Really starting to dig into getting rid of cable.....

[Slawburger]

...Brand new service just came out, NO CONTRACT over the internet cable channels. The selection is limited, you get the package and that's it. https://www.sling.com/...

I looked at Sling TV and was about to signup but you can only watch one program on one device at a time. Unfortunately that won't work for us.

 

[1775usmarine]

I use http://www.solarmovie.is/tv/family-guy-1999/ to watch my shows and/or movies that come out. I have a cheapy outdoor antenna and maybe get 20 channels that work when they do come in. I would like to do an attic one so I don't have to climb on the roof.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I dumped cable a couple of years ago. I bought a WDTV, to stream. I use NetFlix, Hulu Plus, and Vudu. I can watch all the latest TV shows on Hulu, minus a couple. I use Vudu to stream movies and TV shows I can't watch on Hulu.

 

[IUprof]

This a a hot issue for me! I literally spent 40+ hours researching cutting the cord. For my wife it comes down to watching away IU basketball games (we have home season tickets). I suggested radio, but to no avail. I had DirectTV, but went to cable to bundle my internet and saved $100/month. I still could live with Netflix and Hulu.

 

[JTScribe]

Ok, I get the "cut the TV cable" but who is everyone using as their internet provider? Streaming video takes a reasonably fast net service, so who is using who?

This. I work from home and need a fast connection for remoting in and VOIP so Comcast is the only game in town for me. But honestly after haggling I'm getting cable and Internet for just shy of a hundred bucks a month.

 

[wtburnette]

This. I work from home and need a fast connection for remoting in and VOIP so Comcast is the only game in town for me. But honestly after haggling I'm getting cable and Internet for just shy of a hundred bucks a month.

Sounds like we're getting the same package. Even so, I'm looking to cut the cable TV service and go with just internet service. It may only reduce my bill $20 a month or so, but one, that's a savings for me, even if a small one and two, less money I'm handing over to ComCRAP. I even finally picked up a cablemodem of my own so I don't have to pay their modem rental fee. If there were an alternative to them on the internet side, I'd take it, but there just isn't.

 

[PistolBob]

This a a hot issue for me! I literally spent 40+ hours researching cutting the cord. For my wife it comes down to watching away IU basketball games (we have home season tickets). I suggested radio, but to no avail. I had DirectTV, but went to cable to bundle my internet and saved $100/month. I still could live with Netflix and Hulu.

If the household has a firm requirement for live sports, and your over the air channels can't fill that need...then streaming won't make the whole house happy. It's definitely a compromise in that situation.

 

[findingZzero]

Not to be oppositional (haha), but i'll give up cable when they pry it from my cold dead hands. There's just too much good stuff on cable to give it up. When my current deal runs out, I renegotiate, or switch. This keeps my bill stable from year to year. It does rise, but much more slowly. With all the alt ways of accessing channels, I believe the cable/satellite co.s will do anything to keep from losing customers.

 

[SwingW/theWing]

Everybody talks about dropping cable tv for Amazon, Netflix, and other streaming sources. I would be concerned that the Internet prices will start to rise because of the increasing Internet traffic. Bottom line, I think service providers will not lose any money if everybody cut the cord.

 

[looney2ns]

I have the DVR+ from channel master. It was a bit buggy, but no monthly fee. I paid more to save in the long term and now... Nuts. When we get the outbuilding I'll probably hook it up there.

Doc, what was it your wife missed?

 

[PistolBob]

Everybody talks about dropping cable tv for Amazon, Netflix, and other streaming sources. I would be concerned that the Internet prices will start to rise because of the increasing Internet traffic. Bottom line, I think service providers will not lose any money if everybody cut the cord.

Two years ago I signed up for 60 months of DSL with Centurylink for $15 a month...guaranteed to not go up. My download speed was 2Mbit/second. Here it is two years later and now my download speed even during peak hours is between 8-9 Mbits/sec...so in my case the bandwidth has been increased, not decreased.

 

[Kutnupe14]

if HBO's service is anything like HBOGo, the cord is cut.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Doc, what was it your wife missed?

We have a rigged setup for out TV. It's above the fireplace, but no coax runs there. We use a wifi network to send the video to the TV. This makes the IR remote a bit tricky and with the channelmaster DVR it was even harder to use. She assumed the problem was lack of cable rather than a remote problem. Once we got it back she doesn't really watch anymore and wanted to ditch again. Women.

 

[mrjarrell]

Here's an interesting webpage from Verge. Shows how much you'd pay to get many of the same channels you get with cable, if you cut the cord and go internet only.

The cord-cutter's guide: calculate what it would cost to get all of your TV online

 

[dprimm]

Resurrecting this thread as i am curious what folks are doing for over the air dvr. I have heard decent things about channelmaster. Do not want an annual fee, but need to record the few ota shows we watch. Brother in law built one with windows media but i am not setup to do that.

 

[Cameramonkey]

in my extensive research, Channelmaster seems to have cornered the market on STBs. Without it you will need to buy a tuner card and install software.

The alternative is a Tivo which in the past was prohibitively expensive. (almost as much as a Channelmaster but also a $15/mo subscription for the programming guide) in researching it I just found this...

TiVo Roamio OTA now selling for $300 with no service fees - CNET

Maybe Channelmaster now has some serious competition?

Ive got an old SageTV running which was MEGA AWESOMESAUCE... Until Google bought them out for their technology and shut it down. It even supported place shifters so you could watch it on multiple TVs... it even supported customiziable skip times so you could easily skip commercials. (not auto but damned easy) Hell, at one time I could watch and/or record up to 4 programs. I could also timeshift live TV. Just thinking about what Google did to such an awesome product raises my blood pressure just talking about it... Now if you want those features you have to get pay-TV and pay outrageous fees for rented DVRs.

 

[looney2ns]

I don't own one, but read lots of good reviews and apparently developer is active in trying to solve issues.
Works in conjunction with Roku units.
http://www.amazon.com/Tablo-HDTV-An...pebp=1436817608392&perid=1A5W56E1E3HX3G3SB6TW

 

[femurphy77]

We've been commercial t.v. free for 3 months now and other than some additional money in our checking account we haven't noticed it in the least. We're currently on the pizza box antenna on the wall in the living room and get about 30 channels. There are several duplicates, religious programs, shopping networks, etc., much like Dtv but at least it's free. At this point when we find out the final path of I69 we'll put up the tower and antenna we recently scored. Until then, more free money in the checking account!!!!

 

[weezy]

I solely use Internet for TV and do not regret it at all. Netflix is good, along with Apple TV.

 

[foszoe]

I use this antenna:

Antennas Direct ClearStream 4V Antenna Multi C4-V-CJM - Best Buy It is in my attic about 18 feet above ground level.

Remember- there really is no such thing as an HD antenna. there is just an antenna that can receive UHF and VHF signals. If it will do that, it will work.

I am 37 miles from Chicago and 41 from South Bend. I pick up a combined 61 channels (some are Spanish, or shopping or otherwise have programming I don't care about), so I have multiples of all the major networks and numerous independents. There are probably 25 channels that I will watch from time to time.

Go to AntennaWeb - Address to get info on what channels are in your area and whether the signals are UHF or VHF.


I also use free HULU and Netflix streaming.

I also watch less TV than when I had satellite.

No cable specific channels like ESPN, etc, but many cable channels have old seasons on Netflix. I'm more than satisfied.

Same here sorta. We had hulu plus, netflix and antenna, dropped hulu plus and went with sling tv. Sling allows only one gadget to view at a time, but we never encounter a problem with it. Sling is nice for history channel and espn. I would say we use the antenna and netflix the most.