Cutting the cable

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  • stocknup

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    30   0   0
    Mar 28, 2011
    1,059
    113
    Monrovia area
    We just picked up one of those flat flexible pad ones at Walmart .....paid about $12.00 for it , and very pleased . I think we get about 23 stations and live pretty much out in the country .
     

    jkaetz

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Jan 20, 2009
    1,953
    83
    Indianapolis
    Looking at turning off the dish as we watch almost exclusively the local stations.

    Anyone have any recommendations on digital antennas?
    Don't fall for the hype, there is no "digital" antenna. Your distance from the station transmitters is the important part. Antennaweb will tell you how far and what direction.

    If you need more range than this, then you'll want to look at something like these or these mounted on a tower. The ones advertising a 150 mile range that look like something out of a sci-fi movie are lying about their range.
     
    Last edited:

    Bfish

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    13   0   0
    Feb 24, 2013
    5,801
    48
    Depending on your TV some come set up to get digital channels now. I wish I could recommend you one at the moment but I'll try and get you some info tomorrow, my parents South East of Terre Haute get channels out of the Indianapolis area with whatever they've got. Another thing to consider if you decide you want more than local channels and have decent internet is sling tv. It's like $25 a month and you get to pick the channels you want to watch, all streamed over the internet. I don't have any cable or satellite tv either. I stream everything.
     

    croy

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Apr 22, 2012
    1,875
    48
    Indiana
    I have used directv now and sling. I prefer DirecTV Now but only because they offer discovery channel.
     

    pute62

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    Jan 29, 2009
    2,178
    113
    Lawrence
    I cut cable 7 years ago and can't say i miss it. Just upgraded to a $20 antenna from Dollar General which claims a 45 mile range and picked up about 15 more channels. I'm now at 55 channels here in Lawrence with about 25 of them worth watching
     

    dprimm

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jan 13, 2013
    1,742
    83
    Just West of Indianapolis
    We bought a $20 flat antenna from channel master 3 years ago. At the time they were harder to find. Works fine. We don't watch TV anymore anyway (time).

    What i I wanted then was an easy to use dvr for the 2 shows we did watch at the time. Amazon released something this fall that works w their fire stick that looks great. Can't recall name right now. Something to consider.
     

    Ziggidy

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    May 7, 2018
    7,271
    113
    Ziggidyville
    I cut cable a number of years ago. Before moving here, I lived about 15 west of Chicago, had a ClearStream 2V, and had over 50 channels. When I moved, I could not use it and I live in the city here. Xfinity has a service, not sure if it is still available, but for 40 bucks I get internet and their "streaming" tv via their app on ROKU. I get all local channels and some movie channels......all streamed through their app on Roku.

    If you can roof mount, I suggest something from CLearStream.....excellent.
     

    KittySlayer

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Jan 29, 2013
    6,473
    77
    Northeast IN
    For our work TVs I simply use an unfolded large paperclip.

    At home we use fairly generic antennas we picked up at Best Buy for $20 - $25.

    For both locations we are within five miles of the broadcast antennas.
     

    Hawkeye

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jul 25, 2010
    5,409
    113
    Warsaw
    I live on a small knoll about 35-45 miles (LOS) from the antennae farms in Ft Wayne and South Bend. I’m wondering if we could get a good digital signal from these broadcast channels.

    If so, I’d look into dropping CATV, only keeping Xfinity for internet access. Then subscribe to the video services that we actually use. Broadcast rank-ordered are CBS, NBC, PBS and ABC. CATV are HBO, Showtime, STARZ, ESPN, CBS sports, TCM (not necessarily rank ordered). We also have access to Prime video, Netflix and HULU.

    It seems to me that our primary requirement will be good high speed Internet. We have WiFi in our house. Probably 4 tv’s one of which is a “smart TV and the others have/could have blue ray type boxes to connect to WiFi.

