Wanting to cut the cable cord, need advice

drumminman

Hi all,

I'm tired of paying $130/ month in order to watch 5-10 channels, so I'm exploring the option of getting one of the streaming services.

Must have channels include ESPN, TCM, History, HBO and local ABC, CBS and NBC channels. Oh yeah, PBS too.

I've looked at Hulu, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime, and it seems difficult to tell exactly what they offer. Lots of marketing hype.

Would like to get real world experience and advice from those who have any of the above. Or if there's a service I haven't listed, I'd like to find out more about that.

Thanks!

msg

check out Sling as well. I don't know much about it, but I keep seeing people talking about it.
https://www.sling.com/

definitely hear ya on the hundreds of channels with few actually worthy of viewing; too bad we can't just buy a la carte. such a rip having to opt into different packages just to get the channels you really want.

HDTV antenna for the local stuff.

codyc1ark

Yeah I use a mix, of antenna for local majors. I actually use my mom's cable account login to stream A LOT of TV. Through her PW and my Chromecast I get ESPN, HBO, Comedy Central, CBS and I think ABC also. NBC sports network has an app but it's not set up to cast yet. On top of that I have a friends Netflix account, and my own Amazon prime. If you can find a friend or family member who does not use streaming, this is a great option.

msg is right that Sling offers a pretty good package for I think 20/month.

drumminman

I saw sling in my searches - cody do you or msg have experience using it? The issue I've found so far with most of these is you have to have a cable subscription to watch shows broadcast in real time. For me this is more of an issue with sports than regular progamming. I don't mind seeing Game of Thrones for example a day or two after it airs on cable.

DSkip, not sure what you mean "find the splitter". Also, what brand/ model of powered antenna do you use?

EndersShadow

So @codyc1ark basically your a mooch huh jk...


To the OP you will find your local stuff you can get over the air. The other stuff you may have to mix Hulu/Netflix etc. The new directTV thing may be an option. 20 bucks for some of those big channels like ESPN.

We've talked about it a bunch but basically we've been successful in negotiating a cheaper price for our cable by threatening to cancel. They dropped the price quick. The main cost for our cable right now is the actual Internet portion, the TV is less than 1/3 of our total bill.

Plus even if you cancel cable, to stream you still need the internet portion and you can't skip on slow speeds while streaming or you may notice lots of lag.

gudnoyez

We cut the full blown cable package to basic cable only because its 10 dollars more keeping basic with internet we pay $77 plus tax for both with out basic cable internet is $65 by itself. We don't watch a lot of tv and when we do its just local channels only, we prefer to stream off Netflix or Amazon Prime, and watch Blu Rays. The only show besides watching the local news is Shark Tank anyways.

codyc1ark

drumminman wrote: »

I saw sling in my searches - cody do you or msg have experience using it? The issue I've found so far with most of these is you have to have a cable subscription to watch shows broadcast in real time. For me this is more of an issue with sports than regular progamming. I don't mind seeing Game of Thrones for example a day or two after it airs on cable.

DSkip, not sure what you mean "find the splitter". Also, what brand/ model of powered antenna do you use?

No I haven't used Sling. I will say that I only get ESPN and espn2 from the cable login because that's all she subscribes to. I'm happy with what I have vs. how much I watch. But it will be nice to have free MNF at the house this year.

Polkie2009

Drumminman, that TCM channel ( which I used to love to watch back when Comcast still offered it in their below $40.00 package), is such a premium channel, and Comcast only offers it now in packages over $100.00 or more. Screw them. Enders is right, when these cable companies try to bump your rates every year, tell them goodbye and see how fast they try to find a package within your budget. Even if you drop the cable, you still__ will need a high speed internet connection, etc... you're probably still__ looking at around $50.00 a month or more for that route.

jeremymarcinko

I have been using Sling Tv for about six months. Its a decent service if you really only want espn and a few other networks. Amc was a nice addition a few months back. It's worth the $20 a month. I think a Hbo package can be added now as well.

obieone

Amazon Prime is pretty useless for me, but YMMV. When my script runs out in the fall, I doubt I'll renew.
I gave Directv the boot 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. And I was only paying $70/ month.

codyc1ark

https://order.hbonow.com/

HBO Now will cost between $10/20/month. You also have to look at how much content you're paying for on top of cable. Netflix/Amazon? So like 200/yr for those? Hulu? Lot's of factors are in play for convenience.

