I am sure it has been asked before (home, buy)

[CrazyDave]

And hey, I may have even asked it myself.. but

Give me some valid ways to get away from Comcast while still getting a nice basic cable.internet package for a GOOD price instead of the fee rape that Comcast commits

[Nonesuch]

In NH, the towns negotiate with one cable provider for a rate, so there is almost never a second choice for a cable+internet package.

Some people find that DSL from Fairpoint is fast enough (3Mbps) to get rid of cable, get all their entertainment from online sources.

There's DISH/DirectTV, but this doesn't get you fast Internet, just TV.

[MJ5150]

Find a deal with another provider, call Comcast to let them know you are switching. They'll put together a nice package to get you to stay that is good usually for six months. Mark your calendar to call Comcast in six months. That is how we have been doing it for a few years now.

I have had Comcast since we moved here, so I am not real familiar with the other options in this area beyond Dish and DirectTV.

-Mike

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by CrazyDave

And hey, I may have even asked it myself.. but

Give me some valid ways to get away from Comcast while still getting a nice basic cable.internet package for a GOOD price instead of the fee rape that Comcast commits

we got rid of comcast and went with streaming internet cable.. We got a Roku from Best Buy it was ($80). We have a netflix account for $8 a month and a Hulu account fro $9 a month. Hulu you can find pretty much any TV show you need. My husband still can see almost all his shows he wants minus maybe on or two and I can stream unlimited movies and tv shows from both (Hulu even has old shows like All in the Family). We also still get all our local channels (1-17) on our tv so we can still watch Family Guy, Jeopardy, football etc. The Roku is like a smart phone only on your tv.. MLB has an app so my husband still catches all his Red Sox Games but for way less. We used to pay $180 a month for Comcast and watched like 8 channels. Now we pay $35 a month for highspeed wifi (which is what the roku streams to your tv through) $8 for netflix and $9 for hulu.. we have more than enough tv to keep us entertained

p.s other stations that you can get go through roku for free are PBS, Disney, Smithsonian Channel, hundreds of cooking channels, hundreds of exercise channels and sports and you can stream things like Pandora through your tv also, we also have free apps (I say apps but its tv stations) for the state of Fla that show places of interest, festivals and concerts and so on going on around the state and you can display screen savers or the weather or family photos on your tv at any time.. its very handy

[cowbell76]

We're also "cord cutters" and haven't looked back. Actually, we haven't had cable in a long time, but we had DirecTV (maybe even more expensive.) Then we realized that we were almost exclusively watching local stations, or Netflix. Our Blu-Ray player allows us to stream Netflix and Amazon On Demand directly to our large TV, so we're able to watch it comfortably, not on a computer monitor, and in HD when that's an option.

Our first step was to get rid of DirecTV and install an antenna (much more streamlined looking today, than the antennas of old) for local stations, and watch Netflix/Amazon through the Blu-Ray player. We discovered so many interesting foreign and domestic shows, and never felt deprived.

Then, our antenna was damaged in a thunder storm. So we went the route of Aereo (internet television... local Boston-area TV stations) streamed with a Roku box. This gives us more reliable reception than the antenna did... Aereo is something like $8 per month. As mentioned above, we can also now stream Netflix and Amazon through the Roku box. So really, Roku is all we need, but of course the Blu-Ray player allows us to watch DVDs.

Between Netflix (streaming/DVD plan) and Aereo, the monthly fee is about $24. The upfront cost for Roku was something like $60, not $80. (They have different models.) Of course we do need to pay for internet, but that's a given, anyway.

We feel we have far more than we could ever even watch, for much less than the cost of cable or satellite. Roku also acts like a DVR so we can record shows, or while you're watching one, you can go back in time and pick up at an earlier spot if you missed something.

[MJ5150]

What kind of internet connection do you all have that are using Roku/Hulu/etc?

-Mike

[unit731]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

What kind of internet connection do you all have that are using Roku/Hulu/etc?

-Mike

Yes, please explain any internet connections and the cost of such.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by unit731

Yes, please explain any internet connections and the cost of such.

All u need is a wifi for your house,, like a wireless router that most of us use for high speed net to get on your laptop.. Mine hooks right into my phone jack and the wifi goes through my house. Think of the Roku like your tvs personal little router. It's the size of my IPhone and that's all I need to run my tv. I simply hook up my roku to my tv by 1 HDMI cord and the Roku is essentially Internet on my TV. I will take a picture when my daughter is done with this Spongebob episode to show you the home screen.. You can see what it offers but it looks like the screen of say an iPhone with "apps" each app is a tv station so you have a PBS app, a Netflix app, hulu etc. you can also go to the App Store on your tv and choose from hundreds off new apps to use ..most are free some may be $1 a month but we've never needed once to pay for anything those are usually specialty "apps"...

I'm not sure who NH has now a days but we use century link. But all you need is a wireless router.. If you have that return all the other junk to Comcast or find someone who provides cheap high speed wifi and you're on ur way..

For us the cost monthy is
$35 for wifi
$8 for Netflix
$9 Hulu

That's it..

With Comcast we payed close to $180 a month and that was the specialty we're gonna disconnect rate. And we didn't have HBO or anything like that just the DVR that you can record and pause .. I mean every company offers that standard now . We've never missed cable since,

[flyonpa]

Any good speed Internet Connection will work. Min of 10mbs is needed (per tv streaming) 20-30mbs if you want Lots of HD Ruku will downgrade from HD to SD if you download speed is to slow.

Also you need to check to see if they have download limits. Comcast I think have a 200Gb a month before they will start to look to move you to a biz level internet plan.

My normal TV streaming (and normal internet usage) with me and my 16y son runs about 180-240Gb a month.

[nicolem]

We currently have Direct TV as well as Roku boxes(one on each tv in the house) with Aereo and Amazon Prime. Over the years we have had Hulu and Netflix but don't currently subscribe to either of those.

We have have had Driect TV for many years as well as the Rokus and we signed up for Aereo when it came to Boston market around May I believe.

This combination above would not save you $$, we are doing an experiment keeping Direct TV along with Aereo for the first year to see if we are truly able to "cut the cord". We are comparing the two and will decide after a year if we will dump the dish or not.

I would suggest a Roku box and get Aereo with some of the other services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, depending on your preference for movies etc. Roku offers channels for no additional charge as well. They also offer baseball, hockey and other pay sports packages as well.


Be aware that Aereo you only get Boston over the air stations so no WMUR no NESN no Weather channel no cable channels. Not sure if these are important to you or not The only "cable" station they currently have is Bloomberg because of a deal that Bloomberg made with them. If there are shows you watch on cable, most could be seen on Amazon, Hulu, Netflix via the Roku.

Forgot to mention that Aereo also offers a built in dvr so you can record and store up to 60 hours. You can set these recording from your Roku or from your computer and they are coming out with an App for the smartphone soon.