To recap, I've been taking steps to dismantle my Verizon bundle - cut cable completely, change phone service, but keep the internet. I had purchased a Roku and tested the availability of content that my kids like and found that they were quite capable of doing without traditional cable. We had decided to go with Vonage for phone service due to Magicjack not allowing us to keep the phone number we've had for 10 years.
We are now beyond the contract expiration (April 2011) and hubby is still having trouble deciding to go completely without cable. He is a news and weather junkie, and I'm totally a football widow from August to February. So what to do, what to do... I kept saying "Cut it!!!" Of course, I get all the sci-fi and Grey's Anatomy my little heart can handle through the Roku :) While the hmmming and hawwwing was going on, I did a little more searching and found a subscription service called PlayOn.
PlayOn is an internet streaming service for devices like a PC, Wii, Xbox, iPad, Android, Roku, and many others. There are free movies, live sports, TV Shows, and much more. PlayOn supports the channels that come with their lineup, but they also have a vast community of users who write computer script to access other cable channels. They have a 14 day free trial and you don't have to buy any equipment - just have one of the supported devices, and if you're reading this - you have one! They have different tiers for subscriptions - monthly, annual, or lifetime (only $80!).
Last night, after a call to Verizon to verify pricing (since our latest bill was $20 higher now that we are off contract), the decision-making conversation came to a head. Verizon informed us that all pricing will go up June 1, contract or no. When I spoke with a Rep the other day, they said internet only was $50 a month, and oh by the way, your internet package is no longer being supported since our signup was 2 years ago. Apparently, they've upgraded from 10Mbps to 15Mbps as the basic package, so our service is slower than their most basic. That didn't register in my mind until the next day, so I called back. Rep #2 says, oh no internet only is $60 per month. I asked why our less than basic super slow internet wasn't upgraded when they upgraded across the board. Response: well the customer has to ask for the upgrade. We don't just do it automatically.
Please tell me how I'm supposed to ask for an upgrade that I don't know exists. So the decision to switch to Comcast was made right then and there. To make this long story short, Kevin has decided that he is not quite ready to cut the cable until he is sure this Roku/PlayOn thing will let him watch live football on the TV. So we've entered into a one year contract with Comcast for internet and TV ($80 per month). This next year we'll save only about $40 a month, but that will help a little bit. It will also be used to help him slowly upgrade his TV-watching equipment to be ready for the overhaul. We still have a standard TV downstairs that he uses, so that will need to be upgraded to a flatscreen HDMI-ready TV, and purchasing a Roku player for him.
We've subscibed to PlayOn for one month to check the streaming quality and how live is live. Right now, The Weather Channel is streaming about 2 minutes behind live - but we still have our super slow non-upgraded Verizon speed. The big test will be faster Comcast speeds and football season. Stay tuned, because we certainly will :)
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