Making the Switch from Cable to just Internet

[skinsguy]

I have Playon and don't really like how buggy it is.

[mlmpetert]

Yeah, that can be real frustrating. I was wondering if i had a faster internet connection if that would fix a lot of the issues? Do you know what upload/download speeds you have?

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Sounds like you need a diplexer. Looks like a spilter but works different.

Diplexer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Im using fios internet. Would it be as simple as hooking one diplexer up where the fios box feeds to the main coaxial line and then another one where the tv is (which also happens to be the same place where the modem is)? If i have coaxial cable going to multiple rooms in the house would complicate anything, or would i just need to split the single going out to additional rooms? It just seems real confusing to me.

[mlmpetert]

Protect the Future of TV - NAB Spot July 2011 - YouTube

The Future of TV: Learn How You Can Protect the Future of Free, Local Television and Keep the News, Emergency Information and HD Programs You Love

I saw a couple of these kind of commercials with today's games. Just a quick search on the internet and it looks this has been a battle for some time now...... Maybe with budget cuts this is a bigger issue now?

Also quickly stumbled upon a lot of stuff out there about trying to make streaming illegal content a felony, and the 10 Strikes bill, which sounds pretty vague but could be bad for all content providers, legal or not.
Obama "IP czar" wants felony charges for illegal Web streaming

Read The Bill: S. 978 - GovTrack.us

Unfortunately i got to admit streaming content from slightly questionable websites is necessary if you make the from cable to just internet and still want to watch certain shows/events. Whats ironic is that some of the streaming stuff you can get on ESPN3 (prob other networks too) is also often found on these "questionable" streaming websites, but the quality on these questionable websites is better and less buggy. The most annoying thing about watching something on ESPN3 is that there are usually just a few commercials that are used the entire game. Each and every commercial break shows the exact same 2 or 3 commercials as the previous commercial break, it gets really old really fast. Then a lot of times they will just show no commercials whatsoever and just show a ESPN3 banner for 10 or 15 seconds. Also extremely frustrating is that during "game break" type stuff, check ins from other games, halftime shows and all that stuff is just not shown, it just goes to a ESPN3 banner or one of the commercials they have and the timing is often a little off. Combine that with the occasional bugginess makes the choice to use a 3rd party provider a easy decision. Streaming content from traditional networks is just not developed very much whatsoever. Im guessing a lot of it is contractual agreements between networks and cable/satellite providers but the networks need to start fighting back some, its in their long term best interest.

[SmootSmack]

There's a lot I could tell you about the commercial inventory for E3 (now WatchESPN) but I'm not at liberty too. It's right in my wheelhouse though. It's a contract and revenue issue.

[Lotus]

SS, commercial issues aside, WatchESPN rulz. It is such a godsend to have access to all of those games from all of those sports.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

There's a lot I could tell you about the commercial inventory for E3 (now WatchESPN) but I'm not at liberty too. It's right in my wheelhouse though. It's a contract and revenue issue.

Im sure theres a lot of stuff that would make guys like me scratch their heads....

Well the good thing is that as more and more people get comfortable with the concept of streaming content networks like ESPN are gonna have a lot more muscle to flex when it comes to contract negotiations. Theyre either gonna get paid more or theyll have more freedom, hopefully its the latter.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by Lotus

SS, commercial issues aside, WatchESPN rulz. It is such a godsend to have access to all of those games from all of those sports.

Yeah i agree and in the words Mike Vick i may be blaming ESPN, but im not complaining

[SmootSmack]

Redbox rates going up to $1.20

[mooby]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Redbox rates going up to $1.20

Lame. But go figure. While everyone is upset and bad mouthing Netflix for all the bad moves they've made recently, Redbox sneaks in a little price hike. Brilliant! That'll appease all the people who have converted from Netflix to Redbox.

[mlmpetert]

Seems like a smart move by Redbox, although at first I thought Netflix made a smart move by separating their streaming and mail order content..… But a 20% increase is a whole lot easier to stomach then a 60% increase. Plus with the 800k subscribers Netflix lost theres bound to be a lot more demand for Redbox then there was say 3 months ago.

So Google TV 2.0 is rolling out. When I was first trying to decide on the different set top boxes for streaming I went against google TV, because it was completely worthless without having a cable box attached to it; it was a cable tv enhancer. It still seems like that’s what 2.0 is primarily intended for, although there may be work arounds at some point since 2.0 will have a dedicated app market.

Google is apparently still trying to buy hulu, which I don’t know is good or bad for cableless people like me, but im guessing its bad. If they get hulu I dont think Google TV will ever be made to be cable box free. But if they don’t buy it, google may have a lot of incentive to become a cable alternative and offer the ability to watch content from any internet provider, even the shadier ones, (like you can on your computer) through their Google TV box via a 3rd party app.

Another, and more realistic benefit, would be a Google TV model with an integrated DVR or DVR(lite). The best feature (and what I miss the most) is the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward live tv. If you could buy Google TV with different size hard drives (like iphones) with basic dvr abilities (pause, rewind, ff) for a 15gb box all the way up to the 500gb boxes for people that actually want to record multiple network tv shows (or what they are streaming off of the internet, ie ESPN3) that would be awesome. Im sure an app will roll out for 2.0 that lets you do this with your own hard drive, but I think this would work much better as an integrated feature. Basically if Google rolls out with a box that lets you do everything you can already do on your computer but makes it less clunky with an interface that’s as easy to use as Cable box’s interface, I think youll see a major flight from cable/satellite. I say Google, but I guess Apple and maybe Roku could pull these things off.

Theres obviously a long way to go. But Roku has recently rolled out with a FoxNews channel. I believe this is the first and only major news channel to have a streaming network. They currently stream live news from 9-3pm. I feel like its only going to be another year or 2 until we will be able to just pay a subscription fee to stream major cable networks like FoxNews, MSNBC, CNBC, History, ESPN. We will see. In the meantime it looks like cable companies are fighting this by charging a lot for internet but with a very small marginal increase when you bundle internet with cable and/or phone. 4g to the rescue???