Joined the cordcutters

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: alarmguy
PS !

Im shocked at some of the internet rates you pay. You need to shop around high and low on the internet for better rates and call your current company, yell at them, tell them you want a better price.

First so everyone understands you can get along fine on 15 MBPS, we did for years.
We just recently upgraded our service, not because we needed it but the company my wife works for has her now working from home with her own router with a VPN (and phone) hooked into our router and wanted to have her get 100 MBPS service.
They are paying our internet however 100 MBPS service is only $54.95 in our area through Spectrum.

We do own our own equipment and that is why the 54.95 a month.
We use TP LINK Cable Modem and separate TP link AC 1750 router both rock solid devices, never a reset needed.
We do now have my wifes office router and equipment plugged into our home equipment, everything works perfect. (see ferrite filters at the end of this post)

I also have at least one of these and in most cases two of these on EVERYTHING connected to the internet in our home, every electronic, EVERYTHING. They do make a difference and my bet is if you used them, like we do, jsut are you would get faster then advertised internet speed as we do, but can not confirm your case will be the same.


In many cities there simply isn't a viable competitor to the cable companies for Internet service. That's why the rates are what they are.

 

[Andrew1972]

You and I are still getting raked over the coals with $80/month internet service. I can't believe I pay that much and only get 5mbps up. I guess consumers like the 120 down.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
PS !

Im shocked at some of the internet rates you pay. You need to shop around high and low on the internet for better rates and call your current company, yell at them, tell them you want a better price.

First so everyone understands you can get along fine on 15 MBPS, we did for years.
We just recently upgraded our service, not because we needed it but the company my wife works for has her now working from home with her own router with a VPN (and phone) hooked into our router and wanted to have her get 100 MBPS service.
They are paying our internet however 100 MBPS service is only $54.95 in our area through Spectrum.

We do own our own equipment and that is why the 54.95 a month.
We use TP LINK Cable Modem and separate TP link AC 1750 router both rock solid devices, never a reset needed.
We do now have my wifes office router and equipment plugged into our home equipment, everything works perfect. (see ferrite filters at the end of this post)

I also have at least one of these and in most cases two of these on EVERYTHING connected to the internet in our home, every electronic, EVERYTHING. They do make a difference and my bet is if you used them, like we do, jsut are you would get faster then advertised internet speed as we do, but can not confirm your case will be the same.


In many cities there simply isn't a viable competitor to the cable companies for Internet service. That's why the rates are what they are.


Yes I agree. I suspect Spectrum knows that our electric utility is laying fiber optic and offering 100 up and 100 down at $49 a month.

 

[sleddriver]

Congrats on joining us. It may take awhile to 'wean' yourself off and change your viewing habits, but it'll happen. Also, just look at the money your saving.

I've never paid for subscription TV; always been an OTA viewer. I remember when sub-TV meant no commercials, popular movies, documentary channels, etc. A family member had it. Now it's so much JUNK, stupid commercials sync'd across multiple channels to halt 'commercial channel skippers' and so on. People get used to it, become complacent and 'slowly boil in the stew' like frogs.

My 'net is through rATTTTTTTT. I spell it that way because I regularly put up with their #$%^. I also regularly play their game long enough to find someone who will give me the into rate of $19/mo for 12 mo. on a regular basis. Only 6Mbps (750KB/s), however I have no issue streaming HD on-line content, wired or wireless to any computer.

I think most pay too much for needless BW. You don't need Mega BW when your home infrastructure is properly installed, terminated and connected. I understand this is beyond many, but any DIY'er or BITOG'er can do this. It's not rocket science, just common sense.

A note about the ChannelMaster DVR mentioned earlier. 1). You'll need an external USB HD of about 1TB and 2). It only works with a TV with a HDMI connection. 3). I'm not sure if you can move any shows off the external HD due to copyright restrictions.

Tivo & Siliconxxx (can't remember) also have similar boxes.

