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Internet surrounds our daily life. It’s central to paying bills, finding a job, working from home and communicating with others. Even our smart appliances require connectivity. As internet technology moves at accelerating speeds, it makes it hard, if not wholly impossible, to grasp all the particulars. Enter Sail Internet who is bringing a different type of internet service to the those who feel they are paying too much for too little.

Sail Internet is helping to introduce fixed wireless technology to an audience who hungers for better, faster and more affordable service. Fixed wireless broadband represents a new way to connect, marking a fresh and compelling example of how emergent technology, shifting media usage and the rise of insurgent companies like Sail Internet have jolted the industry. To understand the future, we need to take a look back at our online journey.

The Early Days 

The internet, as we know it today, really took hold in the public imagination around 1994 with the advent of the first consumer browsers by Netscape and Microsoft. By 2000, only half of the country was using the internet. Unlike radio and television, the internet had to overcome tremendous social trepidation and public skepticism. For most people, the only way to access the internet was through a dial-up service that used existing phone lines. It was a frustrating experience—slow, unresponsive and maddening.

Higher Speeds

As a whole, the United States has lagged behind most other countries in internet speed. As internet use expanded, so has our need for speed. Most internet providers started out as phone companies, giving them control of one of the only physical lines that serve each household. The other popular home internet service comes from cable companies. Faster broadband technology has replaced dial-up by providing a permanent connection that is always on.

Can You Hear Me Now?

For most people, using only a cell phone for internet service is insufficient. A small screen makes it more of a challenge to perform everyday tasks while data plans may restrain your usage and a cellular connection will limit your speed.

Lost in Space

For some, a satellite connection is their only option to be online. When you connect, your data is transmitted to and from a satellite that is orbiting above the Earth, resulting in slow and sluggish service. Don’t confuse a large satellite dish with a smaller fixed wireless device whose connection never goes into outer space.

Fiber Fizzles

Google Fiber was the first significant, if isolated, action to alter the landscape by deploying fiber optic technology that converts electrical signals made up of data to light and pushes that through transparent glass fibers. Google promised speeds up to a gigabit, or 1,000 Mbps. The process of either licensing or installing such an extensive fiber network is logistically, technically and politically complex and the rollout has been stymied by rising costs.

So, What is Fixed Wireless?

Fixed wireless is a form of high-speed internet access that connects fiber to end users by operating between two fixed points through wireless signals instead of through cables. Sail Internet’s specially placed antennas beam the broadband transmission directly to subscribers, either individuals or businesses, typically covering a distance of less than a few miles.

Developed originally as a high-speed option for those who live outside cities or municipalities, Sail Internet is using fixed wireless to bypass cable and telecoms to offer fast, secure and affordable service in dense suburban population

This technology is not dependent upon satellite feeds or local telephone service. The point-to-point transmission happens in the air. There is no complex or costly laying of fiber networks. Fixed wireless broadband represents a new way to connect, marking a fresh and compelling example of how emergent technology and the rise of insurgent companies like Sail Internet have jolted the industry.

Fixed wireless points toward a new direction that offers a legitimate alternative to a marketplace often held hostage by entrenched telecom duopolies. One industry estimate says worldwide more than 150 million households will adopt fixed wireless technology by the year 2022. Sail is paving the way to that future.

My service provider has a data cap buried in the fine print of my bill. For the big internet service providers, the cap is typically in the 250 to 300 GB range. But what does this really mean? How do I translate this data cap into something meaningful, like hours of video streamed?

Until we cut the cord on our expensive pay TV package, I basically ignored the data cap. And many internet providers do not enforce data caps for customers that also subscribe to a TV package. But now I have become concerned that we might exceed this cap and trigger warning letters and extra fees. 

The data itself costs my internet provider close to nothing. Of course my internet provider has costs, but total data usage is not really one of them. Data caps are purely a way for the big internet providers to maintain their overall profit margins when more and more of their customers are becoming cord-cutters and avoiding costly Pay TV bundles. 

So how can I turn hours of viewing into gigabytes of data usage? It turns out that bandwidth usage varies significantly based on the streaming service, the video quality of the stream, and the specific streamed content. For example, video content with high levels of action would typically use more bandwidth. Netflix is the most commonly used streaming service, so this seemed like a good place to start. Netflix does a nice job of breaking down their data usage on their website at https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

For Netflix, HD content takes up to 3 gigabytes (GB) per hour while newer Ultra-HD content displayed by new 4k Ultra-High Definition TVs takes up to 7 GB per hour. Over time, streaming video is becoming more bandwidth efficient but this is a very slow process.

Of course, watching free Over-the-air HDTV is one way to completely bypass any data usage restrictions imposed by your internet provider.

Summary

As streaming continues to grow, the big Cable and Telco internet providers are introducing data caps. Customers who exceed this artificial limit will pay additional fees. With a cap of 250 GB per month, you can stream 2.5-3 hours per day of HD Netflix content, and only about 1 hour per day of Ultra HD. So doing the math, it appears the big internet providers are placing their bandwidth caps exactly in a place to punish cord cutting, and this will get worse with a new 4k Ultra-HD TV. Bottom line: it pays for cord cutters to find an internet provider that does not impose a data cap.

After looking at our $111 Pay TV bill for the past few months, I finally became disgusted enough to unleash myself from our mid-tier TV bundle (two TV’s, a DVR and no premium channels). The most irritating part for me is that we only watched a handful of the 200+ channels in the package, but my service provider only offered the channels that I wanted as part of a bundled package. Possibly I could have called and complained to get a promotional discount for some period of time, but I didn’t want to play that game anymore. We’ve been a continuous customer of our current service provider at the same address for 20 years. But in the current world of Pay TV, the longest-term and most loyal customers get the worst deal! Even before cancelling the Pay TV package, the rest of my family had shifted towards the convenience of streaming. Aside for a few sports broadcasts (mostly from the main networks), I was the only family member to even wade through the complicated program guide and DVR programming menus, and the dizzying array of unwanted cable channels.

