Cutting the cable cord

[ole442]

We're in the processof getting rid of Spectrum cable! There are a bazillion shows and most of them we don't watch. It's very expensive. First thing we got a ROKU and hooked it up and found quite a few of the shows we do watch there so we're happy with the ROKU. Next, I hooked my TV up to the digital antennae that is up near the roof. I did an OTA TV channel scan and came up with 55 channels. Quite a few dupes but it gives us local stations and show we like to see. We will drop the cable later this week. There are a few shows that we watch that we can't get for free but none of them will be missed so no apps or pay channels that I see we need. We'll save quite a bit of cash and only be paying for the internet and Wi-Fi!

One thing I used to have when we were only OTA TV before we thought we needed cable was an over-the-air DVR! Back then I had a Channel Master OTA DVR and it worked great and in conjunction with the internet it even had a menu for all the channels and we could record things and watch them later. I save the old Channel Master but can't seem to find it. Well, in searching the internet for information that Channel Master no longer supports it anyway! So, I'll have to but a new unit for that!

The new ones run between $100.00 and $500.00! My question is, does anyone here have one or know information about the best one to buy? I'd really like to buy one, hook one up and be happy with it. I don't like to eff up and need to buy another one!

Any info appreciated.

OLE442

 

[jimbo1096]

I don’t blame you for dropping the cable.
Been thinking of doing that also. Grands in law gave me a firestick and it loaded with stuff I’d watch if I have time.
I’d miss the local news, that’s my hesitation

 

[rugerguy]

been thinking that ourselves but after talking with so many others with the fees and get this channel or that and you still need the internet service to the house, and then there are the phones, no we do not have a smart phone,, and on and on and then why ?? have no other vices and its got all we want, and they block 99 % of our scam phone calls and it goes on and on,,the kids come over they watch crap on their smart phones anyway and get our house TV ( it s a Vizio to get all kinds of stuff but mainly movies, and I do NOT watch movies anymore cannot get into it for any length of time hate to get old, huh....good luck

 

[bykerhd]

We had Spectrum TV and dropped it last year. Our Cellphones and Internet still come from them.
TV from Spectrum got outrageously expensive.

We added Sling on Roku to get a couple shows we do watch.
We have a few add-ons through Roku as well as Prime since we buy a lot of stuff through Amazon.
Still pay less and have more of what we actually watch.

 

[gnappi]

I'm old enough to remember when cable companies were trying to sell fee based watching with the "Sure you pay for it but we do not have commercials. Our business model makes us money with the monthly fees " pitch.

I "cut the cord" a LONG time ago and I figured that:

A. I don't watch much boob toob
B. Have some 2500 DVD's
C. Whatever I see on OTA (over the air) is mostly reruns of older cable TV shows.
D. OTA providers cannot see my watching habits and sell it.
E. I can tolerate commercials for free.

When Americans did not pull the plug when the very first commercial aired on cable we collectively doomed ourselves to ever escalating price hikes.

 

[tazbigdog]

Cut cable years ago. Tired of paying $250a month. Had in-laws with us at the time. Now, just wifi, and digital antenna. Got Netflix and then grandkids came to visit, and all of a sudden, I have Disney plus, Amazon, paramount, hulu. Son-in-law downloaded his username and now, I have way more than what I had before. Only paying for Netflix.

 

[contender]

We like to have the local channels,, and can not get them OTA. We live in the mountains,, and the signal for that sux. We dumped Direct TV for a few reasons,, AND dumped Hughes Net as our internet provider due to VERY slow internet. We now have Spectrum,, and it's actually a bit cheaper than what we had been paying & the internet is much faster.
If we could get anything OTA,, we'd likely drop the Spectrum TV part & just keep the internet.
One disadvantage of living in the mountains.

 

[Captain America]

I have yet to find a way to to cut the cord that is convenient and has the entertainment I want for more than a $20 savings per month or so over my current Comcast service. I've had countless friends cut the cord only to be right back up to their original cable price(or close to it) after the introductory offers run out. Comcast is definitely expensive but it's convenient and it works well for me...two unlimited data cellphones, a landline, 1000mbps WIFI, free WIFI almost anywhere in PA, watch anywhere DVR and hundreds of channels including Netflix and all the sports I enjoy for $300 a month.

 

[trebor44]

Streaming is going the way cable did. I would spend a lot of money for the privilege of being a couch potato. Lots of ads popping up e.g. YubeTube!

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

Spectrum TV, land line and internet combined cost me $160/month. That's waaaaaay less than what the AT&T robber barons charged (U-Verse). We switched 8 months ago, and get virtually everything we watched on U-Verse.

Spectrum cell service for 2 phones is $30 (a special deal) but will go up to $60 in a few months. Still less expensive than the big boys charge. I discovered that Spectrum piggybacks Verizon, whose coverage in my area is decent.

Overall, we're satisfied but not ecstatic. I'll keep shopping just in case, but I'm not optimistic the internet/cell providers will ever reduce their prices, or even slow down the rate of their increase.

 

[Kevin]

I’m not sure what the OP is asking. What is between $100 and $500?

