CUTTING THE CORD - MASTER THREAD - transitioning away from cable TV & various options

[Baz]

Just noticed we have had quite a few "cutting the cord" threads. I have them all indexed on this first post to make it easier to read what has been previously posted on the subject.

For those interested, I suggest bookmarking this thread to use as a reference going forward.

It would nice if it could be put into some kind of master thread folder here, but I'm not sure how that would be done - or if it should be done.

For now...it's a start to perhaps at least save a whole bunch of extra searches.

cutting the cable 2015 - watching F1 and Food Network

How To Not Get Ripped Off From Basic Cable

Streaming HD video off the internet, yes/no

preparing to cut the cable TV cord

Cutting The Cord

Thinking of cord-cutting with AT&T U-Verse? Think again.

started the transformation to no cable TV

Internet TV

Cutting the cord, best live tv options?

Cutting the Tiime Warner cord

Cutting Cable TV

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Sub'd
Thanks Bazza

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye's-911T

Sub'd
Thanks Bazza

You're welcome, JB!

Got my Fire TV in the mail the other day and am hooking it up later today.

This is YUGE!

[Baz]

I'm a little behind schedule for "cutting the cord" but now ready to proceed.

I'll be using an Amazon firebox and playstation vue.

Ooma for my landline.

Trying to figure out how the cables are all going to run.

Not going wireless so here's the plan so far:

Start with cable modem...

1. Ethernet cable to PC
2. LAN from Modem to Firebox
3. HDMI from Firebox to TV
4. Phone line from Modem to Ooma
5. External digital antenna hooked up directly to TV
6. DVD player hooked up to TV (through component or HDMI)

Have not figured out yet how to connect second TV. It will be located in immediate area of PC. The other TV will be as well but facing the other direction.

Would I use an HDMI switcher, maybe similar to this one?

HDMI Switcher 2 Ports Bi-direction Manual Switch 2 x 1 / 1 x 2 HDMI Hub-HDCP Passthrough-Supports Ultra HD 4K 3D 1080P By DotStone

Or a more simple splitter type device such as this one?

HDMI Splitter 1 in 2 out, Enlody 1 X 2 Splitter Box for Full HD 4K 1080P, Support 3D, 4k x 2k and Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 Resolution for Laptop, Monitor, PC, TV, Projector

Thanks for any input - I plan on trying to get this all done by next week.....

[RKDinOKC]

Been wireless for as long as I've had Cable internet in my home. It's been 20 years. My wireless is as fast as my cable connection.

On my main TV most all my content except for local channels is accessed with my AppleTV boxes.
Like AppleTV because can Airplay my iPhone and computer on the TV's and don't need an extra splitter. My TV does have 4 HDMI inputs I don't use. Can use Computers and iCloud to store and manage music and movies that will play anywhere. Thinking of getting a networked Antenna box so I can run a TV tuner on the AppleTV as well for live TV without having to switch sources on the TV's or run separate Antenna feeds to the different TVs.

[Tidybuoy]

I cut the cord 3 months ago when the Direct TV box went dead. Of course, I have procrastinated and continued to pay the $122 pe month while I've been watching YouTube and Netflix. I still had Direct TV in the bedroom so I was able to watch the national news at night. Recently, I discovered that all the news stations also stream on YouTube and I compared.....YouTube was behind by about 2 minutes.

All that said, I just bought a TV Antenna that I'm am mounting this weekend and I am calling Direct TV today. Looking forward to hearing all the great deals they will probably offer me since I have been a paying customer since 2005 (of course it was $40 per month when I started).

[Tidybuoy]

I just called Direct TV and cancelled!

I currenty pay $122 per month. Here's what they offered....First, they tole me that they would upgrade my equipment and they would waive the DVR fee for 2 years (I currently don't have DVR). Second, they would give me a new rate of $66 per month. I asked how long that would remain at that rate and she told me 12 months.

I respectfully declined.

New Deal offered. She said the same equipment upgrades as above and could put me on the "Select Plan" for $23.98. When I asked how long that would remain at that rate, she told me 12 months.

I respectfully declined.

The fact is, I basically only watch news (Fox, MSMBC, and sometimes CNN). My other addiction has been the Kardashians (shame on me). But since my box has not been working for 3 months, I weaned myself off and I've been fine. I look forward to using my new antenna, YouTube, and Netflix. My mortgage will be paid off in August 2018 and then I'll be rich!

[Halm]

Baz, do you want new comments here, or link back to one of the threads you listed above?

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Halm

Baz, do you want new comments here, or link back to one of the threads you listed above?

Here would be best, I think. I only listed the links above for a handy all-in-one reference.

Thanks!!!

