I got rid of Cable TV a few months ago, just because it was getting so darn expensive.
I still give them $69 dollars a month for Wi Fi, just because it is so fast. That is a lot better than the $200 they were charging before.
I can stream a movie and have three computers going. (My Wife, Son and myself) without a hiccup.
I know have Netflix (Via a fire stick) and a Streamsmart Box that is absolutely free after the initial $300 investment.
I now can watch any movie, any tv show and regular TV with an HD Antenna for less than $100 a month.
I put a small flat screen in the kitchen for my better half. She loves it and can watch regular TV now in the Kitchen for absolutely free.
Cut the Cable my friends. Don't be a slave to their high prices for Mediocre Television.
What's a "fire stick"? "Any tv show" includes sports right? Just watched a great Raiders vs Cowboys game tonight.
Gfish
Thought you got a new set of bolt cutters lol. Use them to whack direct tv.
We have had TV off and on for years and more often without cable. Cable gives us hundreds of stations with nothing worth watching, now we get 10 channels without something worth watching and we save some time and $.
I haven't had cable tv in years. My kids actually enjoy commercials when we go to hotels. ;D
My T.V. has Amazon Instant Video and Netflix apps on it. If I can't find it on Netflix, chances are I can rent/buy it from Amazon. Walmart has recently jumped on board with VUDU for purchased content. There are too many options now to continue to pay for commercials.
Since we live in a more remote location than some -- we utilize our high speed DSL for our entertainment.
With a ROKU device for a one time cost of around $50 -- we access nearly anything we want wirelessly.
Similar to Robin and Daron --
Netflix costs us $11 a month, Amazon is included in our yearly rate of $90, we subscribe to Acorn for the British shows we enjoy which is about $9 a month, most everything else is free such as network, PBS, and 100 times more than we will ever watch.
On Amazon, we can watch a movie released last month for a rental fee of $3 or $4. (Popcorn and a fire in the woodstove are always good, and no driving). Everything on Amazon Prime is already included at no additional charges -- which is giant.
On Netflix, we are currently watching "The Crown". Just got done with Longmire (highly recommended).
On Acorn, we enjoy Midsomer Murder Mysteries, Foyle's War, Brokenwood Mysterys, and much more.
We also use our ipads with either wireless or a lightening HDMI cable connected to our TV -- for anything else we wish to view such as YouTube, sports, or whatever...
The last thing we want when relaxing in the evening after a day of working -- is advertisements.
Cable, as we knew it -- will likely go the way of the dinosaurs. IMO, it is now the 8-Track of the tech world.
Thanks for posting this, Daron.
Best,
Fred
I like this idea but we use satellite internet here and am not sure we can get the speeds needed to do this.....
How is the net neutrality thing gonna effect this?
we've done basically the same here. we have cut down to high speed internet with a good wifi router, and basic cable. we watch Netflix and amazon. am thinking about getting playstation vue or the live you tube so we can watch the Yankees this year. I definitely agreed that cable tv is the 8 track of a digital world
I've barely figured out this laptop and have zero patience. I have everything cable offers and chanell surf and find shows I had no idea existed. I know I'm getting reamed but it's what works and I'm just too lazy to try and figure all this out. Got a giant TV, easyboy and a remote. Hat's off to all of you who pull it off, Cable companies are pirates.
Marlo has a fire stick that has been code broke,,,everything is free :D
The only time I ever paid for cable was when I was in college and it was because my roommates demanded it. I really don't care for mainstream TV. Aside from River Monsters, Seinfeld, and Breaking Bad, I don't watch TV. All I care about are movies but with modern technology, everything inevitably ends up online. You just have to wait.
If you have family that pays for cable, you can always get a user name and password from them to watch other steaming services: HBOgo, MAXgo, Showtime Anytime, STARZ, Amazon Prime Video, etc. You can stream via: Smart TV, tablet, smartphone, laptop, etc.
Another thing worth mentioning is that most modern TVs now come with built in Netflix and Amazon Prime Video apps. A lot of the time you don't even need a Roku, Minix box, or Fire TV if that's all you want to watch.
