[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Cable Cutters: Cheap Alternatives to TV, DSL, and Cell Service here

[westwoodwizard]

In order to have video and voice services from the internet, you still need that dumb pipe provided by companies like Verizon and Comcast. And, if these two companies see their customers dropping voice and video services, they will simply jack up the price of their broadband services to achieve whatever per household revenue targets they have..probably $100/month/household is their target and they will do whatever they need to do to get that because at the end of the day that is their main business...the wired broadband pipe which for the foreseeable future will still be more reliable, stable and faster than any wireless broadband option.

[RickBeckwith]

@westwoodwizard
While your suggestion is possible and likely to happen eventually, for now carriers cannot get away with jacking up the price of your service to make up for cut services on a case-by-case basis. It's illegal, it's profiling, and it's exploitative and unfair market practices, which we all know lead to class action law suits. Companies won't risk losing millions in court over $1200/year per customer.
The point of the article is that for now there are alternatives to traditional telecom services, if you're willing to make it work for you. I feel the article was well written and very informative. I've been considering cutting my TV service and putting up an antenna for a while now, but haven't yet decided. This article was helpful in my ongoing decision making process.

[moreismore]

I agree that jacking up the price of broadband alone is unlikely since the providers still need to compete with one another on that.

I had not been paying for a TV service but now have the Sezmi service as part of their pilot. They have some work to do on the product but it gives me what I want with TV and has a lot of movies and the price is right.

This article makes the right point that users are either going to get what they want or pay for nothing. Let's hope the trend keeps going toward more compeitition.

[nafhan]

Don't forget most TV shows come out on DVD, eventually. So if you can wait a bit, just rent the videos from Netflix. I went through the first few seasons of Battlestar Galactica that way.
The two DVD's at a time plan has been great for TV shows. Watching one hour long episode per evening, I get the DVD's in the mail at about the same rate I'm watching them.

[steveohoh]

I put up the antenna, hooked it to a laptop, hooked the laptop to the TV. OTA and internet TV is more TV than I can watch. I also bought a Majicjack, an extremely cheap alternative to a landline. I also have a cell phone. The value I'm getting from my high speed subscription is much greater now. Unless something changes drastically, like the great Comcast/NBC/Microsoft cabal takes over the world and charges for everything, I don't see going back.

[mikeserfin]

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

[dg27]

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

I agree wholeheartedly with mikeserfin. In fact, I blinked when I said "WFT?!?!" and clicked on the corresponding graphic, HOPING that I had misunderstood. Sadly, you did drop the ball big time and make an idiotic suggestion. In these days of rampant identity theft, all I need is to to have my whole building using my secure network.

[rem736]

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

i think that some pc world writers are idiots, but this really takes the cake. but as idiotic as it gets, i never thought that they could publicly advocate an illegal act. well done pc world. where are the editors?

[zackstern]

nafhan, on 20 January 2010 - 08:02 AM, said:

Don't forget most TV shows come out on DVD, eventually. So if you can wait a bit, just rent the videos from Netflix. I went through the first few seasons of Battlestar Galactica that way.
The two DVD's at a time plan has been great for TV shows. Watching one hour long episode per evening, I get the DVD's in the mail at about the same rate I'm watching them.

Good call on that, too. Netflix has mumbled about how there might be a streaming-only option that's cheaper than the disc rentals, but as long as you're paying for discs, you might as well use them!

[zackstern]

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

@dg27
@rem736

We're here to offer tech tips... ethics are up to you individually.

I've actually run open networks deliberately for this neighborly gesture. It's offering a digital cup of sugar. But sure, if you get something out of a free, open network, why not offer to contribute? I didn't think that we had to spell it out so specifically, but maybe you're right that we should have.

[MarkSullivan]

rem736, on 20 January 2010 - 06:28 PM, said:

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

i think that some pc world writers are idiots, but this really takes the cake. but as idiotic as it gets, i never thought that they could publicly advocate an illegal act. well done pc world. where are the editors?

The author did not suggest stealing anything. Read it again. That's not what he said. Oh, and for the eightieth time, there's no name-calling in here. Take a deep breath and calm down. -Mark Sullivan, editor of the Cable Cutters story

[dg27]

zackstern, on 20 January 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

@dg27
@rem736

We're here to offer tech tips... ethics are up to you individually.

I've actually run open networks deliberately for this neighborly gesture. It's offering a digital cup of sugar. But sure, if you get something out of a free, open network, why not offer to contribute? I didn't think that we had to spell it out so specifically, but maybe you're right that we should have.

