As I sit here watching the Rapids vs. Revs, I got to thinking about my monthly Comcast bill, and realized I could save $100 a month if I got rid of my cable and phone and just kept my Internet. The rubs for me are the things on Altitude, most specifically, the Rapids and the Nuggets. I can get a lot of sporting events thru X-Box Live, but I have to be able to watch two of my favorite teams. Have any others of you found any workable solutions that might work for me. For a good answer, I would gladly give my first born or a Year's supply of baked beans. Thanks Mucho!!!!
I went a couple of months where I only watched my comcast twice...I was done with it. I just have gotten pretty good at digging up streams of games/shows. You do get quite a few stations on digital antennae...of course, half of them are in spanish.
VPN or proxy service (VPN will do the trick, but I suppose it's another question whether you feel you need the encryption). Look for David James around here, too--he had some blog posts about cutting the cord.
I've got Comcast basic plus cable internet, which means no Altitude, but I do get ESPN3. Last year I did he MLS Live thing with a Roku, but I came to hate it. 48 hour blackouts are too long (I don't mind the blackout). A VPN or proxy service is fine, but the costs for the ones I saw were as much as the MLS Live. The feed would still fail - particularly when something good would happen. This year I've been living off of streams. So far so good, and if I want to catch a game at GB's I reckon the fish and beer is still a better deal than the cable.
First of all, thank you very much for the posts concerning my question. This is an extremely big deal for me. As a retired teacher with way too much debt, I absolutely have to cut my spending. Getting rid of my cable and home phone service will help me greatly, but I want to be able to do it and keep as much as I can the ability to use sports as an oasis from a difficult life. David James, I have been away from Big Soccer for a while, but not so long that I have forgotten your name or your insightful posts. I would greatly appreciate hearing anything you have to say about cutting the cord. Thanks again everyone!!!!
I cut the cord a couple of years ago. The only thing that makes me want to go back is sports, but with some patience you can survive. (I might give in for a few months this summer though for the Euros and Olympics) To me the best thing to do is to have an xbox 360, especially if you don't want to setup a Home Theater PC (HTPC), and a decent antenna. At one point I had an xbox, a Roku, and an Apple TV hooked up to my TV. Presently it is just the xbox because it can do pretty much everything the Roku can plus it gets ESPN3. The one glaring omission is MLS Live. That is only available through the Roku, but yes the 48 hour delay is seriously hindering the usefulness of using it to watch Rapids games. So get yourself an Xbox360. It might be a big investment initially, but it saves in the long run. (If you are looking for used ones be sure to get the xbox 360 s model. It is much quieter and has less issues than the original xbox 360.) Once you get it, you sign up for Xbox live gold (look for deals) then get a monthly subscription to Netflix and hulu plus and for about 20 bucks a month you can watch a lot of content. The other thing to do is get an antenna. Your profile says you are in Westminster. You lucky dog. You should be able to hook up a fairly inexpensive antenna (like this) and you will get all of the major networks in full HD. (Comcast compresses their signal so the over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts are actually clearer than what you get through Comcast.) This will allow you to be able to watch most of the major sporting events at your home. I say lucky dog just because I am in Fort Collins and so far with my cheap antenna I can only really get FOX and CBS, I need to install a more powerful attic antenna if I want to get the rest of the Denver channels. Now we get to the fun part. What about the Nuggets and Rapids? Well I don't really know what to do about the Nuggets unless you can make a habit of milking a beer through an entire game at the bar. As for the Rapids, my best suggestion is head to the viewing parties. It is a fun experience and will help you to get to know other fans. Who knows maybe you will find there are others from north Denver and you can then organize a north Denver viewing group so it can be closer to home. If that doesn't work then try all this VPN stuff, but seriously just go to the viewing parties. You won't regret it. Hope that helps.
Thank you very much!!! What I have discovered is that I can cut my Comcast in half if I get my Internet and TV from Century Link, but if that falls through, my next stop will be for a good antenna!
