GostHacked Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I got rid of cable TV for the second time about 2-3 years ago. You can find most stuff online somehow, quite easily too and through legal channels. I don't miss the constant barrage of repetitive commercials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 There are many threads discussing this right now. Studies show that completely cutting the cord isn't a real threat to the cable companies yet. For the most part people that can pay for cable do. The truth is, the cable companies have control of the lines that bring the internet to people's houses. They'll always get there's. This is correct. The data comes down one line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Despite what anyone says, you can't even approach the sports watching experience online compared to through cable on an HD TV. Also most sports are broadcast on cable now. You'll get on Leafs game a week on free TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Despite what anyone says, you can't even approach the sports watching experience online compared to through cable on an HD TV. Also most sports are broadcast on cable now. You'll get on Leafs game a week on free TV. You can't get true HD through a stream period. Stuff like Netflix and other services use a compression tool. Kind of like how YT streams 'HD'. When I upload an HD vid to my youtube channel, the file size can be almost a gigabyte for about a 5-10 minute video. There is no way you are downloading the entire 1GB just to view the video. I am not sure how it is compressed for delivery, but either way streaming online in true HD is a misnomer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hardner Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 You'll get on Leafs game a week on free TV. I reassessed my sports entertainment choices awhile ago, and realized that following the Leafs was the least cost efficient way to enjoy... anything. Their new model to get people to pay more may work for them, but this cow is milked and I have long moved on from them except that I hope they fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I reassessed my sports entertainment choices awhile ago, and realized that following the Leafs was the least cost efficient way to enjoy... anything. Their new model to get people to pay more may work for them, but this cow is milked and I have long moved on from them except that I hope they fail. If you just watch the Leafs then sure. Most sports fans like other stuff too. Not to mention analysis. My cable provider allows me to choose one specialty package as part of my digital cable. I choose sports and get the relevant channels to watch all the local teams. 100% of Cfl, Blue Jays and Raptor games are on cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) You can't get true HD through a stream period. Stuff like Netflix and other services use a compression tool. Kind of like how YT streams 'HD'. When I upload an HD vid to my youtube channel, the file size can be almost a gigabyte for about a 5-10 minute video. There is no way you are downloading the entire 1GB just to view the video. I am not sure how it is compressed for delivery, but either way streaming online in true HD is a misnomer.When you stream an HD movie on Netflix, you transfer anywhere from 4-6Gb of data. It's pretty close to BD. Close enough that I can't readily tell the difference. You have to set your preferences on Netflix's website to force HD though. In Canada, they lower the quality by default because our ISPs are so terrible. I'm on unlimited FibreOp and haven't had any problems at the highest quality though. Edited February 1, 2014 by cybercoma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Boges, which cable company do you work for? (kidding of course) It's like you're trying to convince people that have already moved on to move back. Mighty AC was just asking people about their experiences switching over and you've done nothing but criticize people for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 When you stream an HD movie on Netflix, you transfer anywhere from 4-6Gb of data. It's pretty close to BD. Close enough that I can't readily tell the difference. You have to set your preferences on Netflix's website to force HD though. In Canada, they lower the quality by default because our ISPs are so terrible. I'm on unlimited FibreOp and haven't had any problems at the highest quality though. That's a matter of bandwidth now. And the connections are getting that fast and reliable for this to happen. But it chews into your cap if you have one. And unless your vision is 20/20 or you wear glasses, most wont notice the difference with the picture. And it's not just the ISPs but the load on Netflix at any given time too. You need beefy servers to handle this kind of traffic and delivery load. But all that proves that one can ditch the cable TV without really missing anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Boges, which cable company do you work for? (kidding of course) It's like you're trying to convince people that have already moved on to move back. Mighty AC was just asking people about their experiences switching over and you've done nothing but criticize people for it.I'm just pointing out why cutting the cord can't really replace the convenience, quantity and quality. It's all personal preference. I've tried the other options and it requires a fair bit dedication to skirt the system. I have a question about VPNs. Is the fake IP good always or does it get rejected after awhile? I remember I was given a code to get US Netflix and suddenly it stopped working because the number was rejected. I didn't bother looking for another one. Canadian Netflix has improved but still doesn't provide very much new content. It's a good supplement though. I often watch Netflix on my phone at night if I don't want to keep the wife up. Edited February 1, 2014 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkman Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I just made my first monthly payment to Netflix after a free month. I've got a projector with a screen diagonal measurement of about 105", and the picture, though not true HD, is pretty respectable. I had tried them over a year ago and with my Sony blu ray player doing the streaming the picture was pretty bad, so I cancelled. I since read that Sony was among the worst for Netflix as they have their own movie service. Anyway, I got a Roku stick that came with my Oppo blu ray player and the Roku does Netflix and many free channels like Crackle. I am trying to get to the point of cancelling cable, but like a junkie needing a fix I can't let go of the Canucks just yet. I have found no way to stream them in the lower mainland real time. If