Apr 1, 2025 Update – It took a while, but I finally turned in my Comcast Cable TV box in favor of a Roku streaming device, and I have a temporary new phone number through Ooma while I navigate the process of migrating my current phone number over to the new service. There are some good things about the big switch and some bad things. I like the fact that I no longer have to drag several feet of coaxial cable around when I move the TV cart. Roku is all wireless. The great thing is that I now get Turner Classic Movies (TCM) – and I LOVE watching old movies. Unfortunately, the way I get TCM is via YouTubeTV and that costs me something like $80-$90 per month, but that’s still a lot better than what Comcast was charging without TCM. There are other ways to get TCM and there are some downsides to YouTubeTV (mainly the pain-in-the-ass menus you have to navigate), so I may look into alternatives. Often the only way to find out what you really want is to try out the alternatives.
The worst part of this switch is the rat’s nest of different apps and menus that you have to navigate. The Comcast channel lineup was much easier to master – so much so that I may one day give Comcast another chance to redeem themselves (but only if I can get one of those less expensive “introductory offers” again). I also had to pay to get NESN 360 in order to get the Red Sox games (not that that’s been so great watching Rafael Devers break records for most times striking out – and he’s still batting .000 after 5 games). I paid a lot up front for NESN 360, but that came with 4 tickets to Red Sox games at Fenway. Hopefully Devers will recover his ability to hit by the time I go to a game.
One of the more ridiculous things about the new setup is that if I feel like watching “Svengoolie” on MyTV on a Saturday night, the only way I can do this is by switching the source to a TV antenna to get it over-the-air. You can get it via other paid packages, but I really don’t want to do that for little scraps. Among the more delightful things about the new setup is that I can set it to automatically record all shows like “Real Time With Bill Maher” and “Saturday Night Live” – though it took me a while to figure out that you do this by adding them to your “Library”. I can also watch every episode of “How It’s Made” and every episode of “South Park” (the perfect antidote to the often poisonous wokeness of Cambridge). Other full runs of shows are available, but you often only find out after many steps that it will cost you extra. I wish they would just say that up front.
Another downside is that I can no longer watch CCTV because the local access channels don’t seem to be part of any package other than Comcast. Perhaps that can be remedied some day. Fortunately, I can still access City Council meetings via live stream or Zoom on the computer, and the recordings are available soon after the meetings. The recordings are usually preferable because you can fast forward past some of the stupidity. You can also get a transcript – often entertaining to see the errors in the voice recognition. Things like “Council Sabinia Bill yields the floor” or “Councilor Susie” or “Councilor Zuzzi, floor is yours”. I also think “Masson Main” sounds so much more exotic than “Mass and Main”. Perhaps “Market Central” could be re-branded accordingly. “We have been working with Michael Modesty.” In fact, the voice recognition software generally works quite well.
Perhaps the single worst thing about the new setup is that sometimes you have to log in to a computer to get enter a code before you can watch something or add a channel. This whole streaming thing is evolving, and it’s a bit like TV in the 1950s where you might get just a station ID image because the channel still hasn’t figured out all the technical details like how to feed commercials into the program gaps. The whole experience makes me feel like a beta tester or a lab rat, and I have become very angry and frustrated at times just trying to do things that ought to be simple. – RW
May 23, 2024 – I am finally getting around to changing from my current “Triple Play” plan with Comcast to something better, but I need advice.
I certainly need to maintain a fast Internet connection for many reasons – not the least of which is an online course I teach via Zoom in the fall (and office hours). I also do the Cambridge InsideOut show via Zoom. For telephone (not cell phone) I have a device from Ooma that I can use for VoIP phone service at low cost.
The difficult part to understand is how to navigate the various streaming options in such a way that I don’t end up paying even more than I am currently forking over to Comcast. My primary TV needs are old movies (like TCM), Red Sox games, Twilight Zone, real news stations like BBC, all the local channels (of course), some science stuff (we’re really into cosmology), South Park, and a few other things. My understanding is that streaming can be a real data hog, and though Comcast doesn’t currently charge extra for excess data, they will likely do so at some point.
Sooo…. I am looking for a plan here. Any sage advice?