@conmama, we have Comcast. We have the top of everything including HD, DVR, most expansive package, etc. bc that’s what dh wants. He really enjoys his TV and, when he decompresses at night or on the weekend, he just enjoys channel surfing, watching all kinds of things. I’m not in a position to really narrow down the offerings so understanding the different options is appealing but still too confusing to me.
@smdur1970 - the answer to your question depends entirely on where you live.
Here’s a website you can use to check your address: http://www.receptionmaps.com/Advanced-TV-Maps.html
I never could get analog tv signals where I live, and from the map on that site it doesn’t looke like digital would be much better. But as I noted before, I’m now getting pretty much everything I want with streaming services – so no more cable or satellite.
This site - https://nocable.org/ – is more optimistic for me – it says I could get about 20 channels if I buy the $30 flat indoor antenna from Amazon…(but I’ve already got what I want – I’m just giving you an example of the sort of report I’m seeing. )
Probably best to ask your neighbors rather than people who live in parts unknown.
Google Fiber is pretty good. Especially compared to Time Warner. I’ve had it for almost five years. The only problem I’ve had with Google Fiber was they cut my hot water pipe when they were installing it. But they fixed it. For some reason, my neighborhood has at least four, maybe five, internet/TV providers to choose from so if you don’t like one you can easily get another. But so far what’s not to like with Google Fiber?
@collage1, you could get supplemental cell phone batteries instead of retaining the land line.
@collage1 , I still think that’s too much. We have HD, preferred triple play, extreme 150 internet, voice unlimited, Starz, showtime, TMC. We have 4 TVs. How much do you pay for DVR? I would call and tell them it is just unacceptable now. The last time I did that was 2 years ago and our bill was 230. They were having a promotion, yeah right, and could decrease it down to 190, add showtime, extreme internet. Since then we’ve added a couple other things and they increased it by 10 for rates. Not sure how they are doing that as my promotion isn’t up for another 2 years. I’ll be calling and complaining again.
We too cut the cord many years ago. We have 3 kids so it was tough for them but eventually they adjusted. LOL We have individual “rabbit ears” and a streaming device for each tv. We pay for Netflix family size plan so 4 devices at a time and Sling for Disney//Nick/ESPN. So all of that cost about 34 dollars and we all get to watch exactly what we want. The only thing wish is that Sling had it set up to use multiple devices at once but maybe in the future.
@birdie3 we can watch multiple devices with PlayStation Vue. You may want to do a free trial run to see if it will work for you. We’ve been really happy with it.
If we ditch the $4 a mont landline that is bundled with our DSL for $40 a month…the DSL alone will cost us $50. So…we have the landline…to save money!
We have a flat HD antenna that we taped to a window near the TV. We had to do that since we have aluminum siding that would interfere with the TV signal if the antenna were placed elsewhere. It took us buying and returning several antennas before we found one that worked. We get ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS and channels I don’t watch. Check te website linked above to see what channels you’d get with an antenna.
I am kind of addicted to my DVR. I never watch shows when they are actually on, but like to stay fairly current with broadcast shows like This is Us. So if I get rid of cable and get an antenna to supplement my Netflix subscription, is there a way to buy a DVR so I can record shows?
I just stream network shows I’ve missed on my laptop. More difficult if you’re talking about cable shows.
You can buy a 500 Gb Tivo for < $200, which will let you record shows from a HD antenna. It requires a monthly subscription though of around $15. There might be other options, Tivo is the most well known though.
In lieu of a DVR, many channels have apps where one can watch shows after a few weeks for free.
Get a streaming device like Roku and that’s it. Only CBS requires a paid subscription along with the premium channels.
You don’t need a subscription to watch the last 5 episodes of a CBS show.
