We've cut the cable (3 Viewers)

[tonydead]

7) Sports - Are there any options to get live broadcasts for:

- Local Baseball / Basketball games that currently air on cable channels

- NFL Red Zone Channel

- NFL Ticket

9) What are the Amazon firesticks used for? Sorry, new to this, trying to learn.

If you use a VPN to change your IP to a location outside of North America you can get NFL Ticket that includes Red Zone and NFL Network for $125.

The fire sticks run apps if you didn't have a smart tv or Xbox etc. They are also open so you can install Kodi if you ever wanted to try that.

 

[tonydead]

Read back to about July and didn't catch an answer: can I get live local OTA through Kodi? Been having horrible luck with HD antennas. Bought a $50 Amazon knock off of Mohu Leaf and it was garbage. Bought an $80 big #### one and that's garbage too. Only live 15-20 miles from Philly, no mountains in the way, can't get good OTA. Wondering if Kodi can help.

Live streams are hit and miss, come and go in Kodi. And usually poor quality. What Kodi really excels at is recorded tv and movies. If it's available for download anywhere or available on demand anywhere Kodi will have it in as good of quality that exists. For tv series I usually just watch it the day after it airs on Kodi. For sports in I have a combination of OTA locals, sling tv Espns, and NFL Ticket.

That being said if you only live 20 miles from downtown Philly there is no reason you can't get good OTA. Check signal strength from your address with tvfool.com. I use Winegard antennas. You need to make sure you have good coax with good connectors, limit the length of runs and splits, and have your antenna pointed in the right direction. You can also get inline amplifiers to boost the signal.

 

[Brady Marino]

7) Sports - Are there any options to get live broadcasts for: - Local Baseball / Basketball games that currently air on cable channels

- NFL Red Zone Channel

- NFL Ticket

First of all, it was announced this week that MLB.TV will start offering single-team packages. NHL does the same thing as well.

BUT...

As anyone that has used MLB.TV or NHL Gamecenter before (don't know about NBA) knows, blackout rules can be a herpes-filled ****. For that, there's VPNs like the one I use: unblock-us. It also works for watching Netflix movies that you can only get in another country.

 

[tonydead]

One of the few times I try live sports on Kodi. Getting UFC through Pheonix-Woody. Standard def.

 

[cubd8]

7) Sports - Are there any options to get live broadcasts for: - Local Baseball / Basketball games that currently air on cable channels

- NFL Red Zone Channel

- NFL Ticket

First of all, it was announced this week that MLB.TV will start offering single-team packages. NHL does the same thing as well.

BUT...

As anyone that has used MLB.TV or NHL Gamecenter before (don't know about NBA), blackout rules can be a herpes-filled ****. For that, there's VPNs like the one I use: unblock-us. It also works for watching Netflix movies that you can only get in another country.

I think I saw the MLB was for only out of market games, not the local games. That's only good if I'm a White Sox fan who moved to a different state.

 

[Brady Marino]

7) Sports - Are there any options to get live broadcasts for: - Local Baseball / Basketball games that currently air on cable channels

- NFL Red Zone Channel

- NFL Ticket

First of all, it was announced this week that MLB.TV will start offering single-team packages. NHL does the same thing as well.

BUT...

As anyone that has used MLB.TV or NHL Gamecenter before (don't know about NBA), blackout rules can be a herpes-filled ****. For that, there's VPNs like the one I use: unblock-us. It also works for watching Netflix movies that you can only get in another country.

I think I saw the MLB was for only out of market games, not the local games. That's only good if I'm a White Sox fan who moved to a different state.

That's where the unblock-us comes in. It masks your location so you can stream your local teams.

 

[tonydead]

I use Private Internet Access, $45 a year. $3.33 a month. Well worth it as it secures all you internet data and info.

 

[Insein]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

 

[tonydead]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

Sorry dude. Although we make good money my old lady embraces the idea of saving $200/month. I got a frugal one.

 

[Insein]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

Sorry dude. Although we make good money my old lady embraces the idea of saving $200/month. I got a frugal one.

My wife is on the frugal side but she can't handle technology. Trying to explain to her how to use one of the side loaded apps might as well be me teaching quantum physics.

 

[Drifter]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

Sorry dude. Although we make good money my old lady embraces the idea of saving $200/month. I got a frugal one.

My wife is on the frugal side but she can't handle technology. Trying to explain to her how to use one of the side loaded apps might as well be me teaching quantum physics.