Jimbo18

I dropped cable over a year ago. I bought a couple Mohu Leaf indoor antennas, with one of them in the attic attached to a splitter, as mentioned above. One is attached to a TV directly because we have it in a room with no cable connection.

I am about 20 miles from Charlotte and get about 30 channels, some of which are repeats, all of which are digital. Reception varies a bit by time of day and weather, but for the most part I can count on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW and some PBS channels. Most of the others are things we don't watch. An indoor antenna will at least cover the basics for you.

In addition to that, we have two Roku 3's, as well as a bluray that gets some of the streaming channels. There are getting to be a lot of streaming boxes available, but for the most part, the Roku is still the best. It is the only one that has ALL the most popular "apps" available. Netfilx, Amazon, HBO Go, Sling, Crackle, CBS Hulu Plus, Pandora, Spotify, Vevo, History, Fox Now, You Tube, and many, many more. Over one thousand, but like cable tv, not that many you will be interested in, but still there's something for everyone. Like exercise channels, cooking, childrens, tons of old movies, music, entertainment, news, CNET, travel, animals, and tons of religious ones.

Most are free, some with commercials, the best are paid. Netflix is, I think, the most useful and easiest to use and at about $10 a month, a no brainer. Amazon is almost as good, and it has other benefits like the free shipping, a free kindle book each month, and some free music. The inteface is a bit tiresome, but overall it's almost as good as Netflix for TV and movies. Cost is about the same but it's a yearly charge.

Hulu Plus is mostly for current TV. Netflix and Amazon Prime only show previous seasons of TV shows. Amazon shows current ones but they are a couple dollars an episode. Hulu Plus has some shows the night after they air on TV. It doesn't carry every series however, and doesn't even keep all the episodes available of the ones that it does carry. I didn't care for it at all, especially because it includes commercials in almost all it's shows. I dropped it before the free month ran out. Cost is, I think, $8 a month.

Hulu, regular Hulu not the Plus, is very good and it's free but only available on the computer, there are no, to my knowledge, streaming apps for it. Still, it has a lot of shows available for free, but with commercials. I like it despite that. If you set up a free account, you can have it email you when a new episode of one of your favorites is available to watch. Hook a laptop to your TV and you can watch it there.

If you need to have ESPN, you are stuck with Sling TV at the moment. I think many more streaming options are coming in the next year, but for now, I think that's the only way to get it without connecting the Roku up with a friend's cable account. The Roku has ESPN but it's got very limited access unless you connect to a cable account and even then it's not live. I thought about adding Sling for the football season and then dropping it after it's over.

Sling TV is $20 a month for about 20 channels, the best of which are ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, TNT, TBS, CNN, and the History Channel. You can add HBO Now for an additional $15 a month but that's reportedly going to drop a little bit. It also has some other packages for $5 each per month like Epix, Sports extra and kids channel. The biggest drawback, besides adding $20 to your bill, is that's it can only steam to one device at a time. Also, it has commercials just like the shows it streams and I don't think you can skip them.

My bill was about $150 a month, including internet, home phone and HBO and Cinemax, now it's $70 for internet and home phone. Netflix adds another $13 (I pay for the upgraded option that can stream to 4 devices at a time instead of just 2) and the antennas had a one time cost of $70.

Live sports, mainly the NFL channel and ESPN are the biggest drawback to cutting my bill in half.

drumminman

Thanks for all the replies. It's a mess to try and wade through. Looks like Sling TV, with Roku and netflix may be my best bet. To start with anyway. Perhaps an indoor powered antenna as well.

My next step is to contact the cable company to see what they'll offer. Currently I have DSL downloading at 2.93 mbs, so I'll need to find out the cost of up grading that.

Jimbo18

drumminman wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. It's a mess to try and wade through. Looks like Sling TV, with Roku and netflix may be my best bet. To start with anyway. Perhaps an indoor powered antenna as well.

My next step is to contact the cable company to see what they'll offer. Currently I have DSL downloading at 2.93 mbs, so I'll need to find out the cost of up grading that.

Yeah, if you are going to be streaming, you will need more bandwidth than that. Minimum recommended is about 8mbs, I think. I have 60mbs cable but of course, that varies with time of day and it often dips as low as 8.

tophatjohnny

Wow, not anything I can wrap my head around with 4 sets, boxes, full blown choice AT&T has us under a super sweet deal. If that changes, we me go old school too????? Probably not! Good luck fellow drummer and do keep us informed what ya come up with!