[Halm]

Within the last 3 weeks, we have cut the cord on cable tv. Even though we are IT people, we elected to go with a commercial infrastructure versus piecing together everything we want. In short, we went with Roku, DirecTV Now, and OTA for local channels. We kept our cable 100MB Internet connection.

FWIW, we went with Roku since we already had it for our NFL Sunday Ticket. From there we evaluated DirecTV Now and Sling TV. The deciding points for us were Velocity on DTV Now and cheaper HBO (Game of Thrones, Westworld) and Starz (Outlander). Sling TV has a feature we want and that is a DVR feature but no Velocity. But after a week using both, we went with DTV Now.

For local channels we bought a Mohu Curved 50. Really nice and does a great job.

As a quick sidebar, Mohu has one of the slickest products I have seen, the Airwave Indoor Antenna. This antenna connects wirelessly to your Roku so you can place the antenna anywhere in the house that gets the best signal for you. The limitation is that it is unamplified and is effective with towers 35 miles or less from your location. We tried it and it seems 35 miles is a good limit as we are 40-45 miles away and no joy. My suggestion is to check with a site like OTADTV.COM or NOCABLE.ORG and see how far away you are.

DTV Now is OK, not great. It will with some regularity drop my signal, the Guide will freeze up or it will refuse to allow me to log on. It can be a PITA but a simple leaving the DTV Now channel and returning usually clears it up. Saving over $150 per month is well worth it.

[Hugh R]

I pay some minimum for Direct TV like $30/month, I keep it because I pay $6/month for a box connection in my RV using my receiver and dish thingy.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Baz

Have not figured out yet how to connect second TV. It will be located in immediate area of PC. The other TV will be as well but facing the other direction.

Would I use an HDMI switcher, maybe similar to this one?

HDMI Switcher 2 Ports Bi-direction Manual Switch 2 x 1 / 1 x 2 HDMI Hub-HDCP Passthrough-Supports Ultra HD 4K 3D 1080P By DotStone

Or a more simple splitter type device such as this one?

HDMI Splitter 1 in 2 out, Enlody 1 X 2 Splitter Box for Full HD 4K 1080P, Support 3D, 4k x 2k and Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 Resolution for Laptop, Monitor, PC, TV, Projector

Thanks for any input - I plan on trying to get this all done by next week.....

Do you have/want surround sound? Get the most basic 5.1 receiver form Onkyo or something, it'll have 4 HDMI inputs and 1 output, so everything can plug into it, and one little cable to the TV.

[RKDinOKC]

Was using the multiple source capability of my TV for the different content boxes. Really wanted an external TV amp that provided surround. Lots of Receivers no amps/preamp without the radio tuner stuff. Just wanted something to run my TV into that did the surround processing and drove the speakers. Ended up getting the same brand of receiver as the TV. They talk to each other using the volume controls from the receiver and on/off to. The receiver only ever plays my TV source.

When I got the AppleTV generation 4, it talks to the TV and Receiver as well. Makes it nice to do everything with just the one AppleTV remote. Because of that got rid of all my other source boxes and moved the content to the AppleTV.

Found a box, Homerun, that provides my over the air TV antenna signal to my local computer network so don't have to subscribe to any services or switch to the TV tuner for local channels. Was basically only using the local channels for severe weather alerts anyway. And homerun lets me watch them on my AppleTV, computer, iphone or ipad.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Found a box, Homerun, that provides my over the air TV antenna signal to my local computer network so don't have to subscribe to any services or switch to the TV tuner for local channels. Was basically only using the local channels for severe weather alerts anyway. And homerun lets me watch them on my laptop, iphone or ipad as well.

Channels app will get you Homerun on the Apple TV along with a guide.

https://getchannels.com

[daepp]

So I have no landline/telephone anymore, but get my internet over a cable modem. In my area it's that or over the old telephone line. Has DSL been improved in the last 5-10 years?

[Halm]

Originally Posted by daepp

.... Has DSL been improved in the last 5-10 years?

Not enough to seriously stream 4K or even HD for that matter.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by daepp

So I have no landline/telephone anymore, but get my internet over a cable modem. In my area it's that or over the old telephone line. Has DSL been improved in the last 5-10 years?

If you can get better speeds from DSL than you can from your cable provider then your cable provider sucks.

[dad911]

Anybody using this?

https://www.att.com/directv/directv-now.html

[Baz]

Finally made the call to my provider. Tech coming out Friday to swap modem and check my connection.

Going from Bundle (TV, Cable, Internet) to just Internet (High Speed Data).

Price will go from $189 to $64 per month with increase in speed from 20 to 100 megs.

Will post again after I get everything set up.....

[vash]

i'm about 1.5 years without cable. i thought i would miss it..but i dont.

i do however get surprised by movies. not having cable, meant i never saw (or rarely saw) movie previews. movies seem to come and go without me ever knowing about it. for example, i had zero clue Justice League came out..or was even a movie.