fucking cable tv and internet

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Hades
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fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

all right...
I never thought I'd have to start a topic like this, but yeah,
after 21 years of very happily living without cable tv (or any form of tv apart from watching video's (haha) and DVD's),
I'm seriously thinking of getting back in.

Now, the reason I ask is extremely simple but very annoying :
the company that I had my phone (fixed) and internet with, basically completely stopped this service,
so from friday onwards, without any warning, I have no internet (I'm using a friendly neighbor's one now, thank god).
Fuck the phone, that's only for the mrs to call her asshole of a selfish cunt of a dad once in a while,
but yeah, when I look at what companies have to offer...
It's all packages where your tv is included,
and if it's not, you basically pay lik 15€ more to have tv.

When I was disgusted by tv and stopped watching all together, things were completely different.
Most of the programs are shit (still are, haha), but you barely got to watch decent films as well, nor series (unless you want to count the soaps from down under as quality time, haha, all the times I wanted to practice piano and my sister would yell "hey, it's Neighbors/Home And Away/whatever crap stuff on", still a trauma I swear :lol: )

Most of you know I'm a huge film fan, but the last 1,5 years, I barely watched anything, and it has to be noted that I watch lots of old films as well, and most definitely not the typical Hollywood shit.
I don't even care about recent, a good film never gets old.
I do enjoy watching good series too, but I find 50% of what they recommend me still "not good enough", so to say,
but maybe this comes from having an extremely high standard after watching all these films, I'm not sure.

So I'm currently looking at getting a bundle, and adding netflix.
I wish I could only get internet + phone + Netflix, and I know this is technically possible,
but I'm afraid the stuff for kids on Netflix (in Dutch) will be next to nothing, and I just can't justify to my kids that daddy, after all these years, got himself some form of tv, and said fuck you to the kids. :?
Ow the horror...

Can someone please tell me more about netflix, and most importantly : what kind of films can you watch on there, because I find their website tells me very little about all that.

And what should I watch out for when looking at the internet connection, because I don't want to get myself netflix for example and then discover my internet limits my watching options. (so download speeds or download limits are things I would like to hear from someone who uses it a lot, not from reading their recommendations on some website)

Also : can you record stuff with netflix somehow ?
I hate having to watch when it gets shown (another stupid thing about most tv when I dropped out).

I really, really wish I had gotten back in after my youngest got to learn how to read (next year),
but yeah, it is what it is, and I think 21 years (and 6 months ffs) is still something I can be proud of. :)
The best years of my life were spent without fucking cable tv. :P

As someone once sang in a rather popular song from my teens :
"here we are now, entertain us"

(and that's probably my biggest issue : I want quality stuff, not just rubbish entertainment)
now I'm off to waste another half hour of my life calling the services and making them have a go at suggesting their packages to me.
Ow the lows in a man's life... (but I will make my children happy I guess)
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Monreal
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Monreal »

You go to Netflix, check out their catalogue if you're happy with what the variety they offer you basically get a subscription with your credit card, you can cancel whenever you want. You only need an internet for it.
Also : can you record stuff with netflix somehow ?
I hate having to watch when it gets shown (another stupid thing about most tv when I dropped out).
Ummm am I getting this question right? It's a streaming service you can watch whatever you want (inside their catalogue ofc) whenever you want. They don't have channels and daily schedules.

The Netflix original tv series gets released all together for example.

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by terryfalafel »

Netflix is video on demand. As Monreal points out, you can watch anything in their catalogue at any time. There is no fixed schedule.

Regarding good / bad internet service providers, I'd check on a Belgian website about other people's experiences with Belgian ISPs. There are quite a few of these in the UK so I guess the same is true where you are.

Pretty much all packages should be unlimited data these days. The question is whether they throttle the speed at certain times of day. Some ISPs will throttle the connection for people who're downloading data (like torrents) and prioritise people who're watching telly online (like Netflix).

In terms of the speed, it really depends on whether there's fibre cable from the local exchange to your area, and then does fibre run all the way to your house or does it terminate in the box at the end of your street and then from there it's copper to the house. If the copper is old and fucked, the speed will be slower. Normally if you put your postcode into the ISP's website somewhere they will estimate the speeds you'll get.

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Will Frances »

There be crap everywhere, reality tv rules the airwaves now unfortunately. I have Netflix, and i find it great for my kid a lot of animated films and cartoons etc I mainly watch documentaries on it, there is some good stuff on there and the good thing is you can cancel anytime. here in the UK they do a free month trial so you can check out its content etc first. I don't have any issues with slow streaming and downloading from other devices at the same time. Internet wise I barely download at home so like 40 gig a month is more than enough also I don't have fibre, don't need it.

Content wise its probably best to get a trial, also often my kid watches something on his user account using the tablet and I can watch something from my user account on the TV at the same time having no lag or speed issues.

