Cutting the cord - Dropping Cable/Satellite

[rrunner]

Wish I could cut the cord, internet here sucks. CenturyLinks is so bad, all I get is 2.5 megabits not the 40 advertised on tv. They are also the only internet provider in our area. So I am still on satellite tv but only at around $25 a month, only get the local and a few others.

[Papa Zook]

How much internet does those streaming services use in a month?I have internet through Dish right now but basically it limits me to 10gb a month.My only other option is Hughes and I hear they are hated by most.I get the impression that any savings would be offset by the increased internet bill.Paying $190 for TV and internet right now.

Mark,

Check your local rates for a 20mbps plan to maybe up to 50mbps plan if your local providers have a low cost package for that. From what I am reading, 20mbps should be more than sufficient and rates should be very reasonable. I went for overkill and opted for 400mbps on my just-switched plan with my current provider, Suddenlink for $75.95 per month. I'm still going to shop around and see if I can beat it.

Read more on cutting the cord recommended internet speeds below.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/inte...d-cord-cutter/

[DK Custom Products]

Almost 20 years ago we got rid of all TV channels...Been using Netflix, and recently Amazon Prime streaming.

Any news we want (which isn't much) we can get off the internet.

Yeah, we don't see shows when they first are on the air...but no commercials either for the last 2 decades!

When we travel, and are in a motel, it always amazes me how many commercials there are.

Not only did we save a ton of $, we got a lot more time in each day.

Kevin

[trikeman]

No Cable

No Satellite

No Direct TV

No Antennae

No Television

No Monthly Bill

Save Lots Of 💰💰

[trikeman]

Save Lots Of Time 👍🏼

[vwbug72501]

Mark,

Check your local rates for 20mbps plan to maybe up to 50mbps plan if your local providers have a low cost package for that. From what I am reading, 20mbps should be more than sufficient and rates should be very reasonable. I went for overkill and opted for 400mbps on my just switched plan with my current provider, Suddenlink for $75.95 per month. I'm still going to shop around and see if I can beat it.

Read more on cutting the cord recommended internet speeds below.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/inte...d-cord-cutter/

Zook,

Check the fine print of your Suddenlink agreement. Some of their lower Mbps plans have a monthly Gb limit and then they charge $/Gb overage fees on the months you go over. This is a fluid situation as their plans keep changing (upgrading). They should show your Gb usage on your monthly bill. Suddenlink is my provider and I'm really happy with their service.

Haven't cut the cable cord yet. Just got a Harmony remote control for the wife for Christmas so she has one remote to control the TV, Roku, and DVD player. She told me she was afraid she wouldn't be able to watch TV if I died as she couldn't figure out how to use all the remotes we had before. I've got the Harmony programmed with buttons for TV, Netflix, Amazon, DVD, and Pandora just for her. I tell her it is the Phd system (Push Here Dummy). She hasn't beat me too badly.

[David357]

I am still on "Scamcast" at $130 month for unlimited phone, high speed internet, cable, HBO, Showtime, many other movie channels equipment and much more.

The only hassle is every 12 months I have to go through a big rate increase discussion. All you have to do is demand a "good customer loyalty" discount about three different calls through the billing department only.

Regular service represetatives are useless in this matter. "Scamcast" will back down and reduce the rate back to about $130/ month for another year.

[linngrovian]

I fired direct tv 6 years ago and they send me please come back letters every week for the last 5 1/2 years. I figure there postage comes up to a months worth of there service. The letters go directly into the fire pit.LOL Ya live out in the country you put up with slow internet. 4mbs is all i can get untill they actually want to hook everyone up to fiber. 14 years ago me and my 5 neighbors put down $1800 each to put up a satellite to get more than dialup out here in the sticks. no internet bill for life, as long as they were in business. Its defiantly paid for itself, but slow, slow,slow it is. I got me an amazon jailbroke stick that works only if my neighbors aren't home.LOL netflix does work but limited. farmers 11 works for news.

[Fabricater]

I have not completely cut the cord yet,but headed in that direction. I had suddenlink. My son had worked for them. They sold out and the new owners started jerking the employees around. There were 40 techs here locally and when my son quit the were 8. Between the company firing and the employees leaving and going to work elsewhere ,they don't have enough people to get the work done.

