Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

[atx111]

Been thinking of getting rid of cable for quite some time now. Got an AppleTV for Christmas and signed up for Netflix and Hulu Plus. That's pretty much all we've watched since then. Mainly the only reason for turning cable on lately has been for background noise. I just picked up an HD antenna today and hooked it up for broadcast channels. We disconnected the cable from the other TVs and are going to see how it goes for a week or so.

Anybody else get rid of cable/satellite? I figure the money we save will pay for a pretty nice vacation in not a whole lot of time.

 

[phillyg]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

I want to do it. I'm scared to do it. I have grandkids who live with me and they'd have a fit.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

Haven't had cable or broadcast TV since about '02. I've always had to have high speed internet (cable/DSL), so could always stream. I've been watching much more the past few years online - Amazon Instant, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube (<= Lots of stuff on YouTube).

Just got an Apple TV as well.

 

[atx111]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

I am just getting tired of paying a lot of money for what I consider to be junk anymore. I called the cable company just to see if there were any cancellation/change of service fees involved, and the guy on the phone acted like I was wanting to disconnect my gas service or something.

 

[Grandad]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

We cut cable TV about 2 years ago, but kept the internet. We couldn't afford the larger TV packages of duplicate channels that no one wants to see anyway and the basic package was turning into garbage. Less quality programming and more commercials. Anyway, we now download entire series of TV shows and movies. We typically watch about 3 hours per evening of downloaded shows that we like, without any commercials. We can only get one local TV station with a digital aerial, but that gives us local news if we need it. National and international news is available on the internet. We'll never go back. - Grandad

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

Never had cable. I have antenna service, Apple TV with Netflix, and my custom MythTV DVR. I inhereted my dad's Roku which gives even more choices, like Crackle.

I have more than enough options and don't think I would like paying that much for something only to show me a bunch of ads. Infomercials on cable never really made sense to me..

 

[roscoe]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

Can anyone please explain what a "digital aerial" or an "HD antenna" is?

Can only get one "local" channel IF I put up a 25-30' tower.
ANd that station has no news, or Packer games.
Decided to keep satellite for now so I can get my news fix, and catch an occasional Packer game or auto race.
But its getting hard to pay the price for the amount of use it gets.

Everything else gets streamed.

 

[angus63]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

I am not an expert on the subject, but what little investigating I did following Hurricane Sandy pointed towards "digital" antenni being a sales ploy and any TV antenna will suffice. I connected my old VHF/UHF rabbit ears and received about a dozen channels with decent quality. Location has a bunch to do with it and there are websites to determine the reception in your area. Damned if I remember the site address though. Sorry!

Found it

http://www.antennaweb.org/

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

We got rid of everything except high speed internet for streaming 3 years ago. The admiral freaked out for about the first month, but she was happy with the extra funds for other bill paying. We have 2 Roku streaming devices, and use a homemade antenna in the attic for our local channels. We get 13 over the air channels here in the mountains. My step son streams in his room using his xbox 360. Cable and satellite are ok we just got tired of paying the high prices and having nothing worth watching. I've found we spend more time doing other things around the house now instead of being glued to the tv. My step son still spends a little too much time on tv, and we monitor what he streams. It is a little more challenging to find the shows you want to watch, but Netflix and Hulu are the way to go. You can also go to most network web sites and watch the latest episodes of allot of popular shows.

We tell everyone to cut the cord and ditch cable or satellite.

 

[64osby]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

The admiral and I have talked about this for a about a year. According to angus's link (thanks) we would get 6 feeds with a decent antenna.

Have two hd tv's and one that's not. To get a digital signal you need a digital capable tv or one of the converter boxes, correct?

 

[eavega]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

We cut the cord over two years ago. Like others, I have an outdoor antenna for local news/sports, everything else is streamed via high-speed internet connection. I have Roku devices on my TVs, and I use a media server to get additional content that Roku doesn't support as well as acting as a media server for my locally stored media (all my movies are in hard drives, no more DVDs in my house).

For those of you that can get access, there is a new service call Aereo, which is providing local television via online streaming. Right now they are embroiled in several lawsuits regarding licencing rights with the major networks, but to date they have prevailed in court every time. They are playing a bit loose and fast with the rules, but what they do is perfectly legal. They are capturing content using an OTA antenna, then streaming it to subscribers. Per the FCC rules, they are legal as long as they maintain one antenna per subscriber. Their service is actually installation and maintenance of the antenna, then transmitting that legally acquired signal to the end user. They have rolled out in a few cities (New York, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City, Denver) and are scheduled to roll out in about 20 markets in the coming year. Aereo is supportec natively on the Roku, as well as various media servers, although the interface will not be as clean as with the native Roku channel. Aereo service also includes cloud DVR, so you can set programs to record and access them from TV, Tablet, Computer, Smart phone, etc. Between Aereo and other online content, there is no need to even have an antenna. The only gotcha is that you have to be more proactive with your TV watching. Its no longer a matter of plopping down in front of the TV and flipping channels. Now you have to actively find the content you are looking for, and then play it. That has been the biggest adjustment for us.

Also, I do have to say that appropriate content for big kids is a little harder to come by. You can get PBS streaming, but without having a cable subscription you can't stream content from Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or any of the other sources that kids ages 8-12 really enjoy. This has been a bit of a challenge for me as I have a 7 and 9 year old. The PBS stuff is really too preschool-ish for them, and some of the other programming available online (youtube, Crackle, etc) may be inappropriate for them.