My connection is billed as 9mb upload 17mb download however i get much less as I'm further down the line from the exchange.

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Hades
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

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Monreal wrote:You go to Netflix, check out their catalogue if you're happy with what the variety they offer you basically get a subscription with your credit card, you can cancel whenever you want. You only need an internet for it.
I've been staring at their Dutch website for about 15 minutes, clicking on every link. Their "catalogue" is not there, apart from some stupid adds for recent stuff.
I would happily check out their English site, but I'd have to be a little sure they got Dutch subtitles.
Unfortunately, for reasons which are beyond me, I am the only one here in the house that speaks proper English.
Fuck, I was fluent in English when I was 8 years old, but not the mrs, nor my kids.
So yeah, that's exactly why I'm asking the question here...

Monreal wrote:
Also : can you record stuff with netflix somehow ?
I hate having to watch when it gets shown (another stupid thing about most tv when I dropped out).
Ummm am I getting this question right? It's a streaming service you can watch whatever you want (inside their catalogue ofc) whenever you want. They don't have channels and daily schedules.

The Netflix original tv series gets released all together for example.
Though I do know what a streaming service is,
you can call me an idiot, I'm ok with that. :)
Remember, I dropped out 21+ years ago.
I know things have seriously changed, which is why I ask these questions.
If their catalogue is available, at all times, all the time, then I'm 500% ok.
But if I see something I'd love to see, but it's only available say, for a week, and I don't have time for that in that particular week, I'd feel frustrated.
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Hades
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

Will Frances wrote:There be crap everywhere, reality tv rules the airwaves now unfortunately. I have Netflix, and i find it great for my kid a lot of animated films and cartoons etc I mainly watch documentaries on it, there is some good stuff on there and the good thing is you can cancel anytime. here in the UK they do a free month trial so you can check out its content etc first. I don't have any issues with slow streaming and downloading from other devices at the same time. Internet wise I barely download at home so like 40 gig a month is more than enough also I don't have fibre, don't need it.

Content wise its probably best to get a trial, also often my kid watches something on his user account using the tablet and I can watch something from my user account on the TV at the same time having no lag or speed issues.

My connection is billed as 9mb upload 17mb download however i get much less as I'm further down the line from the exchange.
yeah, I know there's crap everywhere, it's more for my kids than for me that I'm worried.
I don't want my youngest to become someone who just stays in front of the screen just because there's always something else that pops up. I know we can perfectly limit that, but it's easier not having to limit anything than having to remember your kid has been in front of the telly for a while now.
This is why I always loved the system of DVD's : they just get to watch the one DVD and when it's done, it's over.

9Mb upload 17Mb d/l is nothing compared to what I'm looking at options-wise, so yeah, I guess if you can watch Netflix with that, I must be ok.
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Hades
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

also, a quick test showed me I should be looking at speeds of 80 to 100Mbps on my exact location,
if I can at all trust these tests.
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

terryfalafel wrote:Netflix is video on demand. As Monreal points out, you can watch anything in their catalogue at any time. There is no fixed schedule.
.
great to hear of the non fixed schedule, but my question is : they do ever change the catalogue ?
I'd hate to find a film I've been meaning to watch for ages but wasn't able to find anywhere,
and then see it disappear from their offer a month later.
I know this might sound trivial to you, but to me, as a serious film fan, I'd rather never have the offer, than see the offer, and not have the time to actually get to catch it.
terryfalafel wrote: Pretty much all packages should be unlimited data these days. The question is whether they throttle the speed at certain times of day. Some ISPs will throttle the connection for people who're downloading data (like torrents) and prioritise people who're watching telly online (like Netflix).

In terms of the speed, it really depends on whether there's fibre cable from the local exchange to your area, and then does fibre run all the way to your house or does it terminate in the box at the end of your street and then from there it's copper to the house. If the copper is old and fucked, the speed will be slower. Normally if you put your postcode into the ISP's website somewhere they will estimate the speeds you'll get.
yes, that's another interesting question to raise : if I pay for 200Mbps, am I really getting this speed 24h a day, or even any time at all ?
If my location is physically gonna limit this, then there's no point for me paying for the extra speed.
But how on earth do you find out about that shit ?
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Will Frances »

Run a test see what your getting...

http://www.speedtest.net

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Will Frances »

I think there are sites that tell you the average speeds locally also, without the need to test your own connection

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by terryfalafel »

Hades wrote:
terryfalafel wrote:Netflix is video on demand. As Monreal points out, you can watch anything in their catalogue at any time. There is no fixed schedule.
.
great to hear of the non fixed schedule, but my question is : they do ever change the catalogue ?
I'd hate to find a film I've been meaning to watch for ages but wasn't able to find anywhere,
and then see it disappear from their offer a month later.
I know this might sound trivial to you, but to me, as a serious film fan, I'd rather never have the offer, than see the offer, and not have the time to actually get to catch it.
Ik heb geen idee :-) I don't have Netflix. I wouldn't have telly in my house at all personally but the missus wanted it. All I watch is the occasional bullshit about cocaine smugglers on National Geographic when I'm too tired to turn on the music gear.
terryfalafel wrote: Pretty much all packages should be unlimited data these days. The question is whether they throttle the speed at certain times of day. Some ISPs will throttle the connection for people who're downloading data (like torrents) and prioritise people who're watching telly online (like Netflix).