Jimbo18

tophatjohnny wrote: »

Wow, not anything I can wrap my head around with 4 sets, boxes, full blown choice AT&T has us under a super sweet deal. If that changes, we me go old school too????? Probably not! Good luck fellow drummer and do keep us informed what ya come up with!

I was actually going to @drumminman that he check out Uverse. I have a couple friends who have it and are very happy with it. One has the 6mps internet speed and streams a lot and said he has no problems with it buffering.

EndersShadow

I have uverse and for the past 6 years it's been rock solid steady and as mentioned they negotiate with us when our rates get ready to go up and if nothing else changes I will never switch to another company.

Customer service has been first rate.

tophatjohnny

EndersShadow wrote: »

I have uverse and for the past 6 years it's been rock solid steady and as mentioned they negotiate with us when our rates get ready to go up and if nothing else changes I will never switch to another company.

Customer service has been first rate.

I think drumminman wants to get rid of the bill?? If not, yeah At&T Uverse is good and they are quick to refund if you have any problems so just complain a lot the first year and it may be affordable?? We sure dig it!!

msg

how are you guys doing with these cable cutting projects?

I'm about to cancel mine now too. it's become extortionate.

looks like I can access on demand everything I'd like to see with a combination of some of these available streaming channels on Roku
- Netflix
- Amazon
- Hulu Plus
- Sling

HBO and Showtime (for movies and pretty good original programming) are both available as add-ons in Hulu and Sling. Apple TV has an exclusive with HBO right now if you want it as a complete standalone service.

the only thing I think I'll be missing is The Weather Channel. it's good for background. I don't really watch anything else. may get the HD antenna for local tv when I feel the need to be depressed by news programs.

EndersShadow

^Have you tried calling and threatening to cancel so they drop the prices?

We found (as I posted above) that even if we cancelled the "TV" portion of our bill, we'd still need the internet part for all the streaming, which was a larger part of the bill than then TV portion. Then once we added in all the services we'd have to use the cost was actually going to be more than we were currently paying.

When we call to cancel they tend to drop the TV portion down to a decent number (for us its like 20 bucks for the TV + equipment) so we just leave it alone.

Jimbo18

msg, If you have Amazon Prime already, try it without Netflix, but if you don't have it, I wouldn't bother with it. Netflix is overall much better. I have both (my daughter's Amazon account and my Netflix one) and I almost never watch Amazon.

Try Hulu Plus out before subscribing to it. I didn't like it. It's quirky. They don't carry that many current shows that I watch, maybe they will have more to your liking, but they have commercials, which annoyed me a lot. Also, they don't keep all episodes available of each season, only about 4 or so at a time, so if you miss one, you can't get it.

Hulu (no plus) is available online and actually has more of the shows I like on it. You can set up a free account and they email you when a new show you "subscribe" to is available to stream. It has commercials also, but it's free.

I don't have Sling, but it sounds like a decent deal and there's no contract so you can always try it and drop it if you don't like it. They do have HBO Now, but I think it will be available soon as a stand-alone on the Roku. The Showtime channel, similar to HBO Now, is already available there.

I think a good starting point for a new cable cutter is a Roku 3, a digital antenna like the Mohu Leaf, Netflix, Hulu online (no plus), and maybe Sling if you feel like you need ESPN.

With the Roku, you will find other channels available, like History Channel, A&E, PBS, etc. but they only have some shows available on them, not everything, but still I was able to watch Vikings and Downton Abbey on them. And there are several different weather channels available, just not The Weather Channel. Tons of fee movie channels and music channels also.

Good luck.

afterburnt

Cut it off and see if you miss it. You will find there are plenty of other things to keep you occupied. I have Netflix and Prime I can always find something to watch. As a matter of fact I find more interesting stuff on youtube for free!

msg

EndersShadow wrote: »

^Have you tried calling and threatening to cancel so they drop the prices?
...
When we call to cancel they tend to drop the TV portion down to a decent number (for us its like 20 bucks for the TV + equipment) so we just leave it alone.

I see, so you were going to be paying more by cutting the bundle?

yeah, I have a feeling they're going to get me over to customer retention when I call to cancel. I'm also going to try dropping down to the next lowest internet. I stream so much content now though, that I think dropping from 50Mbps to 15Mbps may be problematic. I've usually got music streaming whenever I'm home, granted now I'm doing everything out of a single Logitech Media Server, and not multiple SBT's with their own streams. usually just one Roku at a time, though, and maybe VPN or some internet traffic. worth a shot. I'm going to try to make a hobby of this.

