Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

[St. Clown]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

Don't worry. Internet (read: cable) companies are going to start restricting data usage when streaming becomes a real threat to their income. You're just ahead of the curve and getting a discount before the cable companies get theirs again. They're too big and adapting quickly. Comcast already started rolling out data caps years ago. They're going to start tightening those I suspect.

And that is where 5G comes in to muddy the waters a bit. Once 5G is rolled out, home internet could become obsolete. It's that whole "internet of things" concept surrounding 5G.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

And that is where 5G comes in to muddy the waters a bit. Once 5G is rolled out, home internet could become obsolete. It's that whole "internet of things" concept surrounding 5G.

I think that's 5-7 years out at best. But I still don't see how that changes things. These companies know what you pay now and they'll still get theirs. Am I missing something that would somehow disrupt things? Maybe more competition?

The other problem with 5G is the infrastructure costs are so high that you'd almost have a pseudo-monopoly in every city. My understanding is that 5G essentially requires "towers" every city block or more. How is that any different than the last mile? I just haven't read up enough to understand how 5G is cheaper than copper or fiber.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

I think that's 5-7 years out at best. But I still don't see how that changes things. These companies know what you pay now and they'll still get theirs. Am I missing something that would somehow disrupt things? Maybe more competition?

The other problem with 5G is the infrastructure costs are so high that you'd almost have a pseudo-monopoly in every city. My understanding is that 5G essentially requires "towers" every city block or more. How is that any different than the last mile? I just haven't read up enough to understand how 5G is cheaper than copper or fiber.

5G can be (not saying it will absolutely be) cheaper because that last mile cost will be reduced once the equipment is in place, and the price of the tech reduces with natural product lifecycle events. Once Customer Bob sets up a 5G modem/router in his home, he has an option to no longer carry service from Charter, Comcast, etc.. Cell phone providers will now be in direct competition with the cable companies for the data providing business. There will be direct pressure on cable companies to lower the price of their legacy services to keep from losing companies. 5G speeds are supposed to outstrip the current cable company infrastructure capacities, so it's not like the cable company can tout a service quality advantage.

 

[ticapnews]

Don't worry. Internet (read: cable) companies are going to start restricting data usage when streaming becomes a real threat to their income. You're just ahead of the curve and getting a discount before the cable companies get theirs again. They're too big and adapting quickly. Comcast already started rolling out data caps years ago. They're going to start tightening those I suspect.

I expect a lot worse than data caps, although those are coming. With Net Neutrality going away all these free apps aren't going to be free much longer. Some people won't care until their Comcast connection starts redirecting their requests for foxnews.com to msnbc.com

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

I expect a lot worse than data caps, although those are coming. With Net Neutrality going away all these free apps aren't going to be free much longer. Some people won't care until their Comcast connection starts redirecting their requests for foxnews.com to msnbc.com

I think the ISPs will hold off on doing anything too drastic until they get a feel for who's in the Oval Office in 22 months, which should take about 14-16 months from today.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

5G can be (not saying it will absolutely be) cheaper because that last mile cost will be reduced once the equipment is in place, and the price of the tech reduces with natural product lifecycle events. Once Customer Bob sets up a 5G modem/router in his home, he has an option to no longer carry service from Charter, Comcast, etc.. Cell phone providers will now be in direct competition with the cable companies for the data providing business. There will be direct pressure on cable companies to lower the price of their legacy services to keep from losing companies. 5G speeds are supposed to outstrip the current cable company infrastructure capacities, so it's not like the cable company can tout a service quality advantage.

You mean like AT&DirecTV? The ones that are supposed to be competing?

You know it's only a matter of time before it's ComcasPrint and CharIzon.

It ain't getting better, it only looks like it on the surface.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

Don't worry. Internet (read: cable) companies are going to start restricting data usage when streaming becomes a real threat to their income. You're just ahead of the curve and getting a discount before the cable companies get theirs again. They're too big and adapting quickly. Comcast already started rolling out data caps years ago. They're going to start tightening those I suspect.

Comcast is expanding their data caps. They just went from 300GB to 1TB for most plans. I'm sure part of that has to do with them starting their own streaming service.

Speed-wise, at least in my experience with PSVue, I have the slowest internet Comcast provides around here (25mb) and rarely have issues with quality. Sony says Vue only needs 10mb. If there are issues with quality it appears contained to certain channels, which tells me it's probably something on Sony's end. But again, that's with just one of us usually using a major stream. Those with multiple users may need to bump it up.

As far a pricing goes it's still way cheaper than the cheapest Comcast bundle would've been to get MLB Network, even with Netflix and Hulu. Now if I wanted CBS All Access and ESPN+ and some others, then it might be just as expensive, but CBSAA and ESPN+ aren't included with regular cable, either.

