By Jim Kimble / January 4, 2021
How to Cut the Cable Cord and Save Money in 2021
Cord cutting started out as a way to shed a hefty cable bill without sacrificing your favorite shows or live sports.
But now, streaming and using a TV antenna is the new gold standard for watching TV.
For years, cable companies such as Comcast had the exclusive rights to networks like CNN, ESPN and AMC.
Those days are long gone.
Whether you want to watch ESPN without cable, or just catch up on local news, cutting the cord from cable TV or satellite providers is the way to go in 2021.
There are four important things that I’ll teach you with this guide.
- You can pretty much watch anything you want without bending to the will of cable companies. Even if you want to watch live sporting events like NBA games or college football, it’s no big deal.
- TV antennas will become more useful to more people in 2021 and beyond thanks to NextGenTV (ATSC 3.0).
- You can save a heap of money by dropping your cable or satellite TV provider (even if you have a landline phone).
- You can be a wise consumer and control your spending. The idea of “subscription fatigue” is nonsense.
Sure, I know what you’ve heard.
You’ve already read a number of stories in respectable publications that you can’t really save money by ditching cable.
The argument, the experts say, is that there are so many choices now when it comes to streaming. That will surely drive up the cost of your monthly bill to be as expensive as cable or (gasp) even more!
Plus, companies like Comcast and Spectrum will just make you pay more for Internet service once you cancel your cable subscription.
What if I told you that you could talk your way into paying about $40 or $50 per month for Internet service? (I pay even less…)
I cut the cord years ago. And I’ve been using the same battle-tested strategies to pay as little as possible for TV and Internet service. I save hundreds of dollars (if not, thousands) every year compared to a cable TV customer.
For years, cable companies thrived off of serving us an all-you-can-eat diet. With a small dose of moderation, you can have a better selection of programs and more to watch than you have time for.
You don’t need a secret password to save money. All you need to do is keep reading and absorb some of my game. This guide may be longer than others you’ve seen online, but I’m trying to be comprehensive here.
You might not need to read every section, so I’ve included chapter markers to help you navigate and refer back to parts of this guide.
Table of Contents
- How to Cut the Cable Cord and Save Money in 2021
- Step 1: Test out your options
- Step 2: Do I really need live TV?
- Step 3: Let’s (really) talk about TV antennas
- Step 4: Pick your subscriptions and leverage free stuff
- Step 5: Lower your Internet bill before you cut the cord
- Step 6: Stop renting a cable modem and WiFi router
- Step 7: How to Choose a Streaming Device
- Step 8: Congratulations! Brag to family and friends about all that cash you’re saving
Step 1: Test out your options
Getting on the phone right away to let your customer service rep know that you currently have a crappy deal isn’t going to move the needle.
At least not in a definitive, long-term way.
You need to make some decisions. Chances are if you are reading this, you are paying way too much for cable, satellite and Internet. There’s an excellent chance that you are actually watching a fraction of what you pay for.
You need to get out a pad and pen. It’s homework time. Literally, go get it right now. Think about the live TV channels you actually watch. Not the ones you “like” or you think you watch. Just write down the channels you actually watch.
Pick up your remote and scroll through the channel guide to help you along. I recommend that you do this with your spouse, partner or household — if applicable. If there’s a group making the list, you will have to enforce the rule that only channels you actually watch (not ones you just like) make the list.
Once you have finished your list, count up your channels and ask yourself this very important question. Do I/we need live TV? If the answer is yes, that’s fine. Most of us still do, including me.
This is where cutting the cord starts to get complicated for people. I’m going to keep it simple for you.
My approach is to save you money. I’m assuming that you probably want local broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS), and some cable channels such as History, ESPN and HGTV.
The good news is that there are a number of ways to do this for less money than what you’re paying now.
The bad news is you are going to have to decide what ends up on the cutting room floor.
But if you do your homework then this process should be less painless (and more gratifying) in the end.
You may find out that you don’t really need live TV at all, or maybe just a little bit of it. There’s another option too that might blow your mind.
You might only need live TV for part of the year. Signing up for a streaming service or live TV for part of the year is becoming regular practice among the more savvy cord cutters.
Signing up for and cancelling subscriptions by visiting the website of a streaming service is a fairly easy process. It’s pretty different from how cable companies have operated for years.
Step 2: Do I really need live TV?
If you definitely want live TV, then focus on the streaming services that provide them.
To keep it simple, here is a list of just the bigger players with multiple live TV channels worth considering. These are listed in alphabetical order.
| Price starts at | Channels | |
| AT&T TV Now | $55 per month | 45+ |
| fuboTV | $64.99 per month | 100+ |
| Hulu + Live TV | $64.99 per month | 65+ |
| Philo | $20 per month | 60+ |
| Sling TV | $30 per month | 32 – 45+ |
| YouTube TV | $64.99 per month | 85+ |
You will need Internet service and a streaming device to sample any of these live TV services. There is no runaway winner here. Each service has its perks and drawbacks. Choosing which one works best for you will depend on that handwritten list that I asked you to make.
So for example, if you definitely need ESPN then your cheapest option is Sling TV at $30 per month. But you might like a larger channel package (which costs more). So you can try Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV or YouTube TV instead.
Maybe you care nothing about sports. But you’re a huge fan of The Curse of Oak Island and must see every new episode the minute it premiers.
If that’s you, Philo has 60 live TV channels for $20 per month. There’s unlimited Cloud DVR and a huge on-demand library, so the value proposition is pretty big if you’re pro-entertainment, less sports.
Let’s say you only watch local channels such as PBS or NBC (unlikely, but humor me). A TV antenna is the way to go.
The common complaint I hear from readers the most is that ‘I don’t live in antenna range.’ If you do live in White Mountains of New Hampshire, fine. You don’t. But most people, including those in rural areas, do live within range of at least a few towers.
Even if that means getting three channels (e.g. ABC, FOX and NBC), that’s three big ones that you’re not paying for anymore. Ever.
Step 3: Let’s (really) talk about TV antennas
The challenge with making the most out of a TV antenna is picking out the right one to start with.
After spending the last five years testing out indoor and outdoor TV antennas between Boston, Massachusetts and a woodsy spot along the Maine coast, there are a few ground rules I’ve set for making a purchase.
Avoid the $10 antenna & unrealistic claims
If you type in “best indoor tv antenna” or “best outdoor tv antenna” into an online retailer, there’s an excellent chance you’re going to wind up with a list of TV antennas from manufacturers that over-promise what they can actually do.
The most egregious example involves antenna range, or rather, how well a TV antenna can receive a signal from a distant broadcast tower.
An outdoor TV antenna that’s on a roof, or better yet, on a roof and elevated even higher on a pole, may be able to get a consistent UHF signal 50 to 55 miles away. I’ve done it, but at that distance it’s tough to get a consistent signal that works well through rain or shine.
Being able to receive an over-the-air signal from a broadcast tower is a simple lesson in physics. Over-the-air signals travel by line of sight. The Earth is curved. So receiving a consistently decent signal beyond say 60 miles (assuming optimal conditions) would be really amazing.
Beyond that? Nah, not going to happen. That hasn’t stopped companies from claiming otherwise. A decent antenna range for an indoor TV antenna that doesn’t have the benefit of elevation or being outdoors is about 35 miles or so. But you’ll find plenty of models that boast a “100 mile range” or even “200 mile range”. Some of these antennas will be dirt cheap — $10 or $20. You can find outdoor TV antennas that cost more with the same bogus claim about its range.
An over-simplified way to explain TV antennas is this: You’re working with something that’s closer to a butterfly net than a tractor beam on the Death Star in Star Wars.
In my opinion, impossible claims about the range of TV antennas isn’t just bad marketing. It’s borderline fraud. People often make spending decisions based on what they read. Misleading customers about a product they know little about — doing it to scale, for profit — is wrong.
Federal regulators haven’t taken any sort of action against these practices. Consumers are disenfranchised as a result.
So how do you find trustworthy brands? Sticking with well-established companies (based in the U.S., even if they manufacture overseas) has never burned me.
AntennasDirect, its sibling company Mohu, Winegard, Channel Master and many others not named here are among the reputable antenna makers in the United States.
Most of them have been in the business for decades. Companies that advertise a phone number with customer support is also a good sign that a company can back up what’s written on its packaging.
Marketing terms = confusion
Even the best antenna makers use language that can be confusing for consumers.
There is no such thing as a “HD antenna”, “HDTV antenna” or “4K Ready” antenna per se. A TV antenna is simply just that. There is no specific design that determines picture resolution.
But there are excellent designs that can improve or maximize picture reception.
Most over-the-air signals from major broadcasters (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and PBS) are in High Definition, or rather 720p or 1080i picture resolution. (But not 1080p.) You will find some sub-channels that are broadcast in 480p as well.
Any TV antenna, including a homemade one, can pick up these signals.
Why TV antennas matter more in 2021 and beyond
A new broadcast standard called ATSC 3.0 or NextGenTV is already rolling out all over the U.S. For consumers, it will mean the ability to receive free over-the-air signals in 4K picture resolution, HDR and Dolby Atmos.
The good: You won’t need a new TV antenna for ATSC 3.0, and free over-the-air channels will be easier to get for more people across the U.S. At some point, you may even be able to watch all this free TV in your car or on your smartphone.
The no-so good: You’re going to need a new TV tuner to get these new Ultra High Definition channels.
On the flip side, any station that switches to ATSC 3.0 will have to maintain the current digital signal for another five years. So you still have a decent chunk of time where you won’t need a new TV tuner box to get free live channels.
I have another guide on how to choose the best TV antenna and OTA DVR. It can give you more guidance and a few recommendations based on my years of testing.
The bottom line with TV antennas is to consider the one-time cost of hardware to a monthly bill from a cable TV or satellite provider. Don’t shortchange yourself when it comes to setting up your own equipment that will last (and save you money) for years to come.
Step 4: Pick your subscriptions and leverage free stuff
There are massive libraries of free movies and TV shows you can watch. All you need is an Internet connection, a Smart TV or a streaming device connected to a TV.
If you really wanted to keep your TV-watching diet lean, you have plenty to feast on without paying anything. And by the way, I’m talking about all legal streaming services that are supported by advertising.
Jailbreaking a Fire Stick or doing something funky to your streaming device to get free movies illegally is a bad idea and unnecessary.
You can get your live local news from an NBC or FOX station (NewsOn app). You can watch Hollywood blockbusters (Pluto TV). There are great live concerts (XUMO). Even public libraries are getting in on the act. You should check yours to see if they provide a free subscription to hoopla or kanopy to its patrons.
On Roku, The Roku Channel has free movies, TV shows and live streaming TV channels. Amazon has its own free streaming service, IMDb TV, for Fire Stick and Fire TV owners.
Sticking with my theme of saving you money, I encourage you to try out free streaming services. Do it before shelling out your hard earned cash for subscription-based apps. Why?
Because this might be the first time in your life that you are reshaping your TV watching diet. You are dumping the all-you-can-eat buffet that cable and satellite providers have been shoving in your face for years.
I’m not saying give up all the dark chocolate and potato chips. I’m saying the menu is larger, more diverse, more niche than anything you have had access to before.
Don’t miss out on the free, good stuff that you don’t even know about yet.
Subscription streaming services
Streaming services have paved the way for moving U.S. consumers away from live TV.
Netflix has practically become the new plumbing to our Internet-connected televisions. Amazon Prime has tremendous reach as well because a membership offers far more than just shows and movies to watch.
