# I cut the cord today



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

Pulled the cable card out of my Roamio basic and will turn it in tomorrow. I can get all 5 networks OTA and have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I ditched Comcast voice in favor of an Ooma a couple months ago and now I'll say goodbye to cable TV. My internet will go up some but I still should be ahead about $70/month. It will take about 6 months to recoup the cost of the Tivo, modem, router and Ooma teleo. I think I can do it!


----------



## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

I envy you. I don't want to derail your thread too much but can you tell me more about the cost, etc. of ooma?


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

2004raptor said:


> I envy you. I don't want to derail your thread too much but can you tell me more about the cost, etc. of ooma?


Forget the ooma, get google voice and an Obihai 200: http://amzn.com/B00BUV7C9A

with ooma, you pay a few bucks a month in taxes, G* voice is free unlimitted calling, voicemail, etc, and with the obihai, it connects just like the ooma to G* voice, no monthly fees. you can choose to pay $12 a year for E911 service.


----------



## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

Aero - Thanks. So, with either option, can I port my home # or do I have to get a new #?


----------



## Rugged Ron (Jul 6, 2011)

Aero 1 said:


> Forget the ooma, get google voice and an Obihai 200: http://amzn.com/B00BUV7C9A


I was seriously interested in Ooma until I found out that their "free" service doesn't give you caller ID names; just numbers only. To get the full CID info, you have to subscribe to their premium service. That was a deal breaker for me. At least this is the way I remember it. Someone correct me if I am wrong.


----------



## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Ooma is only about $3/month, depending on the taxes in your area. Far easier to set up than cobbling together Google Voice and Obihai. And who knows how long GV will remain free.

You can port your number to Ooma (takes forever), not sure about GV, but I don't think you can. True that the cheap Ooma has CID number only. My house phones have a contact list, so with that I get pseudo-CID name anyway. If the call isn't in my directory or my area code, I ignore it anyway. So while CID name would be nice, I haven't really missed it much.

I've used Ooma for years in a couple of households. No problems. Drawback is the high initial hardware cost. You're looking at about $100 for a box.

Another option is getting a bluetooth gateway for your cell phone. That way you can use your home phones with your cell phone service.


----------



## dstrong (Oct 22, 2015)

We cut the cord last month but still have out ATT phone service due to a medical device that needs to transmit over a "land line". We are now OTA/NetFlix/HuluP/Amazon exclusively. Finding there's really not much to watch/record OTA and are primarily watching content we never had access to before.

It was a bit painful over the holidays to not be able to watch ESPN...but I invited myself over to a friend's house to watch the Rose Bowl (the only bowl game that really interested me) and had a nice time.


----------



## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I'm waiting for someone to literally cut the cord. OTA plus cellphone and LTE. 

I downsized my cable package a few weeks ago to see if family can do without. I switched to limited basic plus HBO for $27/mo. I have to use cablecard for $4/mo but get $8/mo dual service discount. Haven't seen the exact taxes and fees total yet. 
I get the major networks and PBS in addition to HBO plus they throw in a few decent cable channels in SD like TBS, CNN and ABC Family. 

also have Netflix and Amazon Prime.

It is probably $50/mo cheaper.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

mdavej said:


> Ooma is only about $3/month, depending on the taxes in your area. Far easier to set up than cobbling together Google Voice and Obihai. And who knows how long GV will remain free.
> 
> You can port your number to Ooma (takes forever)


My taxes are $4 a month. The port costs $40 (mine took about 10 days) but is free if you sign up for Ooma Premier which gets you full caller ID, call blocking via Nomorobo and some other features. I decided to do that (actually at the end of the two month free Premier trial, I called and asked if they would apply my port fee against the $99 Premier and they did.) I will probably drop it after the year is up.

I bought the Ooma teleo at Best Buy for $100. Very happy with it. Call quality is the same as Comcast voice.

I guess the thread has been officially hijacked!


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

lmacmil said:


> Pulled the cable card out of my Roamio basic and will turn it in tomorrow. I can get all 5 networks OTA and have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I ditched Comcast voice in favor of an Ooma a couple months ago and now I'll say goodbye to cable TV. My internet will go up some but I still should be ahead about $70/month. It will take about 6 months to recoup the cost of the Tivo, modem, router and Ooma teleo. I think I can do it!


.

That is the key, how much is "some"?

Please keep us posted on the internet price increases.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

lmacmil said:


> Pulled the cable card out of my Roamio basic and will turn it in tomorrow. I can get all 5 networks OTA and have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I ditched Comcast voice in favor of an Ooma a couple months ago and now I'll say goodbye to cable TV. My internet will go up some but I still should be ahead about $70/month. It will take about 6 months to recoup the cost of the Tivo, modem, router and Ooma teleo. I think I can do it!


I cancelled satellite TV last spring and switched to a combo of OTA and streaming with my Roamio. I've been very satisfied (apart from occasional reception problems on a couple of UHF OTA channels).

You may want to check out the Plex app on TiVo, not only for its ability to stream your personal media from computers on your home network (videos, music, photos) but also for its Plex Channels plug-ins, which give you access to a decent amount of streaming entertainment from around the web from providers like HGTV, Food Network, CBS, Crackle, etc. See this thread for more info:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=533364

Also, in case you weren't already aware, you can now add subscriptions to Showtime, Starz and other providers to your Amazon Prime Video account. Showtime and Starz both offer a free 7-day trial and then cost $9 per month thereafter. Hopefully TiVo adds an app for HBO Now soon, giving us cord-cutters streaming access to all three big premium channels!


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

Teeps said:


> That is the key, how much is "some"?


Should be $13 per the price list on the back of my December bill. For my TV tier, I was paying about $85 including the broadcast and regional sports fees.


----------



## KSOC Kid (Nov 19, 2015)

Rugged Ron said:


> I was seriously interested in Ooma until I found out that their "free" service doesn't give you caller ID names; just numbers only. To get the full CID info, you have to subscribe to their premium service. That was a deal breaker for me. At least this is the way I remember it. Someone correct me if I am wrong.


I have Ooma for $4 a month and it's fantastic. I have 911 service. True about Caller ID. But, if you add your friends, family, frequent calls etc. to your contacts that will appear when your are called. We do not answer unless we know who it is and they can leave voice mail. Then decide if you want to add to your contacts. I was paying $35 a month with a telco. Got an Ooma unit on sale for $99. Now pay $4 a month. Very happy. Did similar with my security system, saved big bucks.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

mdavej said:


> You can port your number to Ooma (takes forever), not sure about GV, but I don't think you can.


Yes, you certainly can port your number to GV. Many here have done exactly that.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

NashGuy said:


> You may want to check out the Plex app on TiVo, not only for its ability to stream your personal media from computers on your home network (videos, music, photos) but also for its Plex Channels plug-ins, which give you access to a decent amount of streaming entertainment from around the web from providers like HGTV, Food Network, CBS, Crackle, etc.


I have the Plex app on my Roku (which I had long before the Tivo.) I'll have to look at those other channels plug-ins, was not aware of them. My son's roommate has quite an extensive movie collection on his computer and we can access that via Plex which is pretty cool.


----------



## mdm08033 (Apr 23, 2007)

Welcome to the cord trimming party. I jumped the bandwagon when TiVo offered a $10 per month DVR fee for antenna only customers. They allowed me to transfer the $10 plan to a Roamio. My TiVo Premiere and now Roamio have made it easier to sell my wife and children on saving more than a few dollars. I do wish that my TiVo could stream it all, but spinning my receiver's input from TiVo to Roku to TiVo has become second nature. 

The downside to cord trimming continues to be my wife's occasionally complaints about missing HGTV, Phillies baseball and Flyers hockey.

Cheers, Michael


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

On the subject of phone service-- we've been using an RTX Dualphone in combo with Skype for the past 2 years. We purchase an annual unlimited Skype subscription at the same time as an annual Skype out number (the phone# itself). Purchasing them together for a total of $60 which is basically a landline for $5 per month. It doesn't have E911 however and that's always bummed me out. Call quality is always good though, never had a single problem.

http://dualphone.net/

I'm going to look into this Ooma now. Thanks for those that shared details.


