dry-fly started this back in October. With service and product offerings so fluid, we need this updated with the latest info. I must cut the cable soon.

Since December, what steps have you taken to eliminate cable tv? What are your experiences and recommendations?

Was about to cut the cord but for $25/mo, it’s hard to justify.

Cut cable a few years ago; never looked back.

Upgraded to fastest internet speed and use NetFlix and Tivo. Pretty happy.

Been living on Amazon and Netflix since last May. I really have barely missed it even though I watched a lot of T.V. I thought I would miss it a lot but now I can't imagine ever paying insane prices every again. It worked out that I wasn't in the mood to watch NFL games this year because I probably would have missed that in previous years.

I am going to get an antenna soon though I think so that I can get local stations but I am not in any hurry.

We have FireTV sticks or PS4s on every TV so we stream through those. I even bought an extra FireTV stick and I carry it with me when I travel.

We cut the cord about a year ago. Saved $120 per month by ditching our cable TV, which I rarely watched anyway.

We have an OTA antenna for local news and major networks. (Mainly used by the wife.)

I watch streaming media 99% of the time, as I did even when we had cable. Better content, and no commercials.

We pay for a Netflix subscription, and are also Amazon Prime members. We get Hulu free through our cell phone carrier as part of a promotion, but I rarely watch it due to the commercials. I also add HBO Now for a few months each year, to catch up on stuff like "Game of Thrones".

Each TV in the house has either an Xbox One, Chromecast, or smart Blu-Ray player attached to it, to allow viewing of streaming media. Plus laptops, cell phones, etc.

Our only concession to cable/satellite TV is that we borrow the in-laws' satellite TV login to occasionally watch college football or basketball games through the ESPN streaming app, which requires a TV subscription.

The wife has been considering trying one of the ~$30/month streaming TV services, like Sling or YoutubeTV, but I don't see the need. We have plenty of content available already.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

The wife has been considering trying one of the ~$30/month streaming TV services, like Sling or YoutubeTV, but I don't see the need. We have plenty of content available already.

We did a 7 day free trial of Sling and on day 6 I asked the wife if she'd used it yet. Neither of us had so we canceled it.

It can be overwhelming. I started by upgrading my rickety old Linksys router for a
Netgear R6400. With my Charter/Spectrum modem, my internet speeds went from 10-20 Mbps with tablets and PC, to over 130 Mbps. Next, I'll be running some Cat7 ethernet cable. So far no huge expense.

If I stay with Charter, using their suggested Roku, I'm looking to save about $50/month. I'll do that to get my hardware up to snuff and prepared to fully cut the cable.

Apparently Charter is looking at cloud storage instead of their receiver's DVR. That appeals to me, having lost three DVR's over the years and a ton if irreplaceable content.

There are ways to save your content -- hard drive, disk -- pretty expensive but my ultimate goal.

So yeah, once the hardware is in place, the options go way up.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix, and just added Hulu, with the idea of cutting the cable.

My only hesitation stems from the fact I can get every game my favorite baseball team (Washinton Nationals) plays through my provider.

MLB.com has a blackout policy, so I can only get those games when I'm out of town (although I might be able to use a VPN, but that would be cheating).

I cut the cord about a year ago. First time in my life without Cable TV. Wife and I just decided our financial goals were more important than cable TV and it was hard the first day, but I don't even realize I don't have cable anymore. We are saving over $1,500 per year!! We've always had netflix and amazon prime. I signed up for YoutubeTV for NCAA football season and then canceled it. Deadliest Catch is my favorite show, I've never missed an episode since it first aired back when I was in in high school....no streaming service I have found carriers it, so I just bought it from my Apple TV for the season, was like $35. So cut the cord and then figure out what works for you. Necessity is the motherhood of invention. :-)

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
MLB.com has a blackout policy, so I can only get those games when I'm out of town (although I might be able to use a VPN, but that would be cheating).

Nope. Use a VPN ad MLB.com won't be able to ID your location, and will block you for 'all' of their games. Ask me how I know...

I’ve tried a couple of the offerings. My ISP offers the blazing speed of 10 MPS. None of the offerings get me locals and my first experiment with OTA TV didn’t provide much.

As fast as this trend is moving, Dish probably won’t see me too much longer. We’re only in Montana half years.

Fast internet and watch Netflix 99% of the time. The other 2% is local stations on an indoor boosted antenna. When we do watch broadcast, we curse it due to the constant commercials! A one hour show is made up of 35 minutes of content, and the balance is crappy commercials!!!

Cut out cable about 4 years ago, used to watch hours of TV a day. Have super fast internet, hulu, netflix and prime. Don't watch much of anything anymore, mostly listen to audible or watch random stuff on youtube.

I have Fire sticks with KODI loaded on each.
I get everything including movies at the theaters.

I have a AT&T Mobley device that allows me internet any place I get a cell signal, good enough to stream HD movies. AT&T had a special that gives you unlimited data for $20 a month. I bought it for the RV but use it also when I travel for work.

So, please help a fella out, here. All we watch is Fox News, local news, my wife likes cooking shows like Chopped and that's about it.

We have Spectrum Cable and I recently bought the Firestick. I also have Amazon Prime.

If I pay for a faster speed on the internet, and get an antenna, what else would I need, or would anyone suggest to get a little more content just to keep us entertained?

I haven't had television service for about ten years. I've always paid for Netflix and HBO, and also have Amazon Prime. However, I'm seriously considering dropping both Netflix and HBO in favor of purchasing seasons of specific shows. The reason being that paying monthly for services I hardly use just wastes money. If I drop them and pay $6 to rent movies and $30/ea to own the two or three shows I actually watch each year, it'd be a huge savings. The yearly cost of Netflix is $130 and HBO is $180.

I have Amazon Fire and DirecTv Now streaming service. I got in on the introductory deal over a year ago I get over 100 channels for $37 a month. I get way more stuff than I'll ever watch.

Amazon is selling Fire TV box for $49 today only.

quote:

Originally posted by OldMick:
So, please help a fella out, here. All we watch is Fox News, local news, my wife likes cooking shows like Chopped and that's about it.

We have Spectrum Cable and I recently bought the Firestick. I also have Amazon Prime.

If I pay for a faster speed on the internet, and get an antenna, what else would I need, or would anyone suggest to get a little more content just to keep us entertained?

I don't know if you will be able to get fox news and the cooking channels with just an antenna. You might need some sort of TV service if you absolutely have to have those. I use Sling TV and have been happy with it.

Most channels have apps that you can download, but my understanding is that you still have to sign in to those with a valid username and password from some TV provider.

I am by no means an expert.

quote:

Originally posted by Palm:
I don't know if you will be able to get fox news and the cooking channels with just an antenna.

You can't get channels like Food Network or Fox News over the air.

Over the Air TV is only the handful of major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc.), plus PBS and a smattering of small-time channels you've probably never heard of. And even then, channel availability depends on the specific reception available at your house.

However, PBS has some cooking shows at various times, and the major networks tend to have a few cooking shows during the weekday daytime hours.

I have an Amazon Fire TV and we have been fine with just Amazon Prime and Netflix for years. I just started Playstation Vue to get the normal cable channels that some family members requested. So far it seems pretty good. It's not cheap at $39.99 per month but it gets lots of channels and I can cancel it at any time without having to deal with a contract.

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/

Some of the other live streaming options I looked at had pretty poor reviews for the app not actually working properly (lags/freezing up during high demand, etc.)