Cable companies must think you're a piggy bank!
How can something so simple have gotten so expensive? Have you looked at your cable bill lately? How is it something that’s simply for entertainment now costs more than your electric bill? I finally had it when my cable bill was approaching almost $300 a month!
Now granted, it was more than just cable, it included my Internet service as well as a “land line” that I never used at all, but it would have almost cost more for me not to include it in the bundle so there it was. It was then that I decided I had enough and was going to finally ditch cable and go with a streaming service!
But which one? Let’s face it, I didn’t know much about streaming at the time and the offerings out there were just starting to mature, but I embraced the change and canceled my cable TV service.
For those that are scared that they aren’t going to get the same level of TV quality, content or more, you need to understand one significant fact. Everything you see and hear on your TV is already digitally delivered. Nothing is analogue any more, meaning you’re already using a streaming service if you’re subscribing to a cable TV service, it’s just that you have one single (and expensive) provider, the cable company. Also, and since they’re classified as a cable company, they’re subject (well, you’re subject) to a litany of fee’s and taxes that you may not necessarily have to pay with a streaming service!
Don’t let “Just because you haven’t tried it yet” stop you, especially with all the free trials available for the various streaming services that are out there! Hell, you can even stream all the free services now if you want, and, like I said, they’re free! Zilch! Bupkis! Knock yourself out, they won’t cost you a time!
So, what DO you need to have or do to cut the cord from big cable? Well, here’s a cheat sheet of sorts on what you’ll need:
- An Internet connection with at least 100 Mbit of download speed. I know that seems like overkill, but hear me out here. If you’re like the typical family, there is more than one person in your life and more likely than not, more than one person in your household. Add to that, now with the Internet of Things (also called IoT) there are most likely other devices aside from just your TV that are on your network and communicating over the Internet. You want to make sure that you have adequate bandwidth available for not only your streaming devices (TV’s, Tablets, Computers, you get the idea) but also for all the other devices in your home, like phones, appliances, security systems, smart camera’s and more. All of these things take additional bandwidth, so make sure you have enough to handle those “peak” times
- A good Wireless Network in place where you’re going to be watching your streaming devices. This is one of the big differences between cable TV and Streaming. Cable TV is delivered to you via, you guessed it, a cable! Streaming is delivered via the Internet and it’s not impossible for your streaming devices to be hard wired with an Ethernet cable, it’s just not as common. Most reading this are probably doing so over some sort of Wi-Fi connection and all of your streaming content will be delivered typically the same way. You want to make sure you not only have good Wi-Fi signal where you want to watch your content, but that it’s also a good quality signal, not highly interfered with from neighbors or other devices, and has the bandwidth you need to watch your content.
- A Streaming Capable Device. It goes without saying, that if you’re going to be cutting the cord and going streaming, you need a device that’s capable of streaming. Most modern TV’s have this capability built into them already. You can check your device to see if it not only has services installed on it already, but that you can download additional services you may want to try to see if you like them or not. If your TV doesn’t have this capability, you can always purchase an inexpensive Fire Stick or Roku device for this purpose. Simply plug that device into your TV and follow the prompts to set it up.
- Decide on your Must-Have channels/content vs Nice-to-Have. There are many kinds of streaming services out there today, many that focus on specific genre’s like sports, horror, travel, cartoons and more. One big question I usually ask new streamers is if they watch a lot of the Big Four broadcast television. By the Big Four I mean ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. Maybe your more of a Sports lover and don’t care about the others as much? There is no right or wrong answer here, everyone needs to decide what is best for them, and that will help you customize your solution that best fits you!
Once you can answer all these then you’re ready to go streaming! Get that streaming device loaded with the apps you want to use, be it a full service cable TV replacement service like YouTubeTV, FuboTV, or others, or free services such as PlutoTV, Crackel or others! You no longer have to be a prisoner to the high prices and relentless fees of big cable! Oh, and don’t forget, you can always get an antenna to receive the “Big Four” without having to pay a cent! The big broadcast stations are still required to broadcast a signal for free.