Streaming...is it the value that it's cracked up to be?

In case you've been away from Planet Earth for awhile, there's a major shift in the entertainment paradigm in progress, away from satellite and cable TV subscriptions and towards streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu (to name two) using your broadband Internet Connection. The apparent reason is economics with Netflix offering their download service currently for under $8 a month.

This article won't delve much into the technology of the process; instead it will focus on enlightening the reader about the economic issues surrounding the current Netflix / Hulu business models and the long term trends that will affect subscribers to these services.

Overview
There is a direct correlation between the advent of Netflix and the demise of Blockbuster Video. Netflix's business model provides a product on demand and a very attractive price just $7.99 a month. That's less than renting from BlockBuster or Red Box and far more convenient.

How can Netflix do that, you ask? Well, for starters, they have a cost of delivery which is miniscule, they have the advantage of being web based with no "bricks and mortar" facilities or store employee costs. Their delivery cost is the fractional royalty paid to the owner of the media and the monthly cost of a fat internet pipe. That competitive advantage allowed them to undercut Blockbuster and deliver the product much faster and more easily (from a consumer point of view).

But, are the competitive advantages real and sustainable? Consumers got an inkling that something might be going on in "NetFlixLandia" in October, when, without warning, Netflix attempted unbundle DVD delivery from streaming and alter their pricing structure raising prices overall to consumers...Why do you suppose they did that? They lost immediately 800,000 subscribers!

The answer to that question can be found in NetFlix's guidance to shareholders (NFLX) last quarter. In a nutshell, Netflix announced that starting in Q1 of 2012 that it would be "unprofitable on a global basis."

One of the reasons for that projection is that Netflix is having a devastatingly negative impact on the Internet. Currently, Netflix and the other streaming services are consuming 58% of the available bandwidth in the USA. The kicker is, they are not paying a nickel for that bandwidth and therein lies the flaw in their business model. The circuits that transport NetFlix's content are being saturated to their maximum, forcing carriers and ISPs alike to buy larger and larger circuits costing a whole lot more money with no offsetting increase in revenue. So carriers and ISPs will look to those who are responsible for the saturation and seek increased payments from them. Netflix saw this coming and tried to head off the problem by raising prices, but, that move backfired badly. Ultimately, Netflix and the other streaming content providers will have to raise their prices or go under because the transport industry is no longer going to give streaming providers and their customers a "free Ride".

Unsustainable Business Model
The Internet, as we knew it until 2009, was principally used interactively. People browsed to a web page, paused, read, then clicked and browsed to another page, paused, read etc. The downloading that was going on then was short (in comparison to a full length movie) file downloads lasting a few minutes.

The pricing structure of the Internet (including the wholesale costs paid by transnational carriers for really fat fiber circuits and ISPs for not so fat fiber circuits) was translated into a consumer retail price based upon those costs and utilization models. But, with the advent of streaming, the Internet changed from a transactional based network to something more akin to an oil or gas pipeline network, with the flow rate jumping over 300% in less than 12 months.

Evolution of Communications Technology
There isn't a whole lot of difference between the Electrical Grid of the USA, or the Water Systems of the USA and the Internet. When the demand becomes excessive, the flow dries up...Electrical brownouts, water curfews are imposed, and your Internet performance becomes slow. Electrical and Water Utilities came up with ways to tax those who demand more than the average user long ago. Those who demand more and consume pay more. Consumers are very familiar with this pricing model. Take gasoline for the family car; the more you drive, the more fuel you use and the more money that fuel costs you. Or take food for an example; eat more, buy more and pay more. This isn't about greed. It's about paying for what you use so that the providers of what you consume are compensated fairly and adequately, enabling the providers to meet the demands of their consumers. It's Capitalism 101!

