The cure for overpriced Internet, TV and Phone services
(Updated to 2020 prices)
So you have gotten tired of paying
$150, $200, $300 or more each month just for internet and TV, and you
continue to pay that much again for a land line phone along with your
cell phone monthly. Add that up over a year and you would be spending
the entire salary of a McDonalds worker.
Let me start by saying, if you like
your current service and have no problem with bills like these, stop
reading and get back to your Forbes magazine, this information is not
for you. Also, I promise nothing, guarantee nothing and since you do
not live at my location, I cannot say how well this will work for
you. If you do your research and it looks like this is a good option
for you, it may be worth giving it a try. On the other hand, if you
do the research and it looks like this is not a good option, you may
need to stay with your current services. Enough for the disclaimer,
let's look and see if this will work for you.
The first thing you want to do is
assess whether the TV channels you can get through an HD TV antenna
are the channels you regularly use and will satisfy your needs for
video media. Got to http://www.tvfool.com/
and click on the section that says “Check your address for Free
TV”. Put your address in the report section and make sure to
include the approximate height or your intended TV antenna. I put 25
feet as I have my antenna in my attic attached to the inside of the
roof, your house height will be different. It does not need to be
exact, just a good guess (within about 5 feet either way) should give
you a decent idea of what stations you will receive in your area. If
you are happy with the TV stations you can expect to get OTA “over
the air”, then you want to look at what antennas are available and
how you want the antenna mounted.
When talking about antennas for OTA TV,
let me start by saying that the little TV key type antennas and/or
the small flat plastic panel antennas are pretty lousy at picking up
a decent signal. You may get a few channels, but it is unlikely that
you will be happy with the limited results. This does not mean you
need to spend an arm and a leg for an antenna. I purchased the GE
33692 indoor attic antenna for about $30 ($24 as of this writing)
and it works wonderfully. I attached it to the inside of my roof
rafters with a couple of screws, pointed it toward Roxborough and I
was up and running. Keep in mind that the antenna snaps together
(pretty much) so expect to spend a half hour putting it together.
So let's say you are now happy with
your free OTA TV reception and want to drop your cable TV bill. Hold
on there Babalouie! You really should live with it for a month or so
to make sure it will provide all that you want in your TV media. If
you spend most of your time watching NetFlix or some other internet
TV service, then you may be fine with local TV, PBS TV and the myriad
of oddball OTA stations you are now getting. However, if you need
your nightly Comedy Central fix and cannot get it over the internet
(actually you can, but that is another subject all together), then
you may want to keep a very basic TV package with your internet
service. As of this posting, I pay $70 per month for basic TV
(including Comedy Central) and 100mbps/100mbps internet through FiOS.
I've found ways to drop the monthly $10 charge for a FiOS
modem/router so that I do not get nickel and dimed by Verizon
each month. Again, another subject. If I were to have just the FiOS
internet, it would cost $65 each month, so my total savings was only
slight compared to adding the basic TV package. The reason I kept the
OTA TV antenna is so I did not get charged each month for the
additional HD TV boxes for each TV in our home. In other words, we
keep the basic FiOS TV service on our main TV and use the OTA signal
for the bedroom TVs thereby getting the most service for the least
cost. You may decide differently (as I may also drop the FiOS basic
TV service sometime soon).
So let's say you are now down to about
$70 a month for your high speed internet and basic TV services. You
may want to add an internet TV service for about $10 a month (the
current cost for NetFlix or Amazon Prime...etc). That will give you
much more to watch, when you want to watch it.
But yikes, You do not get a land line
phone with this! That is okay. With high speed internet, you can
purchase an Obihai
Obi200 adapter for your internet and have free land line phone
service (within the US and Canada). Outside of the country, your
service costs are minimal. Do you have a Gmail email address? Good!
All you need to do this is sign up for a Google phone number (you get
to choose the number). With a VoIP telephone (voice over internet
protocol), you will NOT have access to 911 unless you add that to
your free Obihai service. That costs $15 a year. The upside of this
(other than it is free) is that you home land line can now be
connected to your cell phone if you like. Any phone calls or texts or
messages on my home phone I have sent directly to my cell phone so
that I never miss a call or an important message. Again, for free!
So let's add it all up so far.
Cut the Cable Yearly cost
|
FiOS or Comcast Cost (average)
|
TV antenna $25 (one time cost)
|
TV
|
Obihai Obi200 $50 (one time cost)
|
Internet
|
911 service $15
|
Phone
|
High Speed Internet $480 (for the year)
|
Monthly average (if you are lucky) $120
|
TOTALS
|
TOTALS
|
Total for one year - $570
|
Total for one year - $1440
|
Total for two years - $1065
|
Total for 2 years - $2880
|
Keep in mind that as the years go on,
you continue to save thousands of dollars while sacrificing nothing.
Finally, if your cell phone is costing
you too much each month, know that there are alternatives that are
very affordable. For example, if you are comfortable not having
access to the internet every possible place you are (the middle of
the desert for instance), then you might consider a low cost “pay
as you go” plan. I currently pay about $100 a year for cell phone
use. $100 buys a years worth of minutes, but I do not have a data
plan attached. I just use the wireless internet that is in just about
every store, shop or eatery I enter. I have friends who pay each
month about what I pay for the year.
This is how I do this. I purchase my
“unlocked” cell phone. There are too many to mention here, but
Blu has a
wide variety of Android cell phones at all different price points.
Even their top of the line is quite thrifty compared to the current
iPhones and Samsungs. Do your research and you should be able to find
a phone that fits your lifestyle well. I then chose a cell phone
carrier that has “pay as you go” plans. There are nearly
countless carriers that use the ATT and T-Mobile towers, but here
again, do your research and find one that matches you needs. I use
Lycamobile, but although they are cheap, they are difficult to work
with (poor customer service). Fortunately, I have a lot of patience.
Many carriers will give you a discount or some credit if you purchase
a certain dollar amount. Currently (2020) Lycamobile offers a $19 per month unlimited talk/text with 1gb of data. While other carriers will not charge you for
phone calls made to or from phone with the same carrier. Imagine that
your spouse and children are all signed up with the same carrier;
much of your calling will be free! However, some carriers will delete
your minutes if you haven't used them within a certain time period,
so be aware! Again, do your research.