And Disney+ (yes, I subscribe, too) broke records in how quickly it amassed millions of subscribers. It was literally an overnight success.
You don’t have to go with the crowd — and you probably shouldn’t — to reach your own streaming nirvana.
Let me give you a personal example.
You may have never heard of The Criterion Channel. The streaming service gathers the best films around the globe and has a library that goes back decades. I especially like the spy movies, and thrillers released between the 1960s and 1970s. I also like curated collections of movies including the Double Feature that’s released every weekend.
You may have little-to-no interest in this. But I gladly pay $90 per year for a subscription because I stopped renting individual movies years ago. And as I have gotten older, I have become more interested in movies that are behind me than the ones that are in front of me.
Cutting the cord isn’t just about covering the ground you once had with cable. It gives you the opportunity to delve into your interests and style more.
ESPN+ is another good example of this. The sports-focused streaming service might one day replace your ESPN channel on cable. And sure, there are live sports already on the service, including soccer, Major League Baseball games, college basketball and NHL games.
But for now, it’s finding success with original programming like the football-themed documentary series, Peyton’s Places. There are UFC fights, boxing and the 30 for 30 library.
When you do come up with your lineup of streaming services that you want to subscribe to, make sure you are leveraging your power as a consumer. I pay annually for The Criterion Channel because it gives me a discount (which adds to my satisfaction with their service).
The Disney+ bundle rolls together Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $12.99 per month. That’s a 25 percent discount compared to subscribing to each service individually.
Likewise, CBS All Access (soon to be renamed Paramount +) offers a package with Showtime that costs $14.99 per month.
Now that streaming is big business, just about every publication — major newspapers, magazines and online pubs — have weekly or monthly lists telling you what to watch.
These lists can be useful and give you a feel for what’s out there. If you dig deep on your own, there’s a chance that you will find something great that no one else is talking about.
Step 5: Lower your Internet bill before you cut the cord
So how do I manage to keep paying only between $30 to $50 a year for standalone Internet? (I’m currently paying $29.99 per month.)
I do have the advantage of living in a city where there is more than one Internet service provider.
But I have also lived in places where there was only one provider in town. During one of my last periods of negotiating, I was dealing with a large cable provider that pretty much had zero competition in my section of the city. The agent insisted the lowest price for a standalone Internet connection was $69.99 per month. I got the price down to $39.99 per month, a rate that I maintained for two years before moving on.
My battle-tested method has worked for years in places with and without competition.
I never tell an Internet service provider that I’m streaming, especially when they start with those probing about my needs. I say that I use a TV antenna (true) and simply need an Internet connection for email.
Like the all-you-can-eat cable bundles we’ve been gorging on for years, many cable companies are serving up Internet speeds that are larger than necessary.
The customer service agent may insist that there are no other plans. But if you keep saying “no thanks, that’s not what I’m looking for” eventually you will strike a better deal.
You should expect that the agent will start pitching all kinds of so-called deals for a package of TV and internet and phone.
Just keep saying no thanks.
That’s not what you want. Be firm, but polite. Keep saying you want a simple internet connection — about 50 megabits per second of download speed will do. Even 25Mbps of download speed is fine for most live TV streaming services if you’re not gaming online.
Once you are offered a better price for standalone Internet, don’t say yes right away. Keep asking whether there are any other options. The price might come down more.
How do I know that this scenario plays out the same way on a fairly consistent basis?
Because I watch a lot of C-SPAN. And I also read the findings of the 2016 Congressional investigation by former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo), a top ranking chairman on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Her committee delved into pricing and customer service practices for the major cable providers across the U.S.
That investigation pulled the curtain back a little on how customer service agents are trained. Let’s watch this short video so you can see what I’m talking about. Note the silence from cable executives while they’re being questioned.
Yep, it turns out those same customer service reps who tell you that there are no lower priced “deals” to be had actually keep secret rate charts explicitly used to retain customers. Customer service reps are also trained to instill fear, and doubt in you when you start talking about cancelling or taking your business elsewhere.
I know it goes against common sense, but cable companies don’t reward people for being a longtime, faithful customer.
Instead, they raise your rates until you can’t take it anymore. Why? Because luring you in with a low rate then raising it after several months makes them a lot more money. That’s the business model. Plain and simple.
How to negotiate
Having said all that, there is one more thing to keep in mind as we look into the future of cord cutting and streaming your favorite TV shows.
Cable companies are fully aware that the future of their business relies on growing the number of standalone Internet subscribers. Millions of customers are dumping cable TV and satellite providers every year.
As a customer, you need to view cable companies like a pricey restaurant. They don’t really want you to order off the menu especially when it comes to negotiating your new monthly rate for an Internet connection.
But you can do it if you are willing to walk out the door and eat elsewhere.
There’s a really important difference here that a lot of people miss when I cover this topic. You can’t threaten the waiter with leaving the restaurant. You have to get up out of your seat and start walking.
That means if you’ve spent 25 or 30 minutes on the phone with a customer service agent, and they’re not budging on price for standalone Internet, then you need to go through and cancel.
Set your cancellation date for the end of the month. That gives them 20 or 30 days to have a retention specialist to contact you with some better offers.
In my experience, you will hear back from someone in a matter of hours, or a day or two at most.
If you don’t hear back from anyone in a few days, you can always call back and say you found another ISP with a decent rate, but you really like your existing service. So you want to see what kind of rates are available. The negotiation process will start over.
The exercise here is to give yourself some leverage as a consumer. Plain and simple.
And remember, don’t accept the first lower offer right away. In the end, you might find the first offer is the best one to suit your needs. I’ve experienced that firsthand.
But you definitely want to see what’s behind “Door #2” on that rate chart. Hold you ground by expressing uncertainty about that first offer and see what pops up.
Internet Speed
It’s important to understand that you don’t need that fast of an Internet connection to enjoy Netflix, or even a live TV service such as Sling TV.
Take a look at this chart.
| MINIMUM INTERNET SPEED REQUIREMENTS | |
| NETFLIX | 5.0 Megabits per second – Recommended for HD quality |
| AT&T TV NOW | 2.5 – 7.5 Mbps – Recommended for HD quality |
| VUDU | HDX (1080p) requires 4500 kbps |
| AMAZON VIDEO | High Definition (HD) videos: 3.5 Mbits/sec |
| SLING TV | Constant speed of 5.0 Megabits per second or more |
Streaming in High Definition requires a fairly minimal Internet connection. Even if you had a snazzy 4K TV and wanted to watch some live sports in 4K on fuboTV, the recommended download speed is 25 Mbps.
That’s still pretty minimal compared to some of the Internet speeds that are offered by cable TV providers.
This may sound like common sense, but it’s worth mentioning. The last person you want to consult about how much Internet speed you need is the person selling it to you.
Step 6: Stop renting a cable modem and WiFi router
Owning your own cable modem and WiFi router is better than renting one. In my experience, using my own equipment saves me money. It also gives me better performance because the WiFi router that I bought is well-suited for the layout of my home.
As a consumer, you should know that there have been issues with using rented equipment.
In 2018, the parent company of Spectrum agreed to a $174.2 million settlement with the New York Attorney General over Internet speeds.
That lawsuit alleged that Spectrum’s Wi-Fi speeds were approximately 80 percent slower than advertised. The state’s findings about Spectrum’s speed at the time came as a result of 16 months of testing. One culprit for the slower speeds, according to the lawsuit, was the modems-router units that customers rented. As part of the settlement, Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent company, admitted to no wrongdoing.
The monthly rental fee on your cable or Internet bill is substantial.
Comcast’s Xfinity service charges $14 per month for renting a modem. Verizon FiOS charges between $12 and $15 per month depending upon the router you rent.
The math on this is simple. Your equipment pays for itself. Choosing your own equipment lets you evaluate what will work best for your home. Does your house need a Wi-Fi router or mesh network?
Most Internet-related hardware on the market has a pretty simple plug-and-play setup. There are countless instructional YouTube videos that can help, you can read about my own Wi-Fi setup that I’m using right now.
TIP for Fios customers: If you want to avoid paying a monthly fee for renting a router, I have bought a couple of refurbished Fios routers on eBay while helping friends and family transition to streaming. I even got one for my parents, and so far, everyone is very happy.
Step 7: How to Choose a Streaming Device
The big three streaming devices — Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast — are the best entry points for first-time cord cutters. They’re inexpensive and easy to use.
When my retired, non-tech savvy parents finally decided to ditch cable, I bought them a Roku Ultra and a reconditioned Verizon Fios router. Buying them the router from eBay allowed them to stop paying the monthly rental fee to Verizon. I also helped them keep their landline phone number that they’ve had since the Nixon administration by porting it to Google Voice.
I went with the Roku Ultra for two reasons. The option to use an Ethernet cord instead of WiFi would greatly reduce the possibility of their TV picture buffering. Roku’s menu remains intuitive and basic. I was surprised how quickly they took to it. A short time later, my aunt and uncle asked for the same setup. I had to dump their Internet provider that they had for more than a decade because they wouldn’t budge on price, but that’s another story.
I don’t have a runaway recommendation for a streaming device. I own just about every brand that’s currently on the market. There is a 4K Roku TV in my living room, and a Fire TV Stick downstairs on an old Samsung 1080p TV in my daughter’s playroom. These setups change over time as I continue testing and reviewing equipment.
Google Chromecast: Game changer?
The new Google Chromecast with Google TV is the most exciting release for streaming hardware in the last few years.
Being able to turn on your TV and quickly find something to watch without endlessly scrolling through app after app is a big deal. It actually makes your personal data that Google collects about your tastes useful to … you. (Imagine that.)
The three most important features for any hardware developer in the streaming game right now are ease of use, integration and aggregation.
The Chromecast has nailed all three pretty well, but it’s not perfect.
Chromecast currently supports 30 streaming platforms with its recommendation engine. It also supports ways to tap into over-the-air channels from popular OTA DVRs such as Tablo and HDHomeRun.
If the new Chromecast begins supporting a greater number of streaming platforms in its recommendation engine, Roku and Amazon could have a real problem.
There’s no question what device I will be using more if Chromecast understands that I want to see movie suggestions from The Criterion Collection alongside the Fast and Furious franchise (read: guilty pleasure).
You know me, Google. Make it happen.
What about Apple TV, you say? Apple TV is fine, but it’s pricey at $180. So I consider it as more of a luxury product than a solution-based one. If you’re fully invested in the Apple ecosystem — iPhones, MacBook, and iPads — then going with an Apple TV makes sense.
Otherwise, you have a number of good, inexpensive choices to expand your universe of cord cutting options.
Smart TVs
Check to see whether your current TV has Smart TV software before you buy a streaming device.
Android TV, LG’s webOS and Samsung Tizen Smart TVs are just a few of the bigger names that support major streaming apps such as Netflix and Disney+.
Roku and Amazon have struck deals with TV makers to have their own streaming software included in TV sets. TCL makes the 6 Series, a remarkably good 4K television with Roku software built-in.
Years ago, the conventional wisdom was that Smart TV software was not well supported with needed updates. That’s largely a thing of the past.
TV manufacturers are well aware that streaming is the future. Built-in streaming software is becoming a priority for TV manufacturers and big business overall. That’s a good thing for consumers.
Step 8: Congratulations! Brag to family and friends about all that cash you’re saving
If you’ve made it to this stage, congratulations. I’ve given you a lot to digest… maybe even a handbook of sorts based on my years of living without cable TV (largely because I was broke after college).
Now you can be that annoying relative at Thanksgiving, talking about how you’re saving wads of cash. The cable man isn’t sticking it to you anymore.
