Cutting the Cord Article on Dishes and Cable

[Bocephous]

We cut our cable/satellite service a couple of years ago and don't miss it, for the most part. We have a Roku connected to the TV, through which we watch Netflix and Amazon Prime shows and movies, I think for a grand total of around $25/month.

 

[Oldoak]

Where I am I used to get a ton of signals (like 15 0r 20)from far away stations with analogue but only 2 with digital so I had no choice but to go satellite.

I think that would apply to many of us rural people. Accept I never did receive more than a dozen analogue TV signals.

 

[Dadnatron]

I watch very little TV. I use the internet for work, so my main issue is very good internet service. I purchased my farm only after I insured they had adequate internet service to its proposed address. My main house, in Indianapolis suburb, was costing me about $200/mo for max internet and cable up to HBO. The thing is, the only thing I ever watched was an On Demand HBO show, typically. So I turned off all 'cable TV' and found that I could have faster internet in the process, so I maxed internet and purchased HULU, because my inlaws visit, and they like to watch TV. I haven't put in an HDTV antenna yet, but need to, as there is no way to get any local news should I desire it at some point.

But I cut about $120 off my bill, which was completely wasted given I wasn't using it. An now my in-laws can watch all the 'Two and 1/2 men' reruns they desire at any time.

Between Hulu and Amazon Prime, I personally have no need for anything more. I'd still like to get a subscription ONLY to HBO in some way, but apparently not enough to even see if there is one available.

 

[Jchonline]

I watch very little TV. I use the internet for work, so my main issue is very good internet service. I purchased my farm only after I insured they had adequate internet service to its proposed address. My main house, in Indianapolis suburb, was costing me about $200/mo for max internet and cable up to HBO. The thing is, the only thing I ever watched was an On Demand HBO show, typically. So I turned off all 'cable TV' and found that I could have faster internet in the process, so I maxed internet and purchased HULU, because my inlaws visit, and they like to watch TV. I haven't put in an HDTV antenna yet, but need to, as there is no way to get any local news should I desire it at some point.

But I cut about $120 off my bill, which was completely wasted given I wasn't using it. An now my in-laws can watch all the 'Two and 1/2 men' reruns they desire at any time.

Between Hulu and Amazon Prime, I personally have no need for anything more. I'd still like to get a subscription ONLY to HBO in some way, but apparently not enough to even see if there is one available.

App for mobile devices Called HBO NOW. You can also get HBO subscription through AMazon Prime Videos. We get it for a month, binge watch every show we like for the year, then cancel.

We have no dish/satellite and a cheap $20 OTA antenna. I have it wired through the coax in the house, so we end up getting OTA channels from that antenna in 3 different rooms (one even in basement).

As for other shows, I have internet and we use Netflix, Amazon, etc for all of our movie/ tv series watching.
We haven’t had a cable/satellite bill in a decade.

 

[Oaktree]

Where I am I used to get a ton of signals (like 15 0r 20)from far away stations with analogue but only 2 with digital so I had no choice but to go satellite.

I think that would apply to many of us rural people. Accept I never did receive more than a dozen analogue TV signals.

And therein lies the rub. I don't think I ever got that many off-air signals even when I lived "in the city" (Manchester area), up here in the north country maybe half a dozen, tops...all kind of snowy. Digital, zip.


"Cutting the cord" here means substituting pricey subscription streaming services for pricey cable packages. Either way, it seems 57 channels and nothing on.

We cut our cable/satellite service a couple of years ago and don't miss it, for the most part. We have a Roku connected to the TV, through which we watch Netflix and Amazon Prime shows and movies, I think for a grand total of around $25/month.

How's the Roku work out for you? We got one last summer to supplement our ultra-basic cable package when the provider informed us we'd need a cable box. We have the Spectrum ap which gives us everything we'd get with their box (again, just the basic), plus a bunch of freebie channels. We don't watch enough tv to justify any of the subscription ones.
My only complaint is that the Roku box (we have the Ultra, since that seems to be the only one that will work with an ethernet connection) needs to be rebooted fairly often or else it acts strangely.

Am I the only one who prefers a landline phone to a cell? I'm keeping mine as long as it's available.

 

[dmccarty]

We cut the cord years ago after spending years talking about cutting the cord. Should have cut the cord when we first started talking about it.

