Cable TV these days come with all sorts of bundles that include internet, voice and TV channels and streaming on-demand pay per view. But what do you really need and how should you choose?
This guide will walk you through picking the right package or a-la-carte part of the service that you need. Let's begin.
If you watch live sports, a package that includes channels that cover your favorite league is absolutely indispensable. These channels will cover the games in real time as they are happening. Real-time is arguably is the best way to watch baseball, football and basketball, since no one wants to know the score before the game starts.
If you like to skip from channel to channel and don't really have favorite shows, then a package from one of the big cable providers like Spectrum TV. You'd generally start with about 125 channels and upwards. Although you still have to pay separately from premium channels like HBO, Showtime etc. Spectrum TV is a good choice since they also have a TV app you can use to watch TV on your phone or tablet.
Internet in the home is an absolute requirement these days. Like electricity, water and air. So you need to have it, unless you're an absolute luddite.
But what speed to get?
If you're just browsing the web and watching youtube, then the lowest speed package is more than enough. No need to waste money on something higher.
For example, most providers will start off at around 25Mbps and up. Just so you know to stream netflix in 1080p will only need around 4Mbps so you are well above what you need.
Some providers like Spectrum Internet starts off at 100Mbps download speeds.
If you're on Zoom, Google Meet or other video conferencing video apps all the time, the basic package download speeds will still be enough. At this point, you should be more aware of upload speeds though, since you have to upload video.
So when deciding on speeds, pick a package with higher upload speeds.
If you create digital content for a living like videos or giant photo files, then you need the highest speeds you can get.
Again, focus on upload speeds. If your internet provider does not list upload speeds, call them to find out. If they refuse to say, then pick another provider.
There is no point in spending the time to get a new provider with poor upload speed these days. For this kind of purpose, you do need at least 50Mbps upload bandwidth. 100Mbps is actually better.
Like a lot of people these days, you probably just deal with streaming services such at HBO Max, Apple TV, Netflix and Youtube.
And truth be told, these kind of cover all the bases.
For the cord cutters among us, pick the internet only packages and chose higher speeds only if you have multiple family members streaming content on their own devices simultaneously in the same household.
If it's just you, pick the lower speeds to save costs.
And remember, do not only consume content. Create some as well!