Hopefully, you can help out those same family members after they get sick of listening to you.
Good luck, and be sure to comment on what you did to cut the cord in 2021. And start bragging about how much money you saved in the comment section below.
So, here we go again. I mentioned back in August I got rid of YTTV for Sling Blue. Now, college hoops season is upon us and I want to watch my school. I went to add the Sports Extra package for $10. Turns out, to get the ACC Network you must have Sling Orange. That means it would cost me $25 more/mo to get the ACCN. Sling is cheaper if, obviously, you want to do with less. But if you want other things – I have the Hollywood Extra and 5-hour DVR Extra, for example – then it starts to add up.
The only reason I went down this rabbit hole with Sling was because I was going to move to Hulu Live. But whadda you know? Hulu Live is jacking their price up to $65/mo. come 12/18. In other words, the good times are over and the writing is on the wall. YTTV, Hulu Live and Fubo are all around $65/mo. now. They undercut everything and get you to sign up. Now, they are all raising their prices. If you want your sports, you pretty much have to suck it up.
If I now go Hulu Live along with Verizon Internet, I will be at like $110/mo. Then come 12/18 it would be $125/mo. Still better than cable but not the $100/mo. I had been paying for a while.
Other than that, I keep trying to get free months or discounts for things like HBO Max (which I really do like). And I have DIsney+ free until February (part of my initial deal with Verizon).
Bottom line: The prices are going up and will continue to do so. Hopefully, a new service or two pops up soon to undercut YTTV, Hulu and Fubo.
Follow-up: Hulu Live: I’m unable to FFWD through ads when I’ve recorded a program. This is a pretty significant drawback. Even on Sling I could do that. This is a minimum expectation of subscribing to a streaming service, I’d say. It’s certainly not something I want to pay more for. Generally, Hulu’s user-friendliness isn’t great either. The My Stuff page and DVR are a mixed jumble. The Live TV page defaults to recent channels instead of All or My Channels. At this rate, I might just be circling back to YTTV soon.
I’m a 56 year old and I sign up recently for Vidgo streaming service.
Wanted to relate my opinion and their lack of making it right.
They have a three day trial. Being that it was a internet service. 3 days mean 72 hours. Which by them is incorrect. We got billed at the start of calendar day 3. So if you started Monday at noon. Wednesday at midnight they bill your account. Not 72 hours. I received notification and cancelled at 1 am Thursday. 11 hours before the 72 hours. I wrote customer help from Vidgo. Telling them about time factor plus how service didn’t have DVR and funky layout that was a social media in a video streaming service. Very bazaar and weird.
Thought they would be customer oriented and fix issue. Nada. All in the fine print. No exceptions. I definitely wouldn’t recommend service even with the $5 savings over Hulu.
Chip Magnuson
Spokane WA
They all have some “gotcha”. If ever an industry needs oversight, this is the one. I got rid of Direct TV and went to HULU with live channels because I live in an area where NBC has a tower 10 miles away and their reception is great. CBS , ABC and Fox towers are all 35-40 miles in an area with many trees and rolling hills with many elevation changes, so in clear weather an outside antenna works great, but if any weather or storms, a lot of screen freeze and pixalation. HULU price increase now up to $65 a month, but still 1/2 of DTV. Some buffering on Hulu, but that happens more when internet usage is high, especially when local school kids are all on line for school. And it happens more on the ROKU TV than on the ones connected by Fire stick. Checked on Sling when HULU raised price to $65, but Slings package with news channels and NBC sports was $30 and then the other that only added ESPN channels along with duplicates from the first package was another $30, so no savings over HULU.
” I live in an area where NBC has a tower 10 miles away and their reception is great. CBS , ABC and Fox towers are all 35-40 miles in an area with many trees and rolling hills with many elevation changes, so in clear weather an outside antenna works great, but if any weather or storms, a lot of screen freeze and pixalation. ”
Try locast.org if you’re in that servicable of an area but can’t get reception. I’m in a similar boat just outside of DC, and for ME locast works amazing on my Roku’s. Don’t bother with the “free” tier though, it’s useless with how many ads they push to get you to “donate”. For $5 to try it, worth it.
If I find something that has the channels that I watch and can ditch HULU, will do that. But the live TV on HULU that has all the sports (including all the conference sports channels) just comes with local assigned by your zip code. I was surprised that Sling first tier had news and CBS sports, NBC sports and other garbage added for $30.00, and then all the garbage and ESPN channels for another $30 in the second package. Total $60. Could save a bunch if my wife did not want the ACC network (for basketball) and me watching ESPN!
Understand. All I wanted was my 4 OTA locals as I can’t get decent antenna service without installing like a 50 foot pole on my roof, so the 5 bucks for locast is great for me. I miss out on ESPN, but I’ll survive. ?
Checked it out. Good service BUT only available 25 markets. None between D.C and Atlanta. Mostly large cities at this time. Never had any problems with reception until the “new and improved” digital came about
Thanks for the informative and entertaining article. I cut the cord in 2015, when my avg Brighthouse Florida cable bill was $140 per month with a movie rental a week. My wife gave me a month to find something better/cheaper, and we agreed on two month to find a cord cutter option. I turned to Roku and after a month sold it to a friend. I then bought a FireTVStick, the first gen model, and learned to side-load Kodi, then version 15.1 . Spare the “pirate” harangue, leave that to the TV police, just know that my cable bill for 100mbs wifi went to $60 per month. With an antenna I had EVERYTHING,. I recently obtained a new deal from Spectrum. I used your negotiating tactic and was upgraded to 200mbs wifi at same price ($70/month, $10 raise over 5 yrs), so i am reasonably happy again. I run 4 FTVCubes with Kodi 18.8 and a 4-tuner FireTV Recast on an amp’ed indoor antenna. This setup does a great job, with bandwidth left over for visiting family’s phones/tablets/laptops.
The price increases po me on principle more than the actual costs.I am a yttv subscriber which I had to do when my fav PVue went away. I am going to sling soon. I need more dvr as that is how I consume 99% of my tv, but the price increases/user controlling stuff with yttv is too much. I will probably have to go to yttv for a couple months part of the year when there is heavy sports content I need. Hopefully something will change or come along before then. I believe that whether it is true collision or just by their common greed we may never get any kind of decent ala carte. But until I am proved wrong, and it may be just the former situation stopping this, I have a thought. So no ala carte and things like say espn have to come with the other abc/Disney package because of the deals made. But is for example yttv being told by Disney that they must also carry the fox package? I doubt it. So why not at least let us pick the network packages we want? Even if they allowed these kind of selections it would still mostly work for the providers as most users need multiple packages. If they don’t manipulate the packages like they do in cable tv some of us could get our costs down decently. It could even be that any company that goes this way could come out a winner.
Agreed. YTTV’s lastest price jack without giving us any “i don’t want that crap” option was the last straw. buh bye.
i had Direct TV for many years, started out around $50 a konth, each year kept going up until 3 yrs ago it was over $120. Ask for some cut like $20-30 off like their promotional offer, they said they would connect me with their concellation dept. I hung up.
Singed up for HULU due to sports @ $42. They have increased to $59, but still about 1/2 of Direct T.V. live T.V. with local channels ( based on zip code) since Iive signals come from 4 different directions and antenna not reliable for all channels.
Now you will see complaints about HULU buffering from some. I have 3 TV’S, not all on at same time, 2 with fire stick, one ROKU by TCL. Internet provider Windstream, so not high speed compared to Spectrum or Comcast. I have no issues with buffering on the two Samsungs with Firestick, but do have occasional buffering occasionally with Roku TCL So my issues with buffering is equipment and not provider.
I would try SLING if they had sports, but when I added HULU they did jot offer local channels noe sports
Just wanted to share the buffering issue should you try HULU.
Regrettably, I had to get rid of YouTubeTV the other day and have decided to go with Sling Blue for now. I really like YTTV but when I signed up it was $40. They added some decent channels and it went to $45. The YES Network was lost in the Spring (I’m in NJ and want my baseball channels). Then about 2 months ago they announced adding a handful of channels which aren’t essential to me and raised their price to $65/mo! Buh-bye! My initial deal for Sling Blue is $20 for one month + one month of Showtime/Starz/Epix for free; plus I added the expanded DVR + “Hollywood” add-on. This month will cost me $30. Then will go to $40. This will work for me until I start watching sports again. Right now, I haven’t been. My choice otherwise would have been Hulu + Live TV.
Any particular reason why you omitted any mention of a Google Chromecast device anywhere in your article?
Seems to me that is one of the more obvious options.
We have really got to do better than this. Many of us do not want to pay for a mass of unused channels and an add on to have a decent dvr, when they keep all the content anyway. The prices just end up too high especially when you have to add on more expensive internet. I also sure with someone would restart PVue. And why don’t the cable companies bring down their rates to reasonable. I find it hard to believe the infrastructure has high costs. 40 years of being around cable systems and the only time they come around is to turn service on or off. Cable is an excellent way to furnish the content.
I called Comcast customer retention and he quoted me the following prices for (no contract) service. These are retail prices, not promotional:
Speed — Price
25Mb — $50
100Mb — $55
200Mb — $70
300Mb — $80
600Mb — $90
1gb — $100
These are only quoted prices. I haven’t signed up for one yet as I’m still browsing my options as far as streaming service goes. However, the number I called to talk to this agent was 800-934-6489. Then, at the voice prompt, state “disconnect Service” to be connected to the right person. So, Gig service with Hulu+live should set you back about $155 a month. That would save me $100/month from the $241 I’m paying now. I’d lose the phone service, but most cell phones are WiFi capable anyway so do you really need the extra line? I hope some of this helps. Good Luck!
Comcast quoted me $163/month for high speed internet service alone if I cut the triple play package I have for $221/month and I’d be losing the landline and tv. The “slower” modem option only went to $123/month. The $221 includes triple play – landline, tv, dvr, hi-speed internet, Netflix and they give $12 towards my cellphone bill which is Xfinity mobile at $12/GB + taxes so about $20/month (one line and I use less than 2GB a month).
So I guess what I’m asking is what’s the point in cutting the cord when you need internet to stream and that costs almost what I’m paying already? Then add all the ala carte services and it may even be more.
There doesn’t seem to be internet service for $50/month anymore.
Hey, are you able to tell me if Verizon Fios has different routers for 400mbps vs Gigabit connection? Do you know which router i’d need for each?
Honestly larry, a TV that old, in your shoes I’d just flat out replace it. Even the cheapest of today’s smart TV’s is going to be a world of improvement over a TV from that long ago. And with Black Friday deals everywhere, a decent size set isn’t going to set you back much more than you’ll end up saving in about 2 months without paying a cable company. In your shoes starting out cutting the cord with a new set, I would buy one of the Roku TV’s. In my opinion (having tried them all from Fire to Chromecast to Apple), Roku has the simplest platform (IMO) with the widest support for content sources, and there’s something to be said for having all of that integrated into the single remote that comes with the TV versus trying to use universal remotes, smartphone remote control apps, whatever.
don’t know how to start a thread. What to do about a pre 2007 TV?
I would first check your ports on the back. At the very least, you should have a coax port that is for a cable box or antenna hookup.
For streaming, first check to see if there is an HDMI port on the back. (You can use Google Images for a photo of an HDMI port if you are unsure what that looks like.) If you do have an HDMI port, then you can use a Roku, Fire TV device and just about anything out there for a streaming device.