She sounds hot.

 

[Insein]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

Sorry dude. Although we make good money my old lady embraces the idea of saving $200/month. I got a frugal one.

My wife is on the frugal side but she can't handle technology. Trying to explain to her how to use one of the side loaded apps might as well be me teaching quantum physics.

She sounds hot.

Indeed.

 

[KiddLattimer]

7) Sports - Are there any options to get live broadcasts for: - Local Baseball / Basketball games that currently air on cable channels

- NFL Red Zone Channel

- NFL Ticket

First of all, it was announced this week that MLB.TV will start offering single-team packages. NHL does the same thing as well.

BUT...

As anyone that has used MLB.TV or NHL Gamecenter before (don't know about NBA), blackout rules can be a herpes-filled ****. For that, there's VPNs like the one I use: unblock-us. It also works for watching Netflix movies that you can only get in another country.

I think I saw the MLB was for only out of market games, not the local games. That's only good if I'm a White Sox fan who moved to a different state.

That's where the unblock-us comes in. It masks your location so you can stream your local teams.

I heard streaming services were getting wise to unblock-us... no issues on it for you so far?

 

[NutterButter]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

 

[KiddLattimer]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

 

[NutterButter]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

I can see that. I get home from work at 6 and I'm in bed at 11. When the kids are gone, 5 hours of peace might be overkill.

 

[KiddLattimer]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

I can see that. I get home from work at 6 and I'm in bed at 11. When the kids are gone, 5 hours of peace might be overkill.

Haha yea true, I have 3 under 5yrs so my peace is limited to 2 hours max

 

[NutterButter]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

I can see that. I get home from work at 6 and I'm in bed at 11. When the kids are gone, 5 hours of peace might be overkill.

Haha yea true, I have 3 under 5yrs so my peace is limited to 2 hours max

OMG, you're in the eye of the storm right now. Those were some challenging years.

 

[KiddLattimer]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

I can see that. I get home from work at 6 and I'm in bed at 11. When the kids are gone, 5 hours of peace might be overkill.

Haha yea true, I have 3 under 5yrs so my peace is limited to 2 hours max

OMG, you're in the eye of the storm right now. Those were some challenging years.

Haha yea it's pretty rough, 6 mo old is now teething on top of it... it'll be more fun (sometimes) when they're older though.

 

[NutterButter]

The end is coming for me. I recently got accepted for a better paying job and the first thing my wife said was, we're getting cable again. I'll probably still play around with some of this stuff like Kodi for the sports but my cordless days are numbered.

That point will come for me as well some day. The one thing I miss is mindless channel surfing. Once the kids are gone and I'm spending a large portion of my time on the couch by myself, I'll want that back. At that point, I won't really care about saving $80 per month on basic cable. I still watch all my shows the same way that I am now. That's just way to convenient.

Funny I feel the opposite... when I was home alone or get the kids to bed I would always have something on, if only for background noise but since I cut I either have something on that I really want to watch or just turn it off. I find it very peaceful

I can see that. I get home from work at 6 and I'm in bed at 11. When the kids are gone, 5 hours of peace might be overkill.

Haha yea true, I have 3 under 5yrs so my peace is limited to 2 hours max

OMG, you're in the eye of the storm right now. Those were some challenging years.

Haha yea it's pretty rough, 6 mo old is now teething on top of it... it'll be more fun (sometimes) when they're older though.

Yeah, my kids are 9 and 6 and its pretty awesome. It was rough for awhile though. You just have to power through and there's good times waiting.

 

[mquinnjr]

Haven't been into the thread in awhile, but have been tinkering over the past few weeks with off-time from work with my setup at home. Went with the Archer C7 router, and the wi-fi is so in a good way that I've ditched my wireline setup (long story short, the router does wireless extremely well but wired not well and it outperforms wired 4 to 1 speed wise, so that's that). On Comcast Blast!, pulling 160 Mbps down and 12 Mbps up on all wireless devices. Streaming locally 1080p content via Universal Media Server (UMS) is a 0 buffer situation, so I'm really pleased. Thanks for the redo on the Archer C7 a while back, tonydead

Sports wise, I have a streaming service that is good enough where I'll use that for all sports needs on my Amazon Fire boxes @ $10/mo.