Another way of explaining what's happening is that when the Internet was spawned back in the 70's (yes, my friends, the precursor to the Internet called DARPAnet (military) and Vnet (IBM) were being used as early as 1969), the content was text only. Then along came the Macintosh in 1984 which introduced the first commercially successful graphical user interface (GUI). The advent of the GUI changed communications content forever. So, as the Internet evolved and became a consumer accessible network, the pricing models were simple because the content was trivial and miniscule in comparison to what transits the Internet today. So, as the content has evolved, so has the technology and so must the pricing models in order to fund the use of the technology.

Something's Got to Give
Streaming businesses, taken as a class of Internet content providers, are placing a dramatically larger demand on the Internet than any other class of content providers. It follows then, that the carriers who transport streaming traffic must be able to recover the cost of transport by charging the content providers for the right to send their traffic across the carrier circuits which comprise the Internet. If you want to ship something by UPS, you expect to pay for the cost of the transportation and delivery, right? But, the current Internet pricing model doesn't provide a way for this to occur. Hence, there is an inevitable change coming and Netflix is warning the market that these changes may make it unprofitable going forward, unless they can raise their prices to consumers to support their increased costs.

That change is coming at both ends of the streaming pipeline. At the source (Netflix end), the transnational carriers are going to charge Streaming Content providers (like Netflix) a fee for consuming 58% of their bandwidth. In the middle, ISPs who are forced to have to buy significantly larger fiber pipes to carry the traffic being demanded by the consumers who want to engage in real-time streaming movies and videos, will also have to be able to recover those increased costs. And that will affect some consumers, those who create the demand by streaming content in real-time. Since they use a disproportionate amount of the the ISPs available resources and create congestion by doing so all at the same time, these consumers are going to pay more for the amount of bandwidth that they consume, and more than those consumers who either do not stream content or who do so during Off-Peak hours.

The metamorphosis of billing practices has already begun. AT&T and Verizon have put bandwidth caps on the amount of bandwidth that can be consumed, eliminating unlimited data. ISPs all over the nation are doing the same. The caps are generally quite reasonable, and are only exceed by a small percentage of customers, those who stream movies every night or who have their children and the parents all streaming different content at the same time. Once the cap is met, the consumer is charged an additional fee for additional content, somewhere around $2 per each additional 6 gigs (1 movie). Over the course of 2012, most, if not all, ISPs will move to this form of billing.

How Can Consumers Hold Costs Down & Still Enjoy Movies
The root cause of the excessive demand problem is that streaming as we know it from Netflix, Hulu and the like is a Real-Time Event, most of which occurs between 6pm and 11pm daily during the week and most of the time on Saturday and Sunday. That means that from 6pm until 11pm every night, all of the streamers are downloading, all at the same time. But, after 11 or 12pm, the demand on the Internet dries up to less than 1/3 of the demand between 6pm-11pm. Below is a graph of AireBeam's fiber utilization. Notice the peaks and valleys!



So, there is an opportunity here. If consumers were able to download their content between midnight and 7am and store it for later viewing, several major benefits will accrue to all parties concerned:

The peak instantaneous demand on the Internet would drop dramatically meaning smaller fiber pipes (lower cost) could be used to provide the content. Lower costs along the way translate to lower consumer costs in the end.Average demand on the Internet would also drop because a 2 hour movie could be downloaded slower over 6 or 8 hours, significantly reducing the demand level.Consumers could download their content using slower speed (lower cost) connections, 2mbps instead of 4mbps or mbps, saving $10-$20 per monthSince the consumer is downloading during "Off Peak" hours, in most cases the content downloaded would NOT count towards the cap, meaning more movies every month at no additional cost.

How to Download Off PeakLike all forms of technology, multiple solutions for downloading and recording for later viewing exist. They differ in complexity and in cost. We're going to look at the most consumer friendly (and it turns out least costly) solution first.

