scootiepie Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Right now we have internet / cable TV/ phone (landline) through Cox. I really want trim this down as much as possible, first by dropping cable TV. I've heard that many people are getting decent TV choices by streaming and adding an antenna. What I'm wondering is if I go the streaming route, what level of internet speed do I need? Cox goes from a 5 mbps to 25 mbps download speed. Is 5 too low for what I want? Can you get many cable TV shows online/streamed for free or do you have to pay? Husband does not want to give up history channel/Pawn Stars. There are a few things I like but overall I can live without. If it ends up that I will be nickel-and-dimed so much that it amounts to a cable TV bill it won't be worth it (other than I just want less TV in the house in general). If you have an antenna, do you know if the 20 mile vs 60 mile signal makes a big difference? I would love to hear what has worked for you if you have made the transition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Our computer is hardwired and right now we only have a Kindle using wi fi. My husband is the main TV watcher - calls it "poor man's entertainment". He'd probably have something akin to a drug withdrawal if cut off cold turkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I would do a search for each of your favorite shows to see if/how quickly they're put online. We don't have access to major cable and/or internet suppliers, so our podunk company made us switch to a commercial internet account b/c of the high streaming levels. I wish I understood bytes better, lol, but I don't. For us, it made sense. Our cable bill was something crazy like $120. The switch to commercial internet has bumped that billup by about $30/mo. We pay $7.99 for Hulu+, $11.99 for Netflix (higher number of devices than basic membership), and I buy two shows on Amazon that aren't available by other means right away, because I'm impatient. When they're running regularly, that's under $16/mo. So, we're saving more than $50/mo, plus whatever we had been paying for DVR, because I don't like planning my life around live TV schedules. We never tried the whole antenna thing. The only thing we (and by we, I mean dh) miss is regular football. We can stream the Superbowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We dropped everything down to the basic 27 (or so) channels. That saved a ton right there. I didn't change anything with our internet at all, I would guess our speed is moderate (not the highest available and not the slowest), and rarely have trouble streaming anything. We already had Netflix when we made the change, so we knew we would get a lot of use out of it. If you don't have Netflix already, you may want check it for your DH's favorite shows, they may have them. I was in our local Cox office for something else last Fall (about a year after dropping down to basic), and inquired about adding a few channels but refusing to pay over $100 for our bill. The rep added a whole tier of stations AND one HD box for an additional $10 per month, for the next 2 years. That sounded unusually cheap to me, but took up the offer without hesitating! So, I would recommend going into your local office if you can, you may have more bargaining power versus over the phone. We got used to not having Discovery, HGTV and History channel, but it was nice to have them added back on. We bought a basic antennae and it picked up our local stations plus several public TV stations. I'm not sure what the strength was, but it picked them up really easily. I'm sure it depends on your location. This was only for one TV, as there is no cable in that particular room. We got local stations on cable on our other TV's with the very basic package. I also locked into their price guarantee. You get penalized if you cancel early but I locked into our rates for the next 2 years so the bill won't creep up again like it had before. ETA: Be aware that you may lose your bundling prices if you cancel cable altogether. That's why we stuck with the very, very basic cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We pay $10 a month for basic cable. This gives us NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. There are a few more channels as well, but they are junk (shopping, etc.). We pay $7.99 per month for Hulu Plus, $11.99 for Netflix, and we also have Amazon Prime ($79 a year). So we pay about $36 per month for our tv (I included Amazon Prime in that figure, although we use Prime for the free two-day shipping as well). Our Internet costs about $50 per month, but I work from home and we all have i-Things, so good Internet is a must for us. I have considered looking into an antennae. I guess that would save us $10 a month. I have also considered dropping Hulu Plus, as we haven't been watching it much lately. With both Hulu and Netflix, you can go in and out - meaning that if I know I'm not going to watch Hulu for a while, just cancel it and then sign up again when I want to use it. Before this, we had Direct TV. It was super expensive and we had to sign a contract. I will NEVER do that again (unless pricing changes drastically!). Oh, one more thing to add, we only have one TV in the house. We use a Roku to stream to it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Part of my dilemma relates to a service call we had a year or two