Sorry Zach, lame excuse as far as I'm concerned. What you do with your network is your business, but where you blew it was in the first line of that section, the heading "Look for a network without a lock icon to try to gain access." This is like telling people to look for gas caps without locks so they can offset high fuel costs by siphoning: It is STEALING.

This was a totally irresponsible remark and my only hope is that whoever vetts your column will realize that you are in the wrong line of work and correct the situation before you write anything else.

DG

[dg27]

MarkSullivan, on 20 January 2010 - 07:38 PM, said:

rem736, on 20 January 2010 - 06:28 PM, said:

mikeserfin, on 20 January 2010 - 10:14 AM, said:

"Or if a neighbor's signal is locked, ask around, and offer to pay part of the fee to join the network and share service."

WTF, did this guy just advise me to try and steal my neighbor's signal, and only if it's locked go over and try to pay some of the bill???? NICE. Typical loser mentality, this whole article. Let other people pay for service, while I sponge off them until I can't anymore.

i think that some pc world writers are idiots, but this really takes the cake. but as idiotic as it gets, i never thought that they could publicly advocate an illegal act. well done pc world. where are the editors?

The author did not suggest stealing anything. Read it again. That's not what he said. Oh, and for the eightieth time, there's no name-calling in here. Take a deep breath and calm down. -Mark Sullivan, editor of the Cable Cutters story

Where I come from "Look for a network without a lock icon to try to gain access" is in fact suggesting stealing.

[uofmbd]

Is there any software that turns your computer into a dvr for internet tv? In other words, let's say I am not going to be home to watch a show that is going to stream on a website. Is there any software that I can set to automatically record that show for later viewing?

[jeyges]

You can place calls through a PC, but you'll have a better experience on a dedicated VoIP handset.

I don't understand this statement. Every VoIP handset I've seen requires a computer, and if you subscribe to a VoIP service that doesn't require a computer, such as Vonage, you don't need a VoIP handset.

[rem736]

MarkSullivan, on 20 January 2010 - 07:38 PM, said:

The author did not suggest stealing anything. Read it again. That's not what he said. Oh, and for the eightieth time, there's no name-calling in here. Take a deep breath and calm down. -Mark Sullivan, editor of the Cable Cutters story

i remember a story a while ago by another pc world staffer where a man sitting in his car with a laptop was arrested for using an open wifi network he found: http://www.pcworld.c...fi_network.html

he was doing exactly as the author now suggests. and a quick search on google shows that there were others who were arrested for doing the exact same thing. the author never mentioned finding the owner of the network and asking for permission. he simply said to use what you find. if others do this, and i am sure there are many who do, the author is affirming that it's ok for them to do so without the consequence suffered by Benjamin Smith III.

[Aeromot]

I have an old (huge) satellite antenna at my vacation house. It can be adjusted to point at different satellite and you can check the feeds on different transponders. Many sports events send live feed to affiliates on via these channels and you can watch them, often without commercials. You can sometimes here the commentators plan their next segment or discuss how "We really F'd that up" during the commercial breaks. Once you have the equipment, it is free.

This post has been edited by Aeromot: 21 January 2010 - 02:08 PM

[GraysonPeddie]

I just got Fring and it is working in my Samsung Ace, but only through the speakerphone.

My current headset that came with my Samsung Ace broke, so I had to buy a new one from Amazon.

It is a nice alternative, since with Fring in my cell phone with my data-only plan, I don't have to pay about 25 cents a minute for voice. Gee, no wonder phone services are expensive (I'm okay with Sprint's data plan for $50).

[ZXXXT]

Seems like the "steal your neigbhor's wifi" advice isn't popular but I bet some people are doing it or maybe others who read this article got an idea.

My take on the subject is, WiFi is in the air like radio signals. If it isn't secured then most people assumed its okay to connect to that signal.

It's not like you go inside their house to steal the signal but rather the signal goes inside your house.

Anyways, some of the tips here are good and me myself cut some services in favor of cheaper ones. So instead of using RingCentral, I uses Onesuite services for my faxing, forwarding and long distance calling needs. It saves me at least another $10 monthly.

I also uses a prepaid T-mobile for my cellphone service instead of a post paid acount which I never maximize the usage.

I only use free wifi (no data plans) when I'm outside the house.

There are more ways to save but I think thats another story.