I'm now able to use Win. Media Center (WMC) on both Win boxes with external ATSC tuners. The guide service still works even though MS abandoned WMC years & years ago. It's not pre-installed on W10 however there is a work around for this. WMC allows me to DVR, strip out the commercials, change file format and watch on multiple devices. KODI, PLEX, and others can also be configured to do this.

I'll soon be upgrading to a modern, digital TV from my 1990 JVC 36" CRT which works great...still! However, I'll have to completely rebuild the custom entertainment center I built around the same time as a 16:9 set isn't compatible with a 4:3 hole.

Where I need to 'cord-cut' is with a landline phone. rATTTTT charges me $50/mo for it: For the phone service alone! No long distance included either! I buy that extra in 500 min blocks for about $0.05/min. Doing this via their 800 # costs me an extra 15% 'recharge' fee courtesy of rATTTTT. Only recently have I discovered by doing it on-line, via a separate site from my phone line, that I can eliminate the 15% rATTT 'recharge' fee.

No wonder they can afford to put rATTTT on stadiums!

The service alone is $38!! I used to pay $20/mo for a landline phone. Taxes, fees, surcharges, bravo sierra add $12.14 (32%!!!). I've managed to get two discounts, one for $8/mo and another for $6/mo that reduces the bill 28% to $36/mo. But they sometimes 'accidently end' these discounts and I have to call them again.

No doubt my ADSL will go up if I cancel the landline. They want to 'push' me to U-verse phone + internet. However not sure if that's in my best interest or not. Nor if giving up my landline is. Though I live in a very nice area, rATTTT is slow at dealing with line problems, & maintaining their 1960's copper lines run through the air. No FIOS, no goog-fiber, just TWC/Spectrum to compete with. The Tex. PUC no longer intervenes on my behalf when problems occur with rATTT either.

Perhaps it's time for OOma or U-verse phone or another flavor of VOIP phone. One huge benefit is I'll be able to sign up for that free spam-reduction-service that eliminates all of the junk calls. When I complain to rATTTT about this, they give some infantile, flaccid excuse as to why they, the phone co., can't do anything to stop annoying, spam calls. (The reason is they make money from it. Just as the post office makes money off junk mail).

I'm currently shopping for a landline desk-phone replacement as the ans. mach. has gone Toes Up. Is there a landline/VOIP phone? Suggestions? Advice?

 

[RazorsEdge]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver



I'm currently shopping for a landline desk-phone replacement as the ans. mach. has gone Toes Up. Is there a landline/VOIP phone? Suggestions? Advice?



I'm using MagicJack,have been for 10+ plus years no problems or spam phone calls ever.

 

[Toy4x4]

Update: I just got an Nvidia Shield without the game controller...Black Friday sale and a $10 gift card as a discount!

Downloaded Kodi tonight and installed the current "No Limits Magic Build". Surfed that a little bit. Found some things that didn't function link-wise. I'll see how this goes for a while and if I don't like it after a while, I'll uninstall it and probably subscribe to Playstation Vue.

Has anyone else got the Shield and done this? Did you get a VPN?

 

[RazorsEdge]

I use a VPN for my setup.If you dont,your asking for trouble.

IPVanish is what I personally use.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Originally Posted By: RazorsEdge
Originally Posted By: sleddriver



I'm currently shopping for a landline desk-phone replacement as the ans. mach. has gone Toes Up. Is there a landline/VOIP phone? Suggestions? Advice?



I'm using MagicJack,have been for 10+ plus years no problems or spam phone calls ever.


10 plus years here also using MagicJack,no issues nor problems.

 

[Toy4x4]

Originally Posted By: RazorsEdge
I use a VPN for my setup.If you dont,your asking for trouble.

IPVanish is what I personally use.


Can you elaborate, please?

 

[StevieC]

I'm on IPVanish as well. I have it programmed into a secondary router in the house so I have my regular access point and a US based VPN Connection Wireless network. It's nice because I can change simply by switching what network my devices are connected to easily for downloading or watching Netflix not in Canada!