back. Our internet signal was not coming through adequately and Cox came out and adjusted a few outside wires. We had ordered the Limited/Basic Cable (I think it is about 20 bucks or so, now about 25)...but the service guy was either lazy or unethical (or both) because he told us that the internet required a stronger signal than TV -since we had a filter on the outdoor cable box (to restrict out channels, I guess) - he would just remove it to make our internet signal stronger, with a wink and a nod and hush-hush - that will give you more TV channels too. I guess it all comes in on the same wire. Well it did fix the internet problem beautifully, but since then we've had a bunch more TV channels than what we are paying for. So we are not paying a big amount for the TV part. Part of the reason I want to cut the cable is just to get that monkey off my back. I'm really worried they'll figure it out and think WE tampered with the box. But also, we had ordered the limited to begin with for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Right now we have internet / cable TV/ phone (landline) through Cox. I really want trim this down as much as possible, first by dropping cable TV. I've heard that many people are getting decent TV choices by streaming and adding an antenna. What I'm wondering is if I go the streaming route, what level of internet speed do I need? Cox goes from a 5 mbps to 25 mbps download speed. Is 5 too low for what I want? Can you get many cable TV shows online/streamed for free or do you have to pay? Husband does not want to give up history channel/Pawn Stars. There are a few things I like but overall I can live without. If it ends up that I will be nickel-and-dimed so much that it amounts to a cable TV bill it won't be worth it (other than I just want less TV in the house in general). If you have an antenna, do you know if the 20 mile vs 60 mile signal makes a big difference? I would love to hear what has worked for you if you have made the transition. We dropped DishNetwork about four years ago and haven't really missed it. We have a computer dedicated to the 52" television. Awesome. :-) We have an antenna; where we live, we only get the major networks, PBS, and the CW (an independent network). We're good with that. :-) My cousin who lives in Virginia Beach gets a boatload of stations with his antenna. We also pay for NetFlix streaming and one DVD at a time. We're content with that. We are so totally spoiled by NO commercials, not even having to skip through them (which is what we did with Dish--DVR'd our shows, skipped the commercials when we played them back). We don't mind watching our shows a year behind what's being aired; we can't tell a difference, lol. Many networks, such as the History Channel, stream their shows so can go to, say, historychannel.com and watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. Antenna is free; NetFlix is $15 a month. Oh, and we also have Amazon Prime, which is $80ish a year. We're fine with not having the choice of 150 channels to watch. in exchange for only paying about $25 a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 My cousin who lives in Virginia Beach gets a boatload of stations with his antenna. Ooooh, that is a great tidbit to know....we are in VA Beach :) Do you know what kind of antenna? I know there is a 20 mile option and a 60 mile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We dropped Directv in 2011 and haven't missed it at all. Whether you get over the air channels will depend on where you are (how close are you where they originate?), and the quality of your antenna. We get a bunch of channels, including 6 PBS channels and the big 4 broadcast networks (plus CW) I would say get the fastest internet you can afford, but we have the lowest (10mpbs) and it's fine. I'd bump it up but dh thinks it's unnecessary. We have a Roku box which we use to watch everything that isn't live. We're Amazon Prime members (for the shipping) so we have a lot of free stuff to watch there, plus we have Netflix and Hulu Plus. Occasionally we buy a season of a show we're not willing to wait for, but we can buy the entire season of our 3 shows and still be saving money (even with the cost of the three streaming options). When we buy a season, we have it the next day (by midnight technically). Many people who have cable use their dvr and don't watch a show live, so we're not all that different by watching it the next night. Do we watch a lot of tv? Dh does. He watches all night, every night. I watch less. However, he and I watch something on streaming every night and have never lacked for something to watch. You do have to change how you watch tv, but once you do it's normal. We don't watch sports, so there's nothing to miss there (other than the recent BCS championship game in which my school became the Nat'l Champs. :)) We get our news online (except for sometimes watching local news) and I can't say I miss 24 hour news channels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm37 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I am jealous of all your streaming rates! We only have 1.5 mbps available to us unless we go to cable. We are still able to stream most videos, although my kids say Amazon is getting harder to stream. It will stop and reload every once in a while. But two videos streaming would be a max and when more than 4 of our devices are on at once it will often freeze up. I would say 5 mbps should be plenty! We get a dozen or more channels on the antennae. That seems to satisfy my 9-11 PM channel surfing guys. We installed the antennae for football. We pay for Netflix and Amazon prime, so about $20/mo. Remembering the days of those "basic" cable bills rising every few months. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We are in the process of making this switch. We purchased a roku 3 and have netflix and amazon prime. We have been using the roku exclusively for about a week now and I am going to take the cable boxes back today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Having switched to an antenna I do not consider cable poor mans entertainment ! At least in my neighborhood , basic cable is $50 month. Heck with that. Netflix has tons of shows , the library has DVDs . The only channel I miss is abc family . They used to give access to shows on their website and hulu, no more. But all their shows end up on Netflix. Just check your antenna strength first is network tv is important to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We have never had cable or satellite or anything but an antenna. We've always gotten fine reception with the antenna. It did actually get a bit worse with digital, as if the signal isn't clear with digital it pixellates and is unwatchable, whereas with analog it would just get a bit 'snowy'. But the addition of digital was also a plus in that now we get (with just the antenna) all sorts of extra movie channels, a bunch of old TV rerun channels and something like 4x the number of PBS channels (PBX Kids, Explore, etc.) They also seem to have boosted some of the digital signals that were too weak at first, so now they come in fine most of the time (but those are mostly duplicate network channels from adjacent states, so it was no biggy anyway). We did cave and get Netflix streaming last year, which allows us to watch a bunch of just-cable shows, just not as they come out. If you already have Amazon Prime, I wouldn't bother with Netflix, even. I don't see the need for both... We have FiOS for internet. Of course, we only need that for the Netflix, not for what comes over the antenna. We also have a TiVO box, but that is also just with the antenna. I can't imagine having even more to watch, no less paying for more to watch! There aren't enough hours in the day! I was watching one of the Spanish channels the other night, and they had all these ads for "FREE TV!" if you buy a digital antenna. NO MONTHLY FEES! Um, yeah. It's always worked that way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We are in the process of making this switch. We purchased a roku 3 and have netflix and amazon prime. We have been using the roku exclusively for about a week now and I am going to take the cable boxes back today. That's how we did it. We used the Roku box for about a month, to get used to it, before we cancelled Directv. I can't imagine having even more to watch, no less paying for more to watch! There aren't enough hours in the day! . I can't either! We are never lacking for something to watch, whether on broadcast channels through the antenna, or through streaming. We just replaced our oldest Roku box with the Roku 3, and now we get some shows from The History Channel, Discovery, Lifetime, and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We dropped cable to cut expenses. We use a ROKU or connect our laptop to the T.V via an HDMI cable. Amazon Prime and Netflix streaming are our paid viewing options. Many network shows apppear online after a week on the network website or Hulu, for free. We didn't miss cable for long, we adjusted our view habits and expectations. We do not have a landline, so no bundle pricing here. While our internet price went up, it still was less costly than internet +cable. *We only have Prime because we use it for shipping. Otherwise Netflix would be our only paid option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We lived without it for years and did just fine. However, I feel like my premium movie channels are a luxury. We can't afford babysitters for four kids nor can we afford dates out all the time, etc. So it is definitely our poor mans entertainment. We pay a pretty penny for highest speed internet and tv channels. Kids all have tablets too oh and netflix. It is just out pleasure. I typically only watch once kids are asleep. If you aren't watching it terribly much definitely do without. There are tons of ways to watch later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Part of making the switch is that you get used to watching different shows. You also get used to watching what you want when you want, so it can be impossible to go back to watching what's on or sitting through commercials. You have to decide if the pawn show is worth the price of cable. Maybe, maybe not. We switched years ago and haven't run out of things to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We get Aereo, which streams broadcast tv over the Internet and the use roku to put it on our tv. $8/month includes recording capabilities. It's not in all areas, but is expanding fast. Skitter is similar. Also fantastic is Apple TV plus an Apple device or computer. If you get a show on your computer, you can click a little icon and it will show up on your tv -- Apple calls it mirroring. Wonderful