Christ Centered Gamer

Here's an interesting article about a trend that apparently has broadcasters concerned.

Interestingly enough, this is the category that my household is in as well. We don't fit their average demographic, but our sentiments are the same. With very few exceptions (notably the Food Network) there really isn't anything we miss from cable or satellite, or even the free over-the-air broadcasts. Netflix, Roku and the Internet meet all of our TV entertainment needs, so why would we need anything else?

If you're a sports fan, TV is a must. Unless you like to illegally download or watch a stream.

There is usually a season pass or whatever, but it doesn't cover major games that air on TV.

If it wasn't for that and my parents watching all of those home makeover shows, we'd probably not have it right now.

we're in that group we have the basic cable but barely use it

I get a lot of flack every time I have to connect internet service. 'What? You don't want our fabulous(ly expensive) cable TV service?!' and 'What? You don't want our fantastic(ly expensive) landline phone replacement program?!'

No. My TV is for games, Netflix, and static. No. That's what cell phones are for.

Rather than overpay for cable tv, we just got a 100mps connection instead.

I can understand the argument for live sports broadcasts... but since no one in my house really cares about sports, it doesn't really persuade us to go that route.

(An amusing side note - the radio station they listen to at work has a morning sports-related trivia question every day. I consider it an accomplishment if I can identify the sport they're talking about. Yes, I'm that bad. )

ArchAngel wrote:Rather than overpay for cable tv, we just got a 100mps connection instead.

How do you get that, just out of curiosity? Our local high-speed ISP just upgraded our equipment... to 2.0 Mbps. The fastest they offer is 4 Mbps, but we're not willing to shell out $80 a month for that. 100 is just inconceivable to me!

Sstavix wrote:How do you get that, just out of curiosity? Our local high-speed ISP just upgraded our equipment... to 2.0 Mbps. The fastest they offer is 4 Mbps, but we're not willing to shell out $80 a month for that. 100 is just inconceivable to me!

Verizon FiOS in my case. I justify the cost because I work in IT and the company re-imburses a portion of internet costs for IT staff (and certain other staff) as work expense for the many times we have to work from home. Don't know what I'd do if they stopped. Probably eat less or something.

Sstavix wrote:How do you get that, just out of curiosity? Our local high-speed ISP just upgraded our equipment... to 2.0 Mbps. The fastest they offer is 4 Mbps, but we're not willing to shell out $80 a month for that. 100 is just inconceivable to me!

It was an option on the area. $80 a month for 4 mbps is ridiculous.

In all honesty, while it's pretty great, 20-25 mbps is pretty fine, too. I don't go under that, though.

ArchAngel wrote:
In all honesty, while it's pretty great, 20-25 mbps is pretty fine, too. I don't go under that, though.

I remember reading an article online a while back (I couldn't find it again) that recommended at least 15 Mbps for online gaming. That isn't even an option where I live. Maybe I should give more consideration to moving... it's something my wife and I have been discussing lately....

Yeah, I don't know how you live with 2mbps. My parents connection is like that and I can't stand the connection when I visit. I go all First-World-Problems on it. I've taken their wifi off my phone, because my 4g connection is much better.

The kicker is that they pay more for their bundle than I do for the 100mbps connection.

I remember switching from 15 mbps (broadband) to 5 mbps (DSL) because the previous company only offered 50gb bandwidth limit for that plan, whereas the 5 mbps had an unlimited bandwidth limit. They were very small and didn't have their broadband service available in most of the country yet.

After sticking with them for a year, they finally offered the broadband service over here. My speedtest blew my mind (at that time):

faster than 60% of CA

That tells you something.

This is the best I can get over here that offers no bandwidth limits. This is peak hour, but at night I usually get around 27mbps. They're offering 150mbps right now but it's not available where I live.

Basically, welcome to Canada. Where our cable and internet companies try to screw you over as much as they can, and you have to rely on small companies to do the job. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten letters in the mail from the mainstream company begging me to come over with "great deals".

http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hispeedB ... faultPlans

Look at this. Look at this and laugh.

ArchAngel wrote:Yeah, I don't know how you live with 2mbps. My parents connection is like that and I can't stand the connection when I visit. I go all First-World-Problems on it. I've taken their wifi off my phone, because my 4g connection is much better.

Probably because I don't have much choice, and it's probably the fastest we've ever had. We don't have cable where I live, DSL is out of the question, and except for the option of dial-up, the only other choice would be satellite. We don't even have cell phone service here.

Of course this wouldn't be the main reason we've been thinking about moving (I've been thinking of posting something over in the "Prayer Request" section because of some recent revelations we've had), but it serves as additional incentive.

Krytae wrote:
http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hispeedB ... faultPlans

Look at this. Look at this and laugh.

That's a deal?

Pffft. Ours is 1.5. You guys wouldn't know what to do with our speeds. XD And I just tested that at 3 AM...kinda shudder to think of what we get in the afternoon.

Works for Netflix and Xbox Live...no complaints, really. The reason is that, we live so far out, the local company pretty much holds a monopoly. No reason to run cables out to our road, and no reason for another company to try and steal us.

I feel like I'm eating cheeseburgers and watching starving children from a third world country...

ArchAngel wrote:I feel like I'm eating cheeseburgers and watching starving children from a third world country...

Difference being we don't know we're starving?

Or, to make the analogy fit even better, what's a cheeseburger?