Cutting The Cord on Cable

[JustAGuy]

We stream Netflix without buffer @ 15 down. Based on my experience, unless you have multiple family members downloading large files/streaming at the same time, you can save your money and get 25 down. Also in my experience, you can try the cheaper 25 down and upgrade to 50 if you aren't happy. Cable providers are all to happy to take more of your money, so upgrading you, even if in contract, shouldn't be a problem. Start low and work your way up. Enjoy cutting the cable; we have.

I agree with dwf, but if you can start even lower like 15 Mb you might be able to save a little more. I don't think I've ever seen Comcast's price go down.
I have a 15 Mb connection too. This past year, when my daughter moved back home to the east coast (with husband and kid) they streamed Netflix constantly with out issues.
We also run Amazon prime without issue.

[SW315]

We stream Netflix without buffer @ 15 down. Based on my experience, unless you have multiple family members downloading large files/streaming at the same time, you can save your money and get 25 down. Also in my experience, you can try the cheaper 25 down and upgrade to 50 if you aren't happy. Cable providers are all to happy to take more of your money, so upgrading you, even if in contract, shouldn't be a problem. Start low and work your way up. Enjoy cutting the cable; we have.

I agree with dwf, but if you can start even lower like 15 Mb you might be able to save a little more. I don't think I've ever seen Comcast's price go down.
I have a 15 Mb connection too. This past year, when my daughter moved back home to the east coast (with husband and kid) they streamed Netflix constantly with out issues.
We also run Amazon prime without issue.

Thanks, unfortunately Comcast goes from a 6 down plan to a 25 down plan. I just purchased my modem and router today from newegg, hard to beat the combo deal price.

[Ware]

I thought I'd bring this back to life as I too am looking to cut the CATV cord. I currently pay $141 with discounts for Uverse. My contract is up in August and I will be making changes. Here are the products and services I am looking in to. Obviously I will need an antenna. I have searched and found I can get all the major networks plus a few more. That will feed in to a 4 tuner Tablo OTA dvr, I thought about going with a TiVo but I think this may be a better long term solution. I will then have a Roku streaming box and pay for Amazon Prime, Netflix and Sling TV. Depending which internet package I go with this could save me up to $700+ a year.

That brings me to a question. Comcast offers a 25 Mbps and a 50 Mbps internet package, which one do I need for streaming HD content without issue?

Also, what is everyone's thoughts on the services I have listed?

Thanks in advance, Scott

P.S. Andy, where are you at now that Aereo is gone?

No cable TV here. We cut the cord a few months ago - well, except for internet. Dropping off my cable boxes at the Cox store was a joyous occasion.

I'm on the 50Mbps plan, but I think I'm going to downgrade to the 15Mbps tier and give it a try.

I do Sling to get the ESPNs, Netflix, Prime and Hulu Plus on AppleTV and Amazon FireTV/Sticks. One of these days I will work on the antenna thing, but I'm in a poor signal area.

We didn't watch a lot of TV before, so it wasn't a difficult transition for us.

[Tsmith]

I've been thinking about cutting the cord as well as my discounts just ended and my bill jumped $42

I'm going to start by getting rid of the cable box in the bedroom and using Apple TV / Netflix and a Mohu indoor HD antenna for locals. Don't know why it took me this long as paying for anything in the bedroom where I watch maybe an hour of TV a day is stupid.


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[probasesteal]

We severed ties with uverse, I would have kept their internet if they weren't such dicks. Now we have Hulu, Amazon Prime and Netflix. Honestly two of these are enough, lots of overlap between Netflix and Amazon.

We have 15mb down, not unusual for us both to stream with no problems.


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[Ware]

I've been thinking about cutting the cord as well as my discounts just ended and my bill jumped $42

I'm going to start by getting rid of the cable box in the bedroom and using Apple TV / Netflix and a Mohu indoor HD antenna for locals. Don't know why it took me this long as paying for anything in the bedroom where I watch maybe an hour of TV a day is stupid.


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That's how we started the process - got rid of everything we were paying for that we didn't really need.

Once we put it into perspective that our Cox bill was our second highest recurring bill, the choice became clear.

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[Alan]

It seems like most you guys are cutting the cable, but then replacing it with something else that still costs money(amazon, netflix, etc.). Has anyone cut the cable and NOT replaced it with an alternative and just live with what they can pick up OTA?

[SW315]

It seems like most you guys are cutting the cable, but then replacing it with something else that still costs money(amazon, netflix, etc.). Has anyone cut the cable and NOT replaced it with an alternative and just live with what they can pick up OTA?

