preparing to cut the cable TV cord

[Baz]

I love having all the stations available to me that cable TV affords so can't see making the sacrifice some of you have made.

I routinely contact my cable provider to ensure my account has the best rate plan available and it keeps my costs down to what I consider reasonable for what I consider to be very enjoyable entertainment.

As far as commercials...I use the mute button or switch channels as necessary. It's all about options!

Sometimes my TV is my best friend.....ymmv.......

[74-911]

Originally Posted by Baz

I love having all the stations available to me that cable TV affords so can't see making the sacrifice some of you have made.

I routinely contact my cable provider to ensure my account has the best rate plan available and it keeps my costs down to what I consider reasonable for what I consider to be very enjoyable entertainment.

As far as commercials...I use the mute button or switch channels as necessary. It's all about options!

Sometimes my TV is my best friend.....ymmv.......

That makes two of us Baz. We usually tape the shows we normally watch so we can FFWD through the commercials. There are actually some pretty good shows out there if you get away from the broadcast channels...

again, YMMV

[futurefun]

Netflix & Hulu for us too. Got fed up with crappy programming, more commercials than show for too much money.

[908/930]

We have not used cable tv for over 10 years, we have a similar antenna to the one you picked up and use Netflix. The over the air antenna gets 12 local stations in HD Now if there was only an option to get rid of the internet service.

[Jim Richards]

In April, it'll be two years since we cut the cable TV cord. We're satisfied with over-the-air programming supplemented with Netflix. We also watch less TV than we used to.

[rfuerst911sc]

My wife and I swung by Best Buy today and we received quite an education from a young lady there. The Roku looks like an interesting option. Not sure that's what I will eventually go with but it sure appears to offer all the options we would need. The young lady told us she uses a Roku 3 on one TV and a Roku 4 on another. Her sons room uses a Roku stick. She stated she also has Sling and Netflix her total monthly bill minus internet is 37.99 and she literally has 4,000 + channels/shows to view. We're going to take baby steps and see how the antenna works out and go from there.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Baz

I love having all the stations available to me that cable TV affords so can't see making the sacrifice some of you have made.

......

I had Satellite for years, and endured the rate creep until I said "no mas". Wasn't much of a sacrifice to give up a bazillion channels I never watched

[jyl]

By the end of my cable viewing, I was down to only a handful of shows that I watched. Half of them are available streaming. F1 was the biggest loss, I haven't had as good Sunday morning naps without the mumble of V6s driving single file.

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

My wife and I swung by Best Buy today and we received quite an education from a young lady there. The Roku looks like an interesting option. Not sure that's what I will eventually go with but it sure appears to offer all the options we would need. The young lady told us she uses a Roku 3 on one TV and a Roku 4 on another. Her sons room uses a Roku stick. She stated she also has Sling and Netflix her total monthly bill minus internet is 37.99 and she literally has 4,000 + channels/shows to view. We're going to take baby steps and see how the antenna works out and go from there.

Android boxes are about $80 (CDN) and no need for Sling or Netflix. Or any other $$ add-on's. Anything you want to watch is there already. TV shows from every network. I have listings for UK TV, Russian and Spanish.

Before you pay for services that you will get for free wait a while.

[Jim Richards]

We have a Roku 3 box to watch Netflix that we bought a couple of years ago. Works great for Netflix. GWN7's comment above is very interesting. Something worth looking in to.

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by KC911

I've tried several antennas over the years as I have one tower that's probably 30-40 miles away and a few stations (from the same tower) were iffy at times. All were amplified, inside. I've been using a $40 Radio Shack ('bout 12" square) that works great. IMO, 5 miles from Atlanta, any would probably suffice...no need to mount outside, or even in an attic...and no Bug's Bunny ears either .

+1 on the attic installation. Has worked perfect for us in both our last two homes. But without an inside booster I could not get the signals.

No unsightly antennas, wires, or poles outside to get damaged by the elements.

[Paul_Heery]

I am enjoying this discussion. We have been looking at cutting the cable. But, we do have a desire to receive relatively local programming, mostly for watching the news.

We are in an area where we can get some signals. I plotted out our potential reception on DTV Reception Maps . What we want comes from different directions (mostly SSW & E). How do people handle this? The map is below.

