Cutting the cord... maybe?

[RU4Real]

the electric company is regulated, including price.

it's a regulated monopoly.

how well regulated is always a concern, but it is fully regulated.

if classified title II, then the internet is regulated.

if not classified title II, then it's not.

if not, Comcast can pretty much do whatever it wants.

think if the electric company could send a magic signal down the line with said electricty, and said magic signal could completely control what appliances and furnaces and computers and water heaters and tvs and lights will or won't operate, or how well, on said electricity.

that electric company would need to be even tighter regulated than one who doesn't have a magic signal with the electricity.

well, your ISP has that magic signal, on top of the internet it delivers.

it has the ability to control what can or can't work, or how well, on it's service.

you ISP should be regulated just like your electric company, because it's a "must have" service from a monopoly or duopoly, (and duopolies tend to operate like monopolies), provider.

your ISP should be regulated even more so, because it actually also has the "magic signal", your electric company doesn't.

we're talking about THE INTERNET here, and the gatekeeper who controls both it, and all that's on it.

that gatekeeper can't be left just to their own whims and ambitions.

on top of which, if the internet is classified title II, thus subject to rules besides it's own, then the Googles, Facebooks, Amazons, etcs, will also eventually have someone to answer to.

thinking he who controls the internet and all that's on it, shouldn't have some regulatory oversight, is insanity.

"Magic signal"?

Yeah... the TCP stack doesn't work like you think it works.

 

[mildone_rivals]

"Magic signal"?

Yeah... the TCP stack doesn't work like you think it works.

Doesn’t have to be a magic signal. What if the electric company could detect which appliances you like to use, and unilaterally cut power to some? The analogy is to how ISPs can now unilaterally opt to speed or slow the delivery of different sources or types of content.

In both cases, electricity or data bits, the companies would be able to blackmail you into paying more by degrading service to your favorite appliance or content and charging you a premium for it.

 

[RU4Real]

Doesn’t have to be a magic signal. What if the electric company could detect which appliances you like to use, and unilaterally cut power to some? The analogy is to how ISPs can now unilaterally opt to speed or slow the delivery of different sources or types of content.

In both cases, electricity or data bits, the companies would be able to blackmail you into paying more by degrading service to your favorite appliance or content and charging you a premium for it.

I was just making the point that QoS isn't "magic". It's pretty well defined.

 

[dconifer0]

Don't regret it a single bit.
We don't watch any current shows.
Most watch sports, local channels and news. Plenty available on PS Vue.

Can you give me a 1-2 sentence description of PS Vue and what it's like, what hardware is needed? After reading your post I looked it up and it seems to have all athe sports I want for 45 bucks a month. I don't even see how that is possible!

I currently have Infinity, but I'm cutting out phones and cable TV next week as soon as my new modem comes in. But I will miss my sports (that's all we'll miss, nobody watches anything else, and we cringe every time we get junk calls on the phone).

Thanks

 

[PSU_Nut_rivals17625]

It’s amazing how misinformed people are about net neutrality. You do realize that after all the throttling hoopla with Netflix-VZ/AT&T back in 2016, Netflix admitted to throttling its own service. And, other than the Comcast throttling incident years ago, it hasn’t been an issue. In light of regulators’ net neutrality nonsense over the last few years, no ISP in their right mind is going to throttle without a legitimate purpose. And for those that fear fast lanes, look no further than Google as the biggest offender - Google has a search engine monopoly and is willing to sell key search terms to the highest bidder (i.e., creating a search/advertisement fast lane) - which makes it extremely difficult for the little guy to crack the first page of search results.

Actually it has been. Sounds like you are one of those misinformed. There are been many examples. Do you think ISPs spent billions lobbying for it not to capitalize on it? Madison River Communications which was a phone company who decided to block competitor Vonage so that customers would have to purchase their own phone service from them. Verizon blocked tethering apps and forced people to buy their tethering service. Comcast started blocking bit torrent traffic to avoid competition with their pay per view service. AT&T blocked Face Time unless you subscribed to a specific plan. There are many other incidents. Many areas only have one possibly two ISP providers. So they have a virtual monopoly. In my town the choices are Century Link or Comcast. Century Link internet is only 10mb service. So Comcast is basically the only game in town that has decent speed. So they can basically dictate terms to people.

 

[FanuSanu52]

Can you give me a 1-2 sentence description of PS Vue and what it's like, what hardware is needed? After reading your post I looked it up and it seems to have all athe sports I want for 45 bucks a month. I don't even see how that is possible!

I currently have Infinity, but I'm cutting out phones and cable TV next week as soon as my new modem comes in. But I will miss my sports (that's all we'll miss, nobody watches anything else, and we cringe every time we get junk calls on the phone).

Thanks

It's great. You can sign up/cancel on a monthly basis and believe there's a free month or week trial to give it a demo. I hooked up on Labor Day and plan to cancel after the NC game. It's available on all kinds of hardware - best to just look at the website. I use Roku, but think it's available on most/all the other major ones.

They did just drop Fox from the coverage, though, so might be an issue for NFL games. They said something about replacing it with some kind of Fox on-demand service or something, but not sure if that has games - this was just a few days ago and haven't tried Fox yet.

