So, we have Xfinity right now and my contract was up back in April. That means my bill jumped up almost $90/month for cable and internet. AT&T is my only other choice for service provider, but their download maxes out at 25mb locally. Xfinity is higher obviously, but I'm more curious about options for ditching cable. I am curious about some of the legit options such as Sling, YouTube TV, Hulu Live, and the like. Anyone have any luck with these and whether or not the savings are worth it?
Legitimately Cutting the Cord
- Thread starter Unpossible_1
- Start date
irratebass
www.blindmanspuff.com
I 2nd this Doug
We currently stream and use an antennae for local broadcast. Some of my thoughts having dropped directv more than a year ago.
Streaming boxes/sticks
Streaming boxes/sticks
- We have a combination of Roku and FireTVs around the house...both boxes and sticks...I don't see any practical differences in performance, but the fireTVs have better user interfaces, in general.
- If you keep an eye on sling's web site, they frequently give away roku sticks with their 14 day free trial. It's legit. That's how I got two of ours. Just cancel on the 14th day...the stick is yours. No questions asked.
- Most streaming services are the same as any other, just pick the one that provides the programming and features you like
- We settled with Playstation Vue streaming service - they have a cloud DVR...I'm not aware of any other streaming service having that feature
- We also have Amazon prime. We pretty much can watch anything we want.
- We have mediacon as an internet provider as they are the only reasonable option where we live
- If you're gonna stream, be conscious of data caps
- Don't discount simple broadcast as an option...I installed an arial and we get something like 24 legit channels in the Des Moines market. You'll get tons more in larger markets. There is a lot to watch on broadcast. Quest is my newest favorite station. They play a lot of older shows from History channel.
- I installed Plex on my computer, which has DVR capability to record broadcast TV. Install Plex on your streaming boxes and you're good to watch over the air recordings any time.
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@jasonbeer summed it up pretty well. I ditched the cable subscription about two and a half years ago, and I’m still extremely happy with the decision.
I have Fios Gigabit Internet, Netflix, Hulu with Showtime and HBO, Sling, Amazon Prime and an antenna. My only complaint with Sling (and I think it’s common among all live streaming options) is that there can be a slight delay. Most things I’m watching are not live this isn’t a huge deal, and come football season, I’m using the antenna for the games.
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I have Fios Gigabit Internet, Netflix, Hulu with Showtime and HBO, Sling, Amazon Prime and an antenna. My only complaint with Sling (and I think it’s common among all live streaming options) is that there can be a slight delay. Most things I’m watching are not live this isn’t a huge deal, and come football season, I’m using the antenna for the games.
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I've got an AppleTV that runs Amazon Video (free with my Prime Subscription), Netflix (splitting with a friend $6 a month) and DirectTV Now ($10 a month with my ATT wireless discount). DirectTV Now give me local and cable channels with DVR and includes HBO; Netflix and Amazon gives me my movie content.
All in I'm paying $46 a month for 100Mbps service from Spectrum and my various streaming service. This is down from $156 a month for TV/DVR and internet from Spectrum.
Good luck!
All in I'm paying $46 a month for 100Mbps service from Spectrum and my various streaming service. This is down from $156 a month for TV/DVR and internet from Spectrum.
Good luck!
So here's where I am :
At this point all of the streaming providers have cloud DVR services basically (at least the big ones). So it's figuring out what you want and need available. Could I get local channels with my DirecTVNOW service by using an antenna? Sure can but its less convenient for the wife. So right now I'm holding out on Youtube rounding out their offering and I'll all in on them and drop the DirecTVNOW.
For the moment I have standard DirecTV service and DTVNOW (the DTVNOW was just to test it out - i've kept it since). I'm looking forward to dropping DTV - just can't yet.
- Plex for movies / some TV
- DirecTV Now (DTV's streaming service) - this is a necessity for us because of the channels my wife likes to watch. Along with the other providers out there they have a cloud DVR option but no local channels
At this point all of the streaming providers have cloud DVR services basically (at least the big ones). So it's figuring out what you want and need available. Could I get local channels with my DirecTVNOW service by using an antenna? Sure can but its less convenient for the wife. So right now I'm holding out on Youtube rounding out their offering and I'll all in on them and drop the DirecTVNOW.