TV and movie wise, I've kind of reached a breaking point with the Kodi apps. Long story short for newbies, the apps are as good as the developers and their maintenance of said apps. Last summer, they were just killing it. Slowly over the fall, some of the apps like Genesis had their developers go on hiatus. I tried some others like 1Channel and SALTS, but for the effort to still find streams, I was kind of turned off. I like a very high ease of use factor when I want to sit down and watch something. I'll lose the nice GUI without apps like Genesis and SALTS, Phoenix, IceFilms, etc. but I'm going with tried and true torrenting via Private Internet Access VPN in combo with the Universal Media Server application (formerly PS3 Media Server, which has ceased development and forked over to UMS). I download at my PC if a want a series of a show or a movie at highest quality available, and know when it's done downloading I'll have 0 issue to watch, point and click. I did dabble with Real Debrid streaming, and will say it's better than non-Real Debrid, but still sort of a PITA. Another long story short, once setup when you use an app like Genesis or SALTS, once you setup Real Debrid on your box, it's a separate set of sources that operate behind a paywall of about $5 a month. Because of that, a lot less buffering and less broken links. Last I read, development of Genesis ceased because the developer is going to issue a major re-release with a very high Real Debrid focus. I took all this time to address the above because I showed off Genesis and got some non-tech friends on board with their Fire sticks, and when it took a nose dive it was like the only drug dealer around fled town and everyone was jonesing for a fix. I would not recommend setting that up for other people, as from my experience maintenance questions will drive you nuts and I would advise against that path.

My Comcast contract is up in the summer (did a 2 year deal), and at that point I might just drop to internet but I want to give it some time to see how I feel without TV. Might just drop to a limited basic package, will evaluate over time.

This setup works for me, but the thread is 50+ pages because it's really boils down to what flavor works for you. I like as much ease of use as possible, and my setup gets me there easily with a media server like UMS. Plex works great too as has been mentioned here, I just use UMS because it's even easier for me IMO. It is a development community within Kodi and things are fluid, so keep that in mind would be my advice and be patient, road bumps will arise. If you like a grid guide setup like you get with a TV provider, Kodi will not be that. But it will get you there, if you're willing to work with it and stay up on development community news. Here's a great resource to see what I mean, as apps replace one another fluidly as the community creates/reacts: http://www.koditips.com/kodi-addons/

 

[James Daulton]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I didn't cut all the way because I live in the sticks and can't get much with an OTA antenna, so I got a basic cable package (local channels only). I'm paying about half of what I was paying before - saving about $125/month on cable, internet, and phone. I already had the streaming options before I scaled back (Netflix, Prime, Roku player, Chromecast) so that part is a wash. I don't need or want the landline phone but I got a bundle price for all three that's cheaper than if I had gotten the cable and internet a la carte.

 

[Boulder Toads]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Mine went down from $205 (ATT Uverse 300 & 12 MBPS) to $80 (Comcast 75 MBPS + SlingTV), so monthly savings of $125 (includes taxes, etc.).

 

[James Daulton]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Mine went down from $205 (ATT Uverse 300 & 12 MBPS) to $80 (Comcast 75 MBPS + SlingTV), so monthly savings of $125 (includes taxes, etc.).

So the only extra you have is slingtv? No HBO, sports, etc?

 

[Rogi]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Internet $53Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime ~$30 altogether

I have Prime more for the shipping than the video service though.

Overall about $83/month.

 

[James Daulton]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Internet $53Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime ~$30 altogether

I have Prime more for the shipping than the video service though.

Overall about $83/month.

So for your $83, what exactly are you giving up? I assume you can pick up OTA HD channels, so you're basically giving up live cable shows?

 

[Rogi]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Internet $53Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime ~$30 altogether

I have Prime more for the shipping than the video service though.

Overall about $83/month.

So for your $83, what exactly are you giving up? I assume you can pick up OTA HD channels, so you're basically giving up live cable shows?

I don't get ESPN or NFL network but I could get ESPN through Sling if I wanted for $20/mo. I'll watch football OTA on Sundays but no TNF or MNF.

I'm behind on Walking Dead but I can buy the episodes through Amazon if I want or wait a year for Netflix to carry them.

I used to have DirecTV with NFL ticket and two DVRs. I was tired of spending money on so many channels I didn't use.

 

[James Daulton]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Internet $53Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime ~$30 altogether

I have Prime more for the shipping than the video service though.

Overall about $83/month.