We terminated cable TV about a year ago (still have their internet) and use the Directv Now streaming service. We also have CBS All Access because DTVN doesn’t have CBS in our area. DTVN has most channels we need for the NBA, MLB, and NFL. We are grandfathered in on their $60 plan for $35, so it’s quite the deal. Works best on an Apple TV, but I’ve also used it successfully on a Roku 3. Some regions don’t seem to have as good of success with DTVN as we have had, so try it first. I would also try Playstation Vue - I thought motion in sports was smoother with DTVN than PS Vue in my trial. Sling was inferior to both of those during the short trial I gave it. When YouTube gets an app for the Apple TV that is one I’d consider too if I had to choose from scratch. HBO is only $5/month with DTVN. Right now our cost for internet/landline and the 2 streaming services is a little over $100, but that will go up $20 in a few months when the internet/landline promo expires. Still a lot cheaper than getting TV from the cable company, on the order of $70-$80 savings for us. If I was not grandfathered in on the $60 DTVN plan, I would condsider either their $35 plan or PS Vue and supplement it with MLB.tv.
Sling TV carries ESPN and you can subscribe for as little as a month. Having grown attached to our Tivo box, that used to be an issue with Sling but now they allow recording of some channels (not ESPN unfortunately). Sling works great with an Amazon Fire TV and since we have Amazon Prime we get the free Prime movies too.
We ditched the landline years ago.
For the OP, I’d say keep a log for a couple of weeks. Write down each channel you watched. This will help you decide if you can cobble together something on your own that gives you everything or almost everything.
When you get just Comcast Internet service you can add on Basic (about a dozen channels) for $5 or so, i figure that’s worth it for the major network channels and a few others. This is about $50/mos. During football or basketball season we get the Sling combo pkg (another $40)
You can record many channels on Sling. See http://help.sling.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/What-features-are-included-in-the-Cloud-DVR-Beta-program
I got into a fight over my bill with Frontier (FIOS), I had incorrect charges of $150 dollars. They removed $50 dollars and refused to credit me the rest and increased my monthly service by an additional $30 dollars. It was enough to prompt me to seek out other options. I still have a basic internet connection with them for $40 dollars a month but for my TV service, I elected to go with Sling TV which gives me the option of a la carte channel selection. I can add what stations I choose to include.
To make it extremely easy, I purchased an Air TV box (one time purchase of $129 and works in conjunction with Sling) which makes it easy to set up and use. The remote has Netflix, Sling, Amazon, TV antenna, and DVD functionality primed and ready to go. I am such a TV luddite I wanted something that was easy to figure out.
The base Sling subscription starts around $30 dollars a month and you add channels from there. I pay around $45 for the channels I selected. I already had a Netflix account and I watch Amazon with my Prime account. For the local basic stations I have a small antennae behind the TV which works great.
I am pretty happy. You can add and subtract stations during any given month as you see fit. I am saving about $70 dollars a month. Not to mention I had the satisfaction of telling the cable company if they can cause a TV luddite such as myself to drop their service then they are in big trouble.
^^ I had to look up Luddite…that describes me, too. All these options are overwhelming, so I end up doing nothing, but I’m edging closer. I like the idea of keeping track of the channels we watch and the frequency. It seems I watch mostly shows on main channels and TMC. I’ll flip through cable constantly and once in awhile we watch some shows…House hunters or the travel channel. A movie every so often. I guess I like feeling like I have tons of choices, but in actuality I don’t watch much of it.
I’m interested in the SLING, I’ll check that out. Perhaps internet, with basic cable and landline might be the way to go with SLING, if I can save over $100 a month why not. I’ll be laid up for several eeeks doing nothing but watching tv and reading, so this will be my experiment.
@conmama Sling TV duplicates basic cable. Go with the former. It starts at only $20/mo. Unless one has a Smart TV, a Roku Express will suffice. It costs under $30 online. Broadcast channels work well with an antenna if the topography is cooperative.
We cut the cord in September.
Tmobile - 7 unlimited smartphones, 7 10Gb/mo phone hotspot, 1 5Gb hotspot, 1 6Gb hotspot , $193/mo
AT&T - 2 hotspots (unlimited, domestic only) $44/mo
We set up 2 hotspots in a redundant configuration since they tend to crash once a week or so.
YouTube TV (lots of sports) - $35/mo
Netflix (4 streams, 4K version) $14/mo
Amazon Prime $8/mo
3 VoIP lines $6/mo + 1c/min usage
Total: $301/mo , which covers the entire family, kid at college, and grandparents.
Apple TV & Chromecast to mirror phones as necessary.