Thought I'd share this story since there's not so much football news now. For me it's another sign of the paradigm shift happening to the TV business. Maybe for some of you there will be some useful info.
My dad was fed up when his Triple Play got to almost $200. It wasn't just the money. He hated feeling like he was paying for all the shopping channels and reality shows and televangelists that he'd never watch. He felt like he was being taken advantage of.
He called Comcast and they knocked $15 off his bill, but a year later it was $200 again. And then maybe the last straw was Comcast's DVR stopped letting him skip commercials for certain shows.
We knew he couldn't literally cut the cord because Comcast is the only source for internet in his town. But we could get him off the expensive Triple Play -- which is a lot of work.
First step is the phone. You have to get the phone number away from Comcast before you can do anything else. We got an Ooma box, which is pretty close to landline quality service for $4-10 a month. The transition takes about a week.
Next, we had to replace his Xfinity modem/router with, well, a modem and a router. The cable modem has to be a Comcast-compatible model and you have to call Comcast to register it before you can use it. We bought an Arris Surfboard Docsis 3.0 open box for $70.
Router was a used T-Mobile "cellspot" router which is really just a branded Asus AC-1900 router -- you can get them for about $60 and they're excellent, stable with good range. But changing a router -- you have to basically redo wifi connections for every device in the house.
Replacing the DVR is the hardest part. He went to Comcast for a CableCARD, which allows you to use third-party digital cable receivers. Then we bought a used Tivo Roamio which can be had for about $80 on Ebay. Tivo is a strange little company, they're more patent troll than anything else these days, but they do still support Tivos, so we set up an account. Then it took 3 more calls to Comcast to get the CableCARD properly paired (some the Comcast reps know Tivo and some have no idea what to do).
A cool thing about a Tivo is that it also supports antenna input. So if Dad wants to break from cable TV entirely, that option is available to him.
All this gives Dad bargaining power with Comcast. He no longer needs them for phone or TV, only internet. And Comcast really does not want to lose TV customers right now, so they're selling barebones TV and Internet packages for about the same price as internet alone.
He was able to get the "Internet Plus" plan which is internet, local channels, PBS, HBO, COM and AMC for $69 a month -- no contract. Internet plus used to be limited to certain markets but I think it's national now. With tax it's $78 a month, and then add the Tivo and Ooma fees and he's right at $100 a month, so he's saving about $90.
The only thing he's given up that he actually watched is BTN, but the number of PSU games on BTN is likely to be small going forward, so we'll just go to bars or maybe subscribe to Youtube TV for a month or two.
So anyway he is very happy in a beat-the-system kind of way. He has HBO which he never had before. I think the Tivo will be a better DVR and won't prevent commercial skipping. And, well, 90 bucks is 90 bucks. Buys a few bottles of wine or dinner out or something.
My dad was fed up when his Triple Play got to almost $200. It wasn't just the money. He hated feeling like he was paying for all the shopping channels and reality shows and televangelists that he'd never watch. He felt like he was being taken advantage of.
He called Comcast and they knocked $15 off his bill, but a year later it was $200 again. And then maybe the last straw was Comcast's DVR stopped letting him skip commercials for certain shows.
We knew he couldn't literally cut the cord because Comcast is the only source for internet in his town. But we could get him off the expensive Triple Play -- which is a lot of work.
First step is the phone. You have to get the phone number away from Comcast before you can do anything else. We got an Ooma box, which is pretty close to landline quality service for $4-10 a month. The transition takes about a week.
Next, we had to replace his Xfinity modem/router with, well, a modem and a router. The cable modem has to be a Comcast-compatible model and you have to call Comcast to register it before you can use it. We bought an Arris Surfboard Docsis 3.0 open box for $70.
Router was a used T-Mobile "cellspot" router which is really just a branded Asus AC-1900 router -- you can get them for about $60 and they're excellent, stable with good range. But changing a router -- you have to basically redo wifi connections for every device in the house.
Replacing the DVR is the hardest part. He went to Comcast for a CableCARD, which allows you to use third-party digital cable receivers. Then we bought a used Tivo Roamio which can be had for about $80 on Ebay. Tivo is a strange little company, they're more patent troll than anything else these days, but they do still support Tivos, so we set up an account. Then it took 3 more calls to Comcast to get the CableCARD properly paired (some the Comcast reps know Tivo and some have no idea what to do).
A cool thing about a Tivo is that it also supports antenna input. So if Dad wants to break from cable TV entirely, that option is available to him.
All this gives Dad bargaining power with Comcast. He no longer needs them for phone or TV, only internet. And Comcast really does not want to lose TV customers right now, so they're selling barebones TV and Internet packages for about the same price as internet alone.
He was able to get the "Internet Plus" plan which is internet, local channels, PBS, HBO, COM and AMC for $69 a month -- no contract. Internet plus used to be limited to certain markets but I think it's national now. With tax it's $78 a month, and then add the Tivo and Ooma fees and he's right at $100 a month, so he's saving about $90.
The only thing he's given up that he actually watched is BTN, but the number of PSU games on BTN is likely to be small going forward, so we'll just go to bars or maybe subscribe to Youtube TV for a month or two.
So anyway he is very happy in a beat-the-system kind of way. He has HBO which he never had before. I think the Tivo will be a better DVR and won't prevent commercial skipping. And, well, 90 bucks is 90 bucks. Buys a few bottles of wine or dinner out or something.