 

[aparch]

Comcast is expanding their data caps. They just went from 300GB to 1TB for most plans. I'm sure part of that has to do with them starting their own streaming service.

Comcast's Streampix service doesn't count against their data cap.


They put a 1TB cap on the Chicagoland market about two years ago. I hit 700 GB used last October which that was my busiest downloading month and haven't hit that since.

 

[aparch]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

The other thing is, the amount of data bandwidth that Comcast, nee any cable company, holds back from you is embarrassingly large.

Using Comcast as an example, they're pumping between 300 and 600 cable channels continually to you. Then they have their own allocation for On-Demand service and other PPV channels, then their private internet pipe that users can connect to (Usually seen as XfinityWifi when searching for wifi connections), *then* you get to the internet portion of the pipe they sell you, which are different tiers that they control the bandwidth by how much you're willing to pay.



*edit* As for those 600 channels, they are compressed visually and is most noticeable if you have an antenna for local channels and can compare the video feed to cable. Also, it's why watching an action movie on SpikeTV in HD appears like a RealMedia clip from 2002.

https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-the-blockiness-in-my-tvs-picture/

Also, Comcast, and other cable/satellite companies continue to compress more HD channels into the existing signal. What was once allocated to one standard definition analog TV signal, now is the home to two compressed digital HD channels, with comcast pushing lesser watched HD channels together in a 3-to-1 ratio.

 

[aparch]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

Yes, I'm old enough to remember when I could count blades of grass next to the pitchers mound when watching HD baseball on an HDTV when HD was first a thing.

And it annoys me that we as consumers "settle" for the muddy HD channels we have now.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

Yes, I'm old enough to remember when I could count blades of grass next to the pitchers mound when watching HD baseball on an HDTV when HD was first a thing.

And it annoys me that we as consumers "settle" for the muddy HD channels we have now.

Yes, the 720p downgrade resolution. I didn't have an HDTV until after that had taken place. But I can still see that when using my bunny ears.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

I remember that too. It was amazing. AMAZING. It was maybe a tier 2 version of one of those moments Kepler described in another thread. My media/entertainment life changed forever the first time I saw sports in HD.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

I remember that too. It was amazing. AMAZING. It was maybe a tier 2 version of one of those moments Kepler described in another thread. My media/entertainment life changed forever the first time I saw sports in HD.

Trying to watch any type of hockey highlights in standard def now is pointless. It's like the puck doesn't even exist.

 

[ticapnews]

Speed-wise, at least in my experience with PSVue, I have the slowest internet Comcast provides around here (25mb) and rarely have issues with quality.

Lucky. The fastest available in my area is 15 and that's only because we live near a PoP. A few miles away and Comcast and Consolidated Communications only offer 5, which is barely enough for one Netflix stream. Too bad if your kids are already watching something else.

I watch Twitch streamers from Europe who brag about their gigabit connections - which costs them less than I pay for my crappy feed. Even a guy in rural northeast England has a 250 connection and six different ISPs competing for his business. I'm fortunate that I have two. Most have only one.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

Lucky. The fastest available in my area is 15 and that's only because we live near a PoP. A few miles away and Comcast and Consolidated Communications only offer 5, which is barely enough for one Netflix stream. Too bad if your kids are already watching something else.

I watch Twitch streamers from Europe who brag about their gigabit connections - which costs them less than I pay for my crappy feed. Even a guy in rural northeast England has a 250 connection and six different ISPs competing for his business. I'm fortunate that I have two. Most have only one.

Why do you hate America?

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Why do you hate America?

Socialism at its worst!

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Cord cutting - what service to buy after the cable co goes away

The same Europe with 180% the population of the US and half the total area? That Europe?

 

[unofan]

The same Europe with 180% the population of the US and half the total area? That Europe?

That's a reason people in BFE have shiatty service. The problem is people in dense, major metropolitan areas also don't have service anywhere close in cost or speed to what is available worldwide, let alone a place like Seoul.

You can excuse poor service in Wyoming. You can't do so in a place like Manhattan.

 

[aparch]

That's a reason people in BFE have shiatty service. The problem is people in dense, major metropolitan areas also don't have service anywhere close in cost or speed to what is available worldwide, let alone a place like Seoul.

You can excuse poor service in Wyoming. You can't do so in a place like Manhattan.

This. There is no reason why NYC and the boroughs, LA city limits, and Chicago city limits cant have nice things. Other than corporate greed. But that discussion is for a different thread.



As for local channels, has anyone tried locast.com? It's supposed to be Aereo, but without the legal troubles.

 

[joecct]

This. There is no reason why NYC and the boroughs, LA city limits, and Chicago city limits cant have nice things. Other than corporate greed. But that discussion is for a different thread.



As for local channels, has anyone tried locast.com? It's supposed to be Aereo, but without the legal troubles.

Cable TV commissions/boards. Aye, there's the rub!