invention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The nearest cities with regular tv stations are too far away to be picked up by an antenna, so I think we are stuck with cable.... it is so expensive, we don't watch 80%+ of the stations (cable makes us get everything to get HD) and we don't watch tv all that much. But when we do watch, we want to get the one time events (British weddings, olympics, urgent news and weather information). I think we are stuck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The nearest cities with regular tv stations are too far away to be picked up by an antenna, so I think we are stuck with cable.... it is so expensive, we don't watch 80%+ of the stations (cable makes us get everything to get HD) and we don't watch tv all that much. But when we do watch, we want to get the one time events (British weddings, olympics, urgent news and weather information). I think we are stuck... If you use the internet you can get a service like Tunnel Bear that allows you to access viewing on sites in other countries. Such as BBC's UK website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We did just have Netflix and that was fine for awhile but then dh got a bit bored and wanted more options. We discussed getting cable but then just decided to add Hulu. I am considering getting Amazon but I don't know that it has more than Hulu and Netflix. Amazon would be cheaper than Hulu. We have an antenna and just get four channels on it, two in bad weather. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 If you use the internet you can get a service like Tunnel Bear that allows you to access viewing on sites in other countries. Such as BBC's UK website. Hola is a browser extension, it is free. It works the same way. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We haven't had cable or satellite in over 3 years. We have netflix streaming and Amazon prime. We sometimes stream shows on Hulu. We canceled HuluPlus last year because we can wait a week and watch it for free online on the channel's website or regular hulu. We have a roku but we don't really watch any of those channels--we just use it to stream netflix and amazon. We haven't missed tv. We never watched sports. We are fine to find something online to watch or rent a movie. Dh did purchase the last 2 seasons of Breaking Bad so he wouldn't have to wait. We occasionally buy an episode of something but it's rare that we do that. Oh we have ATT dsl and we got rid of our landline a year ago. We haven't missed that at all. No one but telemarketers ever called anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Unexpected Party Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We got rid of our entire cable for a few years. We kept the internet through the cable company because we needed the speed for my husband's work. For a long time we used only Netflix streaming. At that point Amazon hadn't really gotten into the streaming game and they had very little selection; we had Prime, but for other reasons. Then, my husband got into football and discovered it's tough to be into sports if you don't have cable. We tried the antenna, but it only worked well when our window was open. No fun in January, and the reception was disappointing most of the time. We went back to cable with a few of the premium channels. I am happier (I watch more TV than my husband did) but I do miss the level of Netflix Streaming we used to have. I felt Netflix had much more for younger kids than Amazon did then, and really even now. Our library does have videos, and we use it when we can. I would not want to rely on it as the children's videos are unusable and their educational videos aren't nearly as good as the ones available on Netflix. If I had to lose cable again I would continue my Amazon Prime and pick up Netflix again. I would probably buy the few shows I really like per year (which wasn't an option when we last ditched cable). The benefit of having just streaming types of services for your TV is your kids don't get exposed to commercials. That was an unpleasant awakening when we finally got our cable back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Then, my husband got into football and discovered it's tough to be into sports if you don't have cable. We tried the antenna, but it only worked well when our window was open. No fun in January, and the reception was disappointing most of the time. People IRL often ask me about Roku, and one of the first things I tell them is that if you like to watch live sports or 24 hour news channels, then giving up cable/satellite probably isn't for you. Some games are only on ESPN or other cable channels, so even if you get good antenna reception, you won't always get the games you want to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We had Hulu+ but I dropped it. It doesn't have CBS shows and 90% of what I watch is CBS. We have a very high powered antenna on the roof with an amplifier. It runs through our cable wires to all the TVs. We get about 15 channels total, including 6 or 7 PBS options that run BBC America shows. We got a Tivo to record shows as I don't like watching TV on my computer much. TivoHD with lifetime membership was $250 from a friend. Well worth it as this was what I missed more than anything! We have Netflix for $11/mo so that we can stream to more than 2 devices at once. We have Amazon Prime but rarely use it for