Congrats cutting the TV cord, internet next?

[QuarterMillionMan]

tripods68, I haven't tried switching yet to using only my hotspot. I called Time Warner and asked how much would I save to downgrade my internet speed and they quote me a $10 savings. So I would go from 50 mbps for $70 a month to 10 mbps for $60 a month. Not so attractive to me. And before I try making the switch to only my hotspot I would need to get a wireless adapter for my desktop. My laptop is ready to go for obvious reasons. Also, I'm researching a backup plan should going with only my hotspot turn out to be a dud (lol).

NetZero has DSL service for $11.99 for a month but that is only an introductory promotion and I believe the rate jumps to about $40 a month after 1 year.

http://store.netzero.net/account/showService.do?serviceId=nz-dsl-bb

At any rate I'll let you all know if I should make the leap. My internet usage is for basic websurfing and to pay bills, etc. I don't do any gaming. Oh and to watch videos, the adult variety videos (ha-ha).

[GrimJack]

I ended up going with landline dsl and antenna for my TV - it gets me through the day. When city-wide power goes out, the landline still works.

[FrugalTexan75]

I pay $77/month for my Internet. I would love to find a way to reduce this, but there really isn't a cheaper service level that would work for me. I could get a much cheaper service with much slower speeds, for maybe $20/month less ... but then I'd lose out on $40 - 80 / month in earnings from Swagbucks and other similar sites. So ... not worth it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I'm one step closer to disconnecting my internet service. I got my desktop to work with my iPhone hotspot. And I didn't need to install a wireless adapter after all. I'm just using the USB data sync cable. I had spent countless hours trying to get my desktop to work using the USB data sync cable to no avail. Tonight I finally figured out how to get it to work. And the answer was quite simple. ITunes has to be installed on the desktop. Plain and simple. However, I'm a little disappointed with the speed. Videos have a grainy quality and lags a bit. Anyway now I just need to gather the courage to make the leap and cancel my internet service. It is a little scary to think I'll be severing my internet and going completely wireless at this point.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Quarter how much data do you use streaming video and stuff? I once asked my DH and he said with the amount we stream since the kids watch daily a show on netflix and we don't have cable now it's a lot of data.

[QuarterMillionMan]

LivingAlmostLarge, to answer your question I had to first figure out where I would find out how much data I used. I found it in settings, then Network & Internet, then data usage. I am currently using 9.6 GB of data but let me premise this by saying that the majority of that usage is wasted data. For instance, I'll play a 60 minute video simultaneously to watching a football or baseball game on TV and not pay attention to the video only glancing over the video from time to time. I can cut down my data usage a lot if I don't waste GB like how I'm currently doing. And BTW this time I won't make the same mistake of posting my home address embedded into the link for all the world to see (yikes, lol).

[tripods68]

LivingAlmostLarge, to answer your question I had to first figure out where I would find out how much data I used. I found it in settings, then Network & Internet, then data usage. I am currently using 9.6 GB of data but let me premise this by saying that the majority of that usage is wasted data. For instance, I'll play a 60 minute video simultaneously to watching a football or baseball game on TV and not pay attention to the video only glancing over the video from time to time. I can cut down my data usage a lot if I don't waste GB like how I'm currently doing. And BTW this time I won't make the same mistake of posting my home address embedded into the link for all the world to see (yikes, lol).

I've heard average user per household per month around 50 GB as high as 200 GB.

[QuarterMillionMan]

On Oct 26, 2015, I cancelled my $70 a month internet service with Time Warner. I'm using the hotpspot from my iPhone 6 plus. The hotspot cost $10 a month for 2 GB of data. It is too early to tell how I will fare but if additional data packs are needed I can purchase more data packs in increments of $10 for an additional 2 GB of data. The way I see it, it gives me incentive to use as little data as possible to keep my costs down but even if I need 2x's, 3x's, 4x's, or even 5x's the amount of data it will still cost me less than the $70 a month that I was paying for basically unlimited amounts of data (unlimited for my use and standards anyway). For my desktop I also bought a wireless adapter. The desktop also can use a USB data sync cable to connect to the internet. Video speeds are slower using the hotspot compared to Time Warner cable's internet modem/wifi but I don't watch any movies on my computer so I can live with the slower speeds. BTW included in Time Warner's $70 internet service was an $8 modem lease and $5 wifi charge both of which were eliminated as well.