I had enough of giving my money to a company that treats there employees like that,so I dropped them. I have direct tv which is tied to at&t my cell phone provider. I use my phone as a hotspot for my internet. This seems to be working for us,and is much cheaper than suddenlink.

My son was a good tech,in fact he had the the highest score on repairs and the least amount of repeats in the mid Atlantic area. Many months he had double the repairs as any other tech here. It's been a little over 3 months since he left ,and last week they called him and wanted him to come in and talk about coming back to work for them.

We will see where that leads,but I guess they now know he is not going to be jerked around anymore. I think I could do away with direct tv and be ok,but I am not so sure about my cell phone,probably have to keep it.

[Papa Zook]

Zook,

Check the fine print of your Suddenlink agreement. Some of their lower Mbps plans have a monthly Gb limit and then they charge $/Gb overage fees on the months you go over. This is a fluid situation as their plans keep changing (upgrading). They should show your Gb usage on your monthly bill. Suddenlink is my provider and I'm really happy with their service.

Tom, you're right on that, but we normally hovered around 70% of our max gb limit so we never went over as far as I know. I really started paying attention to the bill the last few months when I realized how much I was paying for so little after a trip to visit my son who had just bought a new smart TV and had cut the cord. He showed me a variety of content that was so much more interesting than normal TV and the picture was amazing. Some of my favorites are a handful of YouTube channels.

I have not completely cut the cord yet,but headed in that direction. I had suddenlink. My son had worked for them. They sold out and the new owners started jerking the employees around. There were 40 techs here locally and when my son quit the were 8. Between the company firing and the employees leaving and going to work elsewhere ,they don't have enough people to get the work done.

I had enough of giving my money to a company that treats there employees like that,so I dropped them. I have direct tv which is tied to at&t my cell phone provider. I use my phone as a hotspot for my internet. This seems to be working for us,and is much cheaper than suddenlink.

My son was a good tech,in fact he had the the highest score on repairs and the least amount of repeats in the mid Atlantic area. Many months he had double the repairs as any other tech here. It's been a little over 3 months since he left ,and last week they called him and wanted him to come in and talk about coming back to work for them.

We will see where that leads,but I guess they now know he is not going to be jerked around anymore. I think I could do away with direct tv and be ok,but I am not so sure about my cell phone,probably have to keep it.

Your son should get a major raise if he goes back to work for them.

[Papa Zook]

I fired direct tv 6 years ago and they send me please come back letters every week for the last 5 1/2 years. I figure there postage comes up to a months worth of there service. The letters go directly into the fire pit.LOL Ya live out in the country you put up with slow internet. 4mbs is all i can get untill they actually want to hook everyone up to fiber. 14 years ago me and my 5 neighbors put down $1800 each to put up a satellite to get more than dialup out here in the sticks. no internet bill for life, as long as they were in business. Its defiantly paid for itself, but slow, slow,slow it is. I got me an amazon jailbroke stick that works only if my neighbors aren't home.LOL netflix does work but limited. farmers 11 works for news.

Suddenlink tried to bait me into not dropping cable, but I wasn't interested. They should have given us the discount the last three years we've been with them instead of going up on us.

Quote from Variety.com:

Cord-Cutting Explodes: 22 Million U.S. Adults Will Have Canceled Cable, Satellite TV by End of 2017

"Winter is here for cable and satellite TV operators.

American consumers are cancelling traditional pay-TV service at a much faster rate than previously expected, according to research firm eMarketer.

In 2017, a total of 22.2 million U.S. adults will have cut the cord on cable, satellite or telco TV service to date — up 33% from 16.7 million in 2016 — the researcher now predicts. That’s significantly higher than eMarketer’s prior estimate of 15.4 million cord-cutters as of the end of this year. Meanwhile, the number of “cord-nevers” (consumers who have never subscribed to pay TV) will rise 5.8% this year, to 34.4 million."

“Younger audiences continue to switch to either exclusively watching [over-the-top] video or watching them in combination with free-TV options,” said Chris Bendtsen, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “Last year, even the Olympics and [the U.S.] presidential election could not prevent younger audiences from abandoning pay TV.”

[MDO]

I love the way these cable/satellite companies treat new customers better than current longtime customers.

Almost 3 years ago, I got rid of the satellite/cable companies. I got a Roku box & love it.

