Cutting the Cable TV

[pilotbob]

It was a while ago I mentioned that I was considering dropping my "cable" TV service and exploring the options. People here asked that I keep them up to date. So, I took some big steps recently week... here is an update with what I did.

1. I had an antenna installed on the house. It is a Winegard HD-1080 that cost me $30 at buy.com. The antenna installation cost me $107.

2. I called and canceled my TV service. I was paying $135 a month to Verizon for Phone/TV/Internet. I was getting no premium content and I had 20/5 internet and a phone with no long distance or other goodies. I moved to a "FiOS Double play" which includes a Freedom Essentials phone service w/ caller id, call waiting, three-way calling, voice mail, etc. and 25/25 internet. This is $84.99 a month plus fees/taxes and I went for the 2-year commitment so that price will be the same for two years. I was going to drop the landline too.. but the internet price without any bundle was only $5 less than getting the phone bundled with it. So, $5 for the phone is worth it.

3. I set up uTorrent's RSS downloader to pull down TV shows that I can't record from the antenna. I found a great web site that custom creates an RSS feed for you with the shows you want. It is called showRSS. BTW: Only the Windows version of utorrent has the RSS Downloader. But... there are Mac RSS d/l'ers you can get too.

4. I have been using pyTivo running on my Mac so I can watch the downloaded shows on my TiVo attached to my HDTV. This works pretty well but is one item I want to upgrade.

4. Blockbuster DVD by mail. We can have 3-movies out at a time... and we can turn in a mailed one to the store and get a movie from the store 5 times a month. We might move to Netflix so we can get the streaming though... however I hear that Sony just stopped allowing them to stream Sony movies in HD.

Bottom line so far:

I am spending about $40 a month less to Verizon, getting better phone and internet service and not missing any TV shows since I can d/l the ones that aren't available on the antenna. That savings will add up year after year as cable TV rates go up and OTA continues to be free.

Future plans:

While pyTivo/TiVo combo does allow me to watch the d/l'ed files it doesn't have a very nice interface. I am just presented with a list of files (sure I have them in folders) but I have no idea what I have watched.

So, I am considering three possible options...

1. Sell the TiVo
and get a Windows Media Center PC to replace it. The biggest benefit here is that I can use our "extra" XBox 360 in the bedroom to watch stuff that is recorded. Biggest downside here is cost and UI. I think there are some add-ons you can get that will present your movie/tv library more like Boxee/Plex does. Other downside is cost. Although, it would be paid for the first year with the CATV savings.

2. Boxee box.
Boxee is a "media center" like software that runs on Mac/Windows/Linux. It provides a really nice UI that catalogs all of your movies and TV. It downloads metadata, fan art. It also has some social-networking aspects so you can follow friends to see what they "like" and can watch it if you want (assuming it is free online).

The Boxee box is an all in one "set-top" device that runs the Boxee software, has HDMI/Optical audio outputs, etc for $200. Biggest downside here is all the metadata and watched status are on the single Boxee box. If I got a second box for the bedroom it wouldn't share the "watched" statues. Although, perhaps they will move this info to the "cloud" since you do need a Boxee account to use boxee.

3. Plex 9.
This is also media center software like Boxee. It has an even nicer UI than Boxee's. The biggest advantage with this one is that the Plex software is client/server. So, the Plex Media server runs on 1 pc and this is where all the metadata and watched statues are stored. Then a client on another PC/device can access the media server and stream from it. NICE.

They have also announced that LG Netcast TVs and Blu-Ray players will include the Plex 9 client in them. I don't yet have a Blu-Ray and I do want to get one... so this might fit right it.

I am also hoping that a Plex client app will be written for the new $99 AppleTV. TV, since they have one for the iPad it's not a stretch.

Biggest downside to this one, currently it is Mac only. While that is not a problem I don't want to pay "Mac" prices for a machine I shove in the corner to be the media server. However, they did state that a Windows version is in the works. I'll re-check the status when the Plex enabled LG Netcast stuff comes out. I expect they will want to be on Windows by then.

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So, that's the status update. Oh.. one other thing... I watch TOO MUCH TV!

BOb

[GA Russell]

Bob, do you have a big screen TV that is hooked up to your computer? Is that how it works? Or is it wireless?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Bob, do you have a big screen TV that is hooked up to your computer? Is that how it works? Or is it wireless?

Right now it all plays through the TiVo... which is of course a computer. The TiVo is on the network. Running PyTivo, free open source software that allows for it. As I said, this is the setup "for now".

BOb

[daffy4u]

Here is where I am.

I've been using Vonage for a bit over 5 years and have been very happy with their service (chock full o'features). I do have a land line as well (at the lowest rate I could get without any features). I have to have one in order to buzz people into the building. Also a few times my DSL has gone out, so it's nice to have a line that always works and can't get lost (like my cell phone).

I have used BitTorrent to download some shows that were on the premium channels. I have ordered HBO just long enough to see the season of True Blood (I cancel as soon as finale finishes... $15 a month). Next year, I'll stick to torrent downloads.