So for your $83, what exactly are you giving up? I assume you can pick up OTA HD channels, so you're basically giving up live cable shows?

I don't get ESPN or NFL network but I could get ESPN through Sling if I wanted for $20/mo. I'll watch football OTA on Sundays but no TNF or MNF.

I'm behind on Walking Dead but I can buy the episodes through Amazon if I want or wait a year for Netflix to carry them.

I used to have DirecTV with NFL ticket and two DVRs. I was tired of spending money on so many channels I didn't use.

Got it, thanks.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Cut the cord over 3 years ago. Started with an HTPC and moved over to a TIVO Roamio. Before the cut we were already Netflix, Prime subscribers, NFL Ticket subscribers. We were paying around $200 per month for Directv and Cable Internet. We now pay $46/month for internet and have not missed out on anything. We do some sharing with a buddy and his comcast password for our netflix so that greatly helps as well.

 

[KiddLattimer]

Cut the cord over 3 years ago. Started with an HTPC and moved over to a TIVO Roamio. Before the cut we were already Netflix, Prime subscribers, NFL Ticket subscribers. We were paying around $200 per month for Directv and Cable Internet. We now pay $46/month for internet and have not missed out on anything. We do some sharing with a buddy and his comcast password for our netflix so that greatly helps as well.

The number of times we missed cable I can count on one hand... best decision we've made in a while

 

[Boulder Toads]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Mine went down from $205 (ATT Uverse 300 & 12 MBPS) to $80 (Comcast 75 MBPS + SlingTV), so monthly savings of $125 (includes taxes, etc.).

So the only extra you have is slingtv? No HBO, sports, etc?

Correct. We didn't watch HBO, and I get sports through the networks (NBC, CBS, FOX) + ESPN/2 on SlingTV. Works well for us. Am using the Amazon Fire TV interface for apps (purchased for $25 on black friday & with -$50 SlingTV coupon deal).

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Spend ~$60/mo. $50 Internet + $10 WWE Network + Kodi + antenna if ever need to watch local. I really could drop WWE Network, but it's just more convenient to find past shows & PPVs within the network.

Watch anything/everything live or on demand -- which 99% comprises of sports and maybe a show/two I watch live. Sports streaming has improved ten fold over the last 6-12 months. I've played around with Kodi a lot it's become like watching TV from a normal TV provider. Not for everyone. It does take time if you want to turn it into a satelitte/cable provider like experience. I haven't really needed much beyond SportsDevil & Genesis however.

 

[Brady Marino]

Signed up for Sling again because they have a 2 months free promotion. Seems to be more stable than it was when I signed up when it first launched.

I also signed up for the sports and Hollywood packages as well. Epix has a nice selection of on-demand movies.

 

[JoeSteeler]

so the "watch espn" app is basically live streaming of the various ESPN networks?

What is the catch?

 

[Politician Spock]

so the "watch espn" app is basically live streaming of the various ESPN networks?

What is the catch?

It has more games than what are just being broadcast on their different channels. During football season there were typically 12 college football games being streamed on their app simultaneously.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Health Alert!

I'm going to say it even if it hasn't been said already

We have a basic cable package that came with the condo. But then because you get a certain amount for free it seems like a no brainer to get the digital package, DVR, all of it seems like a good deal, right?

But then you start watching a lot of cable. It's on all the time even when you don't really want to watch. And you can never find anything on that you truly want to sit thru commercials to watch. Even shows we like we DVR them to whip thru the commercials even starting live TV delayed a bit like sporting events again so we don't sit thru the commercials.

But the larger point is that we end up WATCHING far too much TV. And I liked that when we were doing strictly Netflix and internet that TV time was at max about 2 hours a night and that would be for a movie. We were finding other activities besides television.

It kinda stinks not getting live sports when you want but I also have to admit that my love affair for the NFL has died. The NFL has become like a bad marriage for me where I almost just want out at this point so I don't have to partake in the silliness of it all. I could go on and on but won't.

And so while I might be able to afford the cable package, it has a negative impact on my waistline. People say they have no time to exercise but will find 3 hours a day to watch TV to unwind at night. You laugh but a lot of folks do this. How many folks you see in their 40s and 50s outside exercising and at the gym? The numbers decline a lot.

One of the biggest reasons to cut the cable IMO is not just the $$$ you save monthly but the potential $$$ you might save down the road in the form of your health.