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

2004raptor said:


> Aero - Thanks. So, with either option, can I port my home # or do I have to get a new #?


with ooma i believe yes, but with google voice, its a little more convoluted. Fofer posted the steps for G* voice: http://www.obihai.com/porttutorial


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Rugged Ron said:


> I was seriously interested in Ooma until I found out that their "free" service doesn't give you caller ID names; just numbers only. To get the full CID info, you have to subscribe to their premium service. That was a deal breaker for me. At least this is the way I remember it. Someone correct me if I am wrong.


That is true. Although any friends/family you have programmed into the Ooma contacts list will show the name from your contacts anyway, so it really only applies to strange numbers. Although I pay the $10/mo for Plus because of this and a few other things. Still cheaper then the $45/mo I was paying AT&T for a landline.

That being said it's not without issue. I've had it for a few years now and it's kind of like a cell phone. Delays, echo and distortion are pretty common even with a good internet connection. We use the phone so little it doesn't really matter to us, but my Dad tried it and the issues were unacceptable to him. He ended up going back to a regular land line. (he also tried GV and had the same issues)


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

mdm08033 said:


> The downside to cord trimming continues to be my wife's occasionally complaints about missing HGTV, Phillies baseball and Flyers hockey.


Can't help you with Philadelphia sports, but check out my post above about Plex. With the Plex Channel plug-ins for HGTV (as well as Food Network, Comedy Central and others), you have easy access to a lot of FREE shows. HGTV offers about 200 full episodes from a variety of series, commercial-free in excellent quality HD.

I also noticed today that Amazon Video is giving away the first episode of the most recent season of Love It or List It. It's actually a "$0.00" purchase, so you'll need an active Amazon account to get it.


----------



## Keith Elkin (Oct 16, 2002)

Doesn't cbs, abc, fix, nbc, etc... Require you to log in with a valid cable / satellite provider account to prove you're a paying customer to watch most of their content? I would love to cut the cord since I don't watch much tv but my GF would murder me.


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

I cut my cord down to just Frontier fios for $35/month for 3mb up/down. We have cel phones with 1 being an old iphone we keep plugged in at home as our home phone. I cut the cord three years ago this month and pay the $35 for Fios/$8 for Netflix and $6.58/month for Prime. (my Hulu+ is free for 2 more years because of Bing credits.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Keith Elkin said:


> Doesn't cbs, abc, fix, nbc, etc... Require you to log in with a valid cable / satellite provider account to prove you're a paying customer to watch most of their content? I would love to cut the cord since I don't watch much tv but my GF would murder me.


What you're talking about are "authenticated" or "TV everywhere" apps that are intended to allow cable/satellite customers to stream the content they're already paying for on a range of devices by logging in with their cable/satellite credentials. Examples of such apps are HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, Watch ABC, Watch ESPN, etc. Currently there aren't any of these kinds of apps available on TiVo, although there are a bunch of them on streaming devices like Roku and Apple TV.

Then there are standalone "OTT (over the top)" streaming apps/services that are either free or subscription-based and do not require a cable/satellite subscription. Examples that require a paid subscription include HBO Now, Showtime, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access, and Acorn TV. Free ones include YouTube, Crackle, AOL On, Vevo, and CBS News.

None of the Plex Channel plug-ins require any sort of log-in. Whatever content they provide is 100% free. While some Plex Channels only provide clips, there are some good ones that offer several full episodes/movies.


----------



## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

Welcome to the club. I cut Sat TV in July 2010. It's been great. The fact that tivo (even back then) supported ATSC OTA signals made it possible. 

Now with Roamio & a Mini it's a lot cheaper to cut the cord. Back then I was looking at 20 months for cost recovery: 2 tivo's w/lifetime was about $1400. I was saving $70/mo.

This summer I upgraded to a Roamio OTA + Mini for about $400. At my $70/mo savings, that's a tiny 6 months to cost recover. But I assume that TV prices have gone up. So it's probably even less time to cost recover.

Anyway, welcome to the club!


----------



## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

mdavej said:


> Ooma is only about $3/month, depending on the taxes in your area. Far easier to set up than cobbling together Google Voice and Obihai. And who knows how long GV will remain free.


I think Ooma was going to be around $5/month for me when I switched our landline over to Google Voice/Obi hardware back in 2012. For years people have been saying that Google Voice might not remain free, but Google Voice has continued to remain free. In any event, even if GV did start charging, it would probably be less than Ooma's "free" service. Plus, the beauty of an Obi VoIP box is that you can use it with lots of different paid VoIP services if you want to, not just with Google Voice. I actually do this with my Obi/GV combo to get E911 service through Anveo for 80 cents/month. With Ooma's hardware, you are locked into their VoIP service, and the Ooma hardware is much more expensive than the Obi hardware.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Does Google Voice w/ObiHai give you caller ID with names? (As opposed to Ooma, which makes you pay for Premier service to get that feature?)


----------



## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Fofer said:


> Does Google Voice w/ObiHai give you caller ID with names? (As opposed to Ooma, which makes you pay for Premier service to get that feature?)


No, Google Voice won't give you the caller ID name, only number. I don't really view it as a problem personally, as I have the names of everyone who calls me plugged into the phonebook of my cordless phone, and that gives me the names when they call. There are other VoIP services you can use with the Obi hardware that do give you the caller ID names, but they are all paid VoIP services.


----------



## raqball (Feb 23, 2015)

I cut the cord several years ago.

I get by just fine with OTA, Sling TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

My internet is $70 a month for 100 down and 10 up, Sling is $20, Netflix $8 (I'd have it even if I had cable TV) and Amazon video is free with Prime.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

tarheelblue32 said:


> There are other VoIP services you can use with the Obi hardware that do give you the caller ID names, but they are all paid VoIP services.


Thanks. What VOIP services, other than Google Voice, work with the ObiHai devices? I'm curious to compare, even if they cost money.


----------



## NoNose (Nov 27, 2015)

Fofer said:


> Thanks. What VOIP services, other than Google Voice, work with the ObiHai devices? I'm curious to compare, even if they cost money.


PhonePower http://www.phonepower.com/voiphome.aspx works well, and has good support. It does provide full caller ID, as well as the number.

It's not free. I used it until Google Voice came back online a couple of years ago. Anveo is another.

For now, it's really hard to beat Google Voice...for free.


----------



## Tweak42 (Mar 14, 2007)

Fofer said:


> Thanks. What VOIP services, other than Google Voice, work with the ObiHai devices? I'm curious to compare, even if they cost money.


We use a Obihai 200 with Phonepower.com as well. It's not the absolute cheapest service at $35/yr, but it has E911, caller ID names (CNAM), and most importantly conditional call forwarding so I can use Nomorobo.com to hang-up on the robo-callers. Obihai 200 sells for $50 or $30 on sale a few times a year.

Their "approved service providers" are here: http://www.obitalk.com/info/asp, but there are far more voip companies that can support Obihai devices.

I haven't any experience with Ooma, but in either case, both voip solutions are far cheaper than $35/month POTS line they replace.


----------



## KSOC Kid (Nov 19, 2015)

Congrats to all who eliminated Big TV or seriously cut back. We are joining a movement to change the television landscape. Sometimes you do things out of habit or societal norms, until you actually stop and think about what you are doing. I have more to watch now then ever before, and enjoying it more knowing the money tap has been turned off. It will be interesting to see how the television & content providers conform to the changing landscape.


----------



## connie_w (Jan 10, 2015)

lmacmil said:


> Pulled the cable card out of my Roamio basic and will turn it in tomorrow. I can get all 5 networks OTA and have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I ditched Comcast voice in favor of an Ooma a couple months ago and now I'll say goodbye to cable TV. My internet will go up some but I still should be ahead about $70/month. It will take about 6 months to recoup the cost of the Tivo, modem, router and Ooma teleo. I think I can do it!


