Cutting the Cord???

[Wingsley]

Lately, when talking to a friend on the phone who has been a pro at computer sales, IT, configuring systems for business and other IT consulting for over 35 years, it seemed he was relying on cellular for not only his voice telephony but also for his data.

I wanted to ask about this.

Is it now reasonable to look to cellular as a way to “cut the cord”, relying on it for voice, data (internet) and TV (streaming), all in one, for one bill? Has it evolved enough to be reliable in terms of connection? How much does it cost to have all that funneled through cellular? Is it a better deal to do that?

What about this talk of telecom big biz outfits playing tricks on customers, “throttling back” their data streams after so many MB or GB per month? Would you stream Hulu or Netflix over cellular? Does that actually work?

Do you have to have your cellphone in the room with you all the time? How paranoid do you get about where your cellphone is at all times?

Do you run a business through a cellular connection?

The only reason I ask about this is that, ten years ago, our household dumped Atlantic Broadband for cable TV, tried satellite for a few years, then axed them as well. For several years, most video consumption has been via free public streaming and occasional iTunes downloads or DVDs/Bluray.

Since then, we've become unhappy with our landline-based phone and DSL internet reliability. Plus we want to see about streaming TV and maybe getting an arial for (limited) terrestrial TV.

I'd like to read about other folks' experiences.

The reason I have avoided considering this until now is because I worked in the construction business in a rural area for many years and often found cellular signal lacking while on the road. I would, however, expect cellular to be much better at home, and there are new cell towers popping up all over.

Comments?

 

[Juicy Box]

What option for voting would be cellular for voice, but little bit of data use, and wired broadband for majority of data?
[doublepost=1506138324][/doublepost]I think everyone situation is different, so there won't be a definitive best data solution.

If you are single, that uses a little bit of data, and has only a few devices, and don't mind the inconveniences of not having a dedicated internet for your home, then I think cellular might be a way to go.

But, if you have a family, use large amounts of data, have many different devices, cellular might not work out.

My example would be my very stream-heavy family. We have many different devices, many of which are in use at the same time. We have access to both fiber and cable ISPs, and we switch ISPs regularly to get the best rates. We do not have traditional cable TV, but only stream Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, and some others.

We use about 4-6GBs a month of mobile data, and at home we use about 800-1TB a data a month.

Using cellular for my family would be ridiculously silly, but I know some single people that do it. I am not sure how you would even use only cellular for a family.