Finally cut the Comcrap TV cord

[MadScientist]

Every year in January Comcrap would raise our bill, broadcast TV fee, regional sports fee, 3 cable boxes rental fee, etc, etc. Enough. Unfortinately they are the only cable company available where we live, unless I go satellite, Nope.
On BF last year I was able to purchase this antenna from Home Depot (with a 10% off military discount) for $50. It came with an amplifier and I picked up 2 more amps cheap on eBay. We have 3 TVs. This antenna can be mounted indoor or out. I placed it in the attic above the garage on a piece of plywood, and used a 3-way coax cable splitter for the TVs. We live ~25 miles from the TV transmitters in Knoxville. There's an app called RCA Signal Finder that acts like a compass and points you in the direction to aim your antenna. We are getting a crap load of stations, some garbage. All the network stations are in HD, no pixelation even in bad weather, with DD sound. We still have Comcrap's internet service, 200 Mbps down (~238 Ookla test), for $52./month. Just an ok price, but much lower than we were paying before.


RCA Signal Finder app

Antop amp kit, using USB cable TV connections to power them.

1 cable in for internet. I added a grounding block. My neighbor's house got hit by lightning last year on the side closest to ours. It took out a large chunk of his siding and almost everything electronic, TVs, computers, including his thermostat. It took out 2 of our GFI outlets, EMF pulse??

 

[Tech Junky]

Yeah, I cut the cord in 2016 because I couldn't stand the bills. I just got a flat antenna and hung it by the window and scanned the channels with an internal PC OTA card since I use Plex and it picked everything up. Running video over IP is easier than running cables. I cut the Internet cord with them though as well by switching to 5G through TMO a couple of years ago due to the crappy upload speeds and use caps. Now I cut tmhi to a phone SIM and my own modem setup for better speeds and even lower monthly costs of $30/no all in. In the process I cut my phone service and just pop the SIM in the phone when needed saving another $15/mo.

So, going from paying CC $150/mo plus phone to $30/mo total.

 

[JTsyo]

Been a few years since I cut the cord. Now I have Verzion FIOS for $40/month, VOIP phone service for $3/month and streaming for most entertainment. I had an antenna that I couldn't mount since it would only get good reception in places were you wouldn't want it out all the time. Need to look up other options for indoor antennas. It hasn't been a priority since sports is about the only thing I watch OTA and with the Giants being so bad these past few seasons, I'm not very motivated.

 

[MadScientist]

I have a free Google Voice VOIP landline with an Obi200 adapter. It still works with my 14 year old Panasonic cordless phones. Of course we also have our cells. I have no streaming services. I get TV shows, movies, and football games by other nefarious ways using my PIA VPN.

 

[manly]

I'd have to check my records, but I haven't had cable TV in over 15 years. I never had digital cable with hundreds of channels, so I'm not missing too much outside of ESPN's live sports. Streaming services are very convenient, and many have Black Friday promotions that are inexpensive.

@MadScientist does the OBi100 really still work with Google Voice? I retired my OBi110 a long time ago; I could have sworn this was a forced thing because Google changed the security model of its services. IIRC before you would enter your actual GV credentials into the UI, and that's how it authenticated. Nowadays like any good provider, Google uses one time device passwords, which broke the 100/110 integration.

Moreover, there was speculation last year that Google being who they are, they'd probably kill the remaining OBi integration soon as well. If that happens, so be it as a "land line" phone is no longer essential:

https://slickdeals.net/f/16601321-voip-phone-deals-for-earth-day-from-ooma-and-magicjack-obi200-update-if-you-own-one

I'd been on Time Warner Cable's "everyday low price" Internet plan for a very long time. As a condition of Charter's purchase of TWC, New York State insisted that Spectrum (fka Charter) must continue to offer the ELP plan to existing customers. But if you changed to a faster plan, you could never go back to ELP. Anyway, Spectrum just nuked ELP and its low price point a few months ago. Spectrum 100 is currently the basic plan, and they won't hit me with the full price until later.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Picked up an OTA antenna purely for the local game sports coverage (delivery missed the SB though), but otherwise its $55 a month for 800mbps Comcast and a smattering of streaming services.

Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Guess I'm back to "bunny ears" now after running the whole monster cable package + all the streaming services gamut of the last 25 years.

 

[Brainonska511]

Haven't had cable TV in forever. I just pay $40/mo for Comcast's 400/100 service. We have a PC attached to our only TV to handle streaming/Blu-ray/ripped DVDs. Comcast also gave us a Flex box for free, and we occasionally use that for streaming, if only for simplicity.

 

[Greenman]

Picked up an OTA antenna purely for the local game sports coverage (delivery missed the SB though), but otherwise its $55 a month for 800mbps Comcast and a smattering of streaming services.

Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Guess I'm back to "bunny ears" now after running the whole monster cable package + all the streaming services gamut of the last 25 years.

I picked up a cheap OTA antenna and hung it outside in my patio cover. I get around 30 channels with 4 or 5 actually worth having.

 

[jmagg]

We cut cable tv about 5 yrs ago as our provider saw fit to raise fees 2-3x a year without notice. Installed a 60 buck antenna in the attic and never looked back. The roku tv we're using integrates nicely with ota and streaming channels via a cable clone menu.
Not sure if google tv has such a menu, but its something im not willing to give up. No problems with individual apps. The bill went from nearly 150 to 85 (internet/phone), for much more content.

 

[Brainonska511]

One avenue you could always try is cancel service and then have your partner sign up in their name, since they'd be a new customer...

 

[Tech Junky]

DuckieTV - TV Show Tracker

The TV-Show tracker you've always been waiting for

schizoduckie.github.io

This works well for gathering your content. Just import to your preferred media manager for playback.