I believe you'll be just fine without cable tv. I rid myself of cable tv a year ago. I haven't missed it one bit. There is plenty of good programs to watch/record. In fact, I get so much recorded I cannot watch it all. I use the off-season downtimes to try to catch up on some shows I've recorded. Seems even in off-season there is still quite a bit of new programming. That and I have always had netflix and also I have Amazon Prime.

I've been contemplating the switch of my 2 landlines. Good info on ideas to do that in this thread.


----------



## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

Fofer said:


> Yes, you certainly can port your number to GV. Many here have done exactly that.


I read somewhere on the rumor mill that you can port your number to GV, but you can't port it away from GV. Caveat emptor, YMMV, etc.

Ooma ported my number quickly, and I've always had excellent voice quality at $4/mo.


----------



## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> That being said it's not without issue. I've had [ooma] for a few years now and it's kind of like a cell phone. Delays, echo and distortion are pretty common even with a good internet connection. We use the phone so little it doesn't really matter to us, but my Dad tried it and the issues were unacceptable to him. He ended up going back to a regular land line. (he also tried GV and had the same issues)


I've never had problems with delays, echo or distortion. For best results, VOIP traffic needs to be prioritized with QoS and possibly other settings. I don't know all the details, but I know that MoCA networks have three levels of QoS and give highest priority to voice data, medium priority to video data.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

Went to the Comcast outlet this morning to turn in my cable card and drop TV service. Asked to put my internet on "seasonal hold" for 6 weeks while in Florida, just as I have done for the last 7 years. Was told that seasonal hold now has a 90 day minimum (this was not the case a year ago.) 

So while I cut the TV cord, I cannot suspend the internet cord for less than 90 days. I could drop internet but then I would lose my email addresses (I have 4 different Comcast email accounts) so that's not an option. At least, not without a lot of prep work and I don't have time for that right now. Oh well, at least I will be saving $85/month on TV.


----------



## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

Fofer said:


> Does Google Voice w/ObiHai give you caller ID with names? (As opposed to Ooma, which makes you pay for Premier service to get that feature?)


Basic Ooma service allows you to set up contact lists with name/number/etc. so that you can choose the name that appears on caller ID whenever an incoming call is from someone on the contact list. No extra charge. Not quite as nice as getting calling ID with names for all callers, but good enough for my needs.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

snerd said:


> I've never had problems with delays, echo or distortion. For best results, VOIP traffic needs to be prioritized with QoS and possibly other settings. I don't know all the details, but I know that MoCA networks have three levels of QoS and give highest priority to voice data, medium priority to video data.


It's not excessive, but it does happen. Esecially when talking to someone on a cell phone. That's when the delay is most pronounced. It could be my network though. The Ooma is in the living room, the cable modem is in the office up stairs. The Ooma plugs in to an Ethernet switch in my entertainment center, which then bridges to MoCa through my Roamio Pro, which then bridges back to Ethernet in the office via a Bolt, then goes through two switches before hitting my router. Their recomended setup is to install the Ooma so it's connected directly to the modem, before the router, but that would put the Oom in a bad location for my wife to be able to check messages so I couldn't do that. I had QoS setup on my old router for it but it didn't seem to really make a difference. When that router died I never bothered to set it up again on the new one.


----------



## connie_w (Jan 10, 2015)

snerd said:


> I read somewhere on the rumor mill that you can port your number to GV, but you can't port it away from GV. Caveat emptor, YMMV, etc.
> 
> Ooma ported my number quickly, and I've always had excellent voice quality at $4/mo.


According to Google help you can port it. You just have to unlock it in order for it to be ported.
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> It could be my network though. The Ooma is in the living room, the cable modem is in the office up stairs. The Ooma plugs in to an Ethernet switch in my entertainment center, which then bridges to MoCa through my Roamio Pro, which then bridges back to Ethernet in the office via a Bolt, then goes through two switches before hitting my router.


Ya think? 

My Ooma is connected directly to my router and I have had zero issues with call quality.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

I'm sure some of it depends on internet speed as well. And maybe other factors, too.

I set up an Ooma for a friend, connected directly to her router too, and call quality wasn't great. She complained about occasional echoes and stuttering.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service? My TV bill is a fraction of what I pay for my cell phones, and I have a fairly expensive plan with Showtime included. If you're really interested in saving money, get rid of your smart phones and switch to a standard flip phone, assuming you can even find one anymore. Nobody blinks when they pay hundreds of dollars for cell service, but having to pay $50/month for cable TV is somehow highway robbery. I only pay for two cablecards plus the TV package that includes more HD content than I have time to watch, and it's still way less than what I pay just for two smart phones each month.

I probably pay about $350/month to Verizon for wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone. I say probably because I just upgraded my phones and my plan and I haven't seen the first bill yet, but it's going to be a whopper just for the activation fees alone. They gave us a "free" tablet when we renewed the plan, but the "free" tablet will probably cost about $50/month by itself with the internet and extra phone line charge. I'd wager that over half of my monthly Verizon bill goes for just the wireless service. Problem is, with wireless there's no cord to cut. 

My point is that you have to put things into their proper perspective. Since we're in a Tivo forum it's a safe bet that you all probably spend a fair amount of time watching TV. Compare that to how much time you spend on the internet or on your phone and see which service gives you the better deal for your money. I'm guessing even without "cutting the cord" you're still paying far less per hour for your TV service than you do for your cell phone or internet. When I say internet I'm referring to time spent on your PC and not browsing on your smart phone because that's included in your wireless plan.

In the grand scheme of things, cutting the cord doesn't really save you all that much when compared to the other ways you spend your money. We've all gotten to the point where we've made cell phones a necessity when in reality they're just a matter of convenience that have spoiled us.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service?


I pay ~$60/month and it's well worth it to me. Cable TV, not so much.


----------



## KSOC Kid (Nov 19, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service? My TV bill is a fraction of what I pay for my cell phones, and I have a fairly expensive plan with Showtime included. If you're really interested in saving money, get rid of your smart phones and switch to a standard flip phone, assuming you can even find one anymore. Nobody blinks when they pay hundreds of dollars for cell service, but having to pay $50/month for cable TV is somehow highway robbery. I only pay for two cablecards plus the TV package that includes more HD content than I have time to watch, and it's still way less than what I pay just for two smart phones each month.
> 
> I probably pay about $350/month to Verizon for wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone. I say probably because I just upgraded my phones and my plan and I haven't seen the first bill yet, but it's going to be a whopper just for the activation fees alone. They gave us a "free" tablet when we renewed the plan, but the "free" tablet will probably cost about $50/month by itself with the internet and extra phone line charge. I'd wager that over half of my monthly Verizon bill goes for just the wireless service. Problem is, with wireless there's no cord to cut.
> 
> ...


I spend $40 a month for my iphone service. Unlimited text,voice & data. Tv cost's me $34 a month. Internet at home doesn't count, but for the record it's $58. Internet is a utility anymore. Got have it for so many non-entertainment functions. I don't watch a damn thing on my phone but I do stream radio in the car. A few calls but texting is an absolute & would not ever go back to a non-smart phone. So yes, I save about $130 a month.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service? My TV bill is a fraction of what I pay for my cell phones, and I have a fairly expensive plan with Showtime included. If you're really interested in saving money, get rid of your smart phones and switch to a standard flip phone, assuming you can even find one anymore. Nobody blinks when they pay hundreds of dollars for cell service, but having to pay $50/month for cable TV is somehow highway robbery. I only pay for two cablecards plus the TV package that includes more HD content than I have time to watch, and it's still way less than what I pay just for two smart phones each month.
> 
> I probably pay about $350/month to Verizon for wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone. I say probably because I just upgraded my phones and my plan and I haven't seen the first bill yet, but it's going to be a whopper just for the activation fees alone. They gave us a "free" tablet when we renewed the plan, but the "free" tablet will probably cost about $50/month by itself with the internet and extra phone line charge. I'd wager that over half of my monthly Verizon bill goes for just the wireless service. Problem is, with wireless there's no cord to cut.
> 
> ...