If you have an older port setup — the one with the red, yellow and white cables — you can pick up a Roku Express+ for about $30. That will turn an older TV into a smart TV.
Hope that helps.
THANKS — Im looking at it — seems to be a good combo
Here’s my 2017 review. I think everything still applies from a functionality standpoint.
Two biggest changes: Android TV has been refreshed, and you’ll have access to GEForce Now if you’re into gaming.
https://cordcuttingreport.com/2017/07/17/nvidia-shield-review/
WHAT ABOUT SHIELD TV?
Shield TV is great. I own a 2017 Shield Pro and I love it. I just bought a new Shield (the one that looks like a pipe). You’ll see a review soon on that one.
I’m not sure what you mean by “YouTube TV is better in some ways, but I don’t like the lack of a guide.”? I use YouTubeTV on Android, Roku, and FireTV platforms, and in every case there is a channel guide. I personally think their guide sucks as it doesn’t let me scroll out several days in the future to see what’s coming, but just click on “Live” at the top and there IS a guide and it even let’s you customize the order of the channels.
I am sure not happy that PVue is going away. They are not perfect but I am mostly happy with them. YouTube TV is better in some ways, but I don’t like the lack of a guide. I feel lost a lot of the time without it. I have been with PVue for most of the last two years. They had taken care of most of the few deficiencies they had and it was a great service. Not happy with the price increases. But it does appear that there simply is not enough juice from anywhere to get the content price down or be able to get any kind of cost saving ala carte system. The consumer continues to be manipulated and used.
Cutting the Cable Cord?
We accomplished this a few years ago. We were spending roughly $300 per month on cable when they moved to a more on demand television. The “free” movies were a total joke. I tried the HD Antenna route but it just didn’t reach far enough to get any real channels. So what was I to do?
I decided to just take a leap. First I cancelled cable but still had to keep the internet at $50 per month. Only internet in our area was from the cable company, blah. I then slowly tested streaming services to find the best. Live TV was a bit of a challenge but we settled on a $39 per month Hulu subscription with the addition of a Roku Box which is a one time $80 cost. (No Monthly fee) Roku coupled with a Hulu sunscription gives you access to on demand news, sports, tv, and much more in the apps they offer as part of the one time fee. I then added a $8 per month Netflix subscription. These two services gave me the live TV and more recorded shows than I can ever watch.
What I was missing was new release movies like I use to rent on on demand. That is where Amazon came in. I already had a yearly subscription with Prime at $180 roughly per year (again no monthly fee) for free shipping and access to prime pantry. Amazon Prime Video offers free movies, TV, and all the On Demand Movie Rentals and Purchases you could ever want. So all in $180 per month saved me $120 per month and I believe I have access to a ton more than I ever had with Comcast. You have to just go for it. You can always go back and get your cable service back if you absolutely hate it. It takes a little getting used to but now it is normalized for my household. We Cut The Cord and are loving it. You can too. And we saved hundreds per month doing it. Best of luck cord cutters.
You’re able to input multiple sources at the same time?
I have used titantv.com for that purpose.
One thing I haven’t been able to find though, is a good TV guide. I would like to find one I can customize to display all my local channels (not generic) and Philo (and others) all on one grid. Right now I use Titantv (titantv.com) and Philo (streamingtvguides.com) separate guides.
We live in a rural setting, where internet access has always been metered. No cable of any kind available. We now have our internet with Wisper, which is unlimited data. It has been great. We were able to save 131.36 per month with the changes. We used (and still use) Playon to “download” streaming services. We used to have to schedule after 2:00 AM (more data allowed) but Plyaon doesn’t have all the networks we want. For example, We prefer Pureflix to Netflix but Pureflix is not available on Playon, so that problem is solved. We made a comparison chart of the services available, and Philo replaces most of the channels we watched on DirecTv, for only 20.00.
We have had an outdoor antenna for years and that works for locals. We purchased a ROKU Express so it’s wireless only, running TP-LINK Archer C9 router, which we had from a previous configuration. We also have a “free-to-air” (Ku) satellite system which is an absolute hoot.
Previous:
Directv 97.33
Hughesnet 94.35
Netflix DVD & Stream 21.00
HULU 11.99
Current:
KlowdTv (OANN) 4.99
PureFlix 8.33
Philo 20.00
Wisper 59.99
Total Previous monthly charges 224.67
Total Current monthly charges 93.31
Total monthly Saved 131.36
The DVR’d shows on the DISH Anywhere app were just like watching normal HD TV. Live was crap. I’m gonna call them about the live being fuzzy. (pretend I am her, with her permission of course) The HD antenna worked great this past Saturday night for the game, but we are way up in the hills with huge trees and i am worried about what the reception would be if it was storming. I can’t watch with a delay. There are bets to be won and lost… I also want to watch on the 60 inch TV, so ill explore Reddit and connecting my PC to the TV. If you think of anything else, please let me know. Thanks so much for your help. No one can deny that Brady is the GOAT…for now. The Cowboys have Whitten back this year but Zek is still holding out for more money…which in my opinion he doesn’t deserve, he hasn’t even gotten us to a division championship yet….he sure ain’t no Emmitt Smith!!!! SO, ya never know how we are gonna do.
Glad you took my kidding instead of getting grumpy, the Cowboys may have something going on this year. Isn’t that dish app just to access dvr’d programs? Maybe you could have your friend contact dish like they are the one trying to access it and see why it is bad quality. May be something fixable or maybe something with your system. Have you tried using that on their pc? If it is from a box hard drive recording it may be that causing it. Seems like that should work good. The days of companies with a deficient product are kind of over if they expect to compete and of course dish is a major player. If you are like me and watch nearly everything from replay or dvr or could do that for the games there are sites that have the games up for free usually with the commercials taken out and they are pretty decent quality. (doubt they will let me link here, just search for nfl replays). I am not sure how fast they are up though, may not really be available until late or the next day. That’s where I watch most of my games (4-6 a week!!). Also if you go on reddit there are people that post urls for the games streaming live. I have tried some of those before and they are pretty good quality. (those seem to be safe but don’t download anything it tries to get you to and if any sign ups or suspicions try a different one from reddit members). I guess it depends also on how pc savvy you are, some don’t know how to do that. I have pretty good access with PlayStation vue for everything I want so I rarely need my antenna but I have no problem using it if I want to or need to.
The Cowboys are the “local” team here in Arkansas. So, packages like the NFL Sunday ticket won’t work. I was able to get FOX on a friends Dish Anywhere app, but it was a horrible picture. Sadly, antenna is the only way to go. I am just happy we don’t play the Pats on Thanksgiving day! Thanks for your help!
I realize I am not actually answering your question, but. I don’t know for sure but most individual affiliates have closely held rights and even individual big four networks don’t seem to have any way to subscribe to just them, you have to buy streaming packages that include them. First do you have any local blackouts if you were to use a service or antenna? I would really consider just buying an antenna. If you do have a tv for your screen and you are close enough to get the signals that would be pretty easy and kills having to rely on these billions dollar companies that can’t work together at we the bill paying users expense. The CBS All Access may give you the couple games that are going to be on CBS but it’s $6 a month. You might be able to just subscribe for Oct and Nov to get those two unless there are any CBS playoffs games later. You mostly need FOX and from what I have seen they are pretty stingy on any way to stream them, back to through a service. Since you never know when or if UsVerse/FOX/CBS will get this done maybe better to try an antenna unless you want to change services. Maybe someone else has some ideas. I would hate to see you miss my Pats beat the Cowboys on Nov 24th
Hi, I have internet and cable thru AT&T UVerse and Fox and CBS is blacked out right now because of a contract dispute. Therefore, I cant get those local channels thru streaming. Is an antenna my only option? I have a Roku, Fire Stick and Hulu. I only want local for the Cowboy games. So, if there is a sports app that I can use please let me know, thanks
I get that Christopher. I knew they would end up doing this kind of crap to us. To use a streaming service many of us have to buy better and more expensive net service. As far as the channels and their apps right they are just an extra way to get the content you had to have already paid for somewhere else. The other part is that all of these content providers either already do or are going to their own players for the content. That is fully controlled with the commercials they want and many times you have little control with the player. You may not be able to back up to rewatch or refind a spot where you were at from previous viewing. And sometimes I just don’t have time to deal with all of the commercials. At this point we are about 30 minutes of programming out of an hour. Along with other bs it is not the kind of player we had with a vcr or dvr. Screw them I will just go with my own dvr and record the stuff myself if we end up with more of this on demand and internal player garbage. We may be able to get the channel(s) separately one day but the amount we have to spend will still be manipulated so we will pay up the ying yang. The only person that may work for is someone that only watches one or two channels. Billions on the top of billions are not enough for these people.
One thing I can’t find ANYWHERE on the internet:
How do I use streaming apps such as TLC, Animal Planet, TMC, TCM, NatGeo, ScienceChannel and the like WITHOUT HAVING TO HAVE A “TV PROVIDER”?
Every “streaming app” that I attempt to access on my Roku or Amazon Fire TV asks me to “sign in with your TV provider”, meaning that YOU NEED CABLE TV TO ACCESS STREAMING APPS? What sense does THAT make if you’re “cutting the cord”? Absolutely NONE!
So, to use “streaming apps” on a streaming device, you must have a TV provider. That makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever.
And you STILL get bombarded with the same (if not MORE) commercials!
The term “TV provider” isn’t all that well defined these days.
But here’s the best answer I can give you. There is no a la carte system for networks such as TLC, Animal Planet, and the others you mentioned.
Your best bet is to try a live TV streaming platform like Philo (58 channels for $20 per month).
You can watch all your channels in the Philo app, and as an extra feature, you can activate a number of those apps that usually require a cable TV or satellite subscription.
See chart here: https://help.philo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006287033-TV-Everywhere
Other streaming services such as Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and fuboTV also let you activate a number of apps (depending on your subscription/channel lineup).
One thing about apps: they’re useful for catching up on an episode of something you’ve missed, but rarely have a full season of something. That’s because the rights to a lot of full seasons are purchased by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. Some apps that offer extra live streams are worthwhile (e.g. FOX Sports GO); but personally, I don’t use them a whole bunch because the streaming services I use get me most of what I want. And I record the new shows I want to see with Cloud DVR.
I hope that answers your question.
Switched from DirecTV satellite to DirecTV NOW and running into a problem. I pay $40/month for the DTVNow service, plus $60/month for the 100mbps AT&T internet for a total of $100/month. while a but better then what I was paying before, it’s not really a HUGE savings for me. Add in the fact that I received an email that I have exceeded my monthly data cap of 1T due to DirecTV NOW, and I’m starting to second guess the switch.
How does everyone get around the 1000gb data limit that the internet providers cap us at? I read that DrecTV NOW will qualify AT&T internet users unlimited data, but that remains to be seen and clearly is not the case as of right now. I called the retention department threatening to cancel, and the absolute lowest they could get me on the internet price was $60/month. I guess $100 for both intenet and DTVN isn’t terrible, but I was hoping for more. Next step is cancel DTVN, get an antenna, and hope my kids don’t use up more then the 1000 GB data cap!
I had DTV and was paying $120+ per month. I have Windstream internet which includes landline phone. Called DTV to see what they could do on pricing, they said “nothing” I threatened to cancel, they said “I will connect you to cancellation department”. I hung up and looked for alternatives. I now have an antenna for local channels and have HULU at $44.00 (includes taxes) and it has some local channels from the location of Windstreams data center. Could get locals at my home location if I wanted to pay Windstream for a static IP address, but no need with antenna. So far no problems with anything from HULU, but my daughter had to drop it because Comcast slowed download speeds and they had a lot of buffering. I called DTV, told them I was cancelling, they offered $45.00 a month, I said “no thanks you gave me the opportunity to find something cheaper and better and no price increase after a year” . They cancel and I am much happier at $75.00 a month less..