not for sports I would cut the cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I'm just pointing out why cutting the cord can't really replace the convenience, quantity and quality. It's all personal preference. I've tried the other options and it requires a fair bit dedication to skirt the system. Agreed....and at only $7.99 for Netflix (US)....we can have real HD cable channels and streaming content...on multiple displays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 That's a matter of bandwidth now. And the connections are getting that fast and reliable for this to happen. But it chews into your cap if you have one.You're absolutely right, but I'm lucky enough to live where there's no caps on FibreOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I'm just pointing out why cutting the cord can't really replace the convenience, quantity and quality. It's all personal preference. I've tried the other options and it requires a fair bit dedication to skirt the system. I have a question about VPNs. Is the fake IP good always or does it get rejected after awhile? I remember I was given a code to get US Netflix and suddenly it stopped working because the number was rejected. I didn't bother looking for another one. Canadian Netflix has improved but still doesn't provide very much new content. It's a good supplement though. I often watch Netflix on my phone at night if I don't want to keep the wife up. I don't know. I don't use a VPN. I set up a free trial once and didn't find the increased selection on US Netflix to be worth the hassle. In fact, there's some thing that aren't available on the US Netflix, but are in Canada. So it wasn't worth my time at all actually. As for VPN services generally, if you're paying for one, then you shouldn't ever have problems connecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I just made my first monthly payment to Netflix after a free month. I've got a projector with a screen diagonal measurement of about 105", and the picture, though not true HD, is pretty respectable. I had tried them over a year ago and with my Sony blu ray player doing the streaming the picture was pretty bad, so I cancelled. I since read that Sony was among the worst for Netflix as they have their own movie service. Anyway, I got a Roku stick that came with my Oppo blu ray player and the Roku does Netflix and many free channels like Crackle. I am trying to get to the point of cancelling cable, but like a junkie needing a fix I can't let go of the Canucks just yet. I have found no way to stream them in the lower mainland real time. If not for sports I would cut the cable. Netflix on my PS3 is nearly unwatchable. I'm not sure if Sony actually does mess with it or not, but I have the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Agreed....and at only $7.99 for Netflix (US)....we can have real HD cable channels and streaming content...on multiple displays. Nothing on Netflix is new though. There are some relatively new movies but the TV shows are at least a year behind. Not including the original content of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Nothing on Netflix is new though. There are some relatively new movies but the TV shows are at least a year behind. Not including the original content of course. Not a problem for our viewing habits, which is typically years behind current film releases with no intention of ever catching up. It's just not important (for us) to have the most current content with such a large backlog of titles to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkman Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Netflix on my PS3 is nearly unwatchable. I'm not sure if Sony actually does mess with it or not, but I have the same problem. Apparently new "smart" tvs can stream stuff like Netflix by themselves now. I'd google the PS3 thing to see if it's common for that unit, but that's what I read for my old blu ray player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bush_cheney2004 Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Smart or dumb, HDTVs can now use HDMI streaming dongles: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I may go step by step on this. I would probably cut out newspapers first, and then, when I no longer have elderly parents or children living at home in the mix, copper-line telephone. Then, maybe more cord-cuts. My cable-phone-internet package costs about $150 a month. Expensive but not really altering my life style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I don't know. I don't use a VPN. I set up a free trial once and didn't find the increased selection on US Netflix to be worth the hassle. In fact, there's some thing that aren't available on the US Netflix, but are in Canada. So it wasn't worth my time at all actually. As for VPN services generally, if you're paying for one, then you shouldn't ever have problems connecting. You should not need a VPN service to watch Netflix. VPN is 'virtual private network' , it is a secure tunneling protocol to make you look like part of a network when you are in a remote location. If they base it only on IP that would be dumb too, as your IP will change now and then. IN many cases you will get the same IP, but expect it to change. And your standard internet services should not be affected. Using a VPN creates more bandwidth overhead because of the secure tunneling protocol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) You should not need a VPN service to watch Netflix. VPN is 'virtual private network' , it is a secure tunneling protocol to make you look like part of a network when you are in a remote location. If they base it only on IP that would be dumb too, as your IP will change now and then. IN many cases you will get the same IP, but expect it to change. And your standard internet services should not be affected. Using a VPN creates more bandwidth overhead because of the secure tunneling protocol. VPN's are mostly used to get an American IP to watch US Netflix, so maybe that's what Boges was referring to. Edited February 2, 2014 by cybercoma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Oh and for the limited time I was using one, I found that it was slower and affected my streaming quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I was more referring to services like Hulu which aren't available in Canada. You can also watch some live sports on Espn if you have a US IP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 VPN's are mostly used to get an American IP to watch US Netflix, so maybe that's what Boges was referring to.I think he would be referring to a proxy service , not a VPN service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.9a49e1b2f22a6d34a345152c50044aa9.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.