I'm not a heavy data user on my iPhone, so AT&T's 1.5 MB LTE GoPhone plan with unlimited voice and text works for me. I pay about $41 a month for it, taxes/fees included. (Of course, I had to pay retail for my iPhone up-front when I got it a few years ago but I came out ahead after about one year of service by going the non-contract GoPhone service route rather than getting a subsidized iPhone with the more expensive postpaid 2-yr contract service plan.) I don't have a landline at all but if I needed one, I'd just go with Ooma or Google Voice.

In addition to my cell phone cost, I'm looking at an average monthly total of about $60 for 10 Mbps cable internet plus various streaming services (Amazon Prime Video, Showtime, Netflix, etc.) No ongoing TiVo fees since I have lifetime on my Roamio OTA. So a monthly video + internet + cell phone bill of about $100. Not bad.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service?


I pay $69/month for 3 lines on Consumer Cellular. That's for 750 shared minutes, unlimited text and 1.5GB of shared data. None of the 3 users stream music or video on their (smart) phone using data and all are connected to wifi when home. We have yet to exceed our monthly minutes or data limit. There is no contract so I could drop a line or all of them at any time and not owe a thing.

Compared to that, I'd say the $85+ I will save by dropping cable TV is significant.

But hey, for me, it's not about the savings. It's about 1) limiting my TV watching and 2) limiting the amount of money I send to Comcast every month. In a few months, I'll decide if it was the right decision or not. If not, I can always get my TV service back.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

A lot of people probably need to review their cell plan if it's a continuation of one that included discounted purchases of new devices. I'm not sure any of the companies let you know that your contract is up and that you can now save money. My bill with Verizon went down by more than $40 a month even adding 50% more data, and is now under $100 a month for two lines (including taxes).


----------



## connie_w (Jan 10, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service? My TV bill is a fraction of what I pay for my cell phones, and I have a fairly expensive plan with Showtime included. If you're really interested in saving money, get rid of your smart phones and switch to a standard flip phone, assuming you can even find one anymore. Nobody blinks when they pay hundreds of dollars for cell service, but having to pay $50/month for cable TV is somehow highway robbery. I only pay for two cablecards plus the TV package that includes more HD content than I have time to watch, and it's still way less than what I pay just for two smart phones each month.
> 
> I probably pay about $350/month to Verizon for wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone. I say probably because I just upgraded my phones and my plan and I haven't seen the first bill yet, but it's going to be a whopper just for the activation fees alone. They gave us a "free" tablet when we renewed the plan, but the "free" tablet will probably cost about $50/month by itself with the internet and extra phone line charge. I'd wager that over half of my monthly Verizon bill goes for just the wireless service. Problem is, with wireless there's no cord to cut.
> 
> ...


Hmmmm, well my cable tv bill used to cost me $150 per month and it seemed they raised the rates every time I turned around. That's HD/DVR service, plus digital service in one room and basic in all the other rooms, plus HBO and STARS. I found I can get even better HD via antenna and clear as a bell on all the major tv stations. I also realized I mostly watched the local channels. I got rid of $150 of unneeded expenses, IMO. I'm thinking my Tivo and mini's are a heck of a deal.

My cell phone bill is $120 month with unlimited data and I have 2 devices (1 is a tablet) I used both a lot throughout the day, actually more for the data service than the cell service. I could save money, except I get the best service from this vendor compared to others, in my home and work areas.

So, depending on your situation, what your offerings are in your area and what you really need can make a big difference.


----------



## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> I always find these posts amusing when people brag about how much they save on TV by "cutting the cord." The question is, how much are you paying for your cell phone service?


A couple of comments:


To me, cutting the cord means television. Which means I still get internet from my cable tv company. I just don't get TV from them.
I'm not sure I understand your point. Most of the time, saving money in one area means making that money available to spend in some other area. The whole point is to re-allocate money from a low value service into a higher value service. Maybe that saved money is spent today on a cell phone or in the future on retirement.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Consider how smugly "amused" he was, I think his point was to troll. Mission accomplished


----------



## connie_w (Jan 10, 2015)

Fofer said:


> Consider how smugly "amused" he was, I think his point was to troll. Mission accomplished


I think you're right, Fofer.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

connie_w said:


> I could save money, except I get the best service from this vendor compared to others, in my home and work areas.


I think there's scientific proof that the discount carriers' signals are least likely to reach your own house.


----------



## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

snerd said:


> I read somewhere on the rumor mill that you can port your number to GV, but you can't port it away from GV. Caveat emptor, YMMV, etc.
> 
> Ooma ported my number quickly, and I've always had excellent voice quality at $4/mo.


You can definitely port your number out of Google Voice. I don't think the FCC would let them or any other VoIP service provider hold your number hostage.

The nice thing about having your number with GV is that you can use it as a forwarding service. So you could have your number everyone knows to call with GV and have GV forward it to your cell phone or another VoIP number. And many VoIP services will allow you to spoof your outgoing caller ID so that people you call from a number they wouldn't recognize will still know it's you calling.


----------



## Eddie501 (Jun 4, 2004)

For me it wasn't so much about the cost savings, it was the elimination of the sheer junk on basic cable. I would surf & see nothing but rock bottom reality programming full of commercials. And think "I'm paying for THAT?" When I cancelled, I told them I would happily stay & subscribe to every premium offered if I could opt out of a basic package. Nope, gotta have the commercial infested junk to even be allowed to pay for the good stuff.

Now I have the package I always wanted. Just my locals via OTA & all the commerical free streamers...Hulu/Showtime/HBO/Netflix/Amazon. Saving money AND enjoying TV a whole lot more.


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

Fofer said:


> Consider how smugly "amused" he was, I think his point was to troll. Mission accomplished


This might the first post he has ever created that doesn't include how "great" Windows Media Center is. I'm surprised he didn't add that to his rant.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

tarheelblue32 said:


> You can definitely port your number out of Google Voice. I don't think the FCC would let them or any other VoIP service provider hold your number hostage.


I can confirm this works. I ported my number to Google Voice in July 2013, I then ported it out in January 2015.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

cybergrimes said:


> I can confirm this works. I ported my number to Google Voice in July 2013, I then ported it out in January 2015.


To where, and why? I'm curious to hear more about your experience.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Eddie501 said:


> For me it wasn't so much about the cost savings, it was the elimination of the sheer junk on basic cable. I would surf & see nothing but rock bottom reality programming full of commercials. And think "I'm paying for THAT?" When I cancelled, I told them I would happily stay & subscribe to every premium offered if I could opt out of a basic package. Nope, gotta have the commercial infested junk to even be allowed to pay for the good stuff. Now I have the package I always wanted. Just my locals via OTA & all the commerical free streamers...Hulu/Showtime/HBO/Netflix/Amazon. Saving money AND enjoying TV a whole lot more.


So, you successfully ignore the junk that is on Hulu, Netflix, HBO and Amazon (if you have Prime) that you pay for? You are still paying for junk, it is just hidden better.

Couldn't resist. It's okay to save money. I just don't buy the I don't want to pay for stuff I don't watch unless you go totally pay per view or buy shows/movies per show.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I probably pay about $350/month to Verizon for wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone.


Your post is crazy. You tell everyone how they are doing it wrong yet you yourself are the one getting robbed.

Cellular service: $70 a month for 3 smart phones. No 3 digit figure here.
Landline: $5 per month, local number with unlimited calling through Skype on a traditional cordless handset.
Television fees: $9 for Netflix, $12 for commercial free Hulu, $10 for WWE Network. $31 total for television service yet somehow just like you have "more HD content than I have time to watch".
Internet fee: $56 for 50 down/5 up service in rural Minnesota.

Also important is that we are actually happy with our setup yet haven't had cable since 2009. There is content on all 3 of our streaming providers that isn't on cable-- even if cable was free we would still end up watching Netflix or Hulu anyway. We're in our early 30's and it's quickly become our preferred way of consuming television.

Our TiVo is the Roamio OTA which outside of streaming is used to record PBS programming from our local affiliate. We actually watch so much PBS from the 4 different channels they broadcast that I became a member and have them deduct $5 per month from my bank account. It's almost like I'm signed up for a PBS subscription 

Grand total $167 per month, around $2200 less per year than the $350 you "probably" pay to Verizon. Now that's amusing


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

Fofer said:


> To where, and why? I'm curious to hear more about your experience.