    Any thoughts from the INGO hive mind?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    jkaetz

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Jan 20, 2009
    1,953
    83
    Indianapolis
    I live on a small knoll about 35-45 miles (LOS) from the antennae farms in Ft Wayne and South Bend. I’m wondering if we could get a good digital signal from these broadcast channels.

    If so, I’d look into dropping CATV, only keeping Xfinity for internet access. Then subscribe to the video services that we actually use. Broadcast rank-ordered are CBS, NBC, PBS and ABC. CATV are HBO, Showtime, STARZ, ESPN, CBS sports, TCM (not necessarily rank ordered). We also have access to Prime video, Netflix and HULU.

    It seems to me that our primary requirement will be good high speed Internet. We have WiFi in our house. Probably 4 tv’s one of which is a “smart TV and the others have/could have blue ray type boxes to connect to WiFi.

    Any thoughts from the INGO hive mind?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    One way to find out on the antenna. At minimum you're looking at an attic mount and probably the higher the better if you go roof mount.

    As for streaming, look into what it will cost you for the shows you want. With all the content providers trying to get you to buy their streaming package it gets pricy if there are exclusives you want to watch. The pricing of satellite and cable companies is becoming more transparent and the backlash on the content providers will come since there is no more middle person to blame for the pricing.
     

    doddg

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    135   0   1
    May 15, 2017
    8,615
    77
    Indianapolis
    ATT 2 yr. contract ran out.
    Bill went from $120 up to $197. :wallbash:
    Internet went from $30 to $50 and the rest was cable.
    I talked ATT into bringing it down to $150/month since I told them I was going to cancel cable that day and just keep internet till I could switch to Comcast b/c I was never going to pay over the $120/month.

    I could just cut the cable and get Sling, Netflex and/or whatever: trying to figure out what to get.
    We must have Hallmark, HGTV and my documentary nature/history channels.
    Don't know whether our ATT will handle streaming (only have 25 speed available in this neighborhood) and we have had connectivity issues (just 2 nights ago everything went out.
    I have a special little "box" just to get internet on my laptop b/c I couldn't stay connected w/o it.
    My 34 yr. old son said 25 speed is all we need with just the 2 of us running at worst two TVs and two computers on at the same time.

    Choices:
    a. get Comcast for around $120ish/month contract for 2 yrs: acceptable till they raise it, then cancel cable and go to streaming of TV at that time
    b. use present ATT and try to stream TV ($50). I can't get speed of 50 here (I did in other neighborhood before moved).
    c. Use Comcast for just cable and learn which streaming TV connections to get (Sling, Netflix, etc).

    I'll read through all this again to get educated.
    My 34 yr. old son and 39 yr. old daughter have already done this.
    My SIL commented once that with the ancillary services he had for streaming, it costs nearly as much as when on a promotional with Comcast or ATT, so not too much gained other than not having to switch every year or two (like the game my son had been playing since he got out of college).
     
    Last edited:

    COOPADUP

    Accipiter
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Aug 8, 2017
    6,671
    113
    Hamilton County
    Cut cable but kept the internet. Been using Firestick from Amazon.
    Sometimes though, if too many devices are running we get delayed or fuzzy picture quality.
    we coined a term called getting Hulu`d when trying to watch regular tv channels.
     

    Snapdragon

    know-it-all tart
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    Nov 5, 2013
    38,771
    77
    NW Indiana
    I put this antenna on top of a 10-ft pole and pulled in 69 stations with perfect reception. Your mileage may vary. I'm about 40 miles southeast of Chicago. https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Suburban-Mini-Yagi-Digital-Outdoor-Antenna-with-Mast/10828410

    I also purchased a Tablo DVR to record over the air programming and bought a Roku. Now the only thing I subscribe to is Philo, which is $16 a month and has 40-something cable stations plus a selection of free movies. I also signed up for VUDU and Pluto, which are free and have both movies and TV shows (with commercials).

    I'm still paying AT&T $57 a month for landline and internet, and with the $16 a month for Philo, that's $73 a month instead of the $237 that AT&T was charging when I also had Uverse.
     