I have built a HDTV antenna & put it in the attic & it gets me 25 channels free over the air in digital.

The only thing I pay for is Netflix for $8 a month & the internet service from AT&T for $40 a month.

The only thing I miss is a DVR, but I can normally find any show I miss on the internet.

[Sidecarbill]

Ever have problems with your Roku. I've had it for quite some time now. The only thing I watch is youtube videos. Can't get through a video without losing it because roku reboots. Goes back to the home page and you start all over.

[MDO]

Ever have problems with your Roku. I've had it for quite some time now. The only thing I watch is youtube videos. Can't get through a video without losing it because roku reboots. Goes back to the home page and you start all over.

Sorry for the slow response time, I've been out of town.

Mine is pretty old & every once in a while I need to restart it. It should not reboot that often. Make sure it's checking for updates every day or so & it's actually updating. It will check on it's own , usually in the middle of the night. In the settings menu, it will show you the last time it checked & the last time it actually updated. I have been considering a new 1, but since I got a new wireless router, it's been better.

[Sidecarbill]

Mdo thanks for the response. I went in and checked, it is up to date far as I can tell. This roku box is old. They constantly send me their deals for a newer device. I think about updating to something newer but I don't know. If your old ford was a piece of crap why would you by a new one? Now if they could be honest and say your old roku will never be capable of live sreaming it was'nt designed for that I may reconsider.

[bikerbillone]

Got so fed up with provider price gouging and liberal 'fake news', I cut the chord, my only source now is internet and Fire Stick, that's quite enough. I'm done and I sleep just fine. I apparently posted this before, so if it's redundant, just disregard and move on with your day.

[Ozarkryder]

We went the other way. I am retiring the last of May, and most of our time will be spent on the road in our toy hauler. We got Dish with a Hopper and a wireless Joey, will probably get another Joey for the 3rd TV in the rig, or maybe just leave the smart TV in the bedroom over-the-air and wi-fi. Internet in RV parks is notoriously slow, and the Dish is much less than we would pay for enough internet through a phone provider to stream shows and movies we want to watch. The shows both Gloria and I watch are almost exclusively non-network, and if we quit the satellite the reception would be iffy at best unless we only watched when nobody else in the park was on the internet, i.e. in the overnight hours.

The last time we were at a park I tried YouTube - 1080 and 720 buffered too much to watch, and a 4 minute music video took almost 30 minutes to download. 360, once in a while 480, was the best I could get in the middle of the afternoon, it went to 240 after suppertime, I suppose everyone and their mother was trying to run internet then.

[MDO]

Mdo thanks for the response. I went in and checked, it is up to date far as I can tell. This roku box is old. They constantly send me their deals for a newer device. I think about updating to something newer but I don't know. If your old ford was a piece of crap why would you by a new one? Now if they could be honest and say your old roku will never be capable of live sreaming it was'nt designed for that I may reconsider.

Don't get me wrong, my old 1 works very well. I was actually shocked that the new all-in-one router/wireless modem from AT&T made it work a lot better.

If all else fails, try this Roku troubleshooting video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLQ7wOb-Os

How old is yours & what model is it? You could also try contacting them (Roku), give them the model #. Mine is a model #2500, probably about 5 years old.

[bikerbillone]

I sincerely hope you have a better experience with Dish than I did. It was so bad, when I called I could not understand the offshore guy, and he could not understand me, would not give me an English speaking person....I canceled a week after the install and it cost me dearly, but it was a night mare and worth the penalty to be done with them and that's saying a lot.

[bluewinger2000]

when I was down in Florida this last Jan. I met a person that was selling a product called ghost TV which hooks up to your TV and uses the internet to stream tv your internet speeds need to be around 15 mgb s if i remember right ,mine is at 28 so i am lucky . it streams more channels then i will ever watch from Live sports all over the world . News stations also from all over the world the latest movies seriously you name it and its probably on there . i can take it any where there is wireless internet and use it . the name of this device is called Ghost TV i paid one fee of $165.00 and i pay no more altho he offers a service plane for 20 a month which i oped out. I am vary pleased . I have no affiliation with this company except i am a happy camper. Also for those that do not like watching fake news get this and you can watch some more fake news from Russia / France/ and China, all in english .