+ - Alternatives to Cable TV and Internet service?
Submitted
by
gal0xy77
gal0xy77 writes "I hope this is the right place to post this, but my question is : Are there any viable alternatives to big-time cable companies like Verizon and Comcast? In my area (Maryland), both of these firms run lousy TV and mediocre Internet services.
On cable TV, the advertisements consume about 25% of time per hour, and if you include the various infommercials, up to 40% of TV time is nothing but ads. And we, the users, are paying for that "service".
My Internet service was dropping out about twice a week, and wasn't fixed until I threatened to drop the service altogether.
I've read in various forums, that there are alternatives to this mess. For example, many of the major networks (cable and traditional) have web sites from which you can download TV episodes a day after they are aired. Furthermore, services like Netflix or Amazon allow you to view the movies you want, without commercials, sometimes for as low as 99 cents.
And with the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, there must be a number of smaller, quality ISPs in operation. I'm not familiar with satellite TV and cable services, so my question is: Are they less expensive, faster, show fewer commercials?
I hope I'm not asking the impossible, but I would like to begin a meaty discussion about this, if anyone here is interested.
Clear skies,
Roy"
On cable TV, the advertisements consume about 25% of time per hour, and if you include the various infommercials, up to 40% of TV time is nothing but ads. And we, the users, are paying for that "service".
My Internet service was dropping out about twice a week, and wasn't fixed until I threatened to drop the service altogether.
I've read in various forums, that there are alternatives to this mess. For example, many of the major networks (cable and traditional) have web sites from which you can download TV episodes a day after they are aired. Furthermore, services like Netflix or Amazon allow you to view the movies you want, without commercials, sometimes for as low as 99 cents.
And with the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, there must be a number of smaller, quality ISPs in operation. I'm not familiar with satellite TV and cable services, so my question is: Are they less expensive, faster, show fewer commercials?
I hope I'm not asking the impossible, but I would like to begin a meaty discussion about this, if anyone here is interested.
Clear skies,
Roy"