Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
wander
Posts: 4424
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:10 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by wander »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:00 pm
bubbly wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 1:56 pm You do need an antenna for the local stations though because I recall sling does not offer those.
I bought “ Digital HDTV Antenna - Includes Magnetic Base and Coaxial Cable - 50 Mile Range - Indoor or Outdoor” for $19 on Amazon. Works like a charm.
Yeah. I don't have any reason to buy cable TV. My location is about 70 miles away from any source of TV stations; so I invested a good deal of money on powered directional outdoor antenna (I paid $150). It works great!
BarDownHockey
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:58 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by BarDownHockey »

This is a great resource for picking an antenna: https://www.antennaweb.org/ . It’ll tell you (and show you on a map) exactly what stations are within range of your house, which type of antenna you need, and which direction to point your antenna (if it isn’t multi- directional).
squirm
Posts: 4239
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:53 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by squirm »

namajones wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:00 pm Does anyone remember when the promise of cable TV was "no commercials"? Or am I just slipping into senility?

In any case, now you're paying for cable stations that spend most of their time feeding you commercials.
Yup, I think I remember that with satellite too.
bluebolt
Posts: 2137
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:01 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by bluebolt »

pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:32 pm
oldfatguy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:27 pm
pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:24 pm

In my view, you never save enough to jump through the hoops of cord cutting.
What hoops are there? You simply cancel your service.
Typically, cord cutting involves canceling your cable service and then replacing the entertainment lost with one or more (usually 2+) streaming services to replicate the cable company package.

Otherwise, yes, it’s very easy to cancel and not consume entertainment via television any longer.

So, the floor isn’t $0. You’ll still need internet and some form of entertainment package setup. (Most people)

Therefore, I feel you never save enough to jump through the hoops of cord cutting.
My floor was pretty close to $0.
Had internet + cable TV + Netflix + Amazon Prime.
Cut the cord and now have internet + Netflix + Amazon Prime + free tier Peacock + local channels via antenna

All savings, very few hoops.
pizzy
Posts: 4339
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:59 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by pizzy »

bluebolt wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:35 pm
pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:32 pm
oldfatguy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:27 pm
pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:24 pm

In my view, you never save enough to jump through the hoops of cord cutting.
What hoops are there? You simply cancel your service.
Typically, cord cutting involves canceling your cable service and then replacing the entertainment lost with one or more (usually 2+) streaming services to replicate the cable company package.

Otherwise, yes, it’s very easy to cancel and not consume entertainment via television any longer.

So, the floor isn’t $0. You’ll still need internet and some form of entertainment package setup. (Most people)

Therefore, I feel you never save enough to jump through the hoops of cord cutting.
My floor was pretty close to $0.
Had internet + cable TV + Netflix + Amazon Prime.
Cut the cord and now have internet + Netflix + Amazon Prime + free tier Peacock + local channels via antenna

All savings, very few hoops.
Isn’t what you pay for internet + Netflix + Amazon Prime your floor? How much is it?
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Escapevelocity
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:32 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by Escapevelocity »

brianH wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:49 pm
SmileyFace wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:04 pm
Escapevelocity wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:08 pm You don’t need gigabit. Ask your provider about 200/200. That’s what I have and it’s more than adequate
I do actually. 200/200 was not adequate for us. Kids streaming games while oldest is on zoom calls for college while I am on zoom calls for work while spouse is streaming TV. When I upgraded to 1Gbps service all our problems went away.
Did you make other changes like a new router?

Zoom calls only use like 5Mbps max, and 4K video is max 25Mbps. 200Mbps with a high quality router and/or wired links should be very difficult to saturate with typical streaming/conferencing use.
Good point! I forgot to mention that I upgraded my Verizon router to the g3100 and it made a huge difference in WiFi coverage and sped throughout my home.
vested1
Posts: 3497
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:20 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by vested1 »

I try, sometimes successfully, not to hijack threads with my own info, but since everyone else is doing it, I have a couple questions.

We're moving to an area where one provider has a monopoly on physical delivery to the home, their own fiber only. We currently pay an embarrassing amount for DirectTV's best package and Spectrum's 200 mbs internet with additional paid streaming services of Prime, Hulu, Netflix, plus other free streaming services. That's just over $300, with DirectTV at $230 because that's the only way I can watch my favorite baseball team on the east coast during the regular season ($30/mo less off season). No landline. We get a lot of storms that knock out the satellite, Spectrum TV service is not great, and neither is their internet service. DirectTV only offered 20 mbs. No fiber available.

The new provider at our new location, Home Telecom, offers up to gigabit internet but we would only sign up for their top tier package on TV and 300 mbs for the internet for $149 a month combined. Also looking for a more comprehensive streaming service. They charge monthly for their DVRs and we would need two. They are transitioning to cloud dvr for their TV package but we would need Firesticks to record streaming over Home Telecom's cloud dvr service.

