How to save money on internet plans

[cheapass]

In my area, Time Warner has a $15/month internet plan that offers 3MB down/1MB up. Most Mustachians are cable cord-cutters and rely on some type of video streaming service for entertainment which pushes the limits of this 3MB download speed. It is entirely possible to watch streaming HD content, without buffering interruptions, on a 3MB connection though - you just have to set up QoS (Quality of Service) on your router.

What QoS does is allocates bandwidth priority to your streaming devices - your Roku, your Playstation 3, Amazon Fire, whatever network device you use to stream video. Those devices will get priority access to your bandwidth, typically 95% or more. This way whenever you're streaming a video and your phone wants to update Facebook, it doesn't drag down half of your bandwidth and cause the video to skip. Instead, your phone would be throttled to a low speed.

QoS is available on many routers on the market today, as well as on 3rd party firmware such as DD-WRT. I would highly recommend using it and not paying for unnecessary bandwidth.

[CheapskateWife]

Interesting...going to take a look at our router at home and see if this is an option.  We had noticed some buffering with our streaming services over the holidays and didn't think to check and see if all the phones suddenly at home at the same time might be the culprit.

[Daley]

It is entirely possible to watch streaming HD content, without buffering interruptions, on a 3MB connection though - you just have to set up QoS (Quality of Service) on your router.

Or you could just dial back the quality settings to 480p SD quality or lower and not have to do any of that nonsense and still have bandwidth left over when streaming video.

HD quality video doesn't improve the storytelling, so you really don't need it.

[cheapass]

You are correct, however if you happen to have a newer 720 or 1080 TV, it is nice to enjoy the higher resolution. Even nicer if you don't have to pay for super-fast internet!

[punter9]

It is entirely possible to watch streaming HD content, without buffering interruptions, on a 3MB connection though - you just have to set up QoS (Quality of Service) on your router.

Or you could just dial back the quality settings to 480p SD quality or lower and not have to do any of that nonsense and still have bandwidth left over when streaming video.

HD quality video doesn't improve the storytelling, so you really don't need it.

why on earth would you want to do scale back?  QOS is simple, cost effective, and stabilizes your network.  If you want to cater to the peaks and valleys go ahead I am sure it works, but you are leaving video quality or $ on the table (your choice). 

[Daley]

why on earth would you want to do scale back?  QOS is simple, cost effective, and stabilizes your network.  If you want to cater to the peaks and valleys go ahead I am sure it works, but you are leaving video quality or $ on the table (your choice).

I'm not saying QoS isn't useful, but it's a bit more technically difficult to manage properly for the average Joe Sixpack - especially compared to just setting video streaming to a lower quality that doesn't use more than half of the recommended 3Mbps. Also, these are the MMM forums. TV is NOT a necessity of life, and HD video is the epitome of hedonic adaptation. If you want to go whine about "blurry" video, you have the wrong forums friend.

[deborah]

Most Mustachians are cable cord-cutters and rely on some type of video streaming service for entertainment which pushes the limits of this 3MB download speed. .

Most Mustashians? I'm not sure. We have never had TV and don't have a video streaming service. I'm sure we're not alone.

[HipGnosis]

So how about a link to a tutorial on setting up QoS?!?

[HipGnosis]

In Milw., $15 only gets you 2Mb...

[withbatedbreath]

The cheapest plan I can find in NYC fast enough to support netflix is $35 and doesn't include the mandatory modem rental.  Has anyone had any better luck?

[coolistdude]

This is a good deal. In Northern California I pay $15 (and $7 fees) for 3Mbps on Consolidated Communications (formerly Surewest). We don't seem to have Time Warner around here but I haven't sought them out.