4K TV prices are crazy cheap right now. I bought a 65" LG last month at Costco for short money. It looks like a movie screen. Eventually I'm going to set it up with surround sound speakers.
Interesting; maybe the new year has a change in store for me; my cable bill just went up another $8.
Frank
I did that a few years ago. Ditched xfinity and went to comcast business class for my house. Every complaint I had with residential comcast/xfinity went away with the business class. The service is reliable, and if there is an issue, they will have a tech onsite within 24 hours. And my bill hasnt gone up since they day I signed up. And no data cap. We watch a lot of netflix, and were going over 3 of every 4 months.
I think the things i would really miss are PBS and turner classic movies. Now you have me thinking
I cab get PBS with a $13 dollar digital antenna.
I can pick up 61 channels for free with that alone.
The Netflix monthly fee is $13.99.
If there is something I want to watch that I have to pay for, I fire up the streamsmart box.
It is a little time consuming, but once you find a good stream, it is high def for free also.
My son wanted to watch Despicable Me 3 last night. It was $5 on Netflix I believe.
The streamsmart box isn't for everyone, but I love it. We watched it for free in High Definition.
Just an example, after he went to bed, I wanted to watch Iron Man 2. Also for a fee on Netfilx.
I found a stream on the streamsmart box, but they were talking in Russian. :D
I had to go back and find a different one. It is worth it to me.
They now cost $350, but after the investment. There are no fees associated with it whatsoever.
That is less than 2 months of cable. I have had it for several years now, but my wife and son still can't figure it out. ::)
It also makes your TV a Smart TV if you don't have one. I can surf the net with it too on the big screen.
There are a lot of streaming boxes available now that you can watch movies and tv on for no cost after the initial investment.
Quote from: Swami805 on December 19, 2017, 05:02:06 AM
I think the things i would really miss are PBS and turner classic movies. Now you have me thinking
We have a digital antenna and get more PBS (3 channels now, 2 before) than we did with cable. We do miss C-SPAN.
"Netflix, Netflix, Netflix". Came this close :ll, to dumping shares a that stock years ago. It was losing big- time from the original purchase price. Now I think it's eclipsed Apple as my biggest gainer.
Thanks for the info. My Spectrum bill went up(promo. offer ended) $14 for Jan. Gonna check into it. Never thought of it that way before:"paying to watch commercials".
Gfish
Just that price hike alone would pay for a month of Netflix.
Pick up a digital antenna that plugs right in where the cable went and you will have better TV experience for $14 a month. ;)
Gave up on cable and satellite tv years ago.....now it's broadcast for the news, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and a couple "questionable" ::) ::) websites for current movies......Bill
Quote from: foakes on December 18, 2017, 04:09:58 PM
On Netflix, we are currently watching "The Crown". Just got done with Longmire (highly recommended).
I hated it when Longmire went to Netflix
Usually in the shop with tubes on unless UNC basketball is on but last night was exhausted so nailed down the recliner. We have dish. Cable or not, it's 99 percent rot. blacklist and Ozarks on Netflix is about the extent but I'd rather listen to Allman Bros and build a rod or reel.
I only get 3 VHF + 3 UHF + PBS -- is it because one of my rabbit ears broke off?
Try a digital antenna.
Quote from: Keta on December 20, 2017, 03:07:44 PM
Try a digital antenna.
Do you just plug it into the "cable in" on the TV? Do you need to do anything in the TV settings or does it just recognize the antenna?
I guess I should have included LOL or smiley...
just reminiscing about the good ole' days when
remote control = youngest walking/talking sibling/cousin
Quote from: pjstevko on December 20, 2017, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: Keta on December 20, 2017, 03:07:44 PM
Try a digital antenna.
Do you just plug it into the "cable in" on the TV? Do you need to do anything in the TV settings or does it just recognize the antenna?
You will have to do a channel search when you plug it in.
Set your input to TV.