TV as we prefer Netflix. We don't miss cable much at all. Occasionally I will wish we had it, but not usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 It really depends on how important it is to you, especially in terms of watching shows at the same time your friends or acquaintances are watching. We are a stream-only house. We use Amazon Prime, Hulu (free...we just wait for things post), PBS steamed videos, the library, and every year or so we try Netflix again. To us, that's fine. We don't need to watch it when it airs. We aren't interested in sports. It works for us. We never run out of things to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 The best thing we've ever done for our family is sell our TV and never look back. My husband only watches The Walking Dead, and I only watch Once Upon A Time. We hike every day, we play musical instruments, we read, and we're never board. My house is clean and I make good home-cooked meals. Think about it. You won't regret it. I promise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 We are not a big screen family. We watch maybe two or three shows a week and very often less. DH does watch some sports. We watch a couple of movies a month and kids three or four school related videos. We have an antenna that cost $40 and gets all the channels that the most basic, basic cable carries. (For $25 a month!). Anything else we want to watch we stream through our laptop or get from Netflix or the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootiepie Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for all the feedback....much to think about. I've been doing the status quo for so long I'm just not very informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Oh good grief. We watch VERY little TV, in fact, my older two kids hate TV. My house is not clean, we exercise a little, no musical instruments, and it was spaghetti noodles from a box last night. And I am exhausted. The best thing we've ever done for our family is sell our TV and never look back. My husband only watches The Walking Dead, and I only watch Once Upon A Time. We hike every day, we play musical instruments, we read, and we're never board. My house is clean and I make good home-cooked meals. Think about it. You won't regret it. I promise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 The best thing we've ever done for our family is sell our TV and never look back. My husband only watches The Walking Dead, and I only watch Once Upon A Time. We hike every day, we play musical instruments, we read, and we're never board. My house is clean and I make good home-cooked meals. Think about it. You won't regret it. I promise. Oh good grief. We watch VERY little TV, in fact, my older two kids hate TV. My house is not clean, we exercise a little, no musical instruments, and it was spaghetti noodles from a box last night. And I am exhausted. Yep. And what we do watch is at night, so I still have time to do all of those wonderful things, but I don't. Well, except for the good home-cooked meals, and reading. I don't hike but I walk daily. I'm never bored. Gee, I guess I can do a lot and still make time to watch tv if I want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Oh good grief. We watch VERY little TV, in fact, my older two kids hate TV. My house is not clean, we exercise a little, no musical instruments, and it was spaghetti noodles from a box last night. And I am exhausted. Ha!! I think the difference here can be found in our signatures. It seems you might have a little more responsibility than I do. The reason we exercise so much is that I used to be 120 pounds overweight. If you exercise everyday for 3 years it becomes a habit. Music and spanish were the two big things we wanted our family involved in before we had kids and wanted that to continue. I read about once a month cooking and spun it into once a month prep work. I'm sure you've seen the whole "freezer to slowcooker" trend. DO THAT! It's great! It's very little work on my part, but we have fresh meals every night :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I guess I shouldn't say no musical instruments. My older two are teaching themselves piano on our electric piano. I would like to get a real piano at some point. Middle son can play pretty well for having taught himself. Off to Algebra, leaving my messy, messy house and hoping some cleaning fairies come while I am gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 I guess I shouldn't say no musical instruments. My older two are teaching themselves piano on our electric piano. I would like to get a real piano at some point. Middle son can play pretty well for having taught himself. Off to Algebra, leaving my messy, messy house and hoping some cleaning fairies come while I am gone. We got ours for free. Check Craigslist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 We have a dedicated computer for our tv and use Hulu plus and Netflix streaming. We also have an antenna but way out in the boonies where we are we're lucky if it picks up 2 channels in good weather. A friend of ours uses XBMC. I have been watching videos about it on you tube. It seems a bit complicated, but I am fairly tech savvy and my friend swears she can get anything on tv and most movies using it for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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