Your business Beau but how much tv are you watching. It seems like over a tb of data seems like an awful lot. What you are talking about is just one of the scams they are still perpetrating on us. Cord cutting makes me laugh. Yes many can save, some a lot but now we have to have expensive net to get our tv. See how this works? I can get by with 5Mbps and low data like many can if it wasn’t for my tv data. They also are still not giving us any kind of ala carte. The only ala carte is the additions many have to pay for or the ala carte everyone in this maze of hands that profit gets. I know that cable is not perfect, but it is not nearly as full of glitches and problems with net based tv and that cable is a near perfect way to deliver video. Internet supplied tv is just dumb at least until we get a full infrastructure for 90% of the population and they get a lot of the bugs out of the whole mess of equipment (hard to ever do). I just don’t think we will ever have a viewer choice tv system. The few players run the show and the few others that can provide have to pay so much for content there is simply no competition. I would use my full size satellite but companies like dish and direct have done away with access to anyone without their full regular dish service. Once again, see how this works? A lot of people are addicted and/or simply used to our tv (most of it garbage) and we are going to have to pay for that as long as there are people that think they need to have multibillion dollar a year profits. And more to that also, for another forum. And be careful this site and many are mostly vehicles to promote this all. Gather info from many sources and then use your independent thinking to make choices Sorry for all of the bad news, but it is the truth.
I live on the border of NC/SC and the only cable /internet provider where i’m at is ATMC , they’re a monopoly and NEVER try to keep customers , if you say i’m canceling they say fine .
Every person that has tried to talk them down has had zero success , they don’t budge and just say take it or leave it . When a good alternative becomes available they will loose thousands , everybody hates them.
Try HULU (or others) depending on your wants. Had Direct TV and they said the same.Paying $120.00 a month, maybe a $20 credit for a month for 12 months. I have windstream in NC, so no static IP assigned. HULU gave me everything I wanted for $45.00 a month. I put up an OTA antenna with amp for local stations as roaming IP provided me with Greenville, SC local stations (windstream, not HULU). DIRECT TV keeps trying to get me back, but they provided the opportunity for me to move elsewhere and I am pleased I did. Much more content, no download streaming problems (and what minor problem I have is Windstream, not HULU), all for $900.00 a year less!
Is there a way to record a streaming app through Fire TV & Recast? I have a Watch TVG subscription and want to record it to watch later. I can’t figure out how to do this on my own so appreciate any tips you can give me. We are trying to cut the cord!
Excellent rundown wrt cord cutting. Any chance you have a graphic showing the different devices all in one working system? Bit overwhelmed with just the narrative. Thanks
No graphic right now, but great idea! You may want to peruse my cord cutting picks at the bottom for a condensed version of streaming devices. I’m mostly using Roku right now.
Trying to leave Spectrum (CT) how can I get live, local MLB/NFL/NHL games? I don’t see that Sports Network listed on Youtube or others. I know there’s a blackout with MLB–this one seems to be my biggest obstacle with cutting the cord. That, and the “delay” via Sling.
Hey BH, you might want to check out fuboTV. They have a decent lineup of locals and coverage for 80 percent of the regional sports networks out there.
You can read this if you like: https://cordcuttingreport.com/2019/02/26/fubotv-review/
The links to the cable & satellite industry investigations no longer work since McCaskill, unfortunately, didn’t win the election.
Thanks for the heads up on this. I have uploaded a copy of the report, so the link works again.
Great, thank you. Currently trying to see if my state will investigate Comcast as I’ve experienced many of the issues listed in that report and your website until I allowed my account to be cancelled in 2017 (I didn’t feel they’d let me so I just didn’t pay the bill anymore). They’re still trying to collect when in fact they owe me for the overbilling errors AND forcing a premium channel on me I never asked for or wanted (and they had the nerve to tell me I ordered it abt a decade ago).
Thank you for your website, it helped me greatly to understand what I was dealing with and how to cut the cord! Much appreciated!
There are many choices for free TV and each one may offer something just a little different. I cut off Direct TV after they went to about $120.00. I purchased a top of the line antenna and due to where I live, 35+ miles from transmitter, rolling hills and lots of trees with my house setting down a hill about a story below street level and trees all around, I had too much interference so had to also purchase antenna booster. Can get all local channels except in bad weather, then Fox does not come in. Purchased Hulu with live TV and can also get Fox through that. But beware, there are some internet providers that do not have static IP addresses unless you pay more for that. You are assigned “local” where their servers are located, not where your internet service is located. My provider wants $20.00 for a static IP, but since I can get all locals over the air, not need for that. HULU only buffers if there is another computer connecting to the internet and that is only for 5-10 seconds, so for me that has not been an issue. And it has all the sports I want as well as all the Fox cable channels. So for$40.00 a month instead of $120.00, i can live with a brief buffering now and then as well as local stations from south carolina. Still get the programming so who cares.
Wow, a whole lot of good information!
6 months ago I decided to try and replace my Dish Network service. I built a HTPC with plenty of power, storage, and have a pretty high speed internet service. I put up an outside antenna and get all the stations from about 60 miles away in the computer using a Hauppauge 4 tuner card. Then I started looking at program content providers including IPTV providers and several others such as Hulu and DirecTV Now. I was able to get Kodi and NextPVR loaded on the computer and had some success with OTA and the 2nd IPTV provider I tried. Then I had a problem with them. I decided I would go with DirecTV Now and actually got it working but not with Kodi. I think PlayOn will allow me to connect DTVN to Kodi but not sure how that will work.
The bottom line is why has someone not come up with a clean DVR software package that interfaces well with both OTA and the legit streamming providers such as DTVN? The Dish DVR is super and that’s the kind of product I want to emulate using the PC. Microsoft was close with their Windows Media Center but that’s no longer supported or upgraded.
Amazing. Was paying $115 a month to Direct TV and ask for a better price. They said they did not have one. I said I was going to consider cancelling and she said, “I will connect you with our concellation department” I said no, I needed to work out an alternative. So I bought an OTA outside antenna with an amp because we are on the fringe of receive local channels. Get 20+ local channels free. Then subscribed to HULU with live TV to get the sports and News channels along with ones like TNT. That cost $40.00 a month. Talked to Direct TV and they offered $55.00 for two years/ Said sorry, you had your chance. I am saving $70.00 a month and get more than with your $115.00 since Direct TV does not have the local subchannels like OTA. If enough people cancel and do not buy into the companies coolaide with special offers when they threaten to cancel, maybe they will lower the proce for everyone, not just new customers and unhappy customers.
Good stuff, Ron. Well done. I use my antenna more than anything else, but enjoy my streaming services too.
I ‘Cut the Cord’ a few months ago on National Cord Cutting Day (it was coincidence). YouTube TV through Chromecast for my older TV’s. Called and threatened to cancel the internet and phone from Comcast until I got hte Retention Specialist. Now I got the cheapest and fastest internet and phone and I’m still saving just over $100 a month. Sad thing is my wife already figured out how to spend those savings and then some…
Glad to hear about the savings. The key is to stay on the phone when you call. They won’t hang up on you, and they have to do something to please you.
I can survive solely on Netflix and Amazon prime video.
Are there any streaming services that have Animal Planet and WOW (Oprah’s channel).?
I called Direct TV about 4 months ago asking for a better deal. Bill at $115.00 a month and was told no better deal was available since a special $20.00 per month discount had just run out. I mentioned cancelling and rep said she would transfer me to the cancellation department. I said no thanks and hung up. They provided me the “opportunity” to find something better. Purchased high gain outside antenna and due to , ground terrain, distance of 35 miles from transmitters , many trees and 30 year old coaxial in house, had to add preamp for strong enough signal. Total about $200.00 for antenna and amp. Still a few freezes in bad weather, but nothing I cant live with. Then I tested Hulu with live TV with local channels. Would have to pay additional fee for static ISP to get local, but with outside antenna get those plus the subchannels. HULU works great and two receivers can be on at same time for $45.00 which includes taxes and othe minor government fees. What a good feeling telling Direct TV they provided the impetus and opportunity for me to find a way to save $70.00 a month and get everything I watch. All sports channels etc. And if you have static ISP, you might get local channels without antenna depending on location. I dont pay much for internet and static ISP was $20.00 additional a month. With OTA channels, no need for that cost. And I am tech illiterate, so someone knowing more might do better than I did.
Love your story Ron P. I laughed out loud when I got to where indirect tv gave you the impetus. It is too bad that there is so much evil greed in this world. Even beyond the outrageous satellite and cable costs that is why even with streaming services many of us have to pay for a load of channels we don’t need. We get about half an hour of content per hour, so even with all of the ad revenue they also charge us a ton to send their ads to us. I do not trust them to not run a lot of these costs up when they get us again stuck using their services. If it isn’t collusion it is in effect the same thing. Evil.
I live in the country and the only thing I can get is Hughes Net. I also have DIRECTV service. my bill is out of this world. I tried the fire stick but I had to up my Hughes net, and that was too expensive cause I had to buy more mgs. I need some help on getting rid of my DirectTV and Hughes net . I also have 4 TV’s. What do you suggest that I can do ? I don’t know nothing about this stuff but I do know that I’m paying way too much to watch tv !! I also have WIFI thru Hughes net. Can you help?
Hi Judy, it depends on where you live, as to the options available to you. To seek free options first put your zip into this site to see how many stations are within 60 miles of your location: https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html. There are about 18 towers within 60 miles of me. Each town broadcasts multiple channels depending on the network they are connected to. With my 18 towers, I get 68 channels. If you can get enough channels in your area, it may be worth investing in a very good rooftop digital antenna. I have a Clear2 which cost me about $60 bucks, but their are even better ones out there. Depending on where your towers are located, you may want a very strong multi-directional antenna. That’s going to be the best option for free OTA. I ran my antenna directly into where my cable connected to house, so all my lines in the house received the signal. I also purchased a $15 in-line signal booster. You can also find those on amazon or google them. Also, are you sure hughes net is only provider for your area? make sure you check every option to see an unlimited internet provider as unlimited internet and streaming device with Terrarium TV is ultimate cord cutter dream. What is your zip code? I’ll check any additional options for you.
That’s all helpful advice, Greg. But be aware that Terrarium TV operates in a legal grey area. So if a user gets into any kind of trouble for using it, they’re on your own. I wouldn’t recommend using them.
Help! I’m loosing my mind! I decided to cut the cord. I purchased a new smart tv as my HDMI ports did not work on my old flat screen. I purchased a Roku to stream Direct tv now. The screen on Hulu and Netflix is cropped sometimes vertically and sometimes horizontally. (TV Visio smart) won’t let me change the Aspect Ratio as my old tv did.
I can’t rewind or record with Directtv now. I can rewind with Netflix.
The new Visio smart tv does not have an input to receive Antenna tv. WTH? NBC does not stream live on Direct tv now. The main analog channel I watch. Now I have to buy a converter box at 40.00 dollars for local channels as another problem most are unaware of is data usage while streaming.
Also to hook up my DVD player I need another converter to switch from A/V to HDMI ports.
I missed a show last night and the only way to watch is to wait until it comes on again.
