Cable vs Couchtuner - missed expectations

I have to admit Amazon is starting to piss me off. I ordered the $107, cable modem, WiFi router, and was expecting standard, cheap shipping on Monday the 25th. They shipped on Friday the 29th, four days later. With the weekend, it will take a week to arrive on Monday, Feb. 1st.

I understand Amazon wants me to pay extra for faster shipping or sign-up for a recurring charge, "Amazon Prime." But a four day delay getting the package to the shipper is too overt. I'm almost thinking about buying another item on a Monday and canceling the order on a Thursday before it ships . . . just to piss them off.

Once the modem arrives, I'll contact "WOW" and arrange installation and start of service. Then I'll pickup a small-storage, Apple TV and run head-to-head against the cable service. If the wife masters it, problem solved.

Bob Wilson

 

Ok,

• 30 mbs cable modem - in working great, retiring T-Mobile hotspot soon.
• Apple TV - working, a little awkward but usable
• Harmony 350 remote - no 'macro' capability but functional with some unexplained delay
• Called to reduce cable service - 'Yes' and then they added another $10 to the 'cheap' package. I wanted basic, cheapest!

To Do List:

1. Need ability to switch inputs on TV between antenna and HDMI with 'macro' enabled control. Currently the Harmony 350 has only one 'advanced' button and the only options are how many things it turns on or off.
2. Need to understand some delays - Apple TV seems slow to responds sometimes to Harmony 350 remote. I may just leave the Apple TV on 24x7 and just switch TV input and ON/OFF the TV.
3. Investigate other streaming services perhaps on HDMI-2 or composite input.

I get the impression you need to know what you want to watch on the Apple TV service as I don't see any 'sample' or 'preview' options. This would be very desirable as we often find new content by 'surfing' the cable channels. This may be something that YouTube provides which is why the second HDMI-2 makes sense driven by a laptop.

Also, the Harmony 350 still has too many buttons. I want a simple control, few buttons, that seamlessly transitions between different sources.

Bob Wilson

 

My wife and I are both using flip-phones and T-Mobile, pre-paid, $100/year, each, which gives 1,000 minutes. My wife's cell phone is 'Bluetooth' connected to four, wireless phones in the house:

• bedroom
• bathroom
• couch TV room
• lamp table TV room

FYI, I took the cable box out of the 'Harmony 350' remote this morning and taking it out of the house this morning. The reason is this insulting e-mail response to my request for basic cable:

Here’s a summary of your updated services

Name: Robert Wilson
XFINITY TV
Digital Starter Includes access to On Demand Programming (where available) $65.95
Starz $12.00
Other Charges & Credits
Broadcast TV Fee $5.00
Regional Sports Fee $3.00
Taxes, Surcharges & Fees $4.94
Estimated Total* $90.89
Your next bill may vary a bit from the estimate above due to one-time fees and pro-rated charges.​

Yeap, it will vary a bit.

Bob Wilson

 

Lessons learned:

• WOW! cable modem bill - one obvious mistake, I have my own Netgear N600 yet the bill showed a $10/mo. equipment rental. That one was easy as the billing clerk quickly realized it was not one of their own. Then came the:
  • $30/mo. for 30 mbs - expected
  • $25/mo. for 5 mbs - Oh, this is the base that gets expanded by $30/mo. to get an additional 25 mbs. Hummmmm. Not a problem, yet.
• YouTube App - broken beyond belief: it keeps telling me to "register" with a dead "youtube.com/activate" and enter "EMAM-NQWR". The URL does not exist to Apple TV nor my Mac browsers.
  • Google has deployed a broken APP but AppleTV is not blameless. I tried to delete the APP but it won't. I have an outstanding call to Apple Support where I will ask them to delete the APP.
• 'SIRI' saved the day! - I asked for "Real Time" and it navigated to HBO and the full program! I could not be happier because YouTube is so broken. F*ck you Google YouTube!

Now I haven't tried to teach my wife how to use Siri and AppleTV. I have to understand how to use it first. But so far, I've been impressed.

Bob Wilson

​

 

We're good to go with a reasonable antenna. ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and FOX with their sub channels. We are in a valley and only get the others on a cloud bounce/bend.

Bob Wilson

 

One thing not easily found is the bandwidth needed to achieve acceptable performance so I set up a series of benchmarks:

A. No Delay - 3.8-4.0 MB/sec (30.4-32 Mb/sec) steady

Cable_Modem ( (WiFi N)) MacBook ((100BaseT)) MacTV ((HDMI)) TV​

B. No Delay - 1.35-2.8 MB/sec (10.8-22.4 Mb/sec) variable

Cable_Modem ((WiFi B)) MacBook ((100BaseT)) MacTV ((HDMI)) TV​

C. 1 Hr 10 min - 193-201 KB/sec (1.54-1.61 Mb/sec)

T-Mobile HotSpot ((USB)) MacBook ((100BaseT)) MacTV ((HDMI)) TV​

D. 1 Hr 12 min - 193-200 KB/sec (1.54-1.6 Mb/sec)

T-Mobile HotSpot ((WiFi)) MacBook ((100BaseT)) MacTV ((HDMI)) TV​

E. Excessive drops - half-duplex 10BaseT

Cable_Modem ((WiFi N)) MacBook ((10BaseT)) MacTV ((HDMI)) TV​

Currently, I'm in an initial, promotional for 30 mbs internet. When it ends, I can reduce bandwidth to 5 mbs and see if the performance is acceptable. In the meanwhile, I'll look at ways to speed limit the MacBook interface to test if the 5 mbs rate provides acceptable performance

Bob Wilson