Ever so quietly, Dish Networks recently bought the assets of BlockBuster Video. Now, when you subscribe to Dish Networks, you also receive a Blockbuster Video Pass FREE! And the pass gives you FREE access to over 100,000 titles. The basic Dish Networks Family Plan with over 55 Top Channels, is now on sale for just $19.95 a month with a one year contract. "But, $19.95 is about $12 more than I'm paying for Netflix", you say! Not so fast, Abernathy!! Take a closer look at your Total Cost!
To view standard definition content without buffering (pauses during viewing), you need a 4-6mbps connection. To view high definition content without buffering, you need at least a 6mbps connection and more is better. So, your 6mbps + connection is currently costing you about $60 a month. But, if you had a Dish Networks subscription, you could schedule your download to occur while you were sleeping on a 2 meg connection costing you only $40 a month. That $20 a month saved on your Internet connection just paid for your Dish Networks subscription! And, right now, Dish will give new customers an HD DVR for free! Here is Dish's current new customer offer:

Additional Benefits
You can say good bye to the tiresome "Buffering" Messages.  Your movie is recorded on the hard drive of your HD DVR.And, there are more benefits.You can watch your downloaded movies over and over again, as long as you don't delete the fileOnce cap based billing goes into effect, if you are a Dish Networks customer with a BlockBuster Free Pass, you will be able to download a different movie every night using Off-Peak bandwidth that doesn't count towards the cap.  So, over time, you'll save on all those over-cap fees that real-time demand streamers are going to pay!While you are watching your downloaded and stored movie (which you can watch over and over and over again as long as you don't delete it), your Internet connection is idle. So if you have kids who need to do their homework online, that idle 2 meg connection will be lightning fast! Sure, this all takes a little planning but, you can make that a family event, too.  On Sunday, sit the family down and start browsing the catalog and pick out your movies for the week.

Slightly Geekier Solution
There are a number of software based Netflix Recorders available. The most popular one is published by Audials. Using this software, you can record almost any source of streaming video or audio. You can view a tutorial about it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKeQB7aGaUw

Summary
The cable and satellite TV industries are not going to sit back and watch NetFlix take away all of their subscribers! Comcast just bought NBC Universal which gives them access to all of Universal's film vault and everything that Disney produces. Dish bought Blockbuster! And the Internet Community has no choice but to put a tax on Netflix (that is going to translate into higher Netflix monthly subscription prices) as well as to impose caps on Real-Time content download quantities (to protect the user experience for all), which will translate to still higher real-time streaming costs.

But, the Off-Peak Model, downloading during off-peak hours, storing content for later viewing, neutralizes those increased costs, translating into more value for the consumer via a community friendly, sustainable model.

Author: Gregory Friedman, Owner, AireBeam
Have a comment you'd like to send to Greg? Click HERE!

New Name and Upcoming Events

Well, we finally "bit the bullet". After years of listening to our valued customers try to say our former name, Judith and I decided it was time to rename the company. So, on September 1, 2011 we rebranded ourselves as AireBeam. The official corporate moniker is FibAire Communications, LLC d/b/a AireBeam. AireBeam really described what we do and how we do it. It is certainly easier to say and to remember. We hope that you agree.

We've been quite busy since April. We've commissioned 12 new Cell Sites increasing our coverage of Pinal County. We've also begun to reach beyond Pinal. This summer we began providing service at Saddle Mountain RV Park in Tonopah. And before November, we'll open service at Orchard Ranch RV Park in Prescott Valley.

To stay ahead of the ever increasing demand for bandwidth, AireBeam will move the network "headend" from Arizona City to Casa Grande soon. In Casa Grande we will upgrade our 155mps OC3 to a Gigabit Metropolitan Optical Ethernet circuit guaranteeing our current and future customers that we will have the bandwidth to the Internet needed for the foreseable future!

Our new Fiber circuit enables us to extend our reach beyond Pinal County. So, we have expansion construction under way in Tonopah, AZ. Our Tonopah service will cover the entire Tonopah valley floor from Palo Verde Road in the East to about 1.3 miles west of Saddle Vista Road in Tonopah.

At the same time we will launch service covering all of Buckeye, AZ. The full range of AireBeam Services will be available in Buckeye and Tonopah. If all goes well with fiber and cell site buildouts, we should be operational by the beginning of 2012, maybe sooner.

