The cure for overpriced Internet, TV and Phone services

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.