Ditching Cable Tv ?

[ozzie]

When you say you save $50-$80 a month, can I ask what you were paying before and what services were in that package?  I am paying $100 a month for Dish.  I have 2 receivers with one of them controlling 2 tv's and the other receiver controlling 1 TV.  I have the sports package but not other extras such as HBO, Showtime, ETC...

I was considering possibly changing since I only watch sports NFL n NBA and the wife only watches basic tv channels and HGTV and my kids watch youtube and Netflix and rarely watch regular tv it seems.  Just trying to get idea's...

[Getanet]

41 minutes ago, ozzie said:

When you say you save $50-$80 a month, can I ask what you were paying before and what services were in that package?  I am paying $100 a month for Dish.  I have 2 receivers with one of them controlling 2 tv's and the other receiver controlling 1 TV.  I have the sports package but not other extras such as HBO, Showtime, ETC...

I was considering possibly changing since I only watch sports NFL n NBA and the wife only watches basic tv channels and HGTV and my kids watch youtube and Netflix and rarely watch regular tv it seems.  Just trying to get idea's... 

 

If you need to watch live sports you might not be saving that much. Many streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu are pretty cheap, but the ones that stream live sports, like PSVue run $30-50/month range.

[Moonshine]

A few months ago we decided to cut the cord.  We kept our Xfinity internet and transitioned to Roku with Hulu live.  We also have Prime and Netflix.  So far everything has been good and haven't missed cable at all.  The only issue we have is that at times our screen will freeze or flicker.  I am using the Roku Stick+ and the two main televisions we watch are within 50 feet of our router on the same level of the house (rambler).  I ran the speed test on my internet a few times and it fluctuates between DL 22.43/UL 4.03 to DL 32.62/UL 5.11.  I recently purchased a new Netgear AC 1900 wireless router, so that should be fine.  I went to Best Buy to ask some questions on how to improve performance and they said I should buy the Google wifi mesh router.  It was pretty expensive, so I thought I would ask this group if anyone had a similar situation and what they did.  Any help is much appreciated.

[rundrave]

I think your ISP is the issue. I just ran a speed test on mine and I am pulling 60mbs down and 12.5 up and I live in a rural area in South Dakota. I would expect you to get better numbers in a metro area, or maybe I am just lucky with my ISP?

[fishingstar]

I would be very disappointed with a speed test like that. I just about get that and I have a antenna that shoots to a tower that is 4 miles away but I don't get any buffering. My be with your population in your area they can't supply enough for the area.

[rl_sd]

A lot of it depends on the bandwidth that you are paying for. They will limit your pipe. Best bet is to hook up a computer directly to you router and see what you get on your speed test. The mesh systems are  awesome for both range and through put, but any wireless router is only going to deliver on the bandwidth that your isp provides. If you find that your hard wire computer is a lot faster, the first step is to update the firmware on your wireless router and go from there. 

[vaportrail]

haven't had cable for 3+ years now if i can get my internet bill back down it will be great thinking of going back to frontier half the cost run netflix and antenna in the attic. most of the time i just check the news on the phone. other then that its disney movies. we do get some chatter since the metal roof went on but no big deal

Edited June 23, 2019 by vaportrail

[Grainbelt]

On 6/21/2019 at 10:54 AM, Moonshine said:

A few months ago we decided to cut the cord.  We kept our Xfinity internet and transitioned to Roku with Hulu live.  We also have Prime and Netflix.  So far everything has been good and haven't missed cable at all.  The only issue we have is that at times our screen will freeze or flicker.  I am using the Roku Stick+ and the two main televisions we watch are within 50 feet of our router on the same level of the house (rambler).  I ran the speed test on my internet a few times and it fluctuates between DL 22.43/UL 4.03 to DL 32.62/UL 5.11.  I recently purchased a new Netgear AC 1900 wireless router, so that should be fine.  I went to Best Buy to ask some questions on how to improve performance and they said I should buy the Google wifi mesh router.  It was pretty expensive, so I thought I would ask this group if anyone had a similar situation and what they did.  Any help is much appreciated.

The speeds that you show are enough for streaming, the roku stick is not their best streaming device. I use Roku 3 and used to have your bandwidth with no problem.

[Moonshine]

Well, after two and a half hours on the phone with Netgear and Comcast I have no resolution.  Comcast is coming out to the house on Wednesday to see what the problem is.  I am on the 150 mbs plan and I still only get around 30 on a speed test.  Even when I wire directly to the router the performance is the same.  I may upgrade to the Roku Ultra as well.

[delcecchi]

It only takes about 5 Mb/s to stream a HD movie.   I'm guessing you have some sort of interference going on.   Inadequate BW shows up as buffering....   Or the Roku is going bad.   I have had a couple of them do that, including a roku stick.   

 

My money is on roku device being bad.   If you have a chromecast, does that work better?   

[Moonshine]

I do not have a Chromecast.  I will try the Comcast fix first then work my way to the hardware.  I have two roku streaming stick + and one roku streaming stick.

[delcecchi]

41 minutes ago, Moonshine said:

I do not have a Chromecast.  I will try the Comcast fix first then work my way to the hardware.  I have two roku streaming stick + and one roku streaming stick.

Do they all have the same issues?  If they do, then probably not the roku, although rebooting them by unplugging the power for a minute or so might be worth a try, if you haven't already done so. 