We don’t have cable. Haven’t for a couple years.

We also just dropped AT&T and have this Verizon Home wireless box. It’s $60 per month and blazing fast.

Then we use an Amazon fire stick. But any smart tv with a wireless connection will work. We just pay for the apps then. But we kind of went overboard and signed up for all the main apps. Netflix, Disney, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max STARZ, Showtime. I want Brit Box too, but not for a long time.

So the end cost is probably pretty high, but zero commercials, and we can watch anything when we travel.

 

[Gopher]

We're in the processof getting rid of Spectrum cable! There are a bazillion shows and most of them we don't watch. It's very expensive. First thing we got a ROKU and hooked it up and found quite a few of the shows we do watch there so we're happy with the ROKU. Next, I hooked my TV up to the digital antennae that is up near the roof. I did an OTA TV channel scan and came up with 55 channels. Quite a few dupes but it gives us local stations and show we like to see. We will drop the cable later this week. There are a few shows that we watch that we can't get for free but none of them will be missed so no apps or pay channels that I see we need. We'll save quite a bit of cash and only be paying for the internet and Wi-Fi!

One thing I used to have when we were only OTA TV before we thought we needed cable was an over-the-air DVR! Back then I had a Channel Master OTA DVR and it worked great and in conjunction with the internet it even had a menu for all the channels and we could record things and watch them later. I save the old Channel Master but can't seem to find it. Well, in searching the internet for information that Channel Master no longer supports it anyway! So, I'll have to but a new unit for that!

The new ones run between $100.00 and $500.00! My question is, does anyone here have one or know information about the best one to buy? I'd really like to buy one, hook one up and be happy with it. I don't like to eff up and need to buy another one!

Any info appreciated.

OLE442

Was that DVR digital? If it's not it won't work without a converter box.

 

[redhawker]

We cut the cord a while back. We stream everything we watch to the TV. I think the total we pay for our streaming site memberships is about $35 a month. About half the streaming sites we use are free (with commercials). Beats the heck out of the $100+ we were paying for cable and we seem to get more. I did have one that I dropped recently that had gone to something like $35 a month just for the one site (Sling TV). Don't even remember why we signed up for that one and we hadn't even used it for a while. We'll occasionally rent a movie online, most of the time from Amazon.

 

[Danjet500]

Most of our TV watching is OTA. We get about 20 channels through the antenna. We also have a Roku box that we stream Netflix, Paramount, Disney etc through. We had dish tv for many years but it just got too expensive for what we were watching. The one channel I do miss is TCM. I love the old classic b/w movies of the 40-50s.

 

[Paul B]

I keep say it was about ten years ago but truth be told it was closer to 15 years since I kicked Comcast out of my house. There was one channel my late wife and I liked which was Turner Classic Movies. One day we could no longer see it. No warning. Nothing. Just gone. Called Comcast and asked it there was a problem and was told Turner had raised the price so to see it we would have to go to the next more expensive level. I just said for them to cancel my subscription and they refused. I told my wife what happened and she agreed, drop Comcast like a dirty diaper. I disconnected all their stuff, loaded it in my truck and took it to their office. I laid it on the counter and said to cancel my sunscrition immediately. Clerk wouldn't do so I got a bit louder. Clerk calls for the manager and repeat my demand. He says he can't do it. Now mind you there were a few people there apparently signing up for cable service and they're watching me and the manager quite closely. By this time I'm quite POed and said manager won't back down. Me? Id had enough I quite bluntly told him in a very loud voice that he had two choices. Either cancel my account or find all the equipment I brought back s a suppository. Several customers walked out and I guess went elsewhere and he finally cancelled the contract. Never went back to any cable out fit and the TV set is used strictly for watching movies from out DVD collection. My wife passed five years ago and I only buy movies from yard sales, swap meets and pawn shops. That way none of my money goes to the Hollywood elite.
Paul B.

 

[dannyd]

Cut Cable years ago, my wife got mad. I told her then you pay for out of your pocket. We still don't have cable.

 

[Paladin]

The new ones (over the air DVRs) run between $100.00 and $500.00! My question is, does anyone here have one or know information about the best one to buy? I'd really like to buy one...
Any info appreciated.

OLE442

You might want to look into one of the Tablo over-the-air DVRs (link below). They have a two tuner version for $100 and a four tuner version for $140. It can also record the free streaming channels via their app. There are no additional subscription fees over the cost of the DVR. It includes a two-week deep channel guide with no fee. It connects to your Wi-Fi router so you can watch the recorded media on any smart device anywhere in your home. It includes 50 hours of storage on-board and you can add an external drive for additional storage space.

https://www.tablotv.com/

 

[OMCHamlin]

I don't blame you for dropping the cable.
Been thinking of doing that also. Grands in law gave me a firestick and it loaded with stuff I'd watch if I have time.
I'd miss the local news, that's my hesitation

I live out in the sticks in middle TN. We have an old school roof antenna that hauls in about 25 channels and I pay $84 a month to Hulu for Live TV and vids streaming, along with my favorite, watching YouTube free TV streaming as well. Plus, I have to pay about $40 a month to a terrible internet provider, Frontier because they are literally the absolute ONLY provider currently.

