Dropping, losing, cancelling or whatever you want to call getting rid of Comcast

My goal is to reduce our family's dependency on Comcast services.  For the last few years we have been using Comcast's Triple Play of TV, Phone and Internet.  Comcast hooks you with relatively inexpensive monthly service of $99 a month.  But after a short while, monthly bills start increasing.  It had gotten over $150 a month in just a short time frame.  So in the next few weeks I plan to move off of Comcast completely.  Some of the work is in progress, but most is still in the planning stage.

So far, everyone I've talked with about dropping Comcast also wants to rid themselves of Comcast.  Some are  well off while others are not.  Some are die hard conservatives and others liberals.   But getting rid of their Comcast bill is the one thing we have in common.

Part of the planning process is determining what you want to watch.  We don't watch a lot of sports, but we do like some of the programing on USA, NBC, ABC, CBS and PBS.  We also like MSNBC, but that isn't a deal breaker.  I like CNBC and CNN but I usually read the news on line.  My neighbor and I did a test of receiving over the air TV from the local channels.  We can get excellent reception with just an indoor antenna. An indoor antenna takes care of all but USA.  We used Antenna Web to plot out the best direction to point the antenna.

USA network will require another arrangement.  The two choices available seem to be wait for the shows to be on Netflix or Hulu Plus.  It looks like Hulu Plus, even at $10 a month, is a good choice.  While it isn't available, it should be soon.  On the plus side, Hulu Plus means that we can watch the shows when we want, just not the same night as they are broadcast.  On the negative, Hulu Plus doesn't offer CBS or Comedy Central.  Maybe I need a pvr (personal video recorder) to watch CBS.  That is something to consider later.

So far I've installed Qwest high speed internet service and Vonage phone service.  Qwest offered up to 40mbs internet for only $19 a month or $29 a month with out Qwest local service.  Since I also signed up for Vonage I pay $29 a month.  The speed as reported by the modem is 20mb.   I signed up for the cheapest Vonage plan since our needs are not great.  If I find that I need to increase it I can later.  Of course the Qwest pricing is a special offer.  In six months the cost goes to full price.  Hopefully I can negotiate a continuation of the special offer then.  So far I've dropped my cable bill by almost $100 a month!