Cutting the cable tv cord ? Help

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Oldschoolcuda

Oldschoolcuda

Early-A Body Nerd
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Sick of my rediculous cable tv bill. Any tips for cutting the cable cord from those that have done it greatly appreciated. :thumbsup:
Im tech limited but have so far looked into an amazon fire stick and sling tv plus digital antenna for local stations.
 
I was forced to get rid of cable four years ago when I bought my current house. I'm at the end of a private lane and Comcast never bothered to run cable up the lane. If I was along the road I could get it, but not along the lane. I do miss the faster internet (all I have now is DSL), but the actual television programming... not one bit.

For a little entertainment now we watch Netflix, Amazon videos on demand and occasionally Youtube though the PS4. I briefly tried Hulu but didn't care for most of their content. In our home we have exactly one television and it doesn't get turned on until after dinner anyway, so maybe I'm not the best person to answer this.

I guess my take away is try to ween yourself off of it. It didn't realize how much of a major time drain it was for me. And outside of a VERY few programs, cable seemed to alternate between mindless drivel, bread and circuses type of stuff, or the lies, propaganda, fear mongering, and mind control you'd get from the "news" channels. Oh, and marketing. You can't forget marketing. Did I mention I don't miss cable TV?
 
I threw my TV out the back door 2yrs ago. Best thing I've ever done! My marriage improved, my kids are both A/B honor roll, my son got inducted into the National Honor Society, I read way more, I'm more physically active and I spend more time enjoying my car hobby. Media is a distraction from living a rewarding life!
 
Yup. I hate the COMCRAP bill. And I have two accounts, 1 to my house , and 1 to my shop, where there is a rented apartment above it. I have been to S.E. Asia a lot in the last 2 yrs, and surprising enough , I don't miss TV.. Just like to know the News Tho. The Real News... Not the FAKE News....
 

vntned said:
I threw my TV out the back door 2yrs ago. Best thing I've ever done! My marriage improved, my kids are both A/B honor roll, my son got inducted into the National Honor Society, I read way more, I'm more physically active and I spend more time enjoying my car hobby. Media is a distraction from living a rewarding life!
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Can’t go off the tv grid cold turkey. I like sports to much.
Glad it worked for you though.
 
MOPARMITCH said:
Yup. I hate the COMCRAP bill. And I have two accounts, 1 to my house , and 1 to my shop, where there is a rented apartment above it. I have been to S.E. Asia a lot in the last 2 yrs, and surprising enough , I don't miss TV.. Just like to know the News Tho. The Real News... Not the FAKE News....
Click to expand...

We have spectrum down here and they suck. Final straw was trying to negotiate with them friday.
Senior discount. Nope. Been a customer for 20 yrs. and i am a widower. They don't care.
But a new customer can get the same service as i have for $45 less a month on a promotional deal.
Gave me $30 off on TV package then sent email it is dropping to $15 july 1st to keep things consistant in the market. WTF.
Went ballistic and cancelled my phone service( which wiped out any TV discount) so said screw you cancel my TV package also fu@kers.
 
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Got rid of the satellite ages ago.

Cyrus still gets his Mickey Mouse on the Roku and Nick gets Chuggington to watch, but music is on most of the day, anyway.

I'd rather the boys be outside playing during the summer months. And if I want to watch something, then Netflix has plenty of new movies to chose from.

Or failing that, I can pull something from the shelf.

IMG_20180617_184528.jpg
 
I unplugged everything except the internet, going on three years now. And those final two or three I was just watching TV preachers. I don't miss TV at all.
I gutted the house in 2012, all 1.5 stories of it. I moved the floor plan completely around, then;reinsulated from the inside out, rewired it, replumbed it, drywalled it,and refloored it all; year by year. I built a shop in 2014, in the which, I was going to work in my retirement.
I mudded and painted most of the interior of the house the year before last. I painted the outside of the house last summer,the shop got painted in the last couple of weeks. And just two inside spaces left for this winter, and then the baseboards.And next summer I guess the deck will get paint.
I wouldn't have got much of anything done, with the TV still working. Pull the plug man, read a book, maybe Revelation. Tick-tock; time is running out.
Ten years ago I was 55 and old age was still a decade into the future. I have no idea where those last ten went. I suspect the next ten will be exponentially faster. Tick-Tock.........
 
I intentionally didn’t get cable or Internet 4 years ago when I moved to a rental house so I would concentrate on my car project. Getting married and buying a house did cut into that some, but still no cable or Internet.
Work provides me with a cell phone, and I use that to come here and enjoy you all.
 
I got rid of Sprectum over a year ago, when the bill for internet, and basic tv went over $100 p/m. Now have century link for landline phone (unlimited long distance, caller ID, call waiting), and internet, for about $45 p/m. They raised my bill, last month (special discounts expired), I called them and said I couldn't afford the increase, and would have to cancel both. They reinstated the discounts. For TV, I have a antenna on a tower. I can get about 60 channels. Granted many are religion, spanish (i only speak English), Old movies/programs (I like them), shopping, and all the major networks. Works for me.
PS: For cell phone I have Consumer Cell, with flip phone, unlimited minutes, no text, no data (don't want text or data) , for $20/month
 
We have the digital antenna and pick up about 40 stations, Save a lot of money!
 
I did firestick and DirecTVNow for a while. Got to have a good fast WiFi or it will buffer. Gone back to att U-verse for a while till they jack up the price. Have to be willing to switch to get the good offers.
 
Go to antennaweb.org you punch in your address, and it will show you which directions all your local broadcasters are. And how far. It will give you suggestions for what kind of antenna.
Terrain may affect whether or not you get all channels they list.
Your best bet is to put a small amplifier outdoors on the antenna, they call it a preamp. That will cover the cable losses for getting down and into the house.
If you want to feed more than one or 2 tVs, you should get a distribution amp at a central location then feed each TV discreetly off of that. That may exist already where your cable distribution is.
AntennaWeb.org - Antenna Signal Prediction
 
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cut the cord but leave the internet. Everything is on the internet is some sort of streaming fashion, even current sports but you have to look. Many sling local sports to blacked out markets. Throw up that old Antenna you got and autoprogram the TV, youll be suprised how many stations it can pull nowadays with about 20% interesting.
 
High speed internet, xbox, and with that youtube, hulu or netflix if you want it, and don't forget kodi - free tv and movies (watched A Quiet Place and the new Tomb Raider last night in full hd).
 
Stopped watching TV 30 years ago. No more liberal propaganda, or stupid, or nasty junk to clutter my mind. Bought movies or shows that I liked. I now have a nice collection. Get outside and enjoy life.
 
66fs said:
Stopped watching TV 30 years ago. No more liberal propaganda, or stupid, or nasty junk to clutter my mind. Bought movies or shows that I liked. I now have a nice collection. Get outside and enjoy life.
Click to expand...

Good for you. I get out and enjoy life everyday myself but am to much of a sports fanatic.
Thats why i am looking for price reduction options not cold turkey off the grid stuff.
 
I now go to High School, College, and Minor League sports. They are close and nothing is ridiculously priced.
 
Smart tv. You can usually find big sporting events streaming live and for everything else just use YouTube. Youtube has all the entertainment anyone could ever ask for.
 
On 14 day free trial with sling rt. now.
All the sports options i had with spectrum plus history, nat geo & travel channel. All i need for $60 less. No buffering problems yet but we will see. F@&k cable. Wohoo.
 
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