Cutting The Cord -- How to leave cable companies?

August1991 · April 24, 2014

I'm not using any of those. The options provided by those "Big Guys" are pretty limited here compared to the local company. Local guy has better service, better signal, wider coverage, and costs less.

My cell phone internet costs me less than my cable-to-my-house internet, and it's significantly more convenient in that I can bring my connection with me wherever I go, and still use it as a wifi hotspot for any other device.

Bryan, don't be coy. Who provides you cell phone access?

Public Mobile is now owned by Telus.

Edited April 24, 2014 by August1991

Bryan · April 24, 2014

Bryan, don't be coy. Who provides you cell phone access?

MTS

August1991 · April 24, 2014

MTS

My error. MTS is like Alberta Government Telephone Systeme (AGT), a mini Telus.

Gary Filmon made someone rich.

----

But fair enough, The power to make a Rogers or Williams or Peladeau aside, maybe it's just cheaper and better to organize things locally.

We get to live in a civilized society but the cost is that we have to live among lottery winners: guys like Ted Rogers and Pierre Peladeau.

Edited April 24, 2014 by August1991

Bryan · April 24, 2014

Local is King. SaskTel is the same thing as MTS within Saskachewan. In both cases, the "Big Guys" are actually the small players for the local market. Shaw does compete well with MTS here, but even that's only because they bought the local cable company.

Rogers? Telus? Pretty small here, not really any competition. Bell is practically nonexistent here. I've never even heard of Videotron, they definitely have no presence here.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Bryan

Mighty AC · April 24, 2014

Overthere, even if you steal content, Danny Williams and Peladeau (or your ISP who charges you monthly to pay a cable owner) still makes money because you have to connect to the Internet.

[Clueless].

I have no problem paying a company for bandwidth, it is a service I want. I do have a problem paying additional fees for phone and TV programming on top of internet access when I can get those services free (or very inexpensively) online.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Mighty AC

GostHacked · April 24, 2014

I agree with all of this. For me, the major driver behind all of the CD and BluRay purchases I've made in the past several years has been that I really enjoyed the material. In the case of music, it's often that I listened to it on Youtube or some other online streaming service, and wanted to buy the whole CD.

I still buy CDs myself when I can. However I have to torrent a couple recent albums by Valient Thorr that I cannot get in North America anymore. So if the digital version is not available, then torrent it is.

Another thing that is needed is many people uploading older material to the net for torrenting. A whole load of older movies and music are not online anywhere and will only get exposure by someone uploading it as a torrent. Many companies are still trying to apply an old model pay system to a new model of delivery. The record companies suffered some because some could not, and would not adapt to the new way of doing things.

All of this is about control of content.

There's an interview with the Game Of Thrones creators where they were asked what they thought about being the most pirated product in the history of the internet. They said that it's the best advertising possible. I walked through my local Indigo store yesterday, and there was a fiesta of Game of Thrones books and merchandise on display. The thing has become a phenomenon. And it wouldn't have reached this level without piracy. People pirate the show, get hooked on the show, get their friends hooked on it, and everybody winds up purchasing the BluRays when they come out, and the books, and a Lannister beer mug and a Stark t-shirt and probably a lot of people order HBO just for GoT as well.

This is the approach that is needed. They know piracy is going to happen. So be encouraged that they are pirating your show and not others. The GOT people should be happy that their stuff is pirated that much causing many to buy merchandise which makes money for the group. Music artists don't make the money off an album anymore, it is touring and merchandising that make up the majority of their income.

Mighty AC · July 22, 2014

I have been cable free for quite some time now and would never consider going back. I can't stand using live TV anymore. I thought sports coverage would be an issue but have managed to watch major events like the NHL playoffs, the Masters, the World Cup and the Olympics for free, in HD, via a $20 digital antenna. Sports not covered by networks like CBC, CTV, CHCH, Omni, etc. are easily picked up online.

I get the bulk of my TV and movie content via Hulu and Netflix streamed to my TVs using a Roku, XBox and Chromecast.

Originally, I raved about the Chromecast, and I still love it, but the Roku and XBox have become my favourite TV devices lately. First of all an XBox Live Gold membership is no longer required to use streaming apps. However, the main reason is both devices have a dedicated remote or way of interacting with the player and the Chromecast does not.

My kids are young, but old enough that they use handheld devices on their own. Due to that fact I don't have a dedicated device sitting around to control the chromecast anymore. My phone is often in my pocket which is fine, but when charging it's not conveniently where I need it. Also a phone or tab is not so useful when more than just myself is browsing for a show. When using the Xbox or Roku everyone sees our options on screen. When using the Chromecast only the person holding the tab or phone sees the options. The Chromecast is dirt cheap, coming in $60 cheaper than a Roku, but becomes more expensive if I have to pick up yet another tab to make it convenient.

Currently, I've moved the Chromecast to our least used TV though that may change when the NFL season starts. I am a big hockey fan and am willing to pay for the superior viewing experience of NHL Gamecenter...however, I don't want to pay for NFL coverage and I would like to see the Giants play more often. The Chromecast may become my go to device again when I start streaming dodgy free NFL feeds to my TV this fall.

Boges · July 22, 2014

The Chromecast may become my go to device again when I start streaming dodgy free NFL feeds to my TV this fall.

That's what I plan on using it for. The Chromecast is a better way of using Youtube because you can search through other videos while watching one. Same with Netflix.

Chromecast now has screen mirroring on its Android App, which is a novelty I suppose, but it's there.

Mighty AC · July 22, 2014

That's what I plan on using it for. The Chromecast is a better way of using Youtube because you can search through other videos while watching one. Same with Netflix.