Quote from: Three se7ens on December 19, 2017, 04:26:18 AM
I did that a few years ago. Ditched xfinity and went to comcast business class for my house. Every complaint I had with residential comcast/xfinity went away with the business class. The service is reliable, and if there is an issue, they will have a tech onsite within 24 hours. And my bill hasnt gone up since they day I signed up. And no data cap. We watch a lot of netflix, and were going over 3 of every 4 months.
We've got Comcast Biz in the office for two circuits, and they've been great to work with over the years. Surprised me given their reputation as being the most hated company in the country for residential service.
Quote from: pjstevko on December 18, 2017, 05:05:13 PM
How is the net neutrality thing gonna effect this?
It could be a problem, depending on the ISP you use and how they decide to behave post-NN.
My guess is that if it becomes a problem due to speed throttling or traffic blocking, your ISP will probably provide a way for you to buy your way out of the problem.
Quote from: pjstevko on December 20, 2017, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: Keta on December 20, 2017, 03:07:44 PM
Try a digital antenna.
Do you just plug it into the "cable in" on the TV? Do you need to do anything in the TV settings or does it just recognize the antenna?
Ours has a coax cable that goes in back of the TV. The picture is better than what we got with cable.
Quote from: newfuturevintage on December 20, 2017, 08:39:39 PM
Quote from: Three se7ens on December 19, 2017, 04:26:18 AM
I did that a few years ago. Ditched xfinity and went to comcast business class for my house. Every complaint I had with residential comcast/xfinity went away with the business class. The service is reliable, and if there is an issue, they will have a tech onsite within 24 hours. And my bill hasnt gone up since they day I signed up. And no data cap. We watch a lot of netflix, and were going over 3 of every 4 months.
We've got Comcast Biz in the office for two circuits, and they've been great to work with over the years. Surprised me given their reputation as being the most hated company in the country for residential service.
Its hard to believe anything that involves comcast can have knowledgeable people answer the phone, run proper remote diagnostics, and if they cant fix it, they will have a rep there within 24 hours. Ive literally called at 11 pm on a saturday and had a tech show up sunday morning to fix my problem. And the service almost never goes down. You do pay a bit more for a given speed tier, but we dont do anything that eats up a ton of bandwidth here, so its not an issue.
Quote from: Three se7ens on December 21, 2017, 03:56:26 AM
Quote from: newfuturevintage on December 20, 2017, 08:39:39 PM
Quote from: Three se7ens on December 19, 2017, 04:26:18 AM
I did that a few years ago. Ditched xfinity and went to comcast business class for my house. Every complaint I had with residential comcast/xfinity went away with the business class. The service is reliable, and if there is an issue, they will have a tech onsite within 24 hours. And my bill hasnt gone up since they day I signed up. And no data cap. We watch a lot of netflix, and were going over 3 of every 4 months.
We've got Comcast Biz in the office for two circuits, and they've been great to work with over the years. Surprised me given their reputation as being the most hated company in the country for residential service.
Its hard to believe anything that involves comcast can have knowledgeable people answer the phone, run proper remote diagnostics, and if they cant fix it, they will have a rep there within 24 hours. Ive literally called at 11 pm on a saturday and had a tech show up sunday morning to fix my problem. And the service almost never goes down. You do pay a bit more for a given speed tier, but we dont do anything that eats up a ton of bandwidth here, so its not an issue.
Just the idea of the monthly bill not being an Introductory Rate Moving Target has got me pondering making the switch for the home.
Quote from: Army_of_One on December 18, 2017, 03:41:12 PM
I haven't had cable tv in years. My kids actually enjoy commercials when we go to hotels. ;D
My T.V. has Amazon Instant Video and Netflix apps on it. If I can't find it on Netflix, chances are I can rent/buy it from Amazon. Walmart has recently jumped on board with VUDU for purchased content. There are too many options now to continue to pay for commercials.
LOL, I'm in the same boat! I do everything I can to avoid commercials and my kids enjoy them ::) My son whistles the "Nationwide is on your side.." jingle. When I was a kid, Microsoft and IBM were the "evil empire" against Apple. Now I hear the teens see Apple as on the dark side. :o Life is funny!