Jimbo18 wrote: »

msg, If you have Amazon Prime already, try it without Netflix, but if you don't have it, I wouldn't bother with it. Netflix is overall much better. I have both (my daughter's Amazon account and my Netflix one) and I almost never watch Amazon.

...

With the Roku, you will find other channels available, like History Channel, A&E, PBS, etc. but they only have some shows available on them, not everything, but still I was able to watch Vikings and Downton Abbey on them. And there are several different weather channels available, just not The Weather Channel. Tons of fee movie channels and music channels also.

Jim, yeah, I already have Amazon. I wouldn't even call it a contender really were I not already getting it as part of the Amazon Prime membership. it does offer some content that Netflix doesn't, but generally agreed, in a side by side comparison, I'd choose Netflix. for $80 a year for Prime it was a no-brainer. for $100 now, eh, I'm not so impressed. The Prime shopping still works out pretty well, however, the Prime Instant leaves something to be desired. mostly I'm annoyed that they cycle content in and out of Instant - what may be Prime/Instant now, may revert to paid content again at some point. Ex. - around Christmas time, don't expect to stream The Polar Express for free. I've added seasons to playlists only to come back later to find them reverted to pay-per-episode. I can usually hop over to Netflix and get them as part of the package.

Thanks for the heads up on Hulu Plus - yes, they're offering a trial, so I'll take advantage of that before going all in and canceling cable entirely. I did not realize they had commercials, though. Nor did I realize that there would not be "catalog" streaming, having only a few episodes available at a time. these are potential deal killers, so this is great info, thanks!

Yes, one of the main reasons I've stayed on as a COX subscriber was for HBO. I primarily watch films, but I do enjoy some of the original programming from HBO and Showtime, like Game of Thrones (even though I'm two seasons behind) and I just stumbled onto Ray Donovan. dude's a bad@#$ Now both of these seem to be available as standalones or as add-ons with other services like Hulu Plus and Sling, yes, so cutting cable is more feasible now.

I need to scale this back some, either way. the costs keep creeping up, and are waaaay out of hand.
I think as Enders mentions above, I can probably just call them to discuss and try to get some savings while I'm working things out in the meantime. They seem to be trying to lock people in to 2yr contracts now with attractive fees for the first-12-months. after that though, I think those fees nearly double. There must be something in the works that's got them clamoring for commitment.

indeed, those HD antennas work amazingly well.


Drummin' - where are you with your plans? made any moves yet?

EndersShadow

msg wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

^Have you tried calling and threatening to cancel so they drop the prices?
...
When we call to cancel they tend to drop the TV portion down to a decent number (for us its like 20 bucks for the TV + equipment) so we just leave it alone.

I see, so you were going to be paying more by cutting the bundle?

yeah, I have a feeling they're going to get me over to customer retention when I call to cancel. I'm also going to try dropping down to the next lowest internet. I stream so much content now though, that I think dropping from 50Mbps to 15Mbps may be problematic. I've usually got music streaming whenever I'm home, granted now I'm doing everything out of a single Logitech Media Server, and not multiple SBT's with their own streams. usually just one Roku at a time, though, and maybe VPN or some internet traffic. worth a shot. I'm going to try to make a hobby of this.

We needed a faster speed because there were instances where we would have more than one person doing stuff that need fast internet to work right such as her streaming a show on Hulu and me downstairs playing Halo.

Even if we cut the TV portion, we'd still need the same data speed to stream, so it wasnt as big a cost saver. Add to that with the DVR we can get easier access to shows we missed that we dont follow all the time, and it just made sense.

The cost of our month of tv & equipment is less than us going out to eat at a basic sit down restaurant so I am OK with that.

In regards to lowering your speed, if its just ONE ROOM streaming from the web (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon) your likely fine. And if your streaming audio, in the scheme of things thats not enough data to bog down the network unless your streaming to like 50 rooms at once lol....

So I wouldn't worry TOO much about lowering the speed.

The one area we HAVE made big changes to is renting movies. We have Netflix + 1 disc and we are using the disc a LOT more so we dont rent on-demand and save 6-8 bucks a movie. Also we have a Netflix hub here in Indy, so the turnaround on sending the old disc and getting a new one is fairly short too. And also Amazon Movies tend to be much cheaper than on-demand movies so we have been using that on occasion if Netflix doesnt have the movie we want.