Rgds

Eric

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

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[colbyt]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

@ atx111 We cut back to basic service 18 years ago and I would drop that but keeping Momma happy for $20 bucks a month is cheap.

@ roscoe A complete marketing myth. I am picking up 12 HD (UHF) channels just fine using a 30 year old inside bow antenna. Any antenna that worked before works now. Locations with VHF signals are more problematic than UHF.

@ eavega There are some children options via Roku if you have a broadband connection. I'm sure it won't replace cable but Nick and Disney both have streaming channels now.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

OK, I'm old and behind the times. I have internet and 3 HD TV's and cable. I don't understand streaming. Would like to lose cable TV because of cost. I need the locals like FOX, CBS, NBC, PBS. What the heck is streaming and how do I do it? And when I do it How do I get a signal from my computer to my TV's from my internet? We have a desk top and wireless for my laptop. Actually one of my TV's and my bluray player are wireless and I get Netflix on them. Can someone make it simple in one syllable words or send me to a "streaming for dummies" site?

 

[gm280]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

Once again phony naming scams are all the fashion. Digital antennas are the latest to emerge. Any antenna capable of receiving the frequency range will work perfectly. There is no antenna that is made to just receive digital data. The frequency is the only thing you need to be concerned with and most any TV antenna will work. The digital part is a format of the information within that frequency range. But such a neat marketing ploy they are using now... We have stopped our satellite service and gone to standard cable (with the bare local channels coverage) to get the high speed internet service. But I am thinking of installing a TV antenna and dropping the basic cable plan also. We surely don't miss all those "500" channels from the satellite subscription which most are merely music station we never listened to anyway. And we are saving near a $1000 a year too... Live and learn! Now next to the cell phone scams too...

 

[southkogs]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

What the heck is streaming and how do I do it?

Streaming is basically playing digital video over the internet. Like Netflix, you're "streaming" the digital information to your computer and watching it instantly (buffering the information as you go). YouTube and Netflix are examples.

And when I do it How do I get a signal from my computer to my TV's from my internet?

Some TVs can be setup like an auxiliary monitor to your computer. One of my computers has a bigger screen than our old TV did, so we just watch that. Or you can get a gizmo (Roku or AppleTV are the main ones now) that will let you send a wireless signal from your computer/tablet to your TV.

We have a desk top and wireless for my laptop. Actually one of my TV's and my bluray player are wireless and I get Netflix on them. Can someone make it simple in one syllable words or send me to a "streaming for dummies" site?

Don't know of a site for that, but check your blurray player's manual or website - they might have ways that it'll get more content.

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

roscoe, you may be too far from any broadcast points now that everything is digital. Digital just doesn't travel as far as the old analog TV signals. Check Angus' link above and see if you're able to pull anything in.

We cut the cable 12 years ago. Have a desktop PC hooked to the big screen in the living room so I can watch anything form the internet as well as broadcast signals here with our outdoor antenna. The PC hooked to the TV is awesome. Many of the broadcast networks have their regualr shows online to watch, sometimes the day after the original broadcast.

I also put a TV tuner card in said PC so I can use the PC as a DVR for the broadcast shows. Records in HD with Dolby sound too. Between the internet, broadcast, and our Redbox instant account, I seldom miss the cable. Occasionally a particular sports game I want to watch (MN Wild or Gophers) is only available on a cable channel, and I do miss that aspect. I just head to a local sports bar if it's really that important to me, but that's only happened a few times in 12 years.

Crackle is another free online service that's got some OK content. You can use it as an app on a smart TV or andriod device as well as Apple too.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

Streaming is okay, but you still need a decent broadband connection to do it $40 per month. Hulu Plus = $20 per month. Netflix = $20 per month. So you are close to $100 per month for "dumping cable" Our broadband internet and HD cable service is $130 per month. Not getting rid of cable here, the alternatives are not much cheaper, and can be unreliable depending on your connection/equipment.

 

[atx111]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

I just went and got a cheapo indoor antenna for now. My wife was concerned I was going to bring home a set of rabbit ears that you have to wrap some tin foil around the ends, but this antenna is unobtrusive, almost sleek looking. Anyway, I'm going to put an antenna up in the attic eventually, but didn't really feel like screwing around up there much in this cold. We can pull in about 15 channels the way it is.

Other posters are right, cable/satellite is a scam. I've called and complained every time the cable company has tried to increase the rates on me. In the past I was pretty lucky in negotiating a deal, but not the last time. My "promo" rate I had expired after 2 years and increased by almost $50/mo. I called to see what I could do in keeping the same rate, and they acted like they were doing me a huge favor by only increasing it by $25 and "locking" it in for another 2 years. I got passed around on the phone a bit and finally ended up talking to someone in their customer retention department. Total PITA.

I'm going to add another streaming device too. We went with the AppleTV this go around because my wife is an Apple fanboy, but was wondering about the merits of Roku. With both, I figure we can close any gaps with the Apple TV.

 

[atx111]

Re: Getting Ready to Cut the Cord

$20 a month for Netflix and Hulu Plus? We've paid right around $7-8 a month for Netflix for the past year, and just signed up for Hulu plus right around the same.