There is no comprehensive TV guide. Directtv now has a guide but it’s not specific as to what exactly is on, for instance I I wanted to watch Robert Plant on The Big Interview on Axs tv. I kept clicking on the guide to see what guest was being interviewed. I finally went to the Axs page on my iPad to find a guide.
Directtv now 39.99 Netflix 9.99 PBS 5.00 all in all for the extra 60.00 per month I’m ready to go back to cable.
Wow, thank you so much for this informative article. But to be honest I’m still so freakin confused. We have 5 TVs, so my first questions is do we have to pay for 5 Subsctiptions every month? My second questiton is, should I buy my own modem and router? I’m not exactly sure what each one does but would I still need to pay for an internet connection if I had them?
Hi Lisa,
Each live TV subscription has a limited number of streams per household. PlayStation Vue, for example, offers up to 5 streams on different devices; YouTube TV offers up to three streams at once. So the question might be for you: How often do you have all five TVs going at once. An outdoor antenna with a splitter can deliver free over-the-air channels to all your TVs with no limitations.
Buying a modem and a router is a decent investment that can save you money compared to renting them from your cable provider. Just remember: a modem is the first thing connected to your Internet line coming into the house. The modem connects to your router. The router transmits the signal throughout your house.
I would like to start cutting the cord. I am under a contract with Comcast and have a year to go. I have 5 TV’s connected at a rental of $10 each. I would like to find a way to return at least 4 of the boxes back in. What can you recommend that will still allow me to access the channel content that I am paying for? I do have a Amazon Fire box. Thanks for your help.
Our contract with Xfinity is not up for 2 more years…..any ideas on how to avoid a huge penalty for leaving early?????? Very good article and helpful ideas. Thank you.
What could I replace my rented modem/wireless tower combo with and still get high speeds for my son’s gaming computer?? Xfinity blast is costing me $100/ month with equipment rental. We don’t have tv or phone, just internet and generally have 1 tv streaming with computer gaming going on in another room and a couple tablets or phones. Its only 2 of us.
The cable modems that I mention in this guide should work fine for what you’re describing. If you are looking for an ISP, go to the top of the page and click on “Internet” in the menu. That will give you another guide with a few pointers. Good luck!
Dying to do this but our one concern is the ability to still see our local St. Louis sports….how can we make sure we’ll still get the Cardinal and Blues games?
You should investigate two things. Figure out what channel(s) broadcast your team games. If it’s the local FOX or NBC affiliate, then an antenna might solve that problem pretty quick. If you need a regional sports network, there are lots of live TV streaming platforms like fuboTV and DirecTV Now that carry those networks. Check out my how to watch MLB guide on the front page of the site.
Have you reviewed the new Amazon Fire TV Edition? Am considering buying one but am reluctant to shell out $449.00 without being able to actually see the set in a local showroom.
No, not yet. Be sure to keep checking out my review section. I’ll be trying out a lot of new hardware between now and the holidays.
Might want to add Youtube TV and Chromecast to the list. Newest entry but set to be a big player eventually.
Already listed at the bottom of Section 2 with link to full review of YouTube TV.
We watch MSNBC, CNN, Fox Sports Ohio, major networks and some TVG (horse racing). Also TCM and HBO and Showtime. Live near Louisville KY. Not most of the other “200 channels” on Spectrum. What would be my best bet? Have my internet thru them too, but could change. I own my modem and router.
To say PSvue is the best streaming option is to say you have not used any other streaming option. It may have been arguable before they lost the Viacom channels and before their price hike. But after both of those they rank 4th. Directions even without a cloud dave has the best channel selection closely followed by sling. Fubo and Hulu are as good or better than PSVue at this point. I started my cord cutting with PSvue and have used every option in case you were wondering how I came up with my ranking.
It’s true that PS Vue has lost some value since A) dropping Viacom channels, and B) issuing a price hike. Existing customers won’t get hit with the hike until Oct. 28. You lost me with “cloud dave”.
If you mean DirecTV Now, it’s a very solid service. I do like it a lot. And as stated above, it will be a big contender in 2017, especially if they start streaming in 4K as promised. I haven’t decided whether I’m sticking with PS Vue after my rate increases. I’m leaning toward switching to YouTube TV, but have another month to decide before my monthly rate increases.
Hey, it sounds like you’re so busy with all this nonsense that you don’t have time for a real job!!!….congratulations on that!!
I am really excited that I found this site. I am beginning our quest to cut the cord. First, I plan to make the indoor DIY antenna that was demonstrated in the video. Next, I will be calling Verizon to strong-arm them into a serious reduction. We currently pay close to $180 a month for Fios service (cable TV, phone and internet) we do not use DVR service and only have 2 TVs (one with an HD box and one with a standard box. I wish to keep only the phone and internet service. We have an Amazon Fire Stick and are looking to get the most out of it. Wish me luck… momma needs a new pair of shoes!!!
I followed this plan to the T this week. Cancelled Spectrum Phone, Internet and TV pkg running me $ 240/mo. Spectrum would not give me the $ 45/mo intro internet deal: $ 70….. so I cancelled everything, ordered Verizon FIOS next day and got 50/50 for $ 40/mo. VZ installer finished install of the FIber install at basement demarc, and ran an ethernet up to my preferred router location… he even gave me a 4-way splitter I used to connect my curve 30 HDTV antenna i installed in 2nd floor spare bedroom window, used the coax in that room as the antenna feed to the basement, hooked up the (4) essential TV’s and scanned for channels…worked, got 25 DTV channels, with good signal strength for the biggies, ABC NBC CBS FOX.
I then subscribed to Playstation VUE $ 55/mo with sports pkg , that I can connect natively with my Droid SONY smart TV, I connected that app to my apple 4 TV as well as a spare ROKU I had lying around that was never used. My grown kids can use the playstation vue account remotely while at college, and one child working in NC. I have $ 8 netflix, and $ 8 hulu so those totaling at home: $ 111/mo. vs. old spend of $ 240. I will get dinged with a $ 10/mo increase for FIOS interent month #13…
What was surprising: the over the air clarity of antenna stations, and big audio improvement as well.
What I lack: HBO, could add for $ 15 if I feel like it. MSG network: I have no way to watch my favorite team NY Rangers… I could add NHL center ice, but I know black out rules in hockey are a nightmare in my area: Syracuse NY with HOME team markets of Sabres, Rangers Isanders and Devils…..
It was a good feeling turning in all of the Spectrum equipment today, wish i had done it sooner, last months increase of $28 put me over the edge.
Yep, Spectrum would not deal with me either. so, I shut them down completely and went with ATT fiber giga-power. We had ATT phone service so we got a discount on the fiber network of $10, plus another 15% off for being retired military, and a $50 gift card to boot. No caps, forever price with guaranteed no price hikes, EVER for $59.00 per month.
Liverpool, congratz on the new found freedom. You are off to an excellent start. I live in TX and had spectrum triple play up until July 2016. I still have internet with them at a rate of $57 monthly tax included. I initially had the same setup as you with PSvue and Roku on 6 TVs as we have 4 kids and living room; also powered antenna on roof for all local content with over the air single line DVR to record CBS shows my spouse watches. AS of this monthly, I cut PSvue as well. Since last year, they lost several channels, added taxes and starting in September 2017, increased the rates. AS a result of this, I had to search deeper for better savings and cord cutting. Roku is proprietary and restricts many open source options available to cord cutters. I have now switched all TVs to Amazon Firestick, but not running kodi as many would say. Kodi is 2016, and the new available apps for cord cutters is Terrarium TV, and Mobdro. You can youtube both to see how they easily work. Find you a couple of teens in your area who can help you locate someone to assist you with this firestick project. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Great Advice!!! Which I followed to get 100MBPS for internet only service for $40/mo.
I started out at $98 with my current bill, including two $10/mo cable boxes for decoding even the basic cable (local channels), which I had cut back to in March from a $200 bill under a “promo” deal for staying with their “triple play”. I had also just bought a $19 HD TV antenna and can pick up all but 3 of the 60 channels in reach perfectly on my first pass. I bet I can get those 3 clear (one is ABC) if I work at location/angle. Also took out a PlayStation Vue free week trial offer, and it works fine on my smart Sony Android TV (have to upgrade my dumb one which has Apple Gen 3 – probably will do your recommended Amazon FireTV).
So yesterday when I started out by saying I no longer wanted any TV or phone, they said they had done their best in March and could only give me internet only for $75 – a very minor $3 savings since the boxes were coming off anyway. I said I was canceling to go with Frontier DSL (24 MBPS) for internet only at $35/mo for 2 year guarantee (no contract). (I had already lined that up subject to a confirming call the following day “after I talked with my wife.”)
That is when the fun began.
The “retention desk” at Optimum kept going successively lower. First $62, then after a long hold while they were “processing my cancellation”, came back with $45 for a year at 60 MBPS – down from the 100 MBPS package they had in their standard package. I said they had to get to $40 for a year or $45 for 2 years or I was gone, but they could cut me to 50 MBPS or “even lower” – that the DSL speed was fine for my needs. We ended at an impasse and I said cancel me. It was like the guy got huffy and hung up on me.
How long did I have to wait for the “save” call to come in? Turned out about an hour! And then I got to my $40 for 100 MBPS for the front end cost of a $30 modem purchase. That was down from the initial offer of $50 which I refused…provided I buy my own modem and avoid a $10 rental fee.
I bought your recommended budget Motorola/Arris SB6141 certified/refurbished surfboard modem for $30 off Amazon. 8 channels are plenty for me. I have to take the 2 cable boxes back anyway so their modem goes along for the ride. I wanted to offer to buy their modem off them for $30 but they wouldn’t have accepted that for sure…and I bet my modem return gets trashed.
Will have to repeat this next year when the “promo” runs out. Thanks for educating me so well.
There are plenty of good ideas to think outside the box and stop letting the (cable companies mostly) rip you off. But for many of us that just need some kind of basic content, be it network, movies, sports or some kind of combination and not pay an arm and a leg it is still hard.
I hate to be a downer but I think I see some things coming that are a continuation of manipulation of the content consumers (us) get, with how we can view and how we will still have what we pay maximized over us. I think that the content providers are likely going to give us a complete on demand service so we won’t have to mess with a dvr system. But guess what, that then gives the providers full control over what exactly is provided. What I mean is they are going to make sure we cannot move to where we want timewise in a program easily and we certainly can only avoid some of the commercials if any of them. The content providers are going to make sure any deal they make requires this kind of thing and allows for no in house dvr systems. I have to watch some programming on the nbc sports site (on demand) and it is an eyeopener as to how awful and controlled that viewing experience is.
So what have we gotten in the end, is the same, no ala carte and possibly no way to even dvr on our own to have some control there. And now not only similar cost for the packages we need to have adequate internet service when we may not normally need that at all. Some only use their limited cell service and they will not be able to get by with that at all, they now have to have some kind of decent speed and data plan. $$ anyone?
Same as when they came in with cable in the 70’s, they told us we would now pay for tv, but there would be no or limited commercials. That lasted a very short time until we were paying and getting more than ever commercials. The standard is over 20 minutes of each hour, used to be 12. I don’t know what the answer is but how many billions do some need to amass on the backs of average and well manipulated people?
