Journey to Walking 2000 miles

Comcast (now Xfinity), like many internet providers offers promotional offers. Consumers willingly buy in to these promotions and often, at the end of the period, realize that our bill has increased, often significantly.

With auto bill payments and a busy life, we often don't notice the steady creep in cost. It is up to us to be diligent and take action.

Recently, I noticed a sudden increase in my bill and asked Xfinity Customer service about it.

They had the standard excuse that a promotion had ended and I could get a new service at a price that was above my allocated budget. While waiting to get "service", I had time to review the new customer pricing and the competition. In addition, I had time to review my bill breakdown and realized that ~$30 was allocated to broadcast and sport fees - none of which I use or watch. Ok, I do some time, but is it worth $30 a month ?

With Netflix, Amazon Prime and more recently the major networks providing content only through streaming apps (peacock, paramount, disney, discovery), is Xfinity TV even relevant any more ? That might explain the increasing costs. A result of a diminishing base and the cord-cutters going to streaming-only.

The solution for me

This may vary based on which count/state or country you are in, however I had a choice to switch to Wave. They were able to sent a technician within a few days and enable internet within 15 minutes. I opted to go with internet only and cut the cord (TV). The offer came with a free Tivo Stream 4K device, which runs Android TV. Think Roku, with all the streaming apps available.

Note that the Tivo (Android TV), will link your gmail account to the device and the apps will require a re-authentication. Basically, Tivo and more likely Android TV can now track what you watch across multiple streaming services and sell that data. Hence, the free/relatively low cost of the Tivo device.

When I think Tivo, I expect DVR, which is what they did decades ago. No, this device is not a DVR. It's basically another google tracking device, so choose carefully what you link and choose to share.

Local Channels

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Modem

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