    Trigger Time

    Air guitar master
    Rating - 98.6%
    204   3   0
    Aug 26, 2011
    40,112
    113
    SOUTH of Zombie city
    Im about ready to drop directv i think. We currently have the highest package they offer and i feel we are getting screwed. I watch baseball and there are some shows we watch. We also have Netflix and amazon and hulu vudu and i cant remember what other stuff. I can rent movies via those and dont even need the directv to rent stuff. Also i believe i can subscribe to hbo and premium channels on my netflix or Amazon.
    Any ideas?
    We havent been under any contract in a long time. Im just tired of paying ATT over $600 a month. Cells, tablets, directv, internet. Just seems like a rip off. Also i think their cell service sucks and im considering switching to verizon wireless.
     

    jkaetz

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Jan 20, 2009
    1,953
    83
    Indianapolis
    ATT 2 yr. contract ran out.
    Bill went from $120 up to $197. :wallbash:
    Internet went from $30 to $50 and the rest was cable.
    I talked ATT into bringing it down to $150/month since I told them I was going to cancel cable that day and just keep internet till I could switch to Comcast b/c I was never going to pay over the $120/month.

    I could just cut the cable and get Sling, Netflex and/or whatever: trying to figure out what to get.
    We must have Hallmark, HGTV and my documentary nature/history channels.
    Don't know whether our ATT will handle streaming (only have 25 speed available in this neighborhood) and we have had connectivity issues (just 2 nights ago everything went out.
    I have a special little "box" just to get internet on my laptop b/c I couldn't stay connected w/o it.
    My 34 yr. old son said 25 speed is all we need with just the 2 of us running at worst two TVs and two computers on at the same time.

    Choices:
    a. get Comcast for around $120ish/month contract for 2 yrs: acceptable till they raise it, then cancel cable and go to streaming of TV at that time
    b. use present ATT and try to stream TV ($50). I can't get speed of 50 here (I did in other neighborhood before moved).
    c. Use Comcast for just cable and learn which streaming TV connections to get (Sling, Netflix, etc).

    I'll read through all this again to get educated.
    My 34 yr. old son and 39 yr. old daughter have already done this.
    My SIL commented once that with the ancillary services he had for streaming, it costs nearly as much as when on a promotional with Comcast or ATT, so not too much gained other than not having to switch every year or two (like the game my son had been playing since he got out of college).
    Be sure you do some math. Most companies charge more if you just want internet. You also have all the streaming exclusives now days where you have to pay for multiple streaming services to get all the content you want. The cost will approach the TV packages of the big names if you're unlucky. Then there's picture/audio quality to consider if you care about such things. Streaming services can claim all they want that they are delivering 4k content but it's compressed to hell to fit down residential internet bandwidth defeating the purpose of the extra pixels. Audio is a similar situation but I don't think most people care as much about multi channel audio.

    Im about ready to drop directv i think. We currently have the highest package they offer and i feel we are getting screwed. I watch baseball and there are some shows we watch. We also have Netflix and amazon and hulu vudu and i cant remember what other stuff. I can rent movies via those and dont even need the directv to rent stuff. Also i believe i can subscribe to hbo and premium channels on my netflix or Amazon.
    Any ideas?
    We havent been under any contract in a long time. Im just tired of paying ATT over $600 a month. Cells, tablets, directv, internet. Just seems like a rip off. Also i think their cell service sucks and im considering switching to verizon wireless.
    Sounds about right if you don't own the cellular equipment. We have four cellular lines with Verizon just under $200 with unlimited everything but all the devices are purchased outright. IMO Verizon is the best cellular provider if you want coverage and speeds. That and AT&T pushing their "5Ge" network non-sense. TV & Fiber internet are through AT&T because they are the only fiber option and DirecTV offers the best TV picture/audio quality right now. ~$180 for 100 Mbps service and the mid tier DirecTV package. I need to call and play the CSR roulette game with them since we're just outside our 12 month promotion. TV & internet were $130 before.
     
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