Cable went up. Again.

[covetsthesun]

Cable co raised the rates again. We have the tv/phone/internet package for $150/mo including taxes.

Since it's not going to get cheaper, we are looking for good ways to cut the cord.

1. We do want to keep a "landline" since it's easier (for us) than cell phones for business conversations. What other VoIP options are available?

2. We have 2nd tier tv... but still have 500 channels of "stuff" we don't need or want. DO like the onscreen guide and use of a DVR to record shows.

3. And internet... we don't have the fastest..but it's adequate. We're not aware of any other options for the net.

So, how do we cut the cord...and reduce our costs below $150/mo and have good quality service?

Pardon the ignorance... we really haven't kept up with all the new gadgets and stuff out there.

Thanks
cts

[covetsthesun]

donn0128 wrote:
To the basics.
Both Verizon and AT&T sell home phone connect. Basically a dumb cell phone that you plug your home phone into. For 20 dollars a month unlimited nationwide talk it is the bargain of the decade.
Depending on internet useage not a lot of choices.
Cable/phone company, cell, or satelite are your options.
TV, you have cable OTA, or satellite.
I prefer satellite as it is pretty hard to unspool 150 miles of cable from camp site to home. With satellite you have two choices. Dish or Directv. The difference in them is packages. Direct does better for sports, Dish has a month to month plan.

I've read articles about cable tv cord cutting...and things like Roku and Netflix are mentioned. I don't know anything about these devices. Are these viable options for cable tv and how do they work? One of our friends got a set top antenna for "free" local network tv and a netflix subscription.

[donn0128]

To the basics.
Both Verizon and AT&T sell home phone connect. Basically a dumb cell phone that you plug your home phone into. For 20 dollars a month unlimited nationwide talk it is the bargain of the decade.
Depending on internet useage not a lot of choices.
Cable/phone company, cell, or satelite are your options.
TV, you have cable OTA, or satellite.
I prefer satellite as it is pretty hard to unspool 150 miles of cable from camp site to home. With satellite you have two choices. Dish or Directv. The difference in them is packages. Direct does better for sports, Dish has a month to month plan.

[kohai]

covetsthesun wrote:
Cable co raised the rates again. We have the tv/phone/internet package for $150/mo including taxes.

Since it's not going to get cheaper, we are looking for good ways to cut the cord.

1. We do want to keep a "landline" since it's easier (for us) than cell phones for business conversations. What other VoIP options are available?

VOIP is pretty cheap these days. You likely are on VOIP and are just comparing options.

You need a voip device that can convert the voip to your home phones:

OBI Talk - VOIP device

Then you need voip service from someone. Many people port (transfer) their home phone to google voice and use that which is generally free but some calls may have a charge. I like Call Centric as a voip provider. You can pick a voice package that meets your usage. I've used them for a couple of years on the pay-per-call plan.

It's funny that the pay-per-call plans can actually be cheaper than the all-you-can-eat plans because of cell phone usage. (Remember back when we always paid per call for long distance?)

[newman_fulltime]

Im on no contract with dish they went up on mine after researching packages I went from the most expensive to the cheapest and only lost 2 channels of what we actually watched.You might want to look at less expensive packages see if you really need the 500 channels

And so you know I saved myself 40 a month by going down on the packages