Sure, I ported in to GV from AT&T and back out to Cricket Wireless.

The reasoning was entirely circumstantial-- we moved cross country but I kept my job and started working from home. My AT&T service didn't work inside our new rural home and since I wasn't going anywhere I couldn't justify keeping the service. I decided I could get by using the Google Voice app on the company sponsored iPhone. That's the catch-- the company iPhone with 3G data so I could use the Google Voice app to text or initiate an outbound call. Everyone would see calls/texts coming from the same old number I had for years.

As to why I switched out-- the company phone was an iPhone 4 and I hated it. I had come from a Windows Phone and that's where I'm using again now.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

TonyD79 said:


> So, you successfully ignore the junk that is on Hulu, Netflix, HBO and Amazon (if you have Prime) that you pay for? You are still paying for junk, it is just hidden better.
> 
> Couldn't resist. It's okay to save money. I just don't buy the I don't want to pay for stuff I don't watch unless you go totally pay per view or buy shows/movies per show.


Hmm although I get the literalness of "go totally pay per view or buy shows/movies per show" I'll take a stab at this one 

Hulu automatically adds new episodes to our queue from our subscribed shows. This is my anecdotal experience of course but we rarely browse Hulu, perhaps not unlike a season pass on a traditional cable DVR?

Netflix curates based on our ratings/tastes unlike a traditional cable box which simply shows you everything available. My wife has been using Netflix since before they were streaming, she's been rating titles on that service for near 10 years so they know her pretty well. Of course she has to pass by junk too but I would argue it doesn't feel the same somehow. It's junk titles in the genre of programming she enjoys instead of junk programming from across the entire spectrum of all programming currently airing on cable.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Just to be clear, the point I was trying to make is that most people aren't as concerned with what they spend on a cell phone plan compared to what they pay for cable TV. Of course, it varies with each individual so perhaps my comments were a little too broad. With respect to cell phone plans, most people use smart phones these days. Last time I checked, a smart phone requires mandatory internet access. Verizon charges something like $40 per phone for monthly internet access in addition to the extra line fees. People with extremely high cable bills are more than likely renting a lot of hardware from their cable provider or paying for a lot of channels they don't watch or need. 

Those of you that are talking about monthly wireless bills are probably talking about a single user account. Try paying for multiple smart phones with unlimited texting and a sizeable data plan and then tell me how much you're saving. You can certainly economize by cutting back in some areas, but if you exceed your limit then you're looking at much higher fees than if you paid for the extra service up front. I pay for something like 750 minutes of talk time with my current plan, but we probably never use more than about 30-40 minutes over the course of a month. I do far more texting and web surfing on my phone than anything else.

With respect to the crack about WMC, laugh all you want, but it saves me a lot of money on my cable bill because the only hardware I rent is a couple of cablecards and I don't have to pay any fees to use my DVR. I never brought it up because that horse is long dead as far as any meaningful discussions are concerned. WMC has allowed my to cut the cord to some extent while still giving me access to all of the programs I enjoy.

As for trolling, all I did was offer up an alternative opinion. Nobody says you have to agree with it.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

cybergrimes said:


> Your post is crazy. You tell everyone how they are doing it wrong yet you yourself are the one getting robbed.
> 
> Cellular service: $70 a month for 3 smart phones. No 3 digit figure here.
> Landline: $5 per month, local number with unlimited calling through Skype on a traditional cordless handset.
> ...


OK, I never claimed anyone was doing it right, wrong, or otherwise.

What kind of service do you get on your cell phones for $70 a month? I can't imagine you have much in the way of data or texting with that plan.

$5 for a land line is pretty good. I don't recall what Verizon charges me, but I have unlimited long distance in my plan.

Netflix only offers outdated TV shows last time I checked. I've probably already seen anything I'd be interested in by the time they have it available. I have about a half dozen PBS channels in my area, but I can only think of two shows they air that interest me, and they only account for about 15 hours of annual viewing time. Different strokes.

I have FIOS internet with 75 down/75 up for about the same cost as your service. I used to pay for 50/50 service, but I believe they bumped up my speeds at no extra cost.

I just purchased two new iPhones so the cost of the phones is rolled into my monthly bill. I used to have Motorola Droid RAZR smart phones and the iPhones are light years better.


----------



## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

connie_w said:


> According to Google help you can port it. You just have to unlock it in order for it to be ported.
> https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1316844?hl=en


Good to know, thanks for the correction.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

mr.unnatural said:


> Verizon charges something like $40 per phone for monthly internet access in addition to the extra line fees.


Verizon really changed up their pricing a few months back. I'm currently paying $60 for 6GB of data that can be shared, but that does include a $10 discount due to my employer. The smartphones are $15 each, but that would normally be $40 each--having a 6GB plan gets you a $25 discount per phone. I don't really need anything more than 4GB, but it's cheaper to get 6GB with the line discounts.

So that's basically $90 before taxes for two lines of unlimited talk/text with 6GB of data. It would be $100 without the employer discount.

And in case anyone is wondering, I need coverage, so my choices are either Verizon or AT&T.


----------



## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> Just to be clear, the point I was trying to make is that most people aren't as concerned with what they spend on a cell phone plan compared to what they pay for cable TV.


Yes. But I think you're missing something. People are allowed to value smartphones more than they value cable tv. Especially if they can cut cable tv as a way to fund their smartphone (or whatever else they'd rather spend the money on).

I'm interested in celebrating the guy at the top of this discussion who discovered that he could use a TiVo to cut money from one service to use somewhere else. How he uses that extra money is entirely up to him. Even if he uses it on something that I think is stupid, I'm still happy to celebrate him finding a way he could fund that thing he prefers.

I'm really failing to see how people's cell phone bills has anything at all to do with the topic.


----------



## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

I think I've got you all beat. I've got 5 lines on Cricket for $100 total, including tax. That's unlimited talk/text and 2GB of data on each line using AT&T's network. With free wifi most everywhere we go, 2GB is plenty for the moderate amount of streaming my family does.

Add $3 for Ooma at home, $50 for internet and $75 for cable TV (including HBO/SHO/MAX). Lifetime Roamio plus a house full of Minis makes my DVR service free (aside from $2 cable card fee). That gives me far more than I could get by cobbling together every streaming service under the sun.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> What kind of service do you get on your cell phones for $70 a month? I can't imagine you have much in the way of data or texting with that plan.


As previously noted, I have three lines, all smartphones (Moto X and Samsung Galaxy S4), with Consumer Cellular (uses the AT&T network) and pay $70 total. This includes 750 minutes, unlimited texts, and 1.5GB of 4G-LTE data. I could get a 4GB data plan for an additional $20. Unlimited talk minutes would add $30.

I can't imagine a $350/month cellphone bill. It amuses me that anyone would pay that much!


----------



## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

lmacmil said:


> .........
> I can't imagine a $350/month cellphone bill. It amuses me that anyone would pay that much!


That's because you must be a member of the old fogey's generation (like me). . Let's face it, smart phones are the way society is going. A growing number of people do **all** their social, entertainment, financial, work and business transactions on their smart phone via the Internet. If you haven't been keeping up you would be amazed at what can be done. For them, spending hundreds of $$ per month is easy to justify.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> What kind of service do you get on your cell phones for $70 a month? I can't imagine you have much in the way of data or texting with that plan.


$25 for unlimited 3G, talk and text on the wife's Republic Wireless plan. I'm sure that plan has a reasonable limit for data but Republic's gimmick is WiFi calling-- my wife is almost always on WiFi between being at home or work. Not an issue.
$35 for my Cricket Wireless plan with 2.5GB of LTE data, unlimited talk/text. I could probably save and switch myself to Republic too but I like my Windows Phone (Republic supports a limited selection of Android phones due to custom software)
$10 for teenagers Republic plan. This is a smartphone but unlimited talk/text only, no data unless WiFi. I have the router set to disable her WiFi between 10pm and 7am 

I was hard pressed to find anything comparable to that $10 plan, even when looking at non-smart phones. I had thought there would be savings in that area but there aren't many plans without data unless you start paying per text/minute.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

lmacmil said:


> I can't imagine a $350/month cellphone bill. It amuses me that anyone would pay that much!