Polkie2009

EndersShadow wrote: »

^Have you tried calling and threatening to cancel so they drop the prices?

We found (as I posted above) that even if we cancelled the "TV" portion of our bill, we'd still need the internet part for all the streaming, which was a larger part of the bill than then TV portion. Then once we added in all the services we'd have to use the cost was actually going to be more than we were currently paying.

When we call to cancel they tend to drop the TV portion down to a decent number (for us its like 20 bucks for the TV + equipment) so we just leave it alone.

This is exactly what I've found too, the cable provider worked the numbers to fit my budget and keep me as a customer. As long as the cable bill is $50 -$60 bucks total a month, that will work for me. I avoid all the premium channels like HBO,Showtime etc... , if there's a HBO series I just have to try out, I'll wait til I can get a huge discount on the blu rays and buy it that way.

Jimbo18

If you don't already have a Roku, here's a refurb 3 for pretty cheap.

http://flash.newegg.com/product/15-328-010?utm_source=NEEmail071815&utm_medium=Index&utm_campaign=Roku&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=EXPRESS071815&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS071815&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS071815-_-EMC-071815-Index-_-MECH-_-Roku-EB2A&et_cid=19822&et_rid=9010677&et_p1=

Not a bad deal.

msg

I signed up for the Hulu Plus service yesterday. It looks to have some content that I'd like, howeverrrrrrr...

just as Jimbo says - there are commercials. wth? I can understand this with the free service, but I would not expect this with a paid service. not what I'm used to for streaming, so agreed, it's annoying, and to me, even more annoying than on regular tv, and not sure I'll stick with it. if they charged an extra couple of bucks for no commercial interruption, I'd consider upgrading.

also, as mentioned - confirming no full catalog for all shows carried. it's available in some older ones, but as noted, only 4-5 episodes of "current" stuff. I've grown accustomed to accessing full seasons of programming.

commercials and lack of catalog make this service much less appealing to me. one of the reasons I like streaming services is for the "on demand" capability without interruption. I suppose 4-5 episodes is better than missing one if you don't have cable and are loosely following a series through a season, but it's not how I watch. I don't even follow much tv through a season anyway. in fact any "tv" I do watch is usually through streaming catalog on Netflix or Amazon. The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul are pretty much the only exceptions.

gonna have to mess around with this some more. looks like more of an adjustment than I was expecting, but eh, may be a force fit, depending on how serious I get about getting rid of cable. not what I was expecting though.

voltz

I have a Roku directly wired to my router and use it for Amazon prime & Netflix.
but I haven't cut the cord - need it for internet

Jimbo18

This is the most complete comparison I have seen of the various streaming boxes available. Pretty good article.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2950492/streaming-hardware/media-streamer-buyers-guide-amazon-fire-tv-apple-tv-chromecast-nvidia-shield-android-tv-roku-compar.html

Jimbo18

I broke down and added Sling TV to my streaming options, mainly because of ESPN and the upcoming NFL season.

I signed up for 3 months paid in advance, so it was $60 plus taxes and such to bring it up to about $70 for 3 months, but I got my choice of a free Roku streaming stick or $50 off the price of a Roku 3. I already have two Roku 3's, so I took the freebie stick. Not a bad deal, since the stick usually costs $50 and I was going to pay for at least 3 months of Sling anyway.

I have it about a week now and I like Sling, but don't love it. It's a bit more error prone than, say, Netflix or Amazon, which isn't surprising since it's multiple channels, but it is a bit annoying. Overall, the streaming isn't too bad, just occassionally annoying.

The channels are decent. Besides ESPN and ESPN2, it has AMC, History and History2, TBS, TNT, A&E, IFC, El Rey, Cartoon Network, Disney, Lifetime and a few others. EPIX is available for $5/month and is currently free for August.

I will probably drop it after the NFL season, and after The Walking Dead and the new Walking Dead show end for their next half season.

I think $20 is a bit much since it's about half that for Netflix, but if you want ESPN, it's the only place to go right now for cord cutters.

BlueFox

I rarely watch TV so around a year ago I dropped to the very basic tier, which is the local over the air channels, and a few cable (CSPAN, DSC, home shopping) channels. This is $20 a month. However, the freaking Internet access is $65 a month for the slowest offering they have. This is with Comcast.