I'm thinking of dumping Rogers TV !

[Gofish2]

Don't watch much television except for golf. Wife watches a lot of old movies but I set her up with Netflix.com with an IP address blocker and WD tv and she watches everything over the internet. I noticed that there are services that offer live coverage of professional golf over the net and if that works I could happily say goodbye to cable. Has anyone done this and was it a seamless transition ?

[leftylucas]

Wow, it is the way of the future for sure, let us know how it works out.

[Break68]

TV streamed over the internet has been in the works for years but has only become viable recently due to Bell going to Fibre to the house and Rogers is trying to keep up. We have Rogers for everything in our house, if I could get rid of Rogers I would.

[OutOfTheRough]

TV streamed over the internet has been in the works for years but has only become viable recently due to Bell going to Fibre to the house and Rogers is trying to keep up. We have Rogers for everything in our house, if I could get rid of Rogers I would.

From what I've heard / read unless bell has redone the actualy wires in the house it is not technically Fiber. They do run fiber optic cable to the pedestel or boxes out on the street but still use the copper wires to get the feed into your house. This is why they call it Fibe and not fiber. The internet is an upgrded version of DSL, to compensate for the video streams, Vdsl. If you have the fibe tv and the fibe internet they run off the same lines/network which can causes slow downs based on the more TV's you have running. If you are running 1 or 2 Tv's in the house hold then you'll be fine.

But all in all still a definite upgrade from the old traditional Sat on your roof for TV and dsl for internet.

As for the internet in general, there is more and more content that is becoming available on the internet, you just have to find it. All the main tv stations are now showing thier shows online, broadcasting live sports, etc. As long as you have a good internet connection and a decent bandwidth cap, then the internet is the here to stay for TV viewing. It's just getting better and better!

[1972Apex]

You guys should move to Hawkesbury and deal with Cogeco Cable for a while. Afterwards you would thank God every day for Rogers

[Break68]

From what I've heard / read unless bell has redone the actualy wires in the house it is not technically Fiber. They do run fiber optic cable to the pedestel or boxes out on the street but still use the copper wires to get the feed into your house. This is why they call it Fibe and not fiber. The internet is an upgrded version of DSL, to compensate for the video streams, Vdsl. If you have the fibe tv and the fibe internet they run off the same lines/network which can causes slow downs based on the more TV's you have running. If you are running 1 or 2 Tv's in the house hold then you'll be fine.

But all in all still a definite upgrade from the old traditional Sat on your roof for TV and dsl for internet.

As for the internet in general, there is more and more content that is becoming available on the internet, you just have to find it. All the main tv stations are now showing thier shows online, broadcasting live sports, etc. As long as you have a good internet connection and a decent bandwidth cap, then the internet is the here to stay for TV viewing. It's just getting better and better!

I used to work for Bell, they will evetually be bringing fibre optic cable right to the house from the pedestals.

[nokids]

If my roommate wasn't addicted to tv I would drop cable in a heartbeat.

[Gofish2]

If my roommate wasn't addicted to tv I would drop cable in a heartbeat.

But that's my point, your room-mate doesn't have to give up tv, my wife watches as much as before, except through the internet connection rather than cable.

[OutOfTheRough]

I used to work for Bell, they will evetually be bringing fibre optic cable right to the house form the pedestals.

They are currently doing this in new Brunswick. It will come eventually!

[Gofish2]

Just got my bill from Rogers today. Had my TV and internet on hold while we were in Florida. Because my wife flew back she was in Ottawa before the scheduled date and I called Rogers from Florida and asked them to hook up earlier. No prob they said. The charge on the bill is $91.41

[nokids]

But that's my point, your room-mate doesn't have to give up tv, my wife watches as much as before, except through the internet connection rather than cable.

what is this sorcery?

[Gofish2]

WD TV from Costco for $98(allows wireless connect to television from computer), a free internet address blocker downloaded from the net so you can sign up for netflix.com and other American sites which apparently have more content than their Canadian counterparts. Called Rogers last night pulled the plug, still have their internet but will probably switch to Teksavvy because of their no limit bandwidth and the fact that you are not required to sign a contract. A google search shows a plethora of sites for live-streaming golf.

[Golfer100]

TV streamed over the internet has been in the works for years but has only become viable recently due to Bell going to Fibre to the house and Rogers is trying to keep up. We have Rogers for everything in our house, if I could get rid of Rogers I would.

Ma Bell is fibre to the street junction box but still copper into the house.

[Break68]

Ma Bell is fibre to the street junction box but still copper into the house.

Yes, we have established this thank you for your input.