Chromecast now has screen mirroring on its Android App, which is a novelty I suppose, but it's there.

I find the browser tab streaming useful...probably more so during football streaming season.

Boges · July 22, 2014

BTW that level of cord cutting wouldn't be typical of the average person. 3 different media extenders, multiple subscription services, spoofing your VPN to get network broadcasting onDemand AND then using an HD Antenna for Free TV (That's not onDemand).

Seems like a lot of work to save a hundred dollars, or so, a month or so.

Mighty AC · July 23, 2014

It is far easier to go without cable in the US, but I wanted to see if it was possible to cut the cord in Canada while also improving my media experience. Moving away from cable is still semi-new and I like tech and gadgets so I dabble. Most would likely not care to test out different media extenders and antennas but I enjoy it. Saving +/- $1,200 per year is worth a little work and as people like me put in the time to write about our experiences while cutting the cord, more will follow. As it turns out it is cheap and fairly easy to leave cable behind and create a better viewing experience.

You're right that my experience is not typical at the moment and most who leave cable would likely just stick with one media source like Netflix, iTunes content or just a home sized digital antenna. However, based on my efforts several friends and friends of friends have now cancelled or are in the process of ending their cable subscriptions. Many of us were interested in dropping cable at the same time but most wanted to watch someone else try it first.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Mighty AC

Boges · August 17, 2014

The Chromecast works like a charm streaming football games. I'm using a Window 8.1 hybrid tablet.

You can have the game streamed to the TV using one Chrome tab and you can do other stuff easily while still watching the stream on the TV.

TSN has said they'll expand coverage from 2 to 5 feeds. The extra 3 being online.

Though I'd imagine to use it you'd have to prove you subscribe TSN.

overthere · August 18, 2014

Overthere, even if you steal content, Danny Williams and Peladeau (or your ISP who charges you monthly to pay a cable owner) still makes money because you have to connect to the Internet.

[Clueless].

Connecting to the Internet does not necessarily involve paying for access yourself. My nephew and his entire cohort of friends 'attach' themselves to residential and commercial supposedly secure wifi nets without the owners knowledge.

Clueless indeed.

Boges · August 18, 2014

Connecting to the Internet does not necessarily involve paying for access yourself. My nephew and his entire cohort of friends 'attach' themselves to residential and commercial supposedly secure wifi nets without the owners knowledge.

Clueless indeed.

Buncha ingrates! I guess it's the fault of people who don't secure their Wifi.

Mighty AC · August 18, 2014

TSN has said they'll expand coverage from 2 to 5 feeds. The extra 3 being online.

Though I'd imagine to use it you'd have to prove you subscribe TSN.

Nice to hear, though the games are always freely available somewhere.

Boges · August 18, 2014

Nice to hear, though the games are always freely available somewhere.

A shitty stream though. If you can stream HD online, you can get a decent stream through a Chromecast.

Mighty AC · August 18, 2014

A shitty stream though. If you can stream HD online, you can get a decent stream through a Chromecast.

I am really looking to watch my Giants more often. So if I can watch them struggle to run the ball in HD, great...otherwise I will find them in one of the various Eurotrash feeds.

Boges · August 18, 2014

I am really looking to watch my Giants more often. So if I can watch them struggle to run the ball in HD, great...otherwise I will find them in one of the various Eurotrash feeds.

It's what I use, it works. But with the pop-up ads and the quality it isn't great.

overthere · August 19, 2014

Buncha ingrates! I guess it's the fault of people who don't secure their Wifi.

They think it is secure, but....

Many many people think nothing of stealing copyrighted music movies books ectc. It is not a stretch from there to stealing the service itself.

Boges · August 20, 2014

They think it is secure, but....

Many many people think nothing of stealing copyrighted music movies books ectc. It is not a stretch from there to stealing the service itself.

Unless you have an unlimited plan (then who cares if anyone else uses your WiFi) you'd notice an increase in your bill if your neighbour was downloading movies. They can also go to McDonalds and Tim Hortons though I'm convinced they don't allow people sipping a double double from downloading a movie, the Free Wifi must have some limit. I can never seem to download songs when I'm there.

overthere · August 20, 2014

Um, if you are adept enough to crack the wifi security, you are adept enough to ensure there is little trace left behind. It's a gift that keeps giving.

eyeball · August 20, 2014

It's a skill that the vast majority of people just don't have. Imagining every other kid up and down the street can hack their way onto your WiFi signal is paranoid.

Mighty AC · August 20, 2014

It's a skill that the vast majority of people just don't have. Imagining every other kid up and down the street can hack their way onto your WiFi signal is paranoid.

True. Most WiFi stealing occurs on unsecured networks. Router manufacturers have made the setup process so easy now that this problem is slowly disappearing.

GostHacked · August 21, 2014

It's a skill that the vast majority of people just don't have. Imagining every other kid up and down the street can hack their way onto your WiFi signal is paranoid.

It's not paranoia, it is a reality. Every time someone tells me it is impossible, I can most likely find an article showing that it is indeed possible.

One thing to understand with WIFI. When your device makes a connection to a secure wifi signal, the initialization is not encrypted in order to make a connection then it will verify the key. Cracking the key is not that easy, but it is not impossible.

Bonam · August 22, 2014

Of course it's possible. But how common is it? If there is a 50% chance that someone is stealing my wifi, or even a 5% chance, maybe I should be worried about this. But if the chance is 1 in 10,000, then it's very very far down on my list of concerns.

(Not talking about government surveillance of our wifi connections here, clearly 100% of all web traffic is closely monitored by the NSA, but that is just unavoidable if one wants to use the internet).