$350 is for his internet, cable, landline and cellphones.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

cybergrimes said:


> $350 is for his internet, cable, landline and cellphones.


You're right, I just looked at his initial post. That still seems at least $100 too much to me. If he's on a Verizon cellphone contract plan and past his contract end date, he's definitely paying too much. But not my problem so I don't care!


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

dlfl said:


> That's because you must be a member of the old fogey's generation (like me). . Let's face it, smart phones are the way society is going.


How'd you guess?  If my (adult) kids didn't have smart phones, I probably wouldn't either. But I will concede they can be pretty handy. Would hate not to have Google Maps. One thing I will probably never do though is put any financial apps on my phone. I pay my bills the old fashioned way: on my home computer.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

lmacmil said:


> I pay my bills the old fashioned way: on my home computer.


That was great. Thanks for the chuckle. :up:


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

lmacmil said:


> One thing I will probably never do though is put any financial apps on my phone. I pay my bills the old fashioned way: on my home computer.


Check deposit via smartphone is one of the best financial app features. Virtually eliminates the need to go to the bank. And if you have your bank's app on your smartphone, might as well use the Bill Pay feature too.

Remotely related to this, late last year I saw stats on porn website usage, between mobile and desktop. I was surprised to learn that there were more people visiting porn sites via mobile devices. I probably wouldn't recommend any financial apps on a mobile device that frequents porn sites. For that matter, I also wouldn't recommend email apps either!


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

mdavej said:


> I think I've got you all beat. I've got 5 lines on Cricket for $100 total, including tax. That's unlimited talk/text and 2GB of data on each line using AT&T's network. With free wifi most everywhere we go, 2GB is plenty for the moderate amount of streaming my family does.
> 
> Add $3 for Ooma at home, $50 for internet and $75 for cable TV (including HBO/SHO/MAX). Lifetime Roamio plus a house full of Minis makes my DVR service free (aside from $2 cable card fee). That gives me far more than I could get by cobbling together every streaming service under the sun.


Maybe not 

i pay:

$0 for Fios 50/50 - work pays
$0 AT$T unlimitted iphone data/voice/text plan - work pays
$30/month for Wife's Walmarts Tmobile 100 minute, unlimited text/4g data iphone plan
$0 google voice with obihai, $12 a year for E911 (never used, have it as a backup for babysitters in the no chance that they dont have their cell phones)

as for tv, thats subjective, we're fine with OTA, Netflix, Amazon, free hulu via bing rewards, and MLB.tv, which comes to about $30 a month.


----------



## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I pay ~$83/mo for cable/internet, cell phone/text/data and landline for family of 4 with Netflix and Prime too. Might be some taxes in there I didn't include. Still "paying off" the the Tivo Roamio Plus and 2 Minis which pro-rated over 3 years is $22/mo extra.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

Aero 1 said:


> free hulu via bing rewards


I wish I was still doing this but with the increase in point cost and our switch to ad-free Hulu it just doesn't get it done anymore ;/

Kudos to you on getting everything done on the cheap!


----------



## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Aero, how are you doing Bing theses days? The bot I used in the past doesn't work anymore.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

mdavej said:


> Lifetime Roamio plus a house full of Minis makes my DVR service free (aside from $2 cable card fee).


...and aside from the amount you paid for the Lifetime Roamio and the house full of Minis. Those weren't "free." You basically paid for the DVR service upfront.


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

mdavej said:


> Aero, how are you doing Bing theses days? The bot I used in the past doesn't work anymore.


i used http://bing-pong.com/

i followed all his tedious steps.

i racked up a lot before the hammering started coming down, i saved up almost 2 years of free hulu, and stopped so my account doesn't get flagged. ill start up again once i get closer to my end date and see how the bots have progressed.


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

lmacmil said:


> Should be $13 per the price list on the back of my December bill. For my TV tier, I was paying about $85 including the broadcast and regional sports fees.


I could certainly cut the cord and go the way of streaming or downloading.
But, I'm concerned about timewarner throttling or excess data charges equaling my current cable bill, which is almost twice what you were paying, and that's without ANY premium channels (HBO, Cinamax, etc..)

It will be interesting to see what happens to your internet charges as you start using more streaming data.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

Aero 1 said:


> i used http://bing-pong.com/
> 
> i followed all his tedious steps.
> 
> i racked up a lot before the hammering started coming down, i saved up almost 2 years of free hulu, and stopped so my account doesn't get flagged. ill start up again once i get closer to my end date and see how the bots have progressed.


How long ago did you do that to save up enough for 2 years of Hulu?

I'm fairly certain I was IP banned a few months back after using 3 accounts during a 2 day period of botting. I chickened out after only 2 days and went back to only manually searching my main account, a few days later when I redeemed points I was no longer earning from my home network. If I was out on cellular or on some other WiFi it would earn normally. I opted-out of Bing Rewards on the 2 other accounts and spent 3 weeks emailing Microsoft about the issue before it was fixed.

They never actually said why I wasn't earning.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

Teeps said:


> I could certainly cut the cord and go the way of streaming or downloading.
> But, I'm concerned about timewarner throttling or excess data charges equaling my current cable bill, which is almost twice what you were paying, and that's without ANY premium channels (HBO, Cinamax, etc..)
> 
> It will be interesting to see what happens to your internet charges as you start using more streaming data.


What's this about TWC throttling and charging for overages? Is this new?

I had them for 2 years in North Carolina until this past July, used streaming services galore for all television and even worked remotely from home 5 days a week without any of that happening. I was streaming all day and still streaming more when the family got home at night.


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

cybergrimes said:


> How long ago did you do that to save up enough for 2 years of Hulu?
> 
> I'm fairly certain I was IP banned a few months back after using 3 accounts during a 2 day period of botting. I chickened out after only 2 days and went back to only manually searching my main account, a few days later when I redeemed points I was no longer earning from my home network. If I was out on cellular or on some other WiFi it would earn normally. I opted-out of Bing Rewards on the 2 other accounts and spent 3 weeks emailing Microsoft about the issue before it was fixed.
> 
> They never actually said why I wasn't earning.


for a loooong time with a long daily routine. i stopped a bit after the point increase and people complaining on reddit about all the bans.

when my time is up, i might just buy a cheap year of hulu off of ebay for $20. ive given those out as gifts and they work great.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

lmacmil said:


> I can't imagine a $350/month cellphone bill. It amuses me that anyone would pay that much!


You misunderstood. My estimated total Verizon bill is around $350 per month. I say estimated because I haven't seen a full month's bill with my upgraded service. That includes FIOS Ultimate HD TV, internet, digital landline phone, and wireless phone service with unlimited texting, 12GB data, and more minutes than I will ever use. My internet used to be 50/50 and I thought they bumped it up to 75/75 a while back, but now I see that it's 100/100 so I assume that's the service I now have. I've been having issues logging into the Verizon site to view my account so I need to contact them to get access. Two new iPhones are included in the monthly wireless cost along with a "free" tablet that they gave me when I renewed my contract. I say "free" because I think they added it as another phone and are also charging me for internet service. I will probably be cancelling the phone service and internet on the tablet because I have a Wi-Fi connection at home that serves the same purpose and I don't need an extra phone.



mjh said:


> I'm really failing to see how people's cell phone bills has anything at all to do with the topic.


I was just using it as a comparison. Tivos and cell phones are both essentially luxury items, yet most people now consider cell phones as a necessity and are less likely to balk at the cost.


----------



## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

...and? So?

Yes, my smart cellphone is now a necessity to me. Just as my laptop is. What's the point of comparing it to a TiVo, which never was and never will be?


----------



## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Aero 1 said:


> for a loooong time with a long daily routine. i stopped a bit after the point increase and people complaining on reddit about all the bans.
> 
> when my time is up, i might just buy a cheap year of hulu off of ebay for $20. ive given those out as gifts and they work great.


