Another thing to consider is a wireless internet provider (WISP). After suffering with dial up for years waiting on cable or DSL to reach me, a WISP finally started service in my area. Although I've only had my wireless service for a few days, so far I am very impressed. I appear to get faster service than the LAN at my employer. WISPs use a radio signal to send the data to a small antenna at your house. The WISP will provide a modem and from there is very similar to cable or DSL. WISPs are generally cheaper and more reliable than satellite internet (no rain fade)and can be much faster. For TV, satellite might be your only option, but both DirecTV and DishNetwork offer competitive plans that should work as long as you have an unobstructed view to the satellite. There are usually plenty of good first time subscriber offers available from both companies in which you can get receivers for up to 4 rooms for free or with one DVR for around $50. The link below has a lot of good info on WISPs and a link to a list of WISPs. Here is a link that might be useful: Wireless ISP Users Chat

I was in a bad financial situation several years back and cable TV became a definite unaffordable. I tried to ween off from it by going from the $45/mo "basic" to the $15/mo very basic that, as I recall had Food channel, WGN and maybe TBS or something like that. After about a month or two I figured out it wasn't worth $5/mo per channel so I dropped it. I've debated about getting Dish, but I am happy with simply broadcast. I enjoy the morning news. I enjoy the reruns. There's a few broadcast shows I really enjoy and the PBS stations here are very good. They have a wide variety and are very progressive and I watch them a lot. They give me a better weather channel than cable. And I have a lot of tapes of movies and shows that I enjoy so I can have something to watch if I really want to. When I'm out of town and staying in a motel, I used to look forward to having cable again. I don't find much on there I really like that well! Now there is one thing though, the high speed internet. That has me thinking, but around here it would be about $35/mo for the cheapest broadband by the time you get all the taxes and fees on it, so I'll stay with my $5/mo dialup. I do like the internet. I like to learn things. I like to share things. I like to keep up on the weather and stuff. So the internet is important to me, and it also is so much entertainment that I can turn off the TV much more easily. A year and a half ago the power went out for a week. If I had broadband I'd probably be without internet. I have dialup and a laptop and I had internet for entertainment, news, weather and communication. I charged the laptop in my van and it was great. Also have a battery TV so I could watch the local news and a tv show or two that I enjoyed. Health keeps me indoors more and more and unable to do the physical activities I used to enjoy. So I'm probably more dependant upon the tv/internet/computer than many. But I know many who are far worse!

Yes, SW, we agree. When you have multiple users on any kind of data sharing system, it slows down. It's often not perceptible in real time, but it shows up as everything from ticks to pauses during HD streaming. I mentioned the ethernet connection as the most robust and stable, not as a necessity. It's the thing to compare the wi-fi to, given the same device/configuration. But that's assuming a short wire. I used to have to run a 100' ethernet cable up the stairs and through the maze every so often, before the double services, and it was noticeably slower than the 5' ones. :) LOL! Lukkiirish, I don't know about being a personal Google, but I often look things up. Like I looked up what my connection speeds were for this discussion. And why I didn't say what I actually pay for telecom because I'd have to parse too many bills to come up with a number. I can say that it seems to be in line with what others are paying for the bits I could compare off the top of my head. I do know a little about a lot of things and a lot about a few things, and I'm pretty good at researching the rest. :)

Last year the then-Oceanic/Time/Warner cable box could be controlled for volume by its remote. Before we arrived this month, new owner Spectrum (Charter) rewired with "digital" cable. They provided a new box and matching remote for the BR box, but left the old box and its remote in the LR. When we couldn't get that remote to control for volume, Spectrum provided a new remote, but not a new cable box. Nope. Still couldn't change volume. Today we will unhook the LR HD-DVR cable box and take it and the new-style remote into the Spectrum office. We are dropping the DVR service. We will get a non-DVR cable box -- and, I hope, a remote that will control volume. (Yeah, sure.) I foresee that we will have to re-do ALL of this if/when we replace the current TV. (sigh) artemis and Bob -- Most of our guests are like you. They are here to enjoy the island, not sit and watch "Days of Our Lives" (or whatever soaps exist today). We rent both via VRBO and an agency. (We can bump their bookings.) I see other people's ads that stress the GIANT TV setups; evidently a larger daily requirement than I'd have thought. You can see our condo and our competition -- 1BR 2Bath Ocean View at Maui Kamaole in South Kihei. I want to get the TV situation settled before calling a photographer for new photos of the condo. (We are the "Many Happy Returns" ad.) raee -- We are getting programming as part of the deal. At one time we had to pay extra for HD; not now. chloecat -- What is an Amazon Prime Box, please? I think we need cable just to get reception here; no OTA signal, and we are prohibited from installing a dish.