Early in 2012, we plan to develop service covering Prescott Valley initially and then Prescott. And as 2012 progresses, we expect to announce coverage in many RV Resorts throughout Arizona.

We are also planning to announce Data Center Services in Casa Grande early in 2012. We will be offering RackSpace in Casa Grande sitting directly on our Gigabit MOE Fiber. We'll also offer VMWare based Virtual Servers at our Denver Data Center only 26ms await on our Gigabit MOE FIber.

So, stay tuned...we have lots of goodies coming down the pike!!

GAF
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Net Neutrality - The Other Side of the Story

AZCI.net has built and operates a wireless ISP service that currently covers the inhabitants of about 2,500 sq miles of extremely rural Pinal County, AZ. We provide service, almost exclusively to residential customers living largely on land in unincorporated portions of the County. More than 95% of the topography that we cover is not served by the LEC (Qwest) or cable providers (COX, Comcast).

About Our Network
Our network is exclusively wireless with more than 50 cell sites, each with one or more Access Points. We install a customer premise radio / antenna device on the customer’s building which points back to the nearest cell site. We use a “microcell” technology with cell sites on approximately 4 mile centers but able to reach out 8-9 miles.

We installed a DS3 (fiber based 45mbps) circuit in February 2009. At that time, our consolidated bandwidth demand was about 25mbps at the peak time of the day (between 5pm and 11Pm GMT-7). We watched that demand grow towards the upper capacity limit of a DS3 by fall of 2009 and then placed an upgrade order for an OC3 (Fiber based 155mbps circuit) which was installed in May, 2010.

Growth Out of Balance
Our peak bandwidth demand has grown from about 30mbps on average to over 110mbps peaking at 120mbps, in less than 12 months. That’s a 4-fold increase in bandwidth demand while our customer base has grown approximately 30% as has our revenue.

What is driving this growth is Netflix, Hulu and the rest of the movie/video/audio on demand content souces. Our network management tools allow us see where the traffic comes from. At the same time, we can see that our upload bandwidth demand has remained nearly constant (which speaks to affordable movie/video on demand replacing illegal File-Sharing of copyrighted Intellectual Property, which is a good thing for all).

What This Means to Consumers
So, in a nutshell, here is the issue that the ISPs are facing:

Carrier/ISP cost of bandwidth and internal network cost of delivering that bandwidth to our customers is growing at a rate which far outstrips our gains in revenue and our ability to generate the capital necessary to upgrade our delivery networks to provide the internal capacity necessary to carry the traffic increase. Given Murphy’s law, the more bandwidth we provide the more the consumers will consume…

Net neutrality advocates that ISPs charge customers a flat fee for access which is not based upon content, type the access or the rate at which they demand it (Rate of demand is not the same as Connection Speed). Net Neutrality puts the cost of delivering movie/video on demand on the back of the Carriers/ISPs and not on the companies who supply the content and receive all of the revenue for selling the content and not on the customers who consume a disproportionate amount of bandwidth compared to the rest of the ISP's customer base. In the end, the age old 80/20 rule applies...that is, 80 percent of the resources are being consumed by 20% of the customers.

Let's Not Stifle Innovation
We are certainly supportive of new technologies which enable customers to use the Internet in new and heretofore unforseen ways. But, it is not realistic for providers of content that disproportionately consumes the bandwidth of Internet and the network delivery resources of transnational carriers and ISPs to continue to be able to escape having to pay for the bandwidth demand that they create. An analogy would be Gasoline for your car at the same price regardless of how far you live from the production facility. We all know that higher the delivery cost, the higher the cost at the pump. The problem here is that the businesses who sell the content and the consumers who demand it have both escaped having to pay for its delivery!

