Curious how comcast and other firms will handle this going forth. Their cash cow is lease fee's. Will the fees now be per "authorized device?" its not mainstream yet, but will be soon, with others to follow. moves like this will video distribution in large homes less required and a harder sale IMO

interesting for sure! Times are a changing!
[Link: cnet.com]

Huh?

DishNetwork
[Link: engadget.com]

DirecTV has an Apple TV app?

CBS AllAccess?

HDMI distribution?

Leasing the modem makes sense for most people. Modems can cost between $100-$300 so it would take 10-30 months to break even. Meanwhile its your modem so if it breaks its your problem.

That leaves just the cable box. I would imagine that the roku app means you are streaming everything. Is it possible to go beyond the data cap doing this? Overage data charges might reel in more money than a box fee. I just got charged $45 for 3 extra GB's of data because i used my verizon iphone for internet at the new house while waiting for comcast to be installed.

Either way it appears that Xfinity has a plan. X1 blows DirecTV & Dish Network out of the water in terms of the interface and remote. Netflix is integrated. At first i thought this was silly but i haven't selected AppleTV or Roku in months. This is probably just part of a larger strategy to make sure that Comcast Xfinity is what people think of when they want to watch or stream TV.

The app can't access the actual cable data. It is instead streaming what can be streamed. The fidelity will be lower and there will be more limited content.

It is good news regardless though :).

This is interesting. I have DirecTV for TV, but Comcast for internet.

While it is getting better, DirecTV's OnDemand is still not equal to what the cablecos offer. So what I would like to see is the ability to access PPV's or OD content without having to sub to a upper tier package. I have the very basic package from Comcast now because with bundling it is almost free. So if I can do this via an App on Roku (ATV can't be far behind can it) that would be great.

For video on demand on DirecTV. Do you have to download the video to the receiver before being able to watch it?

KOT

Modems 100-300 huh?

NETGEAR DOCSIS 3.0
340Mbps Cable Modem for XFINITY, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision(CM400-1AZNAS) [Link: amazon.com]

ARRIS SURFboard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem - Retail Packaging - White [Link: amazon.com]

Enough downstream channels on those to blown away pretty much any speed offering by anyone in the cable biz.


It is well worth it to buy your own modem. F leasing one. Especially the all in ones that are nothing but headaches for most installs.

I was on board until the part where you have to use their shitty gateway. But I guess I better get used to it. I guess I could still put my own modem/router in for network and then their POS gateway for TV.

Now find me one with VOIP for under $100 or 200 for that matter....

Ok now add the price of those modems to a router and access point so that "most people" can use their laptop and ipad. Does the cable company configure the 3rd party hardware for free or do we need to add in a geek squad visit to the total?

You all will just be paying more for internet. You have been able to get your own modem forever and how many do? Tivo has been around for years. Hardly made a dent. So you stream everything. Someone is going to pay someone somehow. If content providers loose tons of cable users they will charge more to the services that took those customers. Watch.

Not completely, but yes. I have a 100M connection so it doesn't take too long, but even so it could be 20-30 minutes waiting until enough has downloaded so I can start watching a movie and not have to stop and wait in the middle.

Oh wow, at least with Dish it takes at most 20 seconds. Though average is 5 to 10 second wait time for me.

Even back when my internet was 100Mbps, now is at 215Mbps a couple years later.

KOT

You hit the nail on the head. I have heard many people bragging on how they finally "cut the cord" and ditched their directv or cable TV service in lieu of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, iTunes, Sling, etc. If they would add up the annual cost of all the services they use for streaming content, and the hardware required to do so, and possibly the higher tier ISP package with higher data caps, they are likely not saving much, if any money. But it makes them feel good, so I tell them how awesome they are for cutting the cord!

It is true. You will pay for the content you consume. If it is not through DirecTV or Comcast, it will be through your ISP, and ever increasing fees for streaming services.

The other side to this is the new fad of creating TV series exclusively on a particular streaming service. This will force people to subscribe to Amazon Prime just so they can watch Grand Tour, etc. Or to Netflix just so they can see House of Cards, etc.. So like we currently complain about having to pay DirecTV $100+/month for 300 channels, when we only watch 10 of them. Now you will have to subscribe to 4 streaming services to watch a handful of shows that are not available anywhere else.

Not to mention the limits on concurrent streams many of these services place per account. This could limit the number of TVs that can watch the same program. And then you have sync issues, which are also present with Genie, Tivo, etc. The Hopper/Joey seems to be best at this, last time I tested it. Turning the game on in 3 rooms in your house might not be best idea. I have seen up to 10 second delays between Tivo Roamio/Mini or Genie/client systems.

I am sure over time, as things go fully IP, they will figure out all these things, and we will get used to it. In the meantime, let us enjoy the service call bonanza and profit. :)

Cable providers here will give you the modem for free if it is just used for VOIP. We push cable modems on clients these days just so we can ensure we don't get a combo router when the cable guy shows up.