[Skytrooper]

It has been over 4 years since I cut the cable/satellite companies. I live in the country (hiily), and have used Netflix and Vudu, exclusively. Recently I bought a chromecast device so that I could stream from my computer to the big screen. I have every Top Gear episode known to man now....and its free. My total television bill is 7.99 for Netflix. My antenna brings in 22 channels, and I can watch whatever I like...when I like.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

I am enjoying this discussion. We have been looking at cutting the cable. But, we do have a desire to receive relatively local programming, mostly for watching the news.

We are in an area where we can get some signals. I plotted out our potential reception on DTV Reception Maps . What we want comes from different directions (mostly SSW & E). How do people handle this? The map is below.

I've had several antennas, some were directional, all we're amplified, but it's sort of "trial and error" for your specific location, terrain, and distance from the towers. A buddy that lives just a few miles from me just gets better reception than I. Higher price doesn't always make them better. You might just want to visit a local Radio Shack and try some of their $40-50 amplified ones....you can always return it with their blessing if it doesn't work for your location....I did until I found one that works for me. Placement makes a huge difference for longer ranges, etc. I was going to relocate mine to the attic but found one that works just fine.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by GWN7

Android boxes are about $80 (CDN) and no need for Sling or Netflix. Or any other $$ add-on's. Anything you want to watch is there already. TV shows from every network. I have listings for UK TV, Russian and Spanish.

Before you pay for services that you will get for free wait a while.

Can you link us to one or two choices?. Which one do you have?

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by jyl

Can you link us to one or two choices?. Which one do you have?

I have a OTT TV BOX. It's a MXq.

There are tons of videos on YouTube which show the setup, operation and upgrades for android boxes.

I'm a newbie at this. A buddy and his sons have been cable free for about 8 months and that's how I learned of it.

Set up is simple. Plug power converter into box and wall outlet. Plug HDMI cable into box and then TV I also have a mouse on mine because I like it better than the supplied remote. Set TV to HDMI and then it takes you to the setup page. Enter your Wifi passcode and your online.

Movies and TV shows.

All the movies are there. Yes the ones in the theaters right now. I never realised there were so many crappy movies made for everyone that is actually good.

TV shows: Every current and past TV show is available. If they are current and a new episode comes available (usually the next day from when they were broadcast) The box notifies you. No commercials. I mentioned before that I don't get local programing (news) but I'm actually not missing it as much as I thought. No need to really hear about the 18 yr old who was murdered over a $1500 drug debt. Someone I know has local TV but I haven't had time to figure it all out.

As to sacrifices, I get up and turn the TV on and watch what I want and when. No more do I have to be home at 8:00 pm to watch something. I choose when I want to watch and what. No commercials.

Best of all I paid the cable company nothing.

[Scott R]

You don't need OTA, Netfllix, or Amazon.

Just:

Kodi

[Pazuzu]

If you've never used a Roku, you must try it. Only get a Roku 3 or 4, they are lightyears ahead of the earlier versions.
Another option is a playstation type box, they will do Hulu, Netflix and Amazon, as well as play Blueray discs.
Another option is a Tivo Roamio over the air recorder, TiVo Roamio OTA Digital Video Recorder Black TCD846510 - Best Buy which will let you record the network shows like the old cable box, as well as get hulu/netflix/amazon. You do need to pay monthly for that one.

Those are all well established, "1 click" solutions that work out of the box to do what you want. Kodi, amazon boxes, HTPC, all that stuff can be left for the script kids, too much work to custom blend something that does 10% more than one of the above options...no offence meant to the script kiddies here

[OffCamber00]

What are the options for watching racing like WEC and F1 w/o cable? That is the only thing holding me back at this point. I'm already a netflix and prime subscriber.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

I am enjoying this discussion. We have been looking at cutting the cable. But, we do have a desire to receive relatively local programming, mostly for watching the news.

We are in an area where we can get some signals. I plotted out our potential reception on DTV Reception Maps . What we want comes from different directions (mostly SSW & E). How do people handle this? The map is below.

You can get a digital omni antenna and amplifier. If the stations are line of sight it works well.

For me, I just got a cheap digital antenna and pointed it at Mt Wilson in LA. I get about 50 broadcast stations (20 are useful) and use Tivo to record our favorite shows and local news. With Tivo I can record everything I want to watch and zap all commercials which is worth the $25 monthly fee to me. We also recently got Amazon Fire stick for Prime films and cable series shows like Band of Brothers and Vikings.

We don't watch a lot of TV these days but the choices are good at $25/mo.