Though it's early, I am having a little problem with my Boxee Box. The box is at the farthest point from my wireless router that it could be and still be inside my condo (router in office, Boxee in living room). Streaming is glitchy on longer pieces of content. I did some speed tests on the Boxee and here are the results (speedtest.net via the Boxee browser).

To enjoy Boxee's online content we recommend the follow minimum internet connection speed for Boxee to perform well :

    * SD (360p) requires at least 1000 kbps
    * 480p  requires at least 1500 kbps
    * HD (720p) requires at least 2500 kbps
    * HDX (1080p) requires 4500 kbps

Boxee Box on Wired Ethernet (using a ZyXEL PLA407 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall-Plug Adapter)

=46.4 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]
=46400 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]
=5.8 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
=5800 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]

5.8 Mb/s download
0.66 Mb/s upload

Ping 34 ms
MP3 of 5MB = 8 sec
Video Clip of 35MB = 55 sec
Movie of 800MB = 21 min
Below Average (about 55% of Average for Verizon)

Boxee Box on WiFi

=15.68 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]
=15680 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]
=1.96 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
=1960 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]

1.96 Mb/s download
0.36 Mb/s upload

Ping 35 ms
MP3 of 5MB = 21 sec
Video Clip of 35MB = 2 min
Movie of 800MB = 54 min
Below Average (about 25% of Average for Verizon)

So the wired should be good for my 1080p TV but it seems slow. I've only been playing with this for a few hours so it good be some content is more problematic than others.

[rhadin]

Bob, I envy you in being able to cut the TV. I pay Verizon $158 a month for FiOS TV, Internet, and 1 telephone line (we also have 2 additional telephone lines but those are billed separately). I don't ever watch the TV so I'd like to cut it but my wife insists we keep it, so we keep it. I also wanted to eliminate 2 of the telephone lines and just use our cell phones, but that was vetoed as well by my boss. I argued that we are paying $70 a month for cell phone service that we rarely use -- I force myself to use it to call relatives weekly just so it gets some use; absent that, my monthly usage would nearly always be zero -- but to no avail.

When I retire in a few years, this will all change so I'm willing to be told no for the time being.

[CyGuy]

I cut the cable about 7 months ago. I was paying over $70 per month to Comcast for service worth about $25. I finally just had enough. I have a HTPC hooked up to my 52" Samsung HDTV. I use an antenna to get over-the-air programming. I use HULU and other sites like it for the rest of my content. I really don't miss cable too much, although I would probably go back if they ever get a handle on their ridiculous prices.

[bjones6416]

I don't watch a lot of TV, so no cable or dish for me. I pull in over-the-air local digital channels with my rabbit-ear type antenna sitting beside by (small) digital TV. Works fine for local news and such, and I subscribe to the $8.99 netflix deal for when I want to watch movies, either streaming or DVD. I can get a lot cable TV series that way too, if I wanted to.

[jbcohen]

I am hearing a lot about people that are dropping land line phones and are using strictly cell phones. I am thinking of putting in VOIP at home and cutting the phone service. Thinking about the cost/savings ratio.

[pilotbob]

@Daffy... I much prefer wired connections for all non-portable devices. If at all possible to do you should get a wired connection for your Boxee Box. I'm sure it will be much worth it.

BOb

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

@Daffy... I much prefer wired connections for all non-portable devices. If at all possible to do you should get a wired connection for your Boxee Box. I'm sure it will be much worth it.

BOb

I know but there is no way to do it esthetically. I will not have viewable cables running all over my condo. That why I'm using the powerline adapter. In this case "pretty" wins over function.

When I first moved in and installed the hardwood floors (by myself), I ran one coax cable under the wood floor from the living room to the office (I had to dig a little trench in the acoustic concrete). If I had had the same foresight, I would have also run an Ethernet cable under the floor as well.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I know but there is no way to do it esthetically. I will not have viewable cables running all over my condo. That why I'm using the powerline adapter. In this case "pretty" wins over function.

Yea, like I said.... "if possible". You could always get one of those MoCA pairs if you have a coax run. Although, powerline should be good enough.

I must have missed where you said you were using powerline adapters.

BOb

[ficbot]

I had free cable in my last place and now do not. I never bothered hooking it up. There are only two shoes I watch regularly. One I can get in hi-def with rabbit ears and the other I can stream on-line off one of the network websites. There is another network that has some lifestyle programming I enjoy and they too stream on-line. Plus I get Netflix on the Wii for $7.99 a month and can watch movies and tv shows there. Cable TV is really expensive here but I seem to be managing

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Yea, like I said.... "if possible". You could always get one of those MoCA pairs if you have a coax run. Although, powerline should be good enough.

I must have missed where you said you were using powerline adapters.

BOb

It was in the "code" box with a link the the adapter I'm using.

What's a MoCA pair?


Edit: I Googled it. Does this work with DirecTV coax cables as well? Or am I using "coax" incorrectly?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by ficbot

There are only two shoes I watch regularly.

The left one and the right one?

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Edit: I Googled it. Does this work with DirecTV coax cables as well? Or am I using "coax" incorrectly?

Yes, it should. Coax is coax.

BOb