Access to sports, mainly baseball is the big unknown as well as cloud recording. We've watched baseball at our daughter's house on her full price Hulu service which costs $60 a month. I'd prefer to avoid paying $300 a month combined in the future.

Any suggestions on how to get baseball games and record them on the east coast so we don't have to stay up until 1am? Home Telecom only offers MLB.com, which according to that service (I called) doesn't show every game. Anyone familiar with cloud recording? Are there DVRs that you can simply buy and record everything that comes across your TV, including streaming?
carguyny
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 4:56 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by carguyny »

I pay $50/month for Optimum 1 gigabit. It's true 1 gigabit fibre directly to your home - right now over Wifi I'm getting 939 Mbps download and 944 Mbps upload. Verizon was twice the price and half the speed even though it was supposedly gigabit internet.

We change streaming services based on what we're watching. Optimum gave us 1 year of HBO Max free to switch, but other than that we're in and out of most other products. I'm a big F1 fan, so will sign up to some service to watch that based on what is cheaper. Disney+ for the kids and rest we're just in and out of.

I'd say we're at about $70/month most months, higher during F1 season.

Ported the landline years ago to Google Voice, my wife needs a land line to work from home so has a Google Voice office number setup on a Obihai box that works with our old cordless Panasonic phones exactly like a landline. Paid $70 for it in 2018 and our landline cost has been zero since.
onourway
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Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by onourway »

SmileyFace wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:04 pm
Escapevelocity wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:08 pm
SmileyFace wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:54 pm
Escapevelocity wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:21 pm Sign up for internet only 39.99 a month all in. YouTube TV adds $65. Buy your own modem. Total cost per month $105 all in.
Gigabit internet in my area is $100 a month by itself.
You don’t need gigabit. Ask your provider about 200/200. That’s what I have and it’s more than adequate
I do actually. 200/200 was not adequate for us. Kids streaming games while oldest is on zoom calls for college while I am on zoom calls for work while spouse is streaming TV. When I upgraded to 1Gbps service all our problems went away.
As noted elsewhere, something else must be responsible for the change. Video calls are >5Mbps. Streaming video is less than 25Mb - typically much less - more like 5-8Mb. Gaming uses almost no bandwidth while playing. In our house of 5 where we were all remote last year, game, have YTTV in every room, plus other streaming services, our peak sustained usage is never above 50Mbps - and usually much less.
onourway
Posts: 3778
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by onourway »

vested1 wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:48 am I try, sometimes successfully, not to hijack threads with my own info, but since everyone else is doing it, I have a couple questions.

We're moving to an area where one provider has a monopoly on physical delivery to the home, their own fiber only. We currently pay an embarrassing amount for DirectTV's best package and Spectrum's 200 mbs internet with additional paid streaming services of Prime, Hulu, Netflix, plus other free streaming services. That's just over $300, with DirectTV at $230 because that's the only way I can watch my favorite baseball team on the east coast during the regular season ($30/mo less off season). No landline. We get a lot of storms that knock out the satellite, Spectrum TV service is not great, and neither is their internet service. DirectTV only offered 20 mbs. No fiber available.

The new provider at our new location, Home Telecom, offers up to gigabit internet but we would only sign up for their top tier package on TV and 300 mbs for the internet for $149 a month combined. Also looking for a more comprehensive streaming service. They charge monthly for their DVRs and we would need two. They are transitioning to cloud dvr for their TV package but we would need Firesticks to record streaming over Home Telecom's cloud dvr service.

Access to sports, mainly baseball is the big unknown as well as cloud recording. We've watched baseball at our daughter's house on her full price Hulu service which costs $60 a month. I'd prefer to avoid paying $300 a month combined in the future.

Any suggestions on how to get baseball games and record them on the east coast so we don't have to stay up until 1am? Home Telecom only offers MLB.com, which according to that service (I called) doesn't show every game. Anyone familiar with cloud recording? Are there DVRs that you can simply buy and record everything that comes across your TV, including streaming?
YouTubeTV with MLB.tv add-on. $65/month + $25/month in-season. Recording all of your teams games is a single button click and they’ll be available from any device.
onourway
Posts: 3778
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by onourway »

@Tom_T your pricing is pretty good - it will be hard to save much below what you are currently paying, but you should be able to avoid the yearly run-around by breaking your ISP’s bundle. YouTubeTV may be ‘the same price you are paying now’ but IMHO it’s not just about the price - I would never go back to cable tv because YTTV is so much better. Better interface. Better DVR. Adding an additional room is as simple as placing a streaming tv or device in the room and logging in or picking up any device even if you are away from home.