[DenisO]

My Rogers bill every month is around $160, all I have is the Golf Channel, NatGeo (HD box) and internet. They charge way too much, but I love my HD...

[big mac]

If I knew more about computers and the like---I would dump Rogers in a minute ---the new technology is great -------but it's my old brain I worry about

[Gofish2]

I've got the old brain too. Will let you know how it goes

[orangeTANG]

I completely agree with everyone here. There's nothing more frustrating than the day the Rogers bill comes into my house. That said, my HDTV and Internet package is $120 / month... less than 2 rounds of golf. I think if you split it by the day - $2/day you'll agree there isn't a much cheaper form of entertainment to be had.

There are a few things you can do. First, call Rogers and tell ask them if you're bound to a contract because you're thinking of cancelling. Typically you can speak to a Rogers retention person and they'll offer you 20-30% off your entire bill without much negotiation. I've done this 4 straight years, and its saved be $30-40 per month.

I've thought about Internet TV also, but there are a lot of trade offs.

First, you're not saving $160 / month because part of that cost is your internet.

Secondly, what is it worth to have a decent quality video on that fancy 60" LCD in the living room. Netflix, or live TV streaming just isn't there yet, and it drives me nuts. If video quality isn't a concern, try standard def TV and save yourself part of your cable cost.

Third, what is your time worth to have to scour the internet every day hoping that you can find a place that is properly streaming the TV show you want to watch.

To me... as much as I hate giving Rogers a single red discontinued penny, I am able to justify the cost to myself.

[314314]

$120 x 12 months = $1,140.00
$160 x 12 months = $1,920.00 x 3,4,5 years = hope you get the picture.

Yikes!...I can't easily justify that, it's too much for "watching tv" (my opinion).... I currently have basic cable and trying to find a way to cancel that.

[orangeTANG]

it doesn't cost you $160 / month to watch TV though. It costs $160 to watch TV and surf the internet. The TV portion on my last Rogers bill was $64.89 including HD content, extra specialty channels minus the movie networks and that includes a rental cable box.

$64.89 / month works out to be just slightly over $2 / day. Other than staring at wall, there isn't much "entertainment" you can do for $2.00 per day that you could substitute the hours in the day you watch TV (ie 9pm).

I guess my point is, and how I justify it to myself is that for $2.00 / day I couldn't be bothered to scour the internet looking for the tv shows I want to watch, or to find a site streaming the live golf event that's on TV, to have mediocre quality at best. Especially if it means teetering on breaking copyright distribution laws.

Man - I'm starting to sound like a Rogers employee... BARF!

[HoganWoods]

WD TV from Costco for $98(allows wireless connect to television from computer), a free internet address blocker downloaded from the net so you can sign up for netflix.com and other American sites which apparently have more content than their Canadian counterparts. Called Rogers last night pulled the plug, still have their internet but will probably switch to Teksavvy because of their no limit bandwidth and the fact that you are not required to sign a contract. A google search shows a plethora of sites for live-streaming golf.

My friend has this exact setup along with rabbit ears to catch the free HD CBC playoff games. It's amazing how much better the US Netflix is. You can also stream sports online through various sites for free, but not always in HD.

[Bullet]

Well our Rogers bill is 180$ + a month. we have the VIP, Movie network, HD and most Sport channels. The TV programming and rental of 1 HD box is 96$. We save a few dollars off the internet and home phone for having a bundle package. It is a lot of money for sure but we do watch the Movie Network, HBO on a weekly basis. The fact that we can watch it just like a video is something that has actually saved us money. Haven't bought any movies or rented any movies for a while. If you consider 3 rented movies or 1, 2 bought Bluerays, we are ahead from the days of basic cable.


Guess it depends how much TV you watch. I am looking forward to the day I can watch live Hockey games in HD quality of the Net or catch one of the few shows we like on a reliable stream. Till then, Rogers it is...

[orangeTANG]

I agree. I think its only a matter of time before HBO (etc) start to realize they can cut out the middle man and post a paid service to their channels streaming off the net. At that point, Rogers and Bell simply become a internet provider. I can't wait for the day I can Paypal only the channels I want to watch monthly, and build a custom package direct from the broadcasters.

I long ago cancelled my home phone and went to a reliable voip provider. I get free North America calling, 2 distinct lines etc for $9.95 / month. Not sure why anyone still pays Bell (analogue) or Rogers (digital) insane amount of money for the same service you can get cheaper elsewhere.

[LobWedge]

I used to work for Bell, they will evetually be bringing fibre optic cable right to the house from the pedestals.

I used to work for Bell too, I'm not holding my breath...

[Break68]

I used to work for Bell too, I'm not holding my breath...

Yes indeed. I plan on never working there again.