Streaming Video

By the time I finally cancelled our Pay TV bundle, we were already watching Netflix on our Samsung Smart TV, and watching “free” Amazon Prime Video (free to existing Amazon Prime customers) using the Amazon Fire TV Stick. We were also paying for a significant amount of on-demand video content from my TV provider’s set top box. Now without my Pay TV package and set top box, I needed to add extra streaming services and find a fully featured streaming video device. The Samsung Smart TV’s streaming feature was a good place to start for my family, but the user interface is a bit clunky and the streaming options are fairly limited. When we purchased the Fire TV Stick, we were looking for the cheapest way to watch the free Amazon Prime Video content. It’s a feature upgrade compared to the built-in streaming functions on the Samsung TV, and a bargain for what we are getting. But in retrospect, maybe we should have purchased the fully featured Amazon Fire TV. The Fire TV Stick does not have built-in voice search and doesn’t support wired Ethernet connections (only Wi-Fi). But more importantly, the Fire TV Stick appears to have trouble streaming action sports. TV shows and movies seem fine, but full-field sports viewing during action plays is jittery and painful to watch. I’ve confirmed a “Very Good” Wi-Fi signal, so I doubt this issue is Wi-Fi related. The Amazon Fire TV Stick must not have enough processing power to deal with simultaneous fast motion by many small objects (balls, players, referees, etc.)? I confirmed this with multiple streaming apps on the Fire TV Stick, and compared head-to-head against another streaming device (more on that later). Possibly the fully featured Fire TV performs better? I hope so. The Fire TV Stick is also very Amazon-centric, which is not ideal for my Apple-centric family. But overall, the Fire TV Stick is a great low-cost way to stream the free Amazon Prime Video. But before picking a fully featured streaming device, I first needed to focus on the streaming services. At the end of the day, the video content is the first priority. Check out our Sail Internet Cord Cutter’s Guide to Streaming Video Services and Devices.

Step 1: Pick Your Streaming Video Services

First, I subscribed to Hulu for $7.99 per month and continued our Netflix subscription. Hulu is a good value. I can access much of the content that I previously watched with my Pay TV package for a fraction of the cost, although with some delay – usually one day. I started with a 2-week free trial. And if I pay a little more, I can watch without any commercials. For now, I’m fine with a few ads. I find the Hulu ads to be less irritating that the ads on broadcast TV. For some reason, CBS is not part of the Hulu package and CBS instead has its own $6.99 per month streaming service. I can’t justify the additional cost, especially since CBS blocks streaming for most of the live sports and does not allow on-demand streaming of sports or special events like the Grammy’s. So for now, no streaming of CBS at my house. But CBS is still available for free over-the-air! More on that later…. Hulu is fantastic. But it doesn’t provide access to any sports, which is what caused me to investigate the Sling TV streaming service from Dish. Sling TV provides live streaming access to ESPN, along with live streaming of some additional cable channels that I’m unlikely to watch. Sling TV is pricey at $20/month, but it’s the only way that I’ve found for a cord cutter to watch ESPN. I would gladly pay $5 to $10/month for ESPN alone, but that is not currently an option. The bundle lives on, at least for now!
Amazon Fire TV Stick (left) and Apple TV, 4th generation (right)
 

Step 2: Pick Your Streaming Device 

With a clear understanding of my preferred streaming video services, it was time to choose a fully featured streaming media device. Given the problems I identified with the Amazon Fire TV Stick, it became clear that I wanted a fully featured streaming device with sufficient processing horsepower for live sports, a voice-controlled user interface and other features like a wired Ethernet interface (instead of only Wi-Fi).

There are a number of good streaming devices on the market, for example devices from Roku, Amazon and TiVo. But in my case, the new 4th generation Apple TV made the most sense. It’s a complete redesign of the Apple TV product line and somewhat of a premium product at $149, but like most Apple products it’s easy-to-use and fully featured. The streaming video quality is excellent, and the voice controlled remote control is fantastic. No trouble streaming live sports.

Given my family’s already heavy use of Apple products, the new Apple TV was a natural fit for us. it is well-integrated with other Apple products, such as iPhone, iPad and MacBook using AirPlay, and uses iTunes for on-demand video content and has an App store. The Apple TV is a nice complement to the Apple product line.

The 4th generation Apple TV already supports Hulu, Netflix, ESPN Now and a growing list of streaming apps. Given Apple’s strong position with apps for iPhone and iPad, I suspect Apple TV will eventually offer a very rich set of streaming apps and possibly their own video service. Sling TV does not yet support the new Apple TV device, but Sling customers can use the Apple TV’s ESPN app (authenticated with a Sling TV account). The video quality for live sports is excellent. And in the interim, we can still use the Amazon Fire TV Stick in case we want to stream any of the other channels offered by Sling TV.

Summary

Using Sling TV and Hulu is saving $83/month as compared to my previous Pay TV package. We still have Netflix, so this doesn’t change the cost equation. And I know that free over-the-air broadcast HDTV is still an option for some live local sports. This leaves some spare $$ for occasional on-demand purchases (which we were already doing!) and lots of overall savings.

I am using two streaming media devices: the low-end Amazon Fire TV Stick to stream the free Amazon Prime content, and the 4th generation Apple TV for everything else. In total, I’ve spent less than $200 on streaming media devices. So the payback period is relatively short compared to my $83/month savings.

Frankly, I prefer the freedom of streaming. Even if there were no cost savings, I am happy to divorce myself from my complicated Pay TV package with a DVR and hundreds of channels that I will never watch.