Finally Cut That Cord!

[03cobra#2]

I just moved into a new house and I was a ATT Uverse user for a few years. Internet, phone, cable paying 215 per month. I had the DVR set to record over 40 different shows.

My new set up is 100mb down / 10mb up internet, a Fire Box on every TV loaded with Kodi and the Palystation VUE App. I have amplified indoor antennas on the TV's and use a Harmony 650 remote each to to make things easy to use, and use Vonage for my phone. Total bill is about $125 per month for everything and the set up is amazing. Just wanted to share my thoughts as a recent cord cutter.

 

[KingBlack]

congrats. seems like you've been replacing a lot of things as of late

 

[2KBlackGT]

I still don't get how some people are paying 150-250 for cable/internet tv. I guess you guys like your TV service like you like your cars, fully loaded? I have Comcast internet and basic TV/HBO for like $60 a month. I've had this same package for years.

I've had an Android TV box and firestick for the last 9 months or so. They're great because I don't have to connect my laptop to my TV anymore to stream shows/sports.

 

[03cobra#694]

I still don't get how some people are paying 150-250 for cable/internet tv. I guess you guys like your TV service like you like your cars, fully loaded? I have Comcast internet and basic TV/HBO for like $60 a month. I've had this same package for years.

I've had an Android TV box and firestick for the last 9 months or so. They're great because I don't have to connect my laptop to my TV anymore to stream shows/sports.

Comcast internet, TV and phone and I'm like $180 a month Vic. I guess it depends on what services you have.

 

[specracer]

TiVo is a stand alone DVR

Does anyone make a stand alone DVR with menu service? .

 

[specracer]

Yes HD
Yes 4K, in fact streaming is the only current source of HD.
I use a Roku, and entering the characters takes longer than the search results. Assuming you have a good ISP, start time is almost instant.
No guide, because it's all on demand, no schedule.

Your last question are the pitfalls. Streaming does not always carry live TV, where many sports news etc, are carried. Much of this can be captured OTA (over the air, yes an antenna). The VHF spectrum was taken back during the analog sunset, as was the upper UHF channels, so now all tv is brodcast using the UHF spectrum channels 14-50 (skipping 37). This is the BEST picture. It's breath taking, zero compression. This might help with OTA.
http://antennaweb.org

The the real pitfall is sports and other live content on other channels like Fox sports channels, ESPN, nbcsn etc. these will be the biggest hole. In some cases, there are work around a, but they don't work for me. For instance, fox sports has the fox sports go app. This allows you to stream, but you have to authenticate you pay for it elsewhere (Comcast DTV etc). So yesterday if you tried to watch Sebring, it would see your IP, and see you are in the US and not allow the stream via imsa tv. You could of course use a proxy server to mask your ip, but I just want to watch tv. I'm not cutting yet, but there is no doubt, changes are happening.

Can all of the movies and shows be streamed in HD?
Any 4K content available?
Are there any pitfalls?
How much time does it take to search for and start streaming content?
There is no channel guide, correct? So do you have to search for most content?
Are there any movies or content, other than local stations, that might not be available?
Is all ESPN content (ie. NCAA basketball semis and finals) available?
Any links that are good reading to answer the above questions, and more?

 

[10splaya22]

Your last question are the pitfalls. Streaming does not always carry live TV, where many sports news etc, are carried. Much of this can be captured OTA (over the air, yes an antenna). The VHF spectrum was taken back during the analog sunset, as was the upper UHF channels, so now all tv is brodcast using the UHF spectrum channels 14-50 (skipping 37). This is the BEST picture. It's breath taking, zero compression. This might help with OTA.
http://antennaweb.org

The the real pitfall is sports and other live content on other channels like Fox sports channels, ESPN, nbcsn etc. these will be the biggest hole. In some cases, there are work around a, but they don't work for me. For instance, fox sports has the fox sports go app. This allows you to stream, but you have to authenticate you pay for it elsewhere (Comcast DTV etc). So yesterday if you tried to watch Sebring, it would see your IP, and see you are in the US and not allow the stream via imsa tv. You could of course use a proxy server to mask your ip, but I just want to watch tv. I'm not cutting yet, but there is no doubt, changes are happening.

Check out Sling TV. You can get it through a Roku or other ways and its all done by streaming. There are a couple different packages but some of the important channels are there like ESPN, ESPN2/3, FX, USA, SyFy, NBCSN, FS1, FS2, etc. The package with all of those is $40 a month. I think Sling with a Fire stick and OTA Antenna would have almost everything you could want to watch.

 

[specracer]

Yes of course on sling, which is another compelling reason for TiVo, that can bring together OTA, and streaming services, for people that want an all in one solution that feels close to a "normal" cable box / DTV receiver.