You are correct. By getting rid of CATV and going the route I'm going, I'll be going from $141+ a month to well under a hundred. I'm a big TV watcher so going strictly OTA is not an option.


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[dfw_pilot]

Alan, other than OTA, we also have AmazonFire and Netflix. We use AmazonMom for both shipping and diaper products, so budget wise, we consider the AmazonFire just a free add on. Netflix, however, is close to being cut. We signed up for the movies, but unless you watch more than 4-6 movies a month, it's cheaper to just use a nearby RedBox (if you have one of those ancient things called a dvd player). I'm also not stoked about the Netflix movie selection, either. We don't watch the popular shows like House of Cards or Breaking Bad . . .

[probasesteal]

Netflix has a poor movie selection. Much better for TV series.


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[Tsmith]

I started looking last night and think I'm going to pickup a Roku today and signup for Sling TV as between them both they have most of the channels I watch anyway. My only concern with Sling TV is picture quality but from what I read it's supposed to be pretty good.

I have Apple TVs which are supposed to come out with some kind of TV service later this year like Sling TV but I'm always up for new tech.

Netflix is great for old TV series to just hv something to watch but especially their own series. House of Cards, Marco Polo, Daredevil are all awesome.


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[Nixnix42]

We've got 2 rokus with Netflix and sling TV also OTA HD with HDhomerun running live TV thru the rokus. The sling TV picture quality is decent for the most part


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[SW315]

I started looking last night and think I'm going to pickup a Roku today and signup for Sling TV as between them both they have most of the channels I watch anyway. My only concern with Sling TV is picture quality but from what I read it's supposed to be pretty good.

I have Apple TVs which are supposed to come out with some kind of TV service later this year like Sling TV but I'm always up for new tech.

Netflix is great for old TV series to just hv something to watch but especially their own series. House of Cards, Marco Polo, Daredevil are all awesome.


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If you prepay sling for 3 months you get the roku 3 half off

[Tsmith]

We've got 2 rokus with Netflix and sling TV also OTA HD with HDhomerun running live TV thru the rokus. The sling TV picture quality is decent for the most part


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Running locals through Roku would be sweet. I'll checkout HDHomeRun, thanks

If you prepay sling for 3 months you get the roku 3 half off

I saw that and will prob go that route but I'd like to check it out first so I was thinking about picking up a Roku stick which I would eventually use in bedroom.

[Alan]

I watch an hour of TV a day(more if it's raining) and maybe, just maybe more on the weekend, provided the weather sucks then too. I can't justify any TV expenses...or maybe I'm just too cheap.

[Tsmith]

I watch my share of TV especially during the week later at night and in the morning on weekends.

Just picked up a Roku signed up for Sling TV and so far the streaming is working well. The quality isn't bad but isn't great either. I'm currently over wifi but will switch to Ethernet hoping it improves similar to me Apple TV which is much better over cable than wifi.


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[samholton]

I also have a hdhomerun for OTA channels. It's connected to a low power ARM board running tvheadend. Basically a free dvr for the local channels. I can watch the content (live or recorded) on any of my computers, cell phones, or tv (using raspberry pi and xbmc/kodi as a front end). We also have amazon prime so we get amazon video as a benefit. I've never paid for cable. But I also don't watch sports. Currently paying for Netflix but running out of old shows to watch. May go on a rotation of having Netflix for a few months and then taking a break for a few. Maybe opposite of regular tv seasons

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[Tsmith]

This is moving pretty quickly for me. Roku and Sling TV setup today and currently looking at OTA DVR that I can stream locals from antenna to Roku and Apple TV.

I'd prefer to get one that I can use on its own without having to also use my computer. I initially looked at the TiVo but quickly eliminated due to the $15 monthly fee. I'm looking at a couple others including Simple.tv and Tablo which is the one I'm leaning towards right now.

Did it really take me this long to do this? The only down side is buying new hardware in order to make the switch from Apple TV to Roku since ATV doesn't hv SlingTV.


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[samholton]

I think hdhomerun is crowd funding dvr software right now that would run on a nas. If you like to tinker check out tvheadend. I bet it would run fairly well in the newest raspberry pi.

I think I did see a subscription fee for it also though. Probably for the epg info

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[SW315]

I just ordered a Tablo 4 tuner. Down side, they are pricey and you need to purchase a usb hard drive They too have subscription fees if you want all the bells and whistles. The fees are as follows $5/mo, $50/yr or $150 for a lifetime subscription. Their site has a lot of info on it. I'll let you know how I like mine later next week.


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