prices now, since Xfinity just raised their already high prices for internet by $3/month. They also reduced the discount for autopay/paperless billing from $5/month to $2/month. So, my bill went up $6/month. I had already been thinking of trying the 150 Mbps speed and this prompted me to do it. The price is $71/month ($73 - $2 discount for autopay/paperless). I've been using it for a week now and have seen no lags or interruptions in internet or streaming connectivity. My experience so far is indistinguishable from the 1200 Mbps speed I had originally that cost $52 more per month.

Brightspeed Internet installed fiber in my neighborhood last year, so now that is available. Prices are competitive or a little better and they provide a free modem (ONT) and free installation. When I was shopping at the Brightspeed web site, I noticed that their descriptions of what is doable with the different speed tiers suggest that the 500-1000 Mbps speeds are needed for 4K streaming.

A chat window came up on the page, so I asked why it says 500 Mbps or gig is needed for 4K streaming and wouldn’t 200 Mbps (the lowest they offer) work just fine for multiple 4K streams? This was the answer: "The 4k streams worked for both plans but the difference is the 200Mbps only cater 4-8 4k streams simultaneously while the 1G work with 20+ 4K streams simultaneously.” LOL, as soon as I get 20+ TVs running 4K streams simultaneously I'll think about upgrading.

 

[w_b]

We did this about two years ago. Wife hated the Youtube interface. We both missed being able to just scroll through channels. Then the welcome back offers started rolling in. Clouldn't resist once Cablevision was less money than Youtube. Of course, now two years later the monthly cost has crept back up agin. Time to call and threaten to quit or just switch again for a month. Rinse, repeat.

Agreed the YTTV interface sux. For $140/mo savings we'll deal w/ it.

I had Cablevision when we lived in N.Edison. Was bad but not as terrible as DirecTV when they only did the dish thing. Experimenting with T-Mobile at my mom's apartment in Brooklyn but she has a great signal and on the 12th floor. We have T-Mobile for mobile but have weak service at home. If you complain enough they will send you a signal booster. It works and gives us two more bars. Problem with wireless Internet is that it's not way as fast as FiOS. Fine for streaming shows but isn't stable for when I work at home. Those days I tell others in the house to limit streaming and player online games.

FiOS not an option here or we'd prolly be there. Been running the T-Mobile in parallel for about a month to ensure no work-related issues before telling CV to go scratch; our TM internet install works well. Even with my two 13yos gaming on Xbox and my bride doing whatever it is she does, I can stream Roadkill Garage and work down in my office hole with no glitches yet. CV couldn't even provide a clear smooth picture on some of my must watch channels thru their cable boxes even at almost $300/mo. F them forever.

I finally got rid of Comcast/Xfinity for TV. They kept raising prices and cutting content. Went to the Xfinity Store (don't even try the phone) and they couldn't do anything for me. I'm sick of shopping promotions and getting stuck with one to two year contracts anyway. They truly suck in every possible way.

Did the same for my Dad in Hazlet. Same situation. He's got FiOS now, it's MUCH better picture, more channel offerings, and cheaper than Xfinity.

 

[Bike N Gear]

Agreed the YTTV interface sux. For $140/mo savings we'll deal w/ it.

I felt the same until the welcome back offer was $20 less than YT. This month's bill topped $200 again, so time for the threats to quit again.

 

[one piece crank]

I went with Hulu Plus Live TV which includes more live channels, Disney+ and ESPN+. Soooo much more content than what I was getting for a higher price from Xfinity.

I’m looking into this now! No way I’m going back to cable TV $$$.

View attachment 254435

Last year I installed Verizon 500mbps for our R&D lab. We have 11 people plus 2x high performance remote modeling computers and we have never tapped the limit. So I chose 500mbps for our new house, which costs $68.99/month all-in.

 

[SAM]

I’m looking into this now! No way I’m going back to cable TV $$$.

Last year I installed Verizon 500mbps for our R&D lab. We have 11 people plus 2x high performance remote modeling computers and we have never tapped the limit. So I chose 500mbps for our new house, which costs $68.99/month all-in.

Excellent! Hulu+Live TV is still expensive but more content and less money than cable TV.

 

[stb222]

ok, these bundles ate starting to become difficult to follow. I have netflex, disney+, hulu. I had a legacy no ads hulu that was a reduced price when hulu went under disney +. However, my legacy no ads disney plus bundle is through my fios and i was trying to add max to watch the spring races and I couldn't do it. While on text support with hulu, I cancelled my no ads to try and get another bundle and then realized it would be more expensive. I still have hulu with my disney bundle with hulu but now it has ads. fart noise.