Well we did it. Cut the cable. Installed a Clearstream 2V Antenna HD antenna on the roof, side of chimney, The antenna hooked into the old Time warner box so it goes to all 8 rooms where there is a cable outlet. Ended up with about 40 Digital HD stations, some duplicates I will need to delete. Picture as good as if not better than Time Warner / Spectrum. Turns out our neighborhood is in a good spot for over the air tv reception. We are using Playstation Vue, (nothing to do with playstation games) as an online streaming app for all the same channels we had with time warner, such as AMC, TNT, SyFy, HBO, etc. along with Netflix and Amazon Prime. We have more channels now that we had with TWC at over $150 per month less what TWC was charging us. Playstation Vue app has a built in cloud recorder with unlimited use for recording to the cloud, your favorite shows, and fast forward, etc. We did purchase a Tivo Roamio OTA to record the channels off the antenna. So we can save our favorites and skip through commercials. Okay, it gave us one more remote to deal with because we now just switch between Live tv and internet tv. But for a savings of $150 mo, I can live with it.
Congrats on making the leap and saving all that cash. Appreciate you sharing your experience with readers.
Update: Been using PSVue for a couple months now. Overall just okay. TV guide / listing is below par and very hard to navigate but my biggest irritation is trying to use my phone or tablet while traveling. The constant re-entering of passwords and 2nd phone text verification is overwhelming. They also use one of the picture verification codes that is such a pain that I am now considering switching to something else. Also, you need to make sure you sign on with your portable device prior to leaving home, if you don’t you will NOT be able to watch anything on it as it must first “sync” to your home account before you can use is away from home. It is a nightmare constantly signing into the service when you are not at home.
I was pissed over that stupid robot test garbage. I complained several times and they have made it a lot better, but maybe not for everybody? I used to use the signs test, I don’t know really why, but I have found the cars panels work well. Hit the left bottom button until you get to cars, Usually just need a few clicks for that to work. I used to have lots of fun when my ISP kept changing my IP address and had to call maybe several times a week to have my Vue location reset. I understand their need to make sure people aren’t using this when it is not allowed but they need to make the access better for customers.
My question on “cutting the cord” is how do I do this when I have 4 tv’s in my house? I understand that I might have to purchase 4 wireless antenna’s, and that’s no big deal as I know I can get a good one for about $40, so that’s $160 total. Can 1 antenna be purchased and connect it to my wireless router to work for all 4 tv’s? And what if I purchase Playstation Vue, how do I or can I make that work for 4 tv’s? And what about purchasing a dvr to record 4-5 shows at once, is this possible?
Hello Greg,
Here are a few suggestions that might help you. My father-in-law is going through the same thing right now (with 5 TVs). I just got off the phone with him this morning. So I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him.
He’s considering a PlayStation Vue subscription and using an antenna to get some local over-the-air (OTA) channels.
Instead of rushing out and buying a bunch of equipment, focus on the one TV in your home that you watch the most. Pick one streaming device. It can be a Fire TV, or Roku or something else that you might think fits your needs. Take advantage of a free trial for PlayStation Vue (or similar service) before you cancel your cable.
Go to a site like AntennaWeb, and figure out where to locate your antenna for that one TV.
Over the next couple of days, take note of what you like and don’t like. You might try one streaming device, say a Roku, and suddenly decide that a Fire TV is better because you stream a bunch of shows from Amazon Video. You might (like me) want a couple different streaming devices for the features they offer.
You will realize how to put together your overall setup a lot better once you nail down what your exact needs are.
As far as an antenna goes, I don’t know the layout of your house. But you may want to consider buying a single outdoor antenna, and using a splitter so you can connect more than one TV to it in your home. It will save you some cash. Wire is pretty cheap these days.
A PlayStation Vue subscription has a Cloud DVR feature. OTA channels can be recorded a number of ways now. A TiVo OTA DVR is a decent product, but there are other options too. Don’t forget that the antenna guide and reviews section is in the menu above for further guidance.
Hope that helps.
I’ve been following this cord-cutting trend for a while and have read many articles. This is the best, clearest how-to I’ve read. Our DIRECTTV contract is up in April, and we will probably cut the cord. We’re tired of playing the promotion game with Cox, Dish, Direct TV. But the real issue is the internet promotion game with Cox and Centurylink here in Phoenix. The thing is, my 6 and 7 year old already find the shows they want on Hulu and Netflix (one paid and one trial account). So I figure we can get broadcast via OTR, record to Tivo OTR (my wife and I had Tivo years ago and loved it) and stream the popular services through it. I’ve also invested in AppleTV devices for a few years (this is an Apple ecosystem household) and that service is getting better and better (competes with Roku and Sling, to a lesser degree) at having channels available via Apps. Great article!
Thank you, Andy! You’re right about the Internet promotion game. It’s the key thing to hone in on when you’re cutting cable. Once you have that nailed down, the rest is pretty easy.
Effective July 2017 Playstation Vue basic slim package has increased to $39.99 plus tax. This is no longer the favored option.
If playstation vue, direct now, hulu, etc are only giving you 720p why would i want to go and buy a new 4k tv? Wont my picture quality on the 4k tv be less than optimal with these streaming services?
Ken, Keep in mind that the live streaming services you mentioned aren’t the only game in town. Netflix, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies and other services all offer 4K content.
I plan on moving into a new place of my own for my daughter and I. Money will be tight and cable is so expensive. We both watch cable tv and internet is a necessity. I’ve been researching and have read articles such as yours for the best option. I’ll have 3 rooms with tv’s. I’m considering Sling and adding an antenna. But I’m so confused on how to get best price for internet, what type of tv to buy, and what streaming device to use.
I am now paying a total of $184/month to Spectrum for my 3 in1 package! I am a 67 year old woman. I really need to lower my expenses for all three services. This is the best most detailed article I have found. But I still don’t know where to begin. I need is to know what steps to take. Is it possible to talk to you so you can walk me through. Thank you.
Trish, by no means I’m an expert of the subject but I just learned how to do it and cut my cable, I was just like you, didn’t know where to start. For two months I read and did tons of research on the subject. I found THIS website was the best one, easy to understand and follow. Reading it completely and then reading it again and again until you feel you know what they are talking about.
Begin by finding out the expiration date of your contract with Spectrum, if you cancel before they will slap with you a nasty penalty charge.
Then find service provider for Internet only, make sure you get high quality/speeds, download and upload. You can install Speedtest.net in you PC to check the speed so you know you are getting what you are paying for. Spectrum charges $45/month, but I found out they do not include Wi-Fi which you need for your TV, that will cost an extra $5/month. I kept Frontier, my provider (it was Verizon before they sold) so it was easy to cancel phone & TV, no need to change equipment, just returned the TV boxes.
Figure out what are the actual channels & programs you usually watch. I like actual “news” when things are happening, not a couple hours or day later.
I tested a number of indoor antennas, my community doesn’t allow outdoor antennas. I get all the OTA channels, perfectly clear, ABC, CBS & NBC plus others. You will need a “streaming device” like Roku (which has a lot of free channels & content) or Fire Stick. and eventually if you want, you can subscribe to the numerous services available, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, etc. They are all different prices and have some offers to try for free .
If you have to have a home phone, try Vonage, they used to have a $10/month subscription for seniors, we used them for many years until we moved to a new community and found out that we could only get the “Bundle” – 3 in 1 package!
Hope this helps, other people help me, so I felt compelled to help others.
Per your suggestion I have purchased the Roku Streaming Stick, gone thru the installation process, adding some of the free channels, etc. pretty much easy stuff and all working great until I decided to remove the stick from one TV to insert it in another TV. The Stick was VERY HOT! is that normal? I like the stick because of portability, I can take it from the living room TV to the bedroom TV without much hassle, but seems like getting hot is not safe. After a while watching the Pluto channel and going into a couple of commercials when the program re-started, there was NO sound! have to go back to main screen to start Pluto over again. This continue to happen all the time, evening/night as well as during the day. Then another issue started, a screen will come up saying “the USB port didn’t have enough power to run the Roku and needed to be connected to another power source” – I then connected it to the wall, haven’t had this issue anymore. I started running tests, turning on the TV and checking the Stick and it would normally take only about 1/2 hour to start getting hot, after one hour I would need a towel to be able to remove it. Anyone had this problem? Help!!
Maria. As a roku stick user I have some info to help. First Pluto channel just does that, go back to the guide and re-pick it. Second roku sticks get hot. My suggestion is to get a roku stick for both TV’s to prevent burns.
Thank you Stephen! I actually contacted Roku via ‘chat’, the associate recommended to send it back for a replacement, stating that there was something wrong with it, yes it would get hot but not at the very high temp as to not been able to touch it. That exchange would take a week or more, so I decided to just return it to the store I purchased it from just a few days ago.
In turn I went ahead and purchased a Premier+ instead, just a bit more money but problem solved! Thanks again.
Great article, thanks for all the food for thought! We originally got a great deal from Comcast, the triple play: $99/mo (plus taxes) for the first 2 years, for cable, land line and internet. But now the bill has crept up to around $175/mo. Getting ready to cut the cord, but we have two dilemmas: 1) we didn’t buy a Smart TV so because of some goofy issue with my laptop, I have to reboot it after connecting it to the TV in order to watch anything. A pain in the butt. Have searched extensively and not found a workaround. Are these fire sticks USB devices that would cut out the laptop connection entirely? And 2) we are middle agers with the same land line for 25 years, and it’s like a member of the family… lol. We’re afraid to let it go! It’s been part of our identity for so long, literally (for ID purposes with accounts and such) and figuratively speaking. But I think we’re going to rip the band aid off soon. About all we watch on our 700+ channel Comcast package consistently is Law and Order and Frasier reruns, and the occasional movie. Otherwise it’s just pointless channel flipping.
I am willing to bet that you can get plenty of Law & Order episodes free for life with a decent antenna. Streaming sticks like the Fire TV and Roku are HDMI devices. You can easily move your landline number to a cell phone or an Internet-based service (VoIP) like Vonage as well. Good luck!
I would suggest moving your landline to Vonage. I’ve been with them for more than 10 years….and I love it. They have lots of perks and its all for under $40. It even has it that if you miss a call at home it will go straight to your cell phone. Good luck.
My search for competition to Comcast, fios, and Verizon has been unsuccessful. Where do I go to find reliable alternatives?
Look no further than here: https://cordcuttingreport.com/compare-internet-service-providers/
Help! I am in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, PA and desperate to leave Comcast for a WiFi only service that will allow me to use google phone and stream movies and TV. I am a senior on a fixed income and am being priced out by the major providers.
So question…. my tv has 2 inputs on the back that look like cable connections. One is an ATSC input, and the other is a QAM (cable) input. I want my PIP to work, but I cannot receive any DTV signal by connecting my DTV antenna to the QAM and ATSC inputs. I get the channels on the ATSC, but not the QAM input, so PIP will not work. How do I get my TV to now allow me to continue using PIP, now that I’ve cut cable and only have an ATSC digital antenna? Any ideas on equipment to buy or adjustments I need to make?
Hi Dana,
This is a little hard to answer because I don’t know the make and model of your TV. That said, your antenna should be plugged in to your ATSC input, and you will need to scan for channels once the antenna is plugged in. Your QAM input is not for your antenna. It’s for a cable hookup. If you have a quality TV, I imagine the picture-in-picture should work with OTA channels unless your tuner has some kind of restriction.
I have a samsung FPT5084x/xaa. It has just an NTSC/ATSC input (antenna), and a Clear QAM (cable) input. My tv requires the PIP to only work PIP if it’s coming from 2 different sources. So PIP will not work by pulling 1st and 2nd from the same source. They have to be different sources. ? This means my tv’s PIP will not function unless you or someone else knows of some type of equip that you can hook up to the Clear QAM input to allow it to receive ATSC signals (decoder/transponder?)? I have no intent of having cable any longer. Thanks.