The bottom line is that somebody has to pay for the Internet Resources being consumed. In a network made up of Providers, Carriers, ISPs and Customers, proportionate cost sharing must occur or the whole thing will topple. The Carrier/ISP financial model based upon an Interactive Internet with a fixed price paid by consumers is no longer a viable model because the interactive use of the Internet is now only a small portion of its total use. Compare the Internet to other consumable resources that we use constantly in our daily lives: Water, Electricity, Fuel, Food...The more we use the more it costs us.

This is not your father's Internet
The Internet is an evolving resource. When it first began as ARPA.net, it was a vehicle for interchanging text messages between users. Then, graphical computer operating systems from Apple and Microsoft arrived and the content explosion began. But, it was still interactive, meaning that most users spent most of their Internet time pointing, clicking and reading. All that has changed. The Internet is becoming a flowing data delivery system where the data streaming is constant. The Internet is replacing Satellite and Cable TV as the video content delivery system.

Net Neutrality is NOT about Controlling Access
The subject of Net Neutrality is becoming a heated debate. Those favoring Net Neutrality are "selling" Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, better known as FUD, spreading a campaign that those against net neutrality are trying to censor the Internet or in someway prevent Internet users from gaining access to various types of content, or simply being greedy. If you think about it, why would Carriers/ISPs want to reduce or limit access which would throttle their business growth and revenue? Just the opposite is true because we all operate in a Free Enterprise Model. Revenue and profit growth are the cornerstones of American business.

The Evidence is right in front of our eyes!
Think about what happened to AT&T when the iPhone was delivered. The deluge of content consumed by the iPhone users sunk AT&T's network for all consumers, thereby causing consumers to scream "blue bloody hell" that AT&Ts network was terrible.

Verizon, with its introduction of the iPhone, is requiring customers to acknowledge that if they consume disproportionate amounts of bandwidth, Verizon may throttle them. That's because Verizon and the rest of the ISP community cannot not yet charge those consuming disproportionate amounts of Bandwidth more money based upon their consumption. Most people we talk to take the position, "If I want something, I'll pay for it, but, don't tell me I can't have it"..

The Constitution does not provide Internet Entitlement
Unfortunately, the Net Neutrality argument is being put forth by proponents as one where consumers are "entitled to unrestricted access and those opposed to Net Neutrality only want to control access, or censor access"..Nothing could be further from the truth. Carriers/ISPs are simply at war with providers who provide content that consumes the Carrier/ISPs network and do not want to pay their fair share.

What Happened to AT&T can happen to the Internet
Overcommitment of the Internet can and will happen unless something changes. The last IPv4 addresses were issued by ARIN on 2/4/11.

When you are contemplating change, start with this basic premise: Internet Access in a capitalistic society based upon free enterprise will flourish so long as the enterprises that provide the access can make money and invest some of that money in the continous expansion of their networks to meet the continuing demand of the customers.

One possible solution
The solution lies in a variable cost model for Internet usage that charges the consumer for the amount of bandwidth that the consumer consumes, the instantaneous demand that the consumer places on the ISP/Carrier and the type of traffic that the consumer is consuming..

This cost sharing model is not new. We all use it to pay for the electricity that powers our lives and the water that flows from our faucets and irrigates our crops etc.. Transferring this cost back onto the content providers is logistically difficult. So, ultimately, the consumers will be responsible to pay for what they consume. Now, since most of the high bandwidth consuming content is Movie/Video/Audio, the providers of this content (who are enjoying disproportionate profits because they have shifted their cost of delivering their content onto the Carriers/ISPs) are going to have to create an incentive for their customers to consume more and more of their content. Consider the current Netflix model. Pay a flat rate no matter how much you download. This model will have to change to one where each downloaded content includes a rebate to help their customer's ever increasing cost of consumption. This will have the effect of reducing the consumer's cost and shifting the delivery cost back to the Content Provider (where it belongs). The content provider can then set it's basic monthly cost high enough to cover delivery costs and the basic Free Enterprise Model will then be in effect allowing all parties, providers, carriers, ISPs, and consumers to flourish.

We invite your comments.