In terms of the speed, it really depends on whether there's fibre cable from the local exchange to your area, and then does fibre run all the way to your house or does it terminate in the box at the end of your street and then from there it's copper to the house. If the copper is old and fucked, the speed will be slower. Normally if you put your postcode into the ISP's website somewhere they will estimate the speeds you'll get.
yes, that's another interesting question to raise : if I pay for 200Mbps, am I really getting this speed 24h a day, or even any time at all ?
If my location is physically gonna limit this, then there's no point for me paying for the extra speed.
But how on earth do you find out about that shit ?
You will never get the quoted speed. That's the maximum possible speed in the best conditions.

These days, the speed of the connection is so far in advance of what most people ever need that it kind of doesn't matter. if you bought a 100Mbps line and you get 50 - 70Mbps download (upload is always slower) you'd be doing very well, and it'd be fast enough for everything. If you bought a 100Mbps line and you got 8 - 10Mbps, that'd be the time to ring up and whinge at the ISP.

If they're estimating 80 - 100Mbps then A - you must have fibre from the exchange to at least the local junction box, and B - whether you ever actually get 100Mbps or not, the connection will almost certainly be fast enough for everything you want to do.

Also, remember that to get anything approaching the top speed, you need to be connected to the router with a wire. WiFi will not deliver the same top speed, and it'll degrade even more as you move away from the router. So you might be able to watch Netflix in the living room cos there's a direct connection to the router, but watching Netflix in bed on the a tablet from two floors away might not work as well.

The things that require most bandwidth I guess are online video games cos it's all real time and harder to buffer (again, I don't play them so I don't know). Things like Netflix are streamed but I would assume there's some buffering happening so you should easily be able to watch programmes from start to finish without a problem even if there are short drops in the connection speed.

Short story : If they're estimating that you should get 80 - 100Mbps then I don't think you'll have any issue.

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Alume »

Will Frances wrote:Run a test see what your getting...

http://www.speedtest.net
Man, you got some quality tests for ketamin too?

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Hades
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

Will Frances wrote:Run a test see what your getting...

http://www.speedtest.net
haha, on my neighbors older internet connection at the moment,
it only gave me 50Mbps, so yeah, not expecting much more than 80Mbps at all...
But no doubt that's more than good enough for my needs...

thx for that link, will no doubt check that out once I got my new own connection :)
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

Alume wrote:
Will Frances wrote:Run a test see what your getting...

http://www.speedtest.net
Man, you got some quality tests for ketamin too?
JJ, you live in Holland and you got problems finding quality drugs ?
:shock: :D
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Monreal »

My ex girlfriend had a 75 Mbps connection and his laptop could get around 60-65 with the wifi. We never had an issue with buffering.

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Hades »

@ alume :
I'd have less problems believing you when you just said you live in Berlin and you got problems finding a quality DJ
;)
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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by terryfalafel »

Monreal wrote:My ex girlfriend had a 75 Mbps connection and his laptop could get around 60-65 with the wifi. We never had an issue with buffering.
My grandma smoked 60 cigarettes a day and ate lard sandwiches for every meal and she lived until she was 137!

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Alume »

Hades wrote:
Alume wrote:
Will Frances wrote:Run a test see what your getting...

http://www.speedtest.net
Man, you got some quality tests for ketamin too?
JJ, you live in Holland and you got problems finding quality drugs ?
:shock: :D
Nah man, I dont brag often but when its comes to dope I seriously got the best shit in town. From 7 types op acid to designer drugs that give you all kind of strokes.

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Will Frances »

terryfalafel wrote:
Monreal wrote:My ex girlfriend had a 75 Mbps connection and his laptop could get around 60-65 with the wifi. We never had an issue with buffering.
My grandma smoked 60 cigarettes a day and ate lard sandwiches for every meal and she lived until she was 137!

Hah hah hah hah a

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Re: fucking cable tv and internet

Post by Lost to the Void »

With netflix you can add things to your watch list. Like a faveourites.
So you catalogue what you want to watch.
Some stuff will go away due to licensing, but it always tells you when then license is up, normally 2 months before they take it down.
Stuff generally sits on netflix forever or 3 months minimum.
Generally stuff that does get taken down gets renewed and goes back up after the date (after they renegotiate the license with whoever) as "streaming again"

As a whole you don't have to worry about missing stuff.
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