Sorry, more sentences than you wanted, but I think your quota was unrealistic based on the info you wanted

 

[Crazed_RU]

It's great. You can sign up/cancel on a monthly basis and believe there's a free month or week trial to give it a demo. I hooked up on Labor Day and plan to cancel after the NC game. It's available on all kinds of hardware - best to just look at the website. I use Roku, but think it's available on most/all the other major ones.

They did just drop Fox from the coverage, though, so might be an issue for NFL games. They said something about replacing it with some kind of Fox on-demand service or something, but not sure if that has games - this was just a few days ago and haven't tried Fox yet.

Sorry, more sentences than you wanted, but I think your quota was unrealistic based on the info you wanted

Just recognize that content comes at a cost. If their pricing for sports related packages is wildly different than other providers (DirecTV, cable options, etc.) then they are likely offering it at economically unsustainable margins. So all I'm saying is enjoy it while it lasts, but be prepared to jump service providers if necessary, or for content blackouts (like Fox) or price increases. FYI - if they are dropping Fox it's because they don't want to pay for the live football coverage - there's really no other reason that would make sense.

 

[dconifer0]

It's great. You can sign up/cancel on a monthly basis and believe there's a free month or week trial to give it a demo. I hooked up on Labor Day and plan to cancel after the NC game. It's available on all kinds of hardware - best to just look at the website. I use Roku, but think it's available on most/all the other major ones.

They did just drop Fox from the coverage, though, so might be an issue for NFL games. They said something about replacing it with some kind of Fox on-demand service or something, but not sure if that has games - this was just a few days ago and haven't tried Fox yet.

Sorry, more sentences than you wanted, but I think your quota was unrealistic based on the info you wanted

Thanks!

I really just put the quota in to keep you from having to work too hard. Thanks for all the great info...

 

[FanuSanu52]

Just recognize that content comes at a cost. If their pricing for sports related packages is wildly different than other providers (DirecTV, cable options, etc.) then they are likely offering it at economically unsustainable margins. So all I'm saying is enjoy it while it lasts, but be prepared to jump service providers if necessary, or for content blackouts (like Fox) or price increases. FYI - if they are dropping Fox it's because they don't want to pay for the live football coverage - there's really no other reason that would make sense.

Thanks Debbie Downer :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

I don't really expect it to last forever, but I'm not sure it's unsustainably cheap. Still paying like 50 bucks a month for a lighter package. Difference is, I'm much closer to an ideal line-up without the fluff I don't want or need.

Whatever the future brings, one great effect of cord cutting and on-demand programming is teaching people they don't need a bulging channel package stuffed with reality TV and other mindless garbage, especially when they control timing. Maybe they don't need a channel lineup at all

At this point I've moved closer to the latter than the former. Ideally, I'd drop down to Netflix, Amazon, ESPN, B1G, FS1 and MLB.tv. But I wouldn't be opposed to cutting further and would even consider what might have once been unthinkable ... dumping it all.

 

[Knight Shift]

Can you give me a 1-2 sentence description of PS Vue and what it's like, what hardware is needed? After reading your post I looked it up and it seems to have all athe sports I want for 45 bucks a month. I don't even see how that is possible!

I currently have Infinity, but I'm cutting out phones and cable TV next week as soon as my new modem comes in. But I will miss my sports (that's all we'll miss, nobody watches anything else, and we cringe every time we get junk calls on the phone).

Thanks

We are fine with it.
You need FireTV, Roku, AppleTV or other supported device to watch on your TV.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/faq/supported-devices-and-set-up/#supported-devices
We use FireTV, and PS Vue is an App.
We have a new Samsung TV that makes it easy to select the HDMI 1 port that is plugged into the FireTV. After selecting the App, we go to the program guide, and the channels are listed across the top in alphabetical order.

You are right-it has a lot of sports. But it does NOT have SNY (Mets). Not sure if that will come through with the NBC Sports App access that comes with FireTV. I have a workaround for that, as we have cable in a beach rental house we own, and I can access SNY that way.

Your experience may be different, but we have a ranch house, and on a couple of TVs, the wireless reception is not so great, and the service stutters a bit. We have not tried wireless extenders. We just renovated, and we ran LAN wires to every room where we have a TV. The New FireTV allows you to connect via a wired LAN/Ethernet connection:

You can get their ethernet (LAN) adapter for $14.99


That was more than 1 or 2 sentences. Sorry.
Overall, we are happy. The caveat is your wireless signal or ability to run the wires from your router to your TV. A ranch home with a basement made it quite easy.

 

[Knight Shift]

Oh, and 45 bucks a month is it. No taxes or other fees. You can run it on 5 or 6 devices at the same time.
One downside--can't watch it on vacation. I think (maybe I am wrong), you can't even watch it on a tablet or laptop outside of your own home.

 

[dconifer0]

Oh, and 45 bucks a month is it. No taxes or other fees. You can run it on 5 or 6 devices at the same time.
One downside--can't watch it on vacation. I think (maybe I am wrong), you can't even watch it on a tablet or laptop outside of your own home.

Thanks, Knight Shift!

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Interesting...

https://associationsnow.com/2018/01..._medium=email&utm_campaign=20180117+Wednesday