 

[Danjet500]

I just said for them to cancel my subscription and they refused. I told my wife what happened and she agreed, drop Comcast like a dirty diaper. I disconnected all their stuff, loaded it in my truck and took it to their office. I laid it on the counter and said to cancel my sunscrition immediately. Clerk wouldn't do so I got a bit louder. Clerk calls for the manager.
Paul B.

I had a similar situation trying to cancel my parents satellite service. My father had passed away and my mother was moving to a memory care facility. I called the satellite provider and explained what had happened and could you cancel the service. The person on the phone said they would have to speak to my mother. I said that's not happening. She has memory issues. The guy then tells me that I need to send them a copy of my dad's death certificate. I told him no way is he getting a copy. I said if you don't cancel I will put a stop payment on my parent's credit card (which I was doing anyway). After a few more minutes of back and forth he finally agreed.

 

[NC FNS]

Plus, I have to pay about $40 a month to a terrible internet provider, Frontier because they are literally the absolute ONLY provider currently.

NC awarded the hi-speed internet (fiber optic?) contracts to different outfits for each county. Lucky us, we got Frontier. Not expecting any hi-speed internet at my house anytime soon…

 

[OMCHamlin]

NC awarded the hi-speed internet (fiber optic?) contracts to different outfits for each county. Lucky us, we got Frontier. Not expecting any hi-speed internet at my house anytime soon…

Their customer service is EPICALLY BAD. Their local office is closed and boarded up to customer service with a fenced and RAZOR WIRE topped compound with a gate controlled by the technicians from their van. What does THAT say? That's a fortress to protect the despised from the masses.

 

[Paladin]

If you're serious about "cutting the cord" on cable TV, below is something worth pondering. I cut the cord 25 years ago and have not subscribed to any paid streaming devices and services since then either. I am very satisfied with the over the air channels I receive with my rooftop TV antenna, which feeds the signal to four TV's, and the free streaming channels available. In the Chicago area I have access to 83 over the air channels plus 67 free streaming services. Just enough to keep my channel-surfing thumb limber.

Here is the part worth pondering. After cutting the cord, I used the money I was wasting on cable TV each month to purchase Apple stock instead. That portfolio is now worth $245,000.00 and pays me a handsome quarterly dividend to boot. To me, that makes missing endless reruns of Laverne and Shirley and the same few lame movies over and over worth it. But hey, that's just me.

 

[Specs]

I am cancelling Spectrum TV as I write. I bought a Roku to add to my older TV. I am also looking at Youtube TV which includes TCM and Fox News + some locals. Saving about $675.oo annually. The Youtube TV costs $73.00. The Roku provides a lot of the ols sitcoms + tons of movies free.

 

[Gopher]

I am cancelling Spectrum TV as I write. I bought a Roku to add to my older TV. I am also looking at Youtube TV which includes TCM and Fox News + some locals. Saving about $675.oo annually. The Youtube TV costs $73.00. The Roku provides a lot of the ols sitcoms + tons of movies free.

We had YT TV for a bit but I cancelled it because they had an almost monthly rate increase. Since they have your card number the will make an increase and not notify you.

 

[jav]

Yes we are seriously thinking about it this year just want to find a good Wi-Fi company

 

[Specs]

We had YT TV for a bit but I cancelled it because they had an almost monthly rate increase. Since they have your card number the will make an increase and not notify you.

If that happens I will follow your example. I just want to have Fox News and TCM. The other stuff on Youtube I can take or leave except for the "library" feature.

 

[peachhead]

One thing I've learned since I got rid of satellite TV is, I don't watch a lot of TV. My wife pays for Netflix and she recently got a subscription to Max. That way she can watch what she wants and it ain't coming out of my pocket.
I did get a decent antenna and mounted it to the post that the satellite used to be on so I could use the existing cable to hook it up to the TV.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

If not for the Mrs. ,who watches the bulk of TV in this household (I'd rather be woodworking and/or handloading.) I'd drop our $255/month DirecTV service in seconds flat! Mostly, just to spite Big Pharma...Who judging by each and every commercial break...Seems to be in control of most local, and cable stations at this point.

 

[Gopher]

If that happens I will follow your example. I just want to have Fox News and TCM. The other stuff on Youtube I can take or leave except for the "library" feature.

The only other nice thing was you could get your local OTA channels through their service. If you look through some of the "free" channels you may find TCM and maybe Fox News. My main problem with streaming is there are so many choices if I find a channel I like I have a hard time remembering where and what it was on.

 

[hike]

We have only Internet service. We use a Roku streaming box and watch what we want. Amazon Prime Video is free if you have Amazon Prime Shipping. Netflix and Hulu are free with T•Mobile cell phone service. Lots of free streaming channels available with and without commercials. YouTube is free with commercials. For the cost of 1 month cable service we have Amazon, YouTube, BritBox, Acorn TV without commercials for a year.
Since you're posting to this forum, you probably have Internet service. But even streaming box will mirror your smart phone, etc.
If you go OTA, the cost is zero!