 

[Politician Spock]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

We pay $70 per month for internet. Would be cheaper, but with five people in the family who might all be streaming simultaneously, we went with a 50 MB/s plan.

$20 per month for Sling TV, plus I added the $5 sports package.

$8 per month for Netflix.

We have Amazon Prime too, but we were using that for free shipping before they added video streaming. It's just a nice freebie for us. Wish is was good enough to replace Netflix, but it's not (at least yet).

So $103 per month, two thirds of which is the internet bill.

Going back to cable/satellite wouldn't enable us to get a slower internet because our three kids love Netflix and never watch the TV anymore. They all have Chromebooks and just watch what they want when they want. They would never go back to sharing a TV and I'm not buying them TVs.

Being a internet subscriber I get like $10 off per month on a cable subscription. Their basic cable service is essentially a lot of the local stations I already get for free OTA, plus TBS, TLC, CNN, and some other channels I would never watch. The first option that includes ESPN would cost me $55+ per month after equipment fees and taxes. Not worth it, and ESPN is really the only channel I'm willing to pay for. So for three years we just did OTA and Netflix, and never missed cable at all. But when Sling TV made ESPN available to me for $20 a month, I felt that was worth it. So now we have Sling for no other reason than ESPN. AMC is nice to have too, and so is HGTV for my wife.

I have nothing against cable and satellite TV as far as service goes. The price is just way too high now that Netflix, et al... have shown just how cheap TV show reruns and old movies are. And if one needs to watch the most recent release of a cable show, just buy the entire season for $20-$30 from Amazon instead of spending $1000 per year for it. It's the live sports that makes cable/satellite so high. And I don't need every new sports channel out there. Just having ESPN is more than enough. In fact, even when I didn't have ESPN, I still watched quite a bit of sports free OTA. I wouldn't miss it if Sling TV went away.

 

[tonydead]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

Sorry that was me, typo. I meant to say over $100 per month. I save over $130 a month.

Comcast bill with their HD costs, receiver costs, modem rental, and all the other BS costs I can't even remember right now was $230. That doesn't even include half the on demand they want to charge extra for. Now I have Internet $44, sling $20, Netflix $8, Amazon prime (which I consider free with the shipping charges I save) and NFL ticket $125/year.

 

[KiddLattimer]

For you cable cutters, what's your monthly expenses? I've seen some say they're saving $200 per month. My total cable, internet, and landline phone bill is just over $200 and I have every channel imaginable.

We used to pay ~120 for DirecTV (year 2 of a 2 year contract when the price got jacked up)

Since we cut we now pay...

$8 for Netflix

$8 for Amazon Prime ($100 a year / 12 mo)

$8 for Hulu

$10 for WWE Network

Works out to about $35 a month so we save around $85 or so, but we already had Netflix and Amazon so really it's more like $100 a month. I also end up saving about $80 on the MLB package by using MLB.tv instead of MLB Extra Innings.

There are a few one time expenses like a Roku box and digital antennas if you want local channels but they aren't too expensive.

 

[tonydead]

So what exactly are you giving up? I assume you can pick up OTA HD channels, so you're basically giving up live cable shows?

I use Kodi for any cable shows I can't get through the streaming services. Really with Kodi the only reason I subscribe to the streaming services is because I support afordable streaming, they are easier for the wife to use and I've got pockets full of money because I don't pay for cable tv.

 

[GROOT]

How can i watch cnn,msnbc,foxnews etc without cable/dish?

 

[tonydead]

How can i watch cnn,msnbc,foxnews etc without cable/dish?

I'm assuming live: Slingtv has CNN. Otherwise it's trying some Kodi add-ons for live tv us and is really hit or miss. msnbc and foxnews are still tethered to their cable subscription provider umbilical cord for live streams.

ETA: Actually NBC is owned by Comcast so I wouldn't hold my breath for msnbc.

 

[Franknbeans]

This is a cool thread and although no one asked, I thought I'd add my story with the hope that it inspires someone else to stick it to the man...

I am a former long-time (15 year+) DirecTV subscriber who used to get the Sunday ticket virtually every year by doing the retention dance with them. I have been sans a dish for about 5 years now. In that time, I have changed providers from Verizon to Comcast mainly because we had very slow service and Verizon's customer service was a joke. We lost power after one winter storm and didn't get our service restored until 2 weeks later, when I finally called Comcast to hook us up.

