hitchicken
Active Member
Going cheap...
I'm not much of a TV person so this is just my opinion and the way I live...
Atlantic BB for internet is the best bet for most people in this area. Those lucky few who are along the route for the expanding FIOS still have a significant expense. I got the 100 MBS and am happy. No phone. No TV... with them. I wouldn't go satellite internet or 3G/4G internet (even if it were available in some areas) unless I had no other choice.
I stream with Amazon Prime @ $119/year and Netflix @ $7.99/month (1 stream @ a time, SD only). Unless you must have HD, stream SD. It uses less than 1/4 of the bandwidth and reduces/eliminates 'buffering' pauses. Also great shipping and other features. I have 3 old Roku streamers that work just fine, but with great new Smart TVs, I rely less and less on them. I also hardwired 2 of my TVs to the router. Better speed, less interruption.
The rest of my TV is OTA. I got a monster 'fringe' antenna @ 35 ft, rotor system, pre-amp & powered signal splitter to feed 4 TVs. I get typically get 60 to 70 channels with many being hi-def. The cost was $400 one time expense for everything, but it's free thereafter for as long as it lasts. All the Redskins/Ravens games.
Telephone is Tracfone. $9 to $10 /month. I'm not a big user so I've accumulated 2-3 of continuous days of usage. I have the latest model Android smartphone capable of nearly all Google Play apps. I use wifi for nearly all my data exchanges (no cost) and to download movies (Amazon or Netflix) and resort to an old MagicJack app for phone calls that's still valid if I want to make extensive calls. I forget MJ's price, but it was cheap. That may have changed.
That's the way I do it. Choose your own path and best of luck to you.
I'm not much of a TV person so this is just my opinion and the way I live...
Atlantic BB for internet is the best bet for most people in this area. Those lucky few who are along the route for the expanding FIOS still have a significant expense. I got the 100 MBS and am happy. No phone. No TV... with them. I wouldn't go satellite internet or 3G/4G internet (even if it were available in some areas) unless I had no other choice.
I stream with Amazon Prime @ $119/year and Netflix @ $7.99/month (1 stream @ a time, SD only). Unless you must have HD, stream SD. It uses less than 1/4 of the bandwidth and reduces/eliminates 'buffering' pauses. Also great shipping and other features. I have 3 old Roku streamers that work just fine, but with great new Smart TVs, I rely less and less on them. I also hardwired 2 of my TVs to the router. Better speed, less interruption.
The rest of my TV is OTA. I got a monster 'fringe' antenna @ 35 ft, rotor system, pre-amp & powered signal splitter to feed 4 TVs. I get typically get 60 to 70 channels with many being hi-def. The cost was $400 one time expense for everything, but it's free thereafter for as long as it lasts. All the Redskins/Ravens games.
Telephone is Tracfone. $9 to $10 /month. I'm not a big user so I've accumulated 2-3 of continuous days of usage. I have the latest model Android smartphone capable of nearly all Google Play apps. I use wifi for nearly all my data exchanges (no cost) and to download movies (Amazon or Netflix) and resort to an old MagicJack app for phone calls that's still valid if I want to make extensive calls. I forget MJ's price, but it was cheap. That may have changed.
That's the way I do it. Choose your own path and best of luck to you.