For the moment I have standard DirecTV service and DTVNOW (the DTVNOW was just to test it out - i've kept it since). I'm looking forward to dropping DTV - just can't yet.
Any update on this stuff. I am so over att and directv. My dtv bill keeps going up and they keep jacking me around. Our service went to shit after the att buyout.
Also, our internet options here are att (which we have and its slow as hell and 60 bucks a month) or go to mediacom (which we had with cable and never had an issue with, just customer service issues, can get 100mbps for 80) .
Thinking about ditching dtv and att for the faster internet and a sling subscription. Would save 25 a month and get better internet. Just have to get roku sticks.
Also, our internet options here are att (which we have and its slow as hell and 60 bucks a month) or go to mediacom (which we had with cable and never had an issue with, just customer service issues, can get 100mbps for 80) .
Thinking about ditching dtv and att for the faster internet and a sling subscription. Would save 25 a month and get better internet. Just have to get roku sticks.
I really like our Xfinity, but really hate what I'm paying these days. Just paid my bill and it's $190 after taxes and fees for cable and internet. Just ridiculous.
OleVaSmoker
Leafman
Just net here with Xfinity.
We stream shows we want too watch.
Just under $100 a month for 250mbps.
With 4 kids still loving at home and all the gaming and streaming it works well for us.
We stream shows we want too watch.
Just under $100 a month for 250mbps.
With 4 kids still loving at home and all the gaming and streaming it works well for us.
So you never went through with it? After talking it over with my wife, i think we are going through with this.
I didn't because after adding up the cost of everything, it wasn't that much savings at the time. I'm still considering revisiting some of the other options like YouTube Live or Hulu's full package. Wife really likes having cable and the options it offers though, so who knows lol
1.) Cancel Xfinity.
2.) Buy your own modem and router if you haven’t already.
3.) Have the ol lady start up Xfinity service in her name only for promotional internet pricing - $40’ish a month.
4.) Buy an Apple TV or NVIDIA Shield (I own both, I recommend the NVIDIA even though I have mostly Apple stuff).
5.) Hulu and Amazon Prime, download apps for any channels of stuff you wanna was on TV, get your news from the internet and wave goodbye to sporting events on TV.
This is essentially what I do, I spend around $55 a month, all in. If you have Amazon Prime, you get media there as well.
2.) Buy your own modem and router if you haven’t already.
3.) Have the ol lady start up Xfinity service in her name only for promotional internet pricing - $40’ish a month.
4.) Buy an Apple TV or NVIDIA Shield (I own both, I recommend the NVIDIA even though I have mostly Apple stuff).
5.) Hulu and Amazon Prime, download apps for any channels of stuff you wanna was on TV, get your news from the internet and wave goodbye to sporting events on TV.
This is essentially what I do, I spend around $55 a month, all in. If you have Amazon Prime, you get media there as well.
This is exactly what my wife and I have at our house now. Except we have optimum’s modem and router setup for now and minus the apple TV.
The one thing that really sucked for me was losing my sports. Especially hockey. And I refuse to pay the NHL’s obsurd amount per month for hockey games. I can stream the NY Islanders on my laptop though. If MSG networks ever gets their shit together, I can stream the games on chromecast. But that’s probably not happening anytime soon.
Aside from my sports, I’m happy with what we have now and I’m just keeping up with everything else via news apps and the good ole interwebs.
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Part of the reason we are gonna go with sling. We will get 3 espn channels, i currently get none. So when i want to watch sports now, i am limited to if its on regular network tv.
Only thing holding us up now is getting the new internet.
Ditch your DTV sat and use their streaming service Direct Tv Now.
I think she may be on their Black List lol....long story, they dicked her over back when it was still called Comcast. I may see about that though, because the non promo pricing keeps going up lol.
I don't know if we could give up sports though, she loves college football and I love NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and NCAA lmao.