[Moonshine]

Well Comcast seemed to have fixed the issue.  I am now getting 50 - 60 mbs wireless and over 100 wired directly to the router.  The Comcast guy hooked up directly to the router and showed that was running fine.  He ended up cutting all coax connectors and replacing them inside and out.  Not sure what else he did in the box outside the house, but he was out there for 20 minutes.  All of the TVs work great except one of the Roku Stick+.  I will try to reboot that tonight as previously mentioned.

 

To stay on thread and not continue discussing my mechanical issues, I am really happy we cut the cord.  Out Comcast bill was $186 a month.  We are now well south of $100 a month with HBO, which we did not previously have.  I am really impressed with Hulu live.  We only have a handful of channels we watch and having the favorites makes navigating my channels really easy.  Also, channel lineup in alphabetical order is genius.

 

My two year agreement with Dish and Hughesnet at the lake is up in September.  Last fall TDS ran internet cabling down my road so I will be switching my cabin internet and changing TVs to Roku/Hulu live as well.

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, Moonshine said:

Well Comcast seemed to have fixed the issue.  I am now getting 50 - 60 mbs wireless and over 100 wired directly to the router.  The Comcast guy hooked up directly to the router and showed that was running fine.  He ended up cutting all coax connectors and replacing them inside and out.  Not sure what else he did in the box outside the house, but he was out there for 20 minutes.  All of the TVs work great except one of the Roku Stick+.  I will try to reboot that tonight as previously mentioned.

 

To stay on thread and not continue discussing my mechanical issues, I am really happy we cut the cord.  Out Comcast bill was $186 a month.  We are now well south of $100 a month with HBO, which we did not previously have.  I am really impressed with Hulu live.  We only have a handful of channels we watch and having the favorites makes navigating my channels really easy.  Also, channel lineup in alphabetical order is genius.

 

My two year agreement with Dish and Hughesnet at the lake is up in September.  Last fall TDS ran internet cabling down my road so I will be switching my cabin internet and changing TVs to Roku/Hulu live as well.

 

Confused.  Comcast fixed the problem but you cut the cable cord?  

[rundrave]

He cut the cord on comcast cable tv but still uses the same company as his ISP. That is how I interpret it.

[Moonshine]

3 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

Confused.  Comcast fixed the problem but you cut the cable cord?  

Previously I had Comcast triple play.  Phone, internet and cable.  Went to just internet, the pro performance package.

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Moonshine said:

Previously I had Comcast triple play.  Phone, internet and cable.  Went to just internet, the pro performance package.

 

Oddly we have the bundle as well and every time we talked to them about dropping our land line or anything out of the bundle our monthly few would go up higher. You said yours went down? 

[bobbymalone]

46 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Oddly we have the bundle as well and every time we talked to them about dropping our land line or anything out of the bundle our monthly few would go up higher. You said yours went down? 

 

You're doing it wrong.

[leech~~]

41 minutes ago, bobbymalone said:

 

You're doing it wrong.

 

Everyone I talked to says the same thing about breaking their bundle. 

[bobbymalone]

Gotta threaten them with divorce every once and a while.

 

Cable TV is the big cost of your bundle.  Drop that and you'll pay like $50 for internet.  The landline is VOIP (I believe) and it costs them pretty much nothing if they are already running internet to your place.  

 

This cost goes up when you drop services is just nonsense to keep your eyes from wandering.

Edited June 27, 2019 by bobbymalone

[delcecchi]

Heck, drop the phone and go with Ooma .

https://www.ooma.com/home-phone-service/

 

The device is 70 bcks on amazon.

[Moonshine]

16 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

Oddly we have the bundle as well and every time we talked to them about dropping our land line or anything out of the bundle our monthly few would go up higher. You said yours went down? 

You have to drop cable and go to internet only to make a difference.  I got a two year lock on internet (150 mbs) for $39.99.  It was a few months ago when Xfinity was rolling out their streaming option.  I technically have their streaming, but I don't like it so I use Roku to stream Hulu Live.  Internet only was $49.99.

 

I had the same thing when I asked to drop the land line.  It was more expensive.  We built our house three years ago and I only had three phone jacks installed, but never hooked up a phone.  We had a phone number and service, but never used it.  Every once and a while a pop up would show on the TV that someone was calling.  I guess solicitors can get your number even when you have never used the line or given away your number.

[bobbymalone]

5 hours ago, Moonshine said:

I guess solicitors can get your number even when you have never used the line or given away your number.

 

They also recycle numbers.  The last landline I had rang off the hook as soon as I plugged it in.  People always asking for some dude named Bill.  And a fair amount of collect calls from a prison.  

[nofishfisherman]

When my wife got her cell phone # she would constantly get calls looking for some other woman.  Apparently that woman didn't like paying her bills and was a crappy parent or had a crappy kid.  Debt collectors and her kids school would call all the time looking for her.

[Big Dave2]

Well, I'm a little behind the times (as usual) and am just getting ready to finally cut the cord. I've chosen YouTube TV as my streaming source. We already have NetFlix and Amazon Prime so I was looking more for sports, news and specific live tv stations that my wife likes to watch. I felt that YouTube TV was the bit fit for us. 

 

We just started the trial two days ago but I already know I like it and am going to discontinue our Mediacom cable that we have had for over 20 years next week.

 

We already had one Amazon Fire stick for the living room TV but I have several more coming from Amazon soon. We only have one TV in the house that is an actual "smart" TV and it is old enough that it doesn't have the YouTube TV app so I will be outfitting all of our TVs with Fire Sticks so all the interfaces are the same no matter what tv we are using.

 

I'll have to stick with Mediacom's internet service as it is the only really fast provider in the area but I can't wait to tell them to take their cable TV and shove it!