I racked up a couple of years with points too, but running out soon. Great tip on the ebay GCs. Found a couple for $16, which comes out to $1.33/month. I'd gladly pay that to avoid messing with bing bots.

Thanks!


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

mr.unnatural said:


> OK, I never claimed anyone was doing it right, wrong, or otherwise.
> 
> What kind of service do you get on your cell phones for $70 a month? I can't imagine you have much in the way of data or texting with that plan.
> 
> ...


I pay $110 a month TOTAL for 4 Iphones on tmobile...each line gets 10gb a month in data


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

mdavej said:


> I racked up a couple of years with points too, but running out soon. Great tip on the ebay GCs. Found a couple for $16, which comes out to $1.33/month. I'd gladly pay that to avoid messing with bing bots.
> 
> Thanks!


I'm so leery of those gift cards, there's a recurring theme in the negative feedback indicating that Hulu is cancelling service because the gift card was purchased with a stolen credit card. Obviously there's a ton that do work but that doesn't make them legitimate, as much as I love a good deal I can't buy it thinking it was paid for with stolen money. If it's too good to be true it's probably not true?

Found this thread where someones talking about it happening to them:
http://gametz.com/General/purchased-12-month-subscription-hulu-plus-via-ebay--508800.html#new


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

Teeps said:


> I could certainly cut the cord and go the way of streaming or downloading.
> But, I'm concerned about timewarner throttling or excess data charges equaling my current cable bill, which is almost twice what you were paying, and that's without ANY premium channels (HBO, Cinamax, etc..)
> 
> It will be interesting to see what happens to your internet charges as you start using more streaming data.


I'm with Comcast. Not sure at what point my usage would be considered "excessive." I think I get a 250GB allowance. Back in the pre-streaming days, I was only using 15-20GB/month. I've read that an hour of Netflix is about 1GB. I don't see us streaming more than 100 hrs/month so we shouldn't get even close to 250GB.

I checked my data usage: November 2015: 34GB (I was away for 10 days), December 2015: 90GB, Jan 2016 YTD: 24GB.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

spaldingclan said:


> I pay $110 a month TOTAL for 4 Iphones on tmobile...each line gets 10gb a month in data


Did you pay for your iPhones outright? I sincerely doubt that the cost of the iPhones is included in your $110/month plan unless you got locked into a long-term contract. Either that or they're older iPhones and they're already paid off. I'm paying for mine monthly over a 2-year period, which inflates my bill considerably until they're paid off.

There are numerous factors you need to consider that add to the overall cost of both your cell phone bill and your cable bill. One factor that affects your cable bill is if your provider also supplies you with internet service, which most of them do. The thing is, if you drop your TV service then your internet alone can end up costing you more than internet and TV bundled together. Cutting the cord in this way usually results in shooting yourself in the foot financially in many cases. I found that out the hard way with Comcast.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> The thing is, if you drop your TV service then your internet alone can end up costing you more than internet and TV bundled together. Cutting the cord in this way usually results in shooting yourself in the foot financially in many cases. I found that out the hard way with Comcast.


I see this a lot and it seems to always be Comcast. I don't believe it's the norm that your internet alone ends up costing you more than the total of both bundled. Here in upper Minnesota I have to first bundle a landline then bundle in TV (literally in that order) before I can get the lowest rate on my internet-- I think the internet itself ends up costing $30 less on paper but my entire bill goes up $50. It's not shooting myself in the foot at all.

I lived in both St. Louis, Missouri and North Carolina very recently-- both Charter and Time Warner offered good 30 or 50 down internet packages in the $50 range without television.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

lmacmil said:


> I'm with Comcast. Not sure at what point my usage would be considered "excessive." I think I get a 250GB allowance. Back in the pre-streaming days, I was only using 15-20GB/month. I've read that an hour of Netflix is about 1GB. I don't see us streaming more than 100 hrs/month so we shouldn't get even close to 250GB.


You probably either have no limit or 300GB. 250 is the old number that they never really enforced that strictly.

We went over 300 for the first time in December, but we also to a lot of backups to "The Cloud." But it was also the first month with "The Bolt" and a time when there's not much new content on broadcast TV. Usually we're more in the 150-200 range.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

One thing relevant to this discussion--don't get too dependent on your ISP's email service. That makes it harder to change ISPs.


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

spaldingclan said:


> I pay $110 a month TOTAL for 4 Iphones on tmobile...each line gets 10gb a month in data


I call BS on that one, please post your bill. I've got 3 phones w/2GB each and it's $90/mo. all-in AFTER the corp. 15% discount I get (that you can no longer get as a new customer). There's no way it's $110 for 4 phones with that much data unless you've got a much better corp. discount. Pricing it out on T-Mo's website it's $220/mo. with a Simple Choice plan and all phones BYOD.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

GoodSpike said:


> One thing relevant to this discussion--don't get too dependent on your ISP's email service. That makes it harder to change ISPs.


This was mentioned early in the discussion when I noted that I have close to 200 website accounts that use one of my four Comcast email addresses. I'm going to start moving them to Gmail and probably have 25 or 30 that I no longer need.

I do like Outlook as my email client (a holdover from my working days) on my PCs. I know I can receive Gmail in Outlook. Just have to read up on how to do it.


----------



## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> I was just using it as a comparison. Tivos and cell phones are both essentially luxury items, yet most people now consider cell phones as a necessity and are less likely to balk at the cost.


I still don't understand. The OP cut the price of one luxury good, and you presume that he used it on another luxury good. Even if he did, good for him! This doesn't seem like something to criticize. It means that he's now living more efficiently. He's paying the same amount and getting more of what he prefers and less of what he doesn't prefer.

And I don't recall the OP saying that he actually increased his cellphone bill. Did I miss it? As far as we know, he might have cut the cord for the purpose of helping fund an orphanage in Argentina. But even if all he did was decrease spending in one area so that he could increase spending in another, how is that worthy of criticism?

Actually. I think I'm done with this conversation. I don't think it's worthy of criticism. Maybe you'll say something that changes my mind. But so far, all that I've read from you seems to be wrongly criticizing decisions that other people make about their own lives. No matter, I'm out. You can have the last word if you want it.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

Here's another way to look at it. I would guess that during the 60s the average family probably spent about $20 a month on a landline and got their TV OTA for free. In today's dollars that's probably about $200 or more. So if you can get Internet, cell and cable/sat. for $200 you're doing pretty good.


----------



## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

mjh said:


> I think I'm done with this conversation.


As the OP, I agree. We've beaten this topic (and the ancillary topics that popped along the way) to death. I join you in resigning from the thread!


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

mr.unnatural said:


> Did you pay for your iPhones outright? I sincerely doubt that the cost of the iPhones is included in your $110/month plan unless you got locked into a long-term contract. Either that or they're older iPhones and they're already paid off. I'm paying for mine monthly over a 2-year period, which inflates my bill considerably until they're paid off.
> 
> There are numerous factors you need to consider that add to the overall cost of both your cell phone bill and your cable bill. One factor that affects your cable bill is if your provider also supplies you with internet service, which most of them do. The thing is, if you drop your TV service then your internet alone can end up costing you more than internet and TV bundled together. Cutting the cord in this way usually results in shooting yourself in the foot financially in many cases. I found that out the hard way with Comcast.


Old Iphones, I brought over (iphone 5's)


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

slowbiscuit said:


> I call BS on that one, please post your bill. I've got 3 phones w/2GB each and it's $90/mo. all-in AFTER the corp. 15% discount I get (that you can no longer get as a new customer). There's no way it's $110 for 4 phones with that much data unless you've got a much better corp. discount. Pricing it out on T-Mo's website it's $220/mo. with a Simple Choice plan and all phones BYOD.


you're right, I'm full of it..it's $120, not $110...do you forgive me?