 

[Ashcor]

My company does (among other IT, telephony work) residential and commercial AV. In the end, unless you are REALLY limited in what you watch, you will not save money cord cutting. The only possible benefit is that you can take solace in the idea your money isn't going to the cable company. But you still need them for your internet (unless you do starlink but that's not viable for everyone).

Clients ask us all the time "how do I cord cut? what services do I need?" and our answer is always the same; We can't answer that because everyone watches different things. What services you need depends on... well your needs.

What I recommend to people is this. Make a list of everything you (and anyone else in the house) watches. Then do some research and next to each item on that list write down all the services that provide that program (Hulu, YoutubeTV, netflix etc...).

Narrow down the list to the most efficient group of services as likely a lot of stuff will be on multiple services. Set up trial period for any services you need but don't have and then set a reminder on your calendar to cancel before the trial period ends and they start charging you.

Unplug ALL your cable boxes to force you to use only the service. If you can go two weeks and not feel like you (or anyone else in the house) is missing something, you can cancel cable. (If not, just plug them back in again.)

But before you do, you'll want to make sure you add up all those streaming services costs to see if it's worth it.

YoutubeTV is becoming a very popular substitution for cable but recently they just upped their monthly to around the $90 (PER ACCOUNT). So not much savings there really. Unless you have >5 cable boxes in the house which you pay rent on.

 

[Ashcor]

And regarding internet speeds, most residential don't need anything near 100mbps if they're just doing normal internet browsing, email, and streaming services so don't fall for the Gigabit internet deals.

 

[Red Mosquito]

9 years ago when this thread started there were far fewer players in the game and prices were much lower. Oddly enough all of the competition hasn’t driven prices down (maybe they have, but I’m not gonna do an inflation adjusted comparison).

It was a bit of a slow wind-down, but now we just watch way less TV. I got tired of the rates constantly going up, so at this point I’ve cancelled all but Prime, Max, and Peacock. We barely watch any of that as it is so I will likely do another cull at some point soon. It helps that I’m not a sports guy so I don’t have the need for streaming there, which IMO is a big cost driver.

 

[one piece crank]

ok, these bundles ate starting to become difficult to follow. I have netflex, disney+, hulu. I had a legacy no ads hulu that was a reduced price when hulu went under disney +. However, my legacy no ads disney plus bundle is through my fios and i was trying to add max to watch the spring races and I couldn't do it. While on text support with hulu, I cancelled my no ads to try and get another bundle and then realized it would be more expensive. I still have hulu with my disney bundle with hulu but now it has ads. fart noise.

This bundling is crazy. I already had Disney+ but wife wanted a few TV channels. So, we added Hulu +LiveTV which also includes Disney+ and ESPN. My annual D+ subscription runs through October so I figured I would have to dbl-pay, but got a monthly $16 off the new service. It’s still jumbled as to what Hulu content I access through the Hulu app and what Hulu content I access through the D+ app. 🤪

 

[one piece crank]

I’ll add that we’re still happy with no cable TV and only streaming services. Granted, we do need to pare down these services, but we’re still in a monthly net-saving position.

 

[rjr44]

My company does (among other IT, telephony work) residential and commercial AV. In the end, unless you are REALLY limited in what you watch, you will not save money cord cutting. The only possible benefit is that you can take solace in the idea your money isn't going to the cable company. But you still need them for your internet (unless you do starlink but that's not viable for everyone).

Clients ask us all the time "how do I cord cut? what services do I need?" and our answer is always the same; We can't answer that because everyone watches different things. What services you need depends on... well your needs.

What I recommend to people is this. Make a list of everything you (and anyone else in the house) watches. Then do some research and next to each item on that list write down all the services that provide that program (Hulu, YoutubeTV, netflix etc...).

Narrow down the list to the most efficient group of services as likely a lot of stuff will be on multiple services. Set up trial period for any services you need but don't have and then set a reminder on your calendar to cancel before the trial period ends and they start charging you.

Unplug ALL your cable boxes to force you to use only the service. If you can go two weeks and not feel like you (or anyone else in the house) is missing something, you can cancel cable. (If not, just plug them back in again.)

But before you do, you'll want to make sure you add up all those streaming services costs to see if it's worth it.

YoutubeTV is becoming a very popular substitution for cable but recently they just upped their monthly to around the $90 (PER ACCOUNT). So not much savings there really. Unless you have >5 cable boxes in the house which you pay rent on.

This is 100% the route I took years ago when I cut the cord. 100% of my savings was getting rid of 6 cable boxes. Not only did I realize those savings, but the UIs on the streaming products are way better than the UI the cable provider overlays on the OEM cable box. Cable providers put so much bloat on them they make them slow as shite.

Every so often I compare to see if we're still saving money and we are, though the savings are decreasing.