I wrote these posts a year or so ago which may be of some help. Local sports are one of the biggest issues, other then the Bronco's, with cutting the cord. It's about 17 months now since I canceled Directv and I haven't looked back. Make no mistake, almost free TV requires changing your viewing habits and expectations and probably also making some sacrifices. It's also gotten tougher since the company that made main software/hardware I use (SageTV) has been purchased by Google and it's future is unknown. I'd be happy to talk directly with you if you'd like, if so PM me. Good Luck.
I would shy away from Century Link if you really want to cut the cord. First off, they don't have an agreement to allow streaming of ESPN3. Also, watch the speeds that you can get form Century Link. When it was Qworst they would make it sound like you could get amazing speeds for cheap, but then you would find that your neighborhood could only handle the slowest speed. If you want to cut the cord you want to get at least 20Mb, but 30Mb is even better for all of your streaming. If you can go through them without cutting the cord though then good luck!
The issue with ESPN3 is a problem, no doubt. I had Comcast and was supposed to be getting ~20Mb but rarely got more then 15. After doing some research decided to switch to CenturyLink. I opted for 12Mb and get between 11-12Mb. I work from home and stream soccer, Netflix and a few others things and that's plenty fast enough for us. Perhaps if my kids still lived at home and we were all active, I'd have a different story. After the 6 months promotion expires, I'll be saving about $15 a month. I'd rate my Comcast availability experience 9.5 out of 10. CenturyLink has been about 9, I'm less satisfied, but so far I'm not switching back. My story represents my experience, with my requirements and expectations. No two people are the same.
Very true. If you can get the good speeds from Century Link then it sounds like they are good enough. Up in Fort Collins the best speed they could offer in the neighborhoods I have lived in has been 5Mb which just isn't going to cut it for a house of 3 or 4 guys with multiple people streaming and playing games at the same time.
There is a workaround for the CenturyLink / ESPN3 issue. If you have a family member who is a Comcast customer or invite a friend over who is one, their credentials allow them to access ESPN3 over any ISP's network. At least I have heard this. CenturyLink's upload speeds are terrible compared to Comcast, but at 12 down/0.8 up for $20/month versus 22 down/4 up for $70/month (and always slowly increasing) I have found it acceptable.
Yes, this works...this is how I used to stream games at work...hi boss! I don't know if there's some check on how many IP's the service is being accessed from, though. I guess if you know someone on comcast who never watches ESPN3, that would be ideal.
According to this website it looks like you should be able to pick up a lot in Longmont. http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/ When I put in my address it says some signals are strong but I don't get them, so it isn't completely trustworthy, but it should give you an idea.
I'm in south Longmont - About as far south as you can get, near Plateau between 95th and Main. I get all the major channels (NBC/ABC/CBS/Fox/WB along with their sub channels and a bunch of Spanish channels. In the 17 months I've used the antenna, I've only had issues maybe once or twice for short periods due to weather, otherwise I get a great HD picture
I've watched at GBs near my house in Edgewater accross from Sloan's lake. The TVs are too small there, me thinks.
Well I guess I shouldn't have said anything. I had a long outage with CenturyLink in March. It was a hardware failure and having been in computer related support for 20 years, I gave them one, noted it and moved on. Yesterday it happened again. Another hardware problem. Like last time it seems they didn't have any backup equipment local probably having to overnight it. I was down for 17 hours. Two strikes and your out. I'm heading back to Comcast. The good news is I was just ending my 6 month cheap trial and will start a new 6 month cheap trial. I'll get another 6 months of a little cheaper (then CenturyLink) before it may return to a bit more expensive after a year. So, tonhtubra, I'm standing beside you know not recommending CenturyLink. Having said that, anyone interested in a lightly used Q1000Z DSL Modem/Wireless router? I've been very pleased with it's behavior, good range and features.