Hi Dana,
At the moment, I don’t know of a solution to that issue. If I run across something, I will zip it your way. Let me know if you solve this.
You could try using a splitter and sending one in the NTSC port, then sending the other to a converter box which does NTSC coax to HDMI conversion for you. Just google “ntsc coax to hdmi”, I found one for $80.
Hi, I am definitely cutting the cord in two months when my dish network contract is over. AND NEVER EVER COMING BACK. However, @ljwerz be aware of Comcast! Worst service ever! I fell for the $19.99 a month and it has been barely a month since I started with them and already regretting it and even considering about going back to at&t
Comcast /Xfinity is really a nightmare.
WE have cut the cord and have oTA antennae in attic. We can get all the same channels except for ABC. It does not come in at all in that room. We know it’s not the tuner because we moved it from our living room in which we were able to see ABC. Any thoughts?
Hi Tammy, Check out my suggestions outlined in the antenna guide.
https://cordcuttingreport.com/homemade-antenna-vs-bought/
If you follow the steps there, you might just need to make a few minor adjustments to your setup.
We are in the market for a new TV. Also, DirecTV has again upped our rates to nearly $120 monthly, so we are looking for ways to “cut the cord”!
What advice can you give to pick the right TV in order to facilitate the best set up?
Hi Larry,
Choosing a TV is a big decision, and one that should be based on your specific needs. Most TVs on the market today are smart TVs and have software geared toward streaming Netflix and other platforms. There is a school of thought that it’s actually better to not have a smart TV because eventually the software updates stop rolling out. So long as you have enough HDMI ports on your set, you can use any popular streaming device like a Roku or Amazon Fire TV.
You should make sure your TV comes with a good old fashioned tuner so that you can connect an antenna for OTA channels. Believe it or not, there are manufacturers that stopped including traditional tuners in their sets.
Having said all that, if I were to buy a TV today, I might consider either the new Amazon Fire TV edition made by Element that just hit the market. You will essentially get a 4K TV with the latest streaming software from Amazon Fire TV baked in your TV set. Fire TV is becoming a lot more neutral in terms of supported platforms and apps, but it’s best suited for people who use Amazon Prime. Also, the new line of TCL Roku TVs with 4K HDR look interesting to me for similar reasons. I haven’t tested out either of those TVs so I can’t recommend one over the other. But it’s food for thought. Hope that helps.
What about comcast internet and using Kodi?
If Comcast is giving you a good price for Internet at the moment, then go for it. But be aware that your rate will change after their promotion ends.
As for Kodi, it can be useful if your are using something like HDHomeRun, or PLEX. But I think if you’re just starting out with streaming, you should try a Roku or Fire TV device. They both have easier interfaces for platforms like Netflix or Amazon Video. They also have apps for live TV streaming services like PlayStation Vue or Sling TV if you want a bundle of cable channels. Good luck!
Great article. I’m just starting to look into cutting the cord and this was most helpful. I just ordered an Arris 6183 and Netgear R6400 in preparation for switching from Centurylink DSL (1.3Mbps max in our area) to Suddenlink (200 Mbps) as our current DSL modem/WI-FI router belongs to Centurylink. I’m leaning toward Sony Playstation Vue and noticed that you preferred the Amazon Fire TV streaming device for this. I was wondering what makes it better for Vue? Thanks
Hi Maike, I think my review on the Fire TV will best answer your question. It’s here: https://goo.gl/OrkDV0
I hope that helps you.
Perfect. Thanks. One sentence kind of jumped out at me “And, while the Wi-Fi performance is impressive, having an Ethernet connection is crucial for a near flawless live TV feed over the web”.
We don’t have any wired connections in our house only wi-fi. How big a problem Is this going to be when trying to stream live TV, such as Sony Vue?
You can certainly go WiFi with the modem and router you just bought and get a decent picture without lag. I’ve done it while testing out the Fire TV in a number of scenarios using Vue. But I prefer to use Ethernet because it greatly lessens the chance of running into lag. My router is close to my Fire TV box so connecting them with an inexpensive Ethernet cable makes sense.
Thanks again. That reassures me a little. I guess, worse case, I can always run some ethernet cable, although our house layout will make this a bit fo a challenge 🙂
If you can’t or don’t want to run ethernet cables, and you’re having lag or pauses trying to watch a FireTV box via wifi, check out getting a set of powerline adapters. You’ll plug one in at your router and another at your tv, and then use ethernet cables to connect them to your router at one end and your firetv at the other.
Great article ! I live just south of Pittsburgh and am thinking of cutting the cord with Comcast. I have a question since I did not see it specified in your article. Over the weekend I saw PS Vue streamed at my daughter’s house in Sacramento but I did not like the video quality. I believe they streamed it through an iPad. One of the things with my X1 Infinity box is the high definition crisp picture. Can you specify if Sling or PS Vue can deliver such crisp 1080 definition if streamed through a Rocky Ultra or an Amazon Fire box? Thanks
Roku not rocky
Hi Brian, Thanks!
PlayStation Vue streams with 720p resolution. I use an Amazon Fire TV, but with an Ethernet connection to get a nice picture. Right now, if you look at PS Vue, Sling TV and DirecTV Now and fuboTV, they all stream at about the same quality. I can tell you that when I have family or friends over, they think the TV is showing cable. (I don’t have a 4K TV.) Check out a video of my TV streaming PS Vue on Amazon Fire TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RabL1GGhA6Y
I hope that helps.
My plan is to use sling and alternate between Amazon Prime and Netflix for certain things. I don’t need them all year. Amazon Prime will be a month around xmas, and then 6 months later. Then 1 month for Netflix to catch things I want to watch there in between. No need for a full year. I may use sling. Depends on what all channels and shows I can find there. I have never had much luck cutting a deal with comcast though, and I will still be dependent on them for internet.
you don’t have be dependent om cable company for internet with mi-fi.
I don’t know about that with the resolution and picture. I only have experience with Vue and Sling. I have been using Vue for about a year and a half. I don’t know what it streams at but it has always been a very good picture for me using my firestick. Even when my net goes down to 6m, but lower will bring on some stutters. Sling on the firestick or browser was definitely lower quality. Fuzzy for smaller items and hair looks like dark blobs. Much harder to make out say race car #’s. Still decent, but I need better for a lot of what I do. With Vue the problem I have is tons of goofy glitches and molasses operation with the firestick. I understand other devices like the fire box work better. Using either firefox or chrome has lots of player crashes and some stuttering that I am trying to fix on my pc. May be my setup but I am suspicious with the fact that all other streaming is fine. I know the firestick worked much quicker and better with Sling and any other content provider. So I believe that Vue’s setup is not working well with the firestick or with browsers. They are using adobe flash, the one that has always had these kind of problems and is dying a slow death as everyone moves away. They need to ditch that. I wish I could get YouTube TV to try that, but I am afraid that all of these services are going to end up finding a way to insert commercials that there is no way to get around. So we pay and still are forced into lots of loud obnoxious rude commercials. I really wish that cable would bring their prices in line and let me keep my real dvr. Near perfection with a wired connection and no need for extra speedier expensive net service and all of the glitches with that. At this point video and even phones are much better wired. Need lots of work to ever get that all working reliably.
I am just now starting my research on cord cutting. It’s very overwhelming. I pay AT&T over $200/month for channels I don’t need and internet. My question is, I have 5 tvs that, at any one time, 3 are being watched. If I went with Sling or something similar, would I need a device, i.e., Amazon Fire TV for each?
Enjoyed the article!
I started with playstation vue and then they started increasing price and removing stations. I’m currently using nvidia shield on main tv and amazon firestick on others running Nextflix, Pluto TV, Terrarium TV and Mobdro. I only reoccurring cost is Internet.
Not necessarily. You should first check to see how many Smart TVs are in your home. Some of them might already have built-in streaming features for platforms like Sling TV, Netflix, etc.
If you do need to buy multiple devices, I advise not buying them all at once. Try out one — whether it’s Fire TV or Roku — and go from there. Hope that helps!
PS Vue has jacked the price to $45/month for Core, and even with Core I’m missing live ABC and CBS.
I use FireTV boxes and PS4’s for watching so Vue made sense, but I really miss having ABC and CBS.
Looking now in to Hulu Live vs DirecTV Now versus YoutubeTV. It looks like YoutubeTV would give me all 4 live networks ABC CBS FOX NBC but Google doesn’t offer a app for FireTV or PS4.
Pvue has went from $30 on the basic to $40 as there is no longer that package. I thought that meant all of the locals or at least two would be upcoming. Only one so far FOX. I have been given a grace period on the increase for now and maybe that is partly because I still have only one network. Otherwise I have been beset with regular glitches, problems including messed up dvr recordings, etc, etc. The list it long. I still cannot get smooth play using the browser app. Just last night an amazon update was required for my firestick and that along with phone calls, Pvue reset etc had me out of tv for one full hour. I sit down to watch some tv and this is what I get for an evening? I don’t know why but I am delaying going to a YouTubeTV trial because PVue is still $30. I think I am going to do the trial though because the aggravation is worth more than $5 difference if YouTubeTv is ok.
I still maintain that net tv is simply not ready. Sling was better service but it was a little too low of resolution for me and it is too expensive. So speaking as to Vue this is all still beta and we are the guinea pigs paying for their experiments. Must be nice to be able to do that, make money while experiment on your subscribers. Things like netflix, hulu with set content seems to work fine but this Vue operation is fly by night.
Thank you for clarifying! Your responses are very helpful!
Hi helpful55.
I agree with you that “net tv is simply not ready”. We’re still in relatively new stages of how these all shake out. NOTHING out there now can match the simplicity we’re accustomed to with dedicated cable boxes and one interface for all our TV watching. We all have our gripes about the various interfaces offered by Comcast, FIOS, Charter, who have you, but in the end for the “average user” even with their downsides they are “better” than the myriad of interfaces you have to deal with combining the likes of Amazon Video with Netflix with (Hulu/YouTube/DirecTV/etc), alongside the convenience of a single remote with consistent buttons. I do think a LOT of people WANT to switch to streaming-only TV, they try it out before they “cut the cord” and don’t like the inconsistency, or they try it after “cutting the cord” and end up going back. Like for me, I already cut the cord and went with PS Vue, but like I said it’s missing half the live TV I want to watch, so now on my FireTV boxes or my PS4’s I have to use some other app (with totally different controls, user interface, etc.) to get those other channels, then I hop over to Amazon Video or Netflix to watch a movie and that’s all different too. Then if my kid wants to watch something, he’s got to hop between 3 or 4 or 5 different “apps” to find something of interest.
I have started cutting the cord by adding antenna outside that is bringing in 34 channels. I use netflicks, hulu and fire tv. All 4 tvs using different devices. Dish reduce my bill and I keep 200 channels as I have no contract for 77.00 a month with one joey. looking forward to learn more from your website to get more value from the services I use.
You’re lucky. I live out where God lost his shoes so I can only get 3 stations and 2 of them are Hispanic with an antenna so I am sort of stuck. I am going to cut the cord by going with Roku.
Check HULU with live local channels. Might be an alternative. Just make sure you have static ISP to get locals.
I started with DTVN last year and got so frustrated with the constant buffering / or just stopping for no reason…Spare me the comments on wireless.. I am wired directly. Final insult was that I couldn’t get but 2 of the local channels CBS and NBC.. Fox and ABC the locals don’t stream to DTVN..
This month Finally switched to youtube tv…TV saver! All locals, a better picture and no buffering. Plus unlimited recording ability And 30.$$$ cheaper a month.