 

[iRONic]

Kind of relevant question…

Will replacing my asphalt shingle roof with a standing seam metal roof deteriorate the reception of the OTA antenna I currently have in the attic? IIRC it was highly rated and cost about 80 bucks. We get approximately 35 channels with maybe 15 or so actually being worth watching

 

[Tech Junky]

metal

Will degrade a bit as it acts like shielding.

 

[iRONic]

Yeah, since I'm upgrading the roof I'll probably just upgrade the antenna. Going to look around on the forums for something outside that fits underneath my eaves.

 

[Tech Junky]

@iRONic

There's an app or site that tells you which direction your towers in and distance. I wouldn't be spending more than $20 though unless you're really far out. I use it end of those wing antennas that's flat like paper and tried 2 sizes and they both work just the same. If you need directional gain the a yagi is in order and those warrant the price. It's like Goldy locks though when it comes to RF. You want something that get just the right amount of signal or you get artifacts or pixelation.

 

[MadScientist]

@MadScientist does the OBi100 really still work with Google Voice? I retired my OBi110 a long time ago; I could have sworn this was a forced thing because Google changed the security model of its services. IIRC before you would enter your actual GV credentials into the UI, and that's how it authenticated. Nowadays like any good provider, Google uses one time device passwords, which broke the 100/110 integration.

Moreover, there was speculation last year that Google being who they are, they'd probably kill the remaining OBi integration soon as well. If that happens, so be it as a "land line" phone is no longer essential:

https://slickdeals.net/f/16601321-voip-phone-deals-for-earth-day-from-ooma-and-magicjack-obi200-update-if-you-own-one

My bad, I upgraded from the OBi100 to an OBi200. Don't remember when, old age thing. It's still free and works with Google Voice, for now. https://www.obitalk.com/info/googlevoice

 

[Motostu]

We cut cable ~4 years ago and got Google fiber. Between antenna, streaming services, and Google voice we get what we want and are paying less now than we paid for TV/Internet from comcast.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[IGBT]

I'm seeing outdoor TV / FM antennas going up like crazy in the last few months...hay it's only TV. You really don't need it. Cut the cable.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

So what's my history with changing TV options? I had tuner cards in one or more computers as far back as 2000. Then we had Win XP MC edition, followed by Win 7 Pro with WMC. I built an HDPC, and I was happy with WMC until I had that experience of abandonment, or something went wrong with the pairing of HDHomeRun triple-tuners and my Spectrum subscription. Then we were streaming with the EDGE browser on computers and quickly grew tired of that. I think, in the end, I still had an STB rented from Spectrum, which my brother used in his room upstairs.

Then, I bought two ROKU Ultra devices for the house, when my 12-year-old LG HDTV went on the fritz and I exchanged it for a Sony Bravia. I soon rebuilt the HTPC for stored and ripped content of all sorts to fill a Bravia HDMI port, and I plugged in the ROKU. I quickly began to migrate subscriptions to the GOogle TV and Bravia. Soon, we dropped our Spectrum subscription but I acquired YouTubeTV, ROKU and HULU with MGM, AMC, Cinemax, HBO and SHO (now Paramount) subscription add-ons. Obviously, I was sure to get Amazon PRIME as well.

The Bravia drives a 5.1 surround system through a Sony receiver -- a good match.

I keep wanting to trim the streaming subscriptions. In the meantime, I picked up a TABLO, hooked it up to the network (which also connected to the Bravia). This particular model of TABLO requires an annual $50 subscription renewal for its OTA guide.

Last month, I broke down and did something I had heretofore been unwilling to do: I rented a movie (Oppenheimer, $5.00) from PRIME.

I confess that I'm a "premium channel" glutton, but I continue to think about trimming my monthly streaming credit card account. The truth is, we dropped our Spectrum "Gold" account, but I'm spending the same money on streaming subscriptions. And I still have it all integrated with OTA through the TABLO.

 

[Brainonska511]

So what's my history with changing TV options? I had tuner cards in one or more computers as far back as 2000. Then we had Win XP MC edition, followed by Win 7 Pro with WMC. I built an HDPC, and I was happy with WMC until I had that experience of abandonment, or something went wrong with the pairing of HDHomeRun triple-tuners and my Spectrum subscription. Then we were streaming with the EDGE browser on computers and quickly grew tired of that. I think, in the end, I still had an STB rented from Spectrum, which my brother used in his room upstairs.

Then, I bought two ROKU Ultra devices for the house, when my 12-year-old LG HDTV went on the fritz and I exchanged it for a Sony Bravia. I soon rebuilt the HTPC for stored and ripped content of all sorts to fill a Bravia HDMI port, and I plugged in the ROKU. Soon, we dropped our Spectrum subscription but I acquired YouTubeTV, ROKU and HULU with MGM, AMC, Cinemax, HBO and SHO (now Paramount) subscription add-ons. Obviously, I was sure to get Amazon PRIME as well.

The Bravia drives a 5.1 surround system through a Sony receiver -- a good match.

I keep wanting to trim the streaming subscriptions. In the meantime, I picked up a TABLO, hooked it up to the network (which also connected to the Bravia). This particular model of TABLO requires an annual $50 subscription renewal for its OTA guide.

Last month, I broke down and did something I had heretofore been unwilling to do: I rented a movie (Oppenheimer, $5.00) from PRIME.

I confess that I'm a "premium channel" glutton, but I continue to think about trimming my monthly streaming credit card account.

If you're looking to save a buck, start a rotating your streaming subscriptions. Only do 1-2 at a time, catch up on the shows you want to see, then cancel and move onto the next service.