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

No, because it's more like $140+ after taxes and fees. Still a good deal if you need that much data though.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

mjh said:


> I still don't understand. The OP cut the price of one luxury good, and you presume that he used it on another luxury good. Even if he did, good for him! This doesn't seem like something to criticize. It means that he's now living more efficiently. He's paying the same amount and getting more of what he prefers and less of what he doesn't prefer.
> 
> And I don't recall the OP saying that he actually increased his cellphone bill. Did I miss it? As far as we know, he might have cut the cord for the purpose of helping fund an orphanage in Argentina. But even if all he did was decrease spending in one area so that he could increase spending in another, how is that worthy of criticism?
> 
> Actually. I think I'm done with this conversation. I don't think it's worthy of criticism. Maybe you'll say something that changes my mind. But so far, all that I've read from you seems to be wrongly criticizing decisions that other people make about their own lives. No matter, I'm out. You can have the last word if you want it.


I wasn't criticizing anyone in particular but just making a general statement. It wasn't aimed at the OP but the overall discussion in general. There are probably a hundred threads just like this one scattered throughout these forums and it's always the same old thing. If the OP saved money and he's happy with his setup then good for him. It's just that the topic has been discussed to death here.


----------



## Photo_guy (Mar 12, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I wasn't criticizing anyone in particular but just making a general statement. It wasn't aimed at the OP but the overall discussion in general. There are probably a hundred threads just like this one scattered throughout these forums and it's always the same old thing. If the OP saved money and he's happy with his setup then good for him. It's just that the topic has been discussed to death here.


These threads are like discussing religion at a party. There is no 'right' answer and it typically stirs up more anger than providing positive results. 
Everyone has different needs so what is good for one person is not sufficient for another. Plans are priced in complex ways - equipment included in monthly fee or paid in advance, etc. and it is very easy to get into an apples to oranges comparison trap.

There is a thread like this on every forum. Go to an automobile forum and mention the price you paid for a car and see what happens - buy vs. lease, out the door price, financed? trade-in...it goes on and on.

The only value I see from these discussions is, perhaps, some bench marking info is shared for service options. Other than that it is just entertaining.


----------



## Saturn_V (Jun 2, 2007)

mr.unnatural said:


> I wasn't criticizing anyone in particular but just making a general statement. It wasn't aimed at the OP but the overall discussion in general. There are probably a hundred threads just like this one scattered throughout these forums and it's always the same old thing. If the OP saved money and he's happy with his setup then good for him. It's just that the topic has been discussed to death here.


So you were basically threadcrapping because it's been discussed before and you're smug about cord-cutters and cord-cutting *in general*. Glad that's cleared up.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Nah. It's just that every time someone starts a new thread on the topic it sounds like a friggin' Geico commercial "I just saved XX amount of dollars by cutting the cord." Like I said, if it makes you happy then go for it. I just don't see the need to keep posting new threads about it ad infinitum. Everyone here knows about the concept of cord cutting and the various ways to go about it so why does it have to keep being rehashed all the time? There's no new information being shared by anyone. If there is some new and amazing technology that's being discussed to enhance cord cutting then I'm all ears. Dropping cable and switching to streaming services plus OTA is ancient news and not exactly innovative. People keep starting threads like this as if they invented the wheel and need to share their discovery. It's all just filler with no new content. Then again, there are very few threads here that introduce new topics so I suppose it fits in with the format.


----------



## Photo_guy (Mar 12, 2015)

"Simplify,Simplify" Henry David Thoreau - The first 'cord cutter'


----------



## spaldingclan (Aug 22, 2012)

slowbiscuit said:


> No, because it's more like $140+ after taxes and fees. Still a good deal if you need that much data though.


you're special....you like trolling huh?


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

lmacmil said:


> This was mentioned early in the discussion when I noted that I have close to 200 website accounts that use one of my four Comcast email addresses. I'm going to start moving them to Gmail and probably have 25 or 30 that I no longer need.
> 
> I do like Outlook as my email client (a holdover from my working days) on my PCs. I know I can receive Gmail in Outlook. Just have to read up on how to do it.


Your ISP probably has that information. I use gmail for everything. It forwards the mail (after spam removal) to my ISP. I then use Outlook to read the mail from my ISP. Outlook's archive is very good. If I move all I would need to change is the forwarding address. Simple solution. I could compose with Outlook and change the reply address, but I don't send much.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

JoeKustra said:


> Your ISP probably has that information. I use gmail for everything.


Easier to Google it--Gmail settings are not ISP dependent.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gmail server settings


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

GoodSpike said:


> Easier to Google it--Gmail settings are not ISP dependent.
> 
> https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gmail server settings


True, but that is used to configure Outlook to work with gmail. I still use my ISP to get mail with Outlook, but I use gmail as my address. That way I get almost no spam. Also, any PC can access gmail. Putting Office and/or Outlook on my four computers would be a little expensive.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

JoeKustra said:


> True, but that is used to configure Outlook to work with gmail. I still use my ISP to get mail with Outlook, but I use gmail as my address. That way I get almost no spam.


I'm not sure you can turn off the Gmail spam filter, so you might want to check for a spam folder. The Gmail filter is good, but it's not perfect.


----------



## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

JoeKustra said:


> True, but that is used to configure Outlook to work with gmail. I still use my ISP to get mail with Outlook, but I use gmail as my address. That way I get almost no spam. Also, any PC can access gmail. Putting Office and/or Outlook on my four computers would be a little expensive.


If you work for any larger company that buys from Microsoft you may be eligible for the Home Use Program. $9.95 for a current copy of Microsoft Office. I've used it for Office 2007, 2010, 2013 and just recently for 2016.

I've had it work at 3 different employers between myself and the wife. Use this link to see if you qualify, just put in a work email address (click on "Don't Know Your Program Code? Click Here.")

http://www.microsofthup.com/hupus/home.aspx

Also re: lmacmil question on server settings, with Outlook 2016 I just entered my Gmail address and it took care the rest. Immediate IMAP configuration, no looking up any settings, etc.


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

+1. I just purchased a copy of MS Office Pro 2016 via the HUP at work and installed it on a Win 10 PC that will soon be replacing my primary desktop. They offer it in both 32- and 64-bit versions. You pay for it online and they send you a link to download the installation file. It downloads and installs the files via the internet automatically when you initiate the executable. You don't really need to enter the key as it is activated automatically during the installation. The key is actually part of the *.exe file name if you ever need to use it.


----------



## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

I happen to have more copies of Outlook than I need, but even on some machines with Outlook installed and running I have another email client installed for other email services, including gmail services. Currently I'm using Opera Mail as a secondary client, but there are others.


----------



## NoNose (Nov 27, 2015)

This thread does not belong in TiVo Roamio DVRs! It has morphed way too much and seems to be getting even further away from the specific topic area it is in.


----------



## connie_w (Jan 10, 2015)

mr.unnatural said:


> I wasn't criticizing anyone in particular but just making a general statement. It wasn't aimed at the OP but the overall discussion in general. There are probably a hundred threads just like this one scattered throughout these forums and it's always the same old thing. If the OP saved money and he's happy with his setup then good for him. It's just that the topic has been discussed to death here.


Perhaps everyone should simply check with you before they post anything.


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

NoNose said:


> This thread does not belong in TiVo Roamio DVRs! It has morphed way too much and seems to be getting even further away from the specific topic area it is in.


LOL, someone hasn't been here very long...


----------



## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

connie_w said:


> Perhaps everyone should simply check with you before they post anything.


Perhaps they could do a search before rehashing a topic that's been done to death.  I searched for "cutting the cord" and found 460 threads on the topic.



NoNose said:


> This thread does not belong in TiVo Roamio DVRs! It has morphed way too much and seems to be getting even further away from the specific topic area it is in.


That's because the original topic has been discussed in detail after the first few posts and there's nothing new anyone can add to it so it tends to drift into other areas. This is more of the rule than the exception.


----------



## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

Aero 1 said:


> Forget the ooma, get google voice and an Obihai 200: http://amzn.com/B00BUV7C9A
> 
> with ooma, you pay a few bucks a month in taxes, G* voice is free unlimitted calling, voicemail, etc, and with the obihai, it connects just like the ooma to G* voice, no monthly fees. you can choose to pay $12 a year for E911 service.


FYI: newegg is selling the Obihai for $34 today via their ebay store: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Obihai-OBi2...p_id=117&ipn=icep&afepn=5335869999&rmvSB=true

amazon has it for $49


----------