Sincerely,
GAF

All About WiFi - or How to Make it Sing!

Last fall, AZCI.net created public WiFi systems in three RV Resorts in Pinal County. We built the systems using the absolute state of the art technology placing access points at intervals to assure quality signals to all customers. Over the course of the season from October 2009 - May 2010 we provided service to more than 500 customers. Most gave raving reviews but a few (about 20) apparently experienced the worst of times trying to get online. This blog post is dedicated to those few customers who had such a terrible time getting online...

So, the basic rule of WiFi is that "It takes TWO to tango!"..or said another way, "When two people are shaking hands, can you really tell which one is sweating?"...

Here's the deal..The ISP builds a WiFi distribution system. The system uses Access Points that have a range of miles. The consumer arrives with his or her laptop and, sitting inside their living quarters, attempts to connect to the WiFi system. Most of the time, it works. But, sometimes, everything goes wrong and there is no connection..Why you ask...

Unlike an Ethernet cable, a WiFi connection is influenced by a host of variables. We'll try to enumerate them below:

A) Laptop Wireless Card and Software - Each brand of laptop computer is different from other brands and within the brand, each model may differ from other models.

Here's why. Each laptop brand utilizes completely different design strategies and objectives from other brands. It's as different as Chevy vs. Dodge...Then, within the brand, each build of a model utilizes different electronic components, as many variables as you can imagine.

The goal is that all of these differences should become transparent and allow any laptop built by anyone using any set of components to talk to the ISP's WiFi base station...Think about that proposition...The expectation is that the ISPs base station should be able to talk to any computer made by any manufacturer using any components at any time...Do you honestly know of any other common resource that can do that?

But, the probabilities are not as dismal as that may sound. The most common issue is that the customer's laptop radio or radio software is simply not able to communicate with the ISPs base station...The reasons are as follows:

a) The dwelling is constructed with insulation that has Aluminum Foil backing (which blocks radio waves)

b) There are more than 2 layers of Sheet Rock between the customer's computer and the ISPs Access Point..Sheet Rock is Radio Opaque..e.g. sheet rock blocks radio waves,,

c) The laptop's radio card is not putting out enough power. The distance criteria for laptop wireless cards is 100' of clear air..no obstacles..

d) The laptop's radio card software driver software is not working properly.

e) Environmental variables..not a cop-out..simply the facts..Solar Flares, RF noise from surrounding Laptops and microwave ovens (yup, they use Microwave Radio Energy on the 2.4Ghz frequency (same as WiFi) to heat food molecules.

B) Power Cures All Ills - When you are making a radio connection, you generally cannot go wrong by providing a more powerful transmitter and a more sensitive receiver.

To that end, we now stock 1,000mw USB Radio Adapters, roughly 25 times more powerful than the average laptop, to cure what ails your PC. Priced at $50 for self installation, this is a WiFi bargain. "NEVER experience WiFi withdrawls again!"

FYI. You can use these 1,000mw adapters with ANY WiFi source. So, your conection will ALWAYs rock!

Interested..Email us at support@azci.net or give us a call at 520-233-7400 (be patient re: call back)..and if you get voice mail, please leave a message...We will call you back...

Your Support Team @ AZCI.net

Vipre AntiVirus and AntiSpyware

Recently, we began recommending Vipre AntiVirus and AntiSpyware. Like many PC users, we had become disenchanted with Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro because of how significantly they slowed down our PCs and their propensity to pop up all of the time with warnings, status and advertisements.

Along came Vipre. Its claim to fame is that it is a "Lightweight" product, meaning that it doesn't take a lot of memory or CPU cycles and that it is effective, enabling it to operate transparently on your PC. So, we obtained an evaluation copy and tested it for two weeks on our Vista and XP PCs and, sure enough, Vipre seems to be everything that the publisher claims.

So, we made arrangements with the publisher to enable us to pass along to you a $2.00 savings on the already low price of $29.95. That's right! AZCI.net users can obtain a $2.00 service credit when they send us a copy of the invoice that Sunbelt Software sends when an order is placed.

