How to cut the cable cord...

Hello All,

Recently, I went from paying over $200 each month for cable and wi-fi, to paying $20 for the same and more.
I have 9 TVs throughout the house (all 4 bedrooms, living room, dining room, master bathroom, kitchen, and craft room).

First thing I did, (after telling cable I quit), I got a $10 digital antenna from Amazon. I installed this on the inside of my roof, in the attic, right where the cable came in. I put it right to the splitter that runs to all of these rooms, and used the signal booster we previously used for cable. This gives me about 50 digital channels, for free, each month. Channels like the major networks, etc. No streaming needed. All crystal clear digital.

So, for $0 a month, we can turn on the TV, and watch CBS, ABC, NBC, local affiliates, even some specialty channels. With another booster, may even get more.

Next, by paying $20 a month to our cell provider, we got a mobile hotspot unit. This gives fast enough internet to stream content to select TVs (that have a $30 Google Chrome plugged into the HDMI port). The two of these, allow us to play anything from our phones or laptop, to the TVs. (and I still have HDMI cables in each room, for a direct connection if desired.)

Now, you could then go with subscription options to Netflix, Hulu, etc. and STILL be cheaper and get more content, than cable, or you can get an Amazon Firestick, and some software, and get pretty much everything for just the initial cost of the firestick (around $70 or so depending on exact one).

Bottom line though, going from over $200 a month, to $20 a month, I can still just turn on the TV and immediately watch shows (no streaming), or I can just stream a movie or TV show whenever I like. Cutting the cord was the best financial decision we ever made.

a reply to: Gazrok

My husband and I dropped Direct TV over 2 years ago.We have this amplified antenna
connected to our TV that gives us plenty of free channels to watch. I don't miss paying
over $80.00 per month for TV at all.Most of those channels we never watched anyway,
a waste of money.
A TV in your bathroom?

Master bathroom, yeah, we like to watch and listen to the news in the morning, while getting ready. We have it on in the bedroom and the bathroom, so as we get ready and move room to room, we can still listen to the same news story, etc.

this doesnt work in my rural area.

dangit

We are pretty rural too. Are you sure, have you looked it up? If anything, you may just need a more potent booster. Mine's a 20 mile, but they make a 50 mile one and up too. I find it hard to believe though, that you're more than 30 miles away from such broadcasts.


I was paying $54 each month just for the cable boxes alone for each room. Another $50 for the internet, and the rest for two DVRs and the channels.

We dropped direct over a year ago.
I only miss ESPN every now and then.
We have about a dozen antenna stations and rarely watch them. I watch doctor who on pbs....

Other than that we use netflix.

a reply to: Bluntone22



The only channels that I miss are Discovery,A&E,and Boomerang*.


* I like to watch cartoons!

a reply to: mamabeth

I loved boomerang when they had jonny guest and thundar and justice league.
Then they changed to crap from the 90s and ruined the channel for me.

I love this thread.

I started my company (Providing Wireless Internet To Rural America) for this very reason.

What do you get as your download speed over your cell connection?

If you ever need to improve it and or want to know more PM me. I can geek out on this stuff alllll day.

Wireless Fidelity For All!!!

Nice work! The antenna must be nice. I only got a few channels poorly last time I tried. The problem with cutting the cord is all the DRM that comes with viewing content. Some needs to run from an app some from a computer. Some apps will Chromecast, some won't. Its a flustercuck. I have been cord free for over 10 years trying it all and I finally settled on using a tablet with hdmi output.

Funny enough. I am back on the cord now. With a catch. There is no cord. I am using YouTube TV. It is the complete cable experience. Commercials and all. I like it because it is Google which means a comprehensive global content delivery network and top notch load balancing and server speeds so it is crystal clear. Plus it has a DVR tool that is unlimited and just as fast. A nice bonus. As a cord cutter I had totally forgotten about DVR. Another bonus is it has a better movie selection than Netflix. The quality and ease of access makes it worth the cost.

On a side note. Netflix has 4k content. Watch out, these movies can get 100GB each! I had to upgrade my internet plan to unlimited after watching stranger things to avoid crazy charges.

a reply to: Bluntone22

I like the old cartoons from the 1940's through early 1960,Looney Tunes,
Tom & Jerry.

Holy hell dude, your cable bill was $200 a month?!

In the UK I get freesat tv, which is obviously free, 300 or so channels. And my broadband internet is unlimited bandwidth for around £20 a month.

One time $35 for Roku....replaced Direct TV + OTA antenna....sweet!

a reply to: Painterz

What do you guys pay for tv tax?

a reply to: Gazrok

I haunt watched TV in years but I did look into some things..

There is Hulu live (basically like having cable and hulu on demand at the same time)

YouTube live

There's even a PlayStation cable service (minus the cable of course)

I tried a few since around here you can get insanely fast internet for cheap now.

In the end I just don't really care enough about network or cable type content.

a reply to: Gazrok

Can you please link me the antenna you got? I want to buy that exact one. I got one from big lots and it works for #. If I place it in the right spot I can kind of see 1 channel.

I was paying like 130 and dropped everything but internet. That runs me 70 then 15 for Netflix and 10 for fight pass. Would like to save a little more. I need a solid, fast connection cause I download a lot. Just last night I downloaded about 44 gigs of #

I got this one:

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_7?s=audio-video-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1515001661&sr=1-7&k eywords=digital+tv+antenna

However, I already had a signal booster. If you don't have one, get an antenna with a booster, it's a big difference, especially if you are running to multiple TVs.

This one is a 35 mile range. (meaning more like 20). If you need more range, look for the 50-70 ones.

TIP. download content using someone else's wifi, like work, etc. Then, just use wifi for playback at home.

One time $35 for Roku....replaced Direct TV + OTA antenna....sweet!

Basically same as Firestick.

What do you get as your download speed over your cell connection?

If you ever need to improve it and or want to know more PM me. I can geek out on this stuff alllll day.

Not sure, but it's fast enough to stream without hiccups, and that's all that matters to the wife...lol.

I may still reach out to ya though. I'd love to have other wifi options.