On another note I'm looking at reducing my digital HD TV receiver and maybe going with a standard definition receiver or digital adapter to reduce my TV bill as well. The digital HD receiver lease is $12 a month and DVR another $11.95. I don't even use the DVR, ever. Something I'll be looking at in the coming month.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

OMG QMM you made me curious so I looked up my data usage at home. 2 adults and 2 kids without cable. My kids watch amazon prime and netflix on our roku box.

August (5 days) 11 GB
September 130 GB
October 173 GB

My DH and I watch stuff on netflix too at night. So I don't think at those usage rates we could ever cut our internet and go to cell phone data only. I would guess we aren't out of the norm for other families without cable.

Maybe someone else will weigh in.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Golly, LivingAlmostLarge, your household data usage in just 5 days in August was more than I used in an entire month. At least you got your money's worth. I was not getting my money's worth and that is why I fired my ISP. It works fine for me being a single guy. It won't for everybody.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I suppose I do. But is it a tough pill to swallow knowing I pay for $60 for internet at home.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

November we used 217 GB of data at home.

[LittleLamplight]

On Oct 26, 2015, I cancelled my $70 a month internet service with Time Warner. I'm using the hotpspot from my iPhone 6 plus. The hotspot cost $10 a month for 2 GB of data. It is too early to tell how I will fare but if additional data packs are needed I can purchase more data packs in increments of $10 for an additional 2 GB of data. The way I see it, it gives me incentive to use as little data as possible to keep my costs down but even if I need 2x's, 3x's, 4x's, or even 5x's the amount of data it will still cost me less than the $70 a month that I was paying for basically unlimited amounts of data (unlimited for my use and standards anyway). For my desktop I also bought a wireless adapter. The desktop also can use a USB data sync cable to connect to the internet. Video speeds are slower using the hotspot compared to Time Warner cable's internet modem/wifi but I don't watch any movies on my computer so I can live with the slower speeds. BTW included in Time Warner's $70 internet service was an $8 modem lease and $5 wifi charge both of which were eliminated as well.

On another note I'm looking at reducing my digital HD TV receiver and maybe going with a standard definition receiver or digital adapter to reduce my TV bill as well. The digital HD receiver lease is $12 a month and DVR another $11.95. I don't even use the DVR, ever. Something I'll be looking at in the coming month.

Update on how this is going? I feel like getting decent internet is a necessity. I got rid of cable a while ago but what you are doing seems scary for me haha.

[QuarterMillionMan]

LittleLamplight it is a coincidence that you asked about this because I was getting ready to post about it. To make a long story short, I'm losing this battle. The $10 hotspot for 2 GB of data would last me about 1 week. It was a hassle to add more data because when the data ran out I would be left without internet service. I had to call Virgin Mobile to add more date. And if the data ran out at night (non-business hours) I would have to wait until the next day to get my internet restored by calling them when the opened for business the next day. So I bought a Boost Mobile wifi device ($49) and got a no contract mobile broadband service for $55 a month for 15 GB of data. The 1st month I used up my 15 GB of data in about 25 days so I had to get another month prematurely. I'm now into my 2nd month and it looks like I will use up my data prematurely again. So my plan to spend $10 a month is no longer viable. The only silver lining is I'm no longer tethered to cable internet solely at home and I'm free to roam just about anywhere a 3G/4G LTE signal is available. At $55 a month I'm just about back to where I started at $70 a month but I intend to stay status quo for the time being.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So what are you going to do ? Just buy more data to begin with? I told you how much we use over 200 GB a month at home and more with cell phones.