Comments on: Dear PoPville – Canceling Cable Advice

By: UStreeter

UStreeter — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:13:04 +0000

Walking Dead is actually free if you have Amazon Prime.

By: jl

jl — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:00:03 +0000

This was a pretty interesting post thread to read as it is something I am actively interested in. I totally agree with people on here and think most would be interested in a more “video everywhere” solution streamed through the net. Unfortunately it seams most cable operators will never offer it the way we really would like it due to distribution deals that are in place and obvious licensing of content issues. I have noticed though no one has mentioned some of the newer services that are coming out soon or will be available in the near future. Here are a couple options sure to widen the playing field with cable operators in future if they aren’t immediately suppressed in court by their legal teams for trying to work in the same business:

Aereo – https://aereo.com/home
live TV & all the major broadcast networks available over the internet. (Fee based)

Nimble – http://www.nimbletv.com/?gclid=CLm4p6v78K8CFUZN4Aod_jJvYA
- cloud based TV – subscribe to a cable package from anywhere in the world and stream from a cloud server.

Google Fiber – http://fiber.google.com/about/
- if enough people signup and are willing to pay a fee for installing a new fiber cable ($300 one time fee – won’t have to pay for life afterwards) – could be new service option in the future.

Some stuff to ponder for sure. Especially Aereo.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:46:23 +0000

I pay $30 for internet only (RCN). I don’t have a landline, but until a couple of years ago I had a super basic phone plan (it might be called a “lifeline” or something like that) for about $12. Incoming calls were unlimited, outgoing calls to 800 numbers or 911 were unlimited, I got something like 5 free local calls per month, and after that paid exorbitant rates for local calls. So if you want a landline for people to call you at, don’t make a lot of local calls, and use your cell or a service like onesuite (with an 800 number you call to place outgoing longdistance calls) for making long-distance calls, it is totally fine. If you make tons of local calls, this would not be for you.

By: utterlyanon

utterlyanon — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:32:41 +0000

i called comcast about every 6 months to lower my bill. actually it was for internet (i had the most basic cable at $15/month). I didn’t even threaten to leave, just asked how I could lower my internet bill with promotion and they did it every time. Usually from the $49/month to something like $33/month.

By: SawItAgain

SawItAgain — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:22:15 +0000

We had RCN for years but got tired of the high bills – so we cut cable about a year ago. As many people stated there are lots of options available.

Here is how things went for us.
bought Tivo box and got:
heavy duty antenna for free with Tivo
got 6 months of Hulu plus for free with Tivo
Brother gave us his Roku
Had Netflix streaming account

We wound up going back to RCN cable about 8 months later – here is why:
Sports and news – basically the 2 live type of programs you want – streaming doesn’t help very much.

But what really caused us to return was the reception. It is our location in our condo building – our reception was awful. We experimented with many types of antennas – but for our location in the building (facing alleyway and sloping into the ground) nothing worked. Every time a car drove down the alley the broadcast would freeze.

In the future when we move we would definitely think about going back to no cable but I think we are just in a bad location.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:30:04 +0000

What’s the cheapest option for having internet (good enough for streaming) plus a landline phone (not over the internet)? Right now we’re paying $140/month for Comcast Triple Play but we wouldn’t save any money by getting rid of the TV. I’m going to put the Puppy Bowl on for a few minutes today just so I feel a little more justified in having it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:25:42 +0000

So what about internet and phone only? I need a landline also, and I can’t find any option for those two services that’s cheaper than the Comcast TV/phone/internet bundle (even though we don’t use the TV at all).

By: Lee

Lee — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 14:58:44 +0000

Don’t think I read any mention of Torrents in the replies. We cut off Comcast over a month ago, and have never been happier.

We have the ability to record OTA HD network stuff, but have found that by using Torrents, we get almost instant downloads of shows with NO commercials.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 03:01:46 +0000

haven’t paid for comcast cable in over 5 years I think. I just get cable internet for 40 per month. It doesn’t take much tech knowhow but I run have a HD HOMERUN QAM tuner hooked up to the cable and get all of the channels you’d get over the air plus A&E for some strange reason. HD HOMERUN puts the tv signal on your network. Then I have my computer hooked up to my TV with windows media center which is just as good if not better than a TIVO to DVR the free TV. On top of that you can easily stream tons of free shows from websites with pretty good quality, HGTV, TLC, etc… then if you have a family member or friend with directv or cable and they’re nice enough to share their password with you you can stream a ton of stuff from the directv or xfinity website. Also if they have HBO or showtime you can use that to stream HBO or showtime and for free or just give then some money to split their HBO cost. Really, the key is hooking up an actual computer to your TV instead of a crappy cable box. I also have an antenna for over the air reception which works great if you’re not in a basement.

By: E

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 02:01:51 +0000

68 posts here….I assume you have more than you need. I will just add that I fired Comcast more than 5 year ago and don’t miss it at all. In fact, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. DO IT!!!