 

[CobraBob]

Thanks for the replies to my questions. A lot of good stuff available. I'd like to cut the cord at some point, but at the present time the benefits of having DirecTV outweigh the negative cost factor. At least for me, and my wife. We just like the convenience. But it is good to hear that alternatives are being developed and improved upon as we go forward. There is definite hope for the average homeowner in the horizon.

 

[92notch t-top]

I'd love to do that but I don't want to lose the channel that airs my local sports.

You can find your local sports live streams thru the usual suspects. Sunday Ticket, MLB, NHL... you just need to know where to look


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[rotor_powerd]

Did the same thing a while back with PlaystationVue. Unfortunately they've dropped a bunch of channels since we switched so the wife is growing more and more displeased with it.

 

[hoamskilet]

We're going on probably 6 years now cutting the cord. Best move we made.

 

[AAG]

I signed up for the DIRECTV Now service back in November and got the intro rate of $35/month for the "Go Big" package. Last week they added HBO for a year for free.
I can't complain, especially because of the ability to use TV Network apps to watch on demand.

 

[phillycobra99]

I bought one of those HD antennas off of Amazon, and the picture quality for local channels is better than paying for cable.

 

[RustyRodder]

Is it difficult to use now? I am a bit of a tech idiot.

My cable/phone/internet keeps going up, wouldnt mind cutting the bulk of it out.

 

[smashedheadcat]

I lived about 4 years with the cord cut and just recently went back to DTV. You can find most everything online but the hassle of viewing laggy streams for sports and the lack of local channels got old after awhile (no bunny ear channels). I think I could have handled it if we had reception for local channels, but we don't.

 

[Sonic605hp]

Most anything can be streamed HD and is in 1080. The is some 4k stuff but not as much as 1080 of course...the longer it's around the more prevalent it will become I'm sure. I haven't noticed any pitfalls as of yet. As far as searching is concerned you can search by name, network the show is on, the year, the season, the episode, etc...mine has a voice activated Alexa so it's even easier. From the time I turn it on to search what I want to the time it's on screen playing is maybe 30 seconds unless I'm just flipping through without purpose. You can also ad shows, movies, etc...to a favorites folder and create your own library organized as you see fit. It's just like learning DTV when switching from cable...it takes a little getting used to but is easy. Hope that helps.

I'd love to read more specific and detailed instructions on how this works. Moving away from DirecTV intrigues me, but I've only heard general comments that it's easy to do and the results are great. You all make it sound easy to do every day, and maybe it is, but more details might convince more of us that it's the way to go.

Can all of the movies and shows be streamed in HD?
Any 4K content available?
Are there any pitfalls?
How much time does it take to search for and start streaming content?
There is no channel guide, correct? So do you have to search for most content?
Are there any movies or content, other than local stations, that might not be available?
Is all ESPN content (ie. NCAA basketball semis and finals) available?
Any links that are good reading to answer the above questions, and more?

 

[KoBra_98]

Exodus add on is also very good, as for live TV, you can watch it using an apk (android) like mobdro (this thing rocks). There are several other add ons (ccloud for live TV),that can get you anything you want. I have 2 boxes a cheap M8 and a nvidea shield i use. For local tv i just use either a leaf type indoor antenna, and this year I'm putting up a nice large antenna with a rotor. Once you get things set up you'll never go back. the reason i got the shield is it has a killer cpu and gpu and more ram, but the real big help is it has a 500 gb hdd. if you have a cheaper box like the M8, they say they have a lot of space 8 gb but they really are about half that and you'll end up redoing things a lot , also Im using kodi 17 on the shield and 16 on the M8, there is also another fork called spmc that's great like kodi too. for the price of the box, I'd suggest those who are not sure what to do, buy one and try it, you're only out about 25 bucks for an M8 anymore.
Also once you get good there are several different builds, I'm using the beast(spmc) and pulse (Kodi 17 Krypton), and husham (kodi 16 Jarvis), add on repository's. if you go inside those repos and look in them there is a ton more that are avail, i have more add ons then i could ever use, and several places to get what i want to watch.

 

[BlksvtCobra01]

I really would love to do this. I would miss discovery channel and a couple shows on history. Chances are I'll prolly be switching to Spectrum unless U-Verse wants to work with me next month when my promotional period ends.

It's all a monopoly with these damn cable companies. Sometimes they work with you sometimes they don't. But if you cancel they call begging for your ass to come back.


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[SolarYellow]

I'm giving consideration to that new Sony service. Between having a fast and solid connection along with various devices able to use apps, it might be worth it.