I pay about 66 for internet service with them and run a wifi network to which we connect our Roku TV, Mac Pro, PC, iPad, and iPod. So, we only have one TV but six screens. I pay for Netflix and Amazon (for both streaming and prime) and my bill comes out to about $86 for all of it. That's probably a savings of about $40 a month or more.

For my sports fix, I just stream for free from a web site which I guess would be considered "bootleg" but I am not sure why. That is where streaming is headed. Of course, the stream quality varies and is not HD but I really have no trouble getting any sports event (i.e. Redzone) I want and I can see the puck in a hockey game, which is good enough for me. Besides saving money, the main benefits I find are no commercials (even for the NFL) and being able to binge watch.

I never got into DVR'ing so I don't think I miss out on anything other than keeping up with current shows. But even then, if I really want to watch current programming (like TWD), I can just stream it off the internet. I find that there is so much content just between Netflix and Amazon that I never really would have seen before, especially many of the BBC shows, so it is quite refreshing to not be a slave to cable/dish. As others have pointed out, I felt in the past we would watch programs just because they were on, not necessarily because we wanted to see them. Now, we only watch what we want and miss all of the commercials.

I cannot imagine how I once tolerated the satellite dish paradigm.

Cord cut on!

 

[NutterButter]

Health Alert!

I'm going to say it even if it hasn't been said already

We have a basic cable package that came with the condo. But then because you get a certain amount for free it seems like a no brainer to get the digital package, DVR, all of it seems like a good deal, right?

But then you start watching a lot of cable. It's on all the time even when you don't really want to watch. And you can never find anything on that you truly want to sit thru commercials to watch. Even shows we like we DVR them to whip thru the commercials even starting live TV delayed a bit like sporting events again so we don't sit thru the commercials.

But the larger point is that we end up WATCHING far too much TV. And I liked that when we were doing strictly Netflix and internet that TV time was at max about 2 hours a night and that would be for a movie. We were finding other activities besides television.

It kinda stinks not getting live sports when you want but I also have to admit that my love affair for the NFL has died. The NFL has become like a bad marriage for me where I almost just want out at this point so I don't have to partake in the silliness of it all. I could go on and on but won't.

And so while I might be able to afford the cable package, it has a negative impact on my waistline. People say they have no time to exercise but will find 3 hours a day to watch TV to unwind at night. You laugh but a lot of folks do this. How many folks you see in their 40s and 50s outside exercising and at the gym? The numbers decline a lot.

One of the biggest reasons to cut the cable IMO is not just the $$$ you save monthly but the potential $$$ you might save down the road in the form of your health.

This is why you stretch your lunch break and go to the gym them while eating at your desk some other part of the day. Its almost as if you're being paid to workout. Then you can come home and spend 4 hours watching tv after work. When its nice out, utilize the morning as well and show up a little later than you're supposed to. 15 minutes late in the morning, 15 minutes of extra lunch, that's 2.5 hours a week or almost 13 full days a year. Boom.

 

[Politician Spock]

How can i watch cnn,msnbc,foxnews etc without cable/dish?

Roku has an app called Nowhere TV, which has a channel for CNN International. I used to watch CNN all the time using it before I got Sling TV. I don't see what's different between the two channels.

ETA: By the way, the new CBSN channel is pretty good. It was made especially for streamers. Works on Roku and a lot of other devices.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Signed up for Sling again because they have a 2 months free promotion. Seems to be more stable than it was when I signed up when it first launched.

I also signed up for the sports and Hollywood packages as well. Epix has a nice selection of on-demand movies.

Do you have to just HAVE a Chromecast for this or do you actually have to USE the Chromecast? I may have to find mine and blow the dust off it for a couple free months.

 

[Brady Marino]

Signed up for Sling again because they have a 2 months free promotion. Seems to be more stable than it was when I signed up when it first launched.

I also signed up for the sports and Hollywood packages as well. Epix has a nice selection of on-demand movies.

Do you have to just HAVE a Chromecast for this or do you actually have to USE the Chromecast? I may have to find mine and blow the dust off it for a couple free months.

I'm running it off my HTPC. There's plenty of platforms available.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

anything to know about purchasing an antenna / antennas?

 

[tonydead]

anything to know about purchasing an antenna / antennas?

Use tvfool.com to find the signal strength in you area and compare it to the strengths different antennas pick up. Winegard and Moho Leafs have good reviews in here.