We just bought a new Smart TV to replace our dumb DLP TV that was eight years old. We have been waiting for the price of the new TV to get to the price of the old TV and this year we decided to buy. The new TV was a bit more than we wanted to pay but the DLP TV was going to need a new lamp this year we figured it would be better to spend the $100 to buy a new lamp on a new TV.

When we got the cord I put in a TV antennae in the attic. I got an omni directional antennae since I was not going to mess around with a rotor. At first, this work really well and we pulled in a bunch of stations. But after awhile, we lost some of the stations. :confused3: We had another TV hooked up to the antennae and the same thing happened with the stations. :confused3: Very odd but I ended using the new fangled bunny ears which worked well enough.

When setting up the new TV, I installed the bunny ears but could not get the old stations we used to get. The antennae is attached to the back of the TV and I figure there must be some RFI. So I connected the attic antennae. As Gomer would say, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise." :laughing::laughing::laughing: The new TV using the old attic antennae pulled in MORE stations than it ever did. Best I can figure is the new TV has a pretty danged good tuner. :thumbsup: Not sure what happened to the old TV vs the attic antennae and the rabbit ears. Odd.

Anywho, we have been really impressed with how well the new TV has pulled in TV stations, we have only lost the signal once or twice compared to the fairly frequent loss on the old TV, and of course the new TV has awesome display quality.

This weekend we have been watching a variety of OTA TV and streaming. No regret over cutting the cord other than not doing it soon rather than later.

Later,
Dan

 

[Diggin It]

How's the Roku work out for you?

Got one of those for nearly free from my TelCo when I got a better speed. It sits on the shelf unused.

One thing I found with all of those type devices as well as some of the web based streaming services is that you can't really surf. With satellite and OTA, I was a surfer (button pusher). I'd scan all the channels in a few minutes and still couldn't find anything to watch. When I tried streaming, I found I had to run through the menus to try to find something to watch, then select it and wait for it to connect and load. Then if I didn't like it, I had to start the process all over again.

I found it easier to just turn it all off.

 

[Bocephous]

How's the Roku work out for you? We got one last summer to supplement our ultra-basic cable package when the provider informed us we'd need a cable box. We have the Spectrum ap which gives us everything we'd get with their box (again, just the basic), plus a bunch of freebie channels. We don't watch enough tv to justify any of the subscription ones.
My only complaint is that the Roku box (we have the Ultra, since that seems to be the only one that will work with an ethernet connection) needs to be rebooted fairly often or else it acts strangely.

Am I the only one who prefers a landline phone to a cell? I'm keeping mine as long as it's available.[/QUOTE]

Our Roku is an older XS, and it's probably time to upgrade. I generally don't have a problem with it, though sometimes it is a little slow up upload movies; it can be a little "grainy" sometimes. And yes, sometimes it needs rebooting, and it will do it itself. Watching Youtube videos on it is a hassle, but I have the laptop for that. I imagine the newer models are a bunch better. I would have no problem buying a newer model.

 

[Jchonline]

How's the Roku work out for you? We got one last summer to supplement our ultra-basic cable package when the provider informed us we'd need a cable box. We have the Spectrum ap which gives us everything we'd get with their box (again, just the basic), plus a bunch of freebie channels. We don't watch enough tv to justify any of the subscription ones.
My only complaint is that the Roku box (we have the Ultra, since that seems to be the only one that will work with an ethernet connection) needs to be rebooted fairly often or else it acts strangely.

Am I the only one who prefers a landline phone to a cell? I'm keeping mine as long as it's available.

Our Roku is an older XS, and it's probably time to upgrade. I generally don't have a problem with it, though sometimes it is a little slow up upload movies; it can be a little "grainy" sometimes. And yes, sometimes it needs rebooting, and it will do it itself. Watching Youtube videos on it is a hassle, but I have the laptop for that. I imagine the newer models are a bunch better. I would have no problem buying a newer model.[/QUOTE]

I have a Roku 3. It is hit or miss. Sometimes it locks up, sometimes it doesnt send the audio signal to my amplifier, sometimes it works fine. I also have an Apple TV (latest model), and it works great no issues.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

We held on to our landline for 25+ years...basically to have DSL for Internet. Never knew you could get a dedicated phone line for DSL only. Went that route and never looked back. The same with outrageous satellite/ dish bills. Get this package for this channel, get this higher package to get this other channel...blah, blah, blah.... We went with an OTA antennae from Walmart for $35. Sits on top of the cabinet above the TV, we get 25 channels. I'll never go back to satellite tv.

Between the two, we're saving over $265 a month