You should be able to get to somewhere between $100-150/month for internet plus YTTV depending on your local market.
vested1
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Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:20 pm

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by vested1 »

onourway wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:15 am
vested1 wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:48 am I try, sometimes successfully, not to hijack threads with my own info, but since everyone else is doing it, I have a couple questions.

We're moving to an area where one provider has a monopoly on physical delivery to the home, their own fiber only. We currently pay an embarrassing amount for DirectTV's best package and Spectrum's 200 mbs internet with additional paid streaming services of Prime, Hulu, Netflix, plus other free streaming services. That's just over $300, with DirectTV at $230 because that's the only way I can watch my favorite baseball team on the east coast during the regular season ($30/mo less off season). No landline. We get a lot of storms that knock out the satellite, Spectrum TV service is not great, and neither is their internet service. DirectTV only offered 20 mbs. No fiber available.

The new provider at our new location, Home Telecom, offers up to gigabit internet but we would only sign up for their top tier package on TV and 300 mbs for the internet for $149 a month combined. Also looking for a more comprehensive streaming service. They charge monthly for their DVRs and we would need two. They are transitioning to cloud dvr for their TV package but we would need Firesticks to record streaming over Home Telecom's cloud dvr service.

Access to sports, mainly baseball is the big unknown as well as cloud recording. We've watched baseball at our daughter's house on her full price Hulu service which costs $60 a month. I'd prefer to avoid paying $300 a month combined in the future.

Any suggestions on how to get baseball games and record them on the east coast so we don't have to stay up until 1am? Home Telecom only offers MLB.com, which according to that service (I called) doesn't show every game. Anyone familiar with cloud recording? Are there DVRs that you can simply buy and record everything that comes across your TV, including streaming?
YouTubeTV with MLB.tv add-on. $65/month + $25/month in-season. Recording all of your teams games is a single button click and they’ll be available from any device.
Excellent, thank you.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by SmileyFace »

onourway wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:11 am
SmileyFace wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:04 pm
Escapevelocity wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:08 pm
SmileyFace wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:54 pm
Escapevelocity wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:21 pm Sign up for internet only 39.99 a month all in. YouTube TV adds $65. Buy your own modem. Total cost per month $105 all in.
Gigabit internet in my area is $100 a month by itself.
You don’t need gigabit. Ask your provider about 200/200. That’s what I have and it’s more than adequate
I do actually. 200/200 was not adequate for us. Kids streaming games while oldest is on zoom calls for college while I am on zoom calls for work while spouse is streaming TV. When I upgraded to 1Gbps service all our problems went away.
As noted elsewhere, something else must be responsible for the change. Video calls are >5Mbps. Streaming video is less than 25Mb - typically much less - more like 5-8Mb. Gaming uses almost no bandwidth while playing. In our house of 5 where we were all remote last year, game, have YTTV in every room, plus other streaming services, our peak sustained usage is never above 50Mbps - and usually much less.
Sustained bandwidth might be 50Mbps or less but microbursts happen causing latency and jitter which I don't see at 1 Gbps. If you are happy with 200/200 service that's great. I wasn't (and most of my connections are wired not wireless - so can't blame wireless) - put a packet analyzer inline and could see the microbursts and subsequent retransmissions (I don't want to be that guy on conference calls with the jiitery video; don't want my 4K TV to stop and buffer, etc).
Blue456
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Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:46 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by Blue456 »

Why don't you use the millennial set up: cheap internet + Netflix?
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Verizon is ridiculous [Looking for alternatives]

Post by TomatoTomahto »

carguyny wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:09 am I pay $50/month for Optimum 1 gigabit. It's true 1 gigabit fibre directly to your home - right now over Wifi I'm getting 939 Mbps download and 944 Mbps upload. Verizon was twice the price and half the speed even though it was supposedly gigabit internet.
Now that these other Gigabit providers are showing up, I assume that they also don’t require using the ISP modem/router. We have Eero mesh Wi-Fi and plug the Ethernet cable directly into Eero without bothering with any additional rented (or purchased) hardware.

You probably know about Ethernet directly into your Wi-Fi Router, but I think many consumers might not realize it’s an unnecessary expense.

I’m surprised that your Fios was half speed; ours wasn’t true Gig either but close enough not to care.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
bluebolt
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Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:01 am

Re: Verizon is ridiculous

Post by bluebolt »

pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:38 pm
bluebolt wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:35 pm
pizzy wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:32 pm So, the floor isn’t $0. You’ll still need internet and some form of entertainment package setup. (Most people)
My floor was pretty close to $0.
Had internet + cable TV + Netflix + Amazon Prime.
Cut the cord and now have internet + Netflix + Amazon Prime + free tier Peacock + local channels via antenna

All savings, very few hoops.
Isn’t what you pay for internet + Netflix + Amazon Prime your floor? How much is it?
Internet is $40. Netflix is free with my mobile plan, and I'd be paying for Amazon Prime anyway.
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