Better yet, if subscribers contact AZCI.net before their subscription expires, AZCI.net will renew their license and pass along another $2.00 discount.

So, protect your PCs now! Get Vipre AntiVirus and AntiSpyware!

Internet Video

We've been checking out ways to watch movies and related media via the Internet. Netflix is pretty inexpensive but, has some real issues providing a continuous video stream without interruptions. Plus the human interface is more computer-tech like than I think the average user/customer would prefer. It requires that you have a video-interface equipped PC near your television. For those of you who have begun to assemble your "home theater systems", that means an HDMI interface card, a large hard drive and all of the rest. Seemed expensive and cumbersome to me.

So, we discovered VUDU ( http://www.vudu.com/ ) and bought it at Best Buy for $149.95 plus tax. VUDU is a a movie purchase and rental service, like Netflix but, they created a box with a really easy to use Remote (you guessed it, yet another remote on the coffee table) that provides the content interface to your television. The box has an Internet connection and analog and digital (HDMI) interfaces for your TV or your home theater receiver.

The box has to be connected to your Broadband Internet connection so that it can contact the Video Content Server. So, if you have a single PC directly connected to your Broadband Internet connection, you'll need to make a "home networking" decision and small investment. Home networks are powered by devices called "routers" into which AZCI.net's broadband ethernet handoff is plugged. The router can then share the Internet connection with other PCs or Play Stations or any other Ethernet equipped device.

There are two kinds of routers from which you can choose: wired only routers which connect to other equipment via ethernet cables or wireless routers which provide both wired and wireless ethernet connections. Wireless Laptops, Play Stations and other gaming consoles are the boxes most usually connected to routers. But, with one additional piece of equipment, you can also connect your VUDU to your home network.

Vudo makes a wireless pre-paired device that sells for $79.95. One unit connects to a wired port on your router and the other provides a wired port that connects to the VUDU. the two units then talk "wirelessly" enabling the VUDU to be located next to the home theater but away from the router. Its a simple and easily installed solution but, it adds yet another RF signal in your home space that may interfere with your router. So, we opted instead for a Linksys Wireless Bridge for $89.95. It was $10 more but, it acts as a client to our existing home router and will not cause unnecessary interference. You program the wireless bridge to talk to your router (or call AZCI.net to have one of our techs do it for you) and then you connect the bridge with an ethernet cable to the VUDU.

Once your turn the VUDU on it usually updates its onboard software and then guides you through a simple process of creating a VUDU account (using your PC as well as the VUDU box). You provide the VUDU account with a credit/debit card that can be used to "feed the pig" as it were, e.g. pay for your video downloads. Regular definition moves are $3.99 for 24 hours and HD are $5.99.

You need a 4 meg connection to be able to view HD movies instantly and without hesitation. 2 meg gets u standard definition movies instantly. 1 meg requires you to download the movie and store it on your VUDU box before watching it.

We've tried the instant viewing and it works perfectly. No pauses or hesitations. But, we prefer the pre-downloaded method because we can watch it more than once in 24 hours (which is convenient when I fall asleep during the evening showing!)

One of the most pleasant features of VUDU is that you can open a Pandora Internet Radio account with it and set up a bunch of channels on Pandora, one for each of your most favorite artists and then you can set up and Auto MIX of those channels and pump the music through your home theater system filling your home with the sounds you love to hear....all for free...and there are no CDs to buy or to mess with...For me, this feature alone is worth the cost of acquiring the VUDU. And there's more optional free content including Facebook etc.

If you want to get into renting movies to watch in the comfort of your home and you want an elegantly simple way to do it, try VUDU. We love ours....

GAF

Welcome to AZCI.net's Blog

Welcome to our blog. We intend to use it to "translate" difficult to understand Internet related technical topics into information that any of our least technical customers can use and understand. We welcome your comments, criticisms and suggstions!

GAF