Cord Cutting advice

[snoodmonger]

Who has done it? What are the services that are good? What are the drawbacks. I'm paying $200/month for cable, and that feels insane. Convince me to do it. Or convince me to stay w/ cable if that's the best thing.

[SouthSideRyan]

+1

[Sammy Sofa]

I did it about a year ago and it's great. I use a Roku now, and that plus the streaming services I have are more than enough.

Now, the big caveat here is that I mooch-share with friends and family; people who still have cable let me use their cable logons to access things like the Adult Swim or Comedy Central or FX or HBO or MLB, etc., etc. apps and watch their programming libraries. I pay for Hulu and Netflix, and let the folks who let me use their cable info, so I'm not a "pure" cord cutter. I'd definitely suggest figuring out something along those lines, especially since most cable providers don't have a screen limit like Hulu or Netflix.

BUT...I did have the Roku for a good 6 months before I got the cable info, and Hulu, Prime, Netflix and antenna TV, plus the growing abundance of free streaming channel services like Pluto, Tubi and the Roku Channel all offer WAY more than enough content options.

And, hell, if you miss cable, there's so many a la carte services now that let you get, like, 25-50 main channels (sports included) for way, way less than a typical cable package.

[Thurman Merman]

We are just about to cut, and we're going to go with the Netflix, hulu live, Disney plus, and antenna route. No clue how it'll work out, but after Comcast randomly deleting 75 percent of my recordings during their last update, I don't really care.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My suggestion:

- Think about how you watch TV now. Do you default to it to find something on? If you do, is that just because it's the default or do you enjoy that ritual? Do you watch most things live, or are you a huge DVR user? Do you find yourself watching a huge number of channels or only a few? This is increasingly not a big issue, but what do you want to watch on, a smart TV? A Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV/other?

- Go to https://suppose.tv and play around with different combinations of channels, optimize for price/channels, etc. Get a sense for the options.

- Pick one and try it out. There's no contracts for any of these(although some make you prepay for a couple months to get any giveaways like a Roku/Apple TV), so you can try several and get a sense for what actually works well for your usage.


Personally, I've had YouTube TV for just over a year and it's worked great, it has all the channels I would reasonably want to have, it has the most generous DVR, it's easy to add shows to your library and binge watch later, and it's been super reliable. It just raised prices so there are cheaper options, but from what I read you're getting less for your money in some way with the alternatives(channels, DVR, reliability), so it's a good option for a lot of use cases. I use it on a Roku TV and on my phone/tablet without issue. You can have separate google accounts added to the account for separate DVR libraries/preferences too(although the apps don't make switching super easy like Netflix). My parents switched to DirecTV Now last fall(also on a bunch of Rokus) and they haven't had any big problems.

[Brian707]

I cut the cord in January 2018, I had to do a lot of convincing to the wife but she is now on board. We went with PSVUE manly because of the DVR capabilities. We have the premium package that's like $80 and includes HBO and Showtime. We don't have channels like History or WGN but it is half what we were paying before. Can have up to 5 devices streaming at once, I have one ROKU and 3 fire sticks. I just like the fact that I can cancel at anytime and switch to something else if need be, but we are pretty happy with it.

I went to AZ and used it there too, local channels were switched from Chicago to Phoenix but everything else remained the same.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Who has done it? What are the services that are good? What are the drawbacks. I'm paying $200/month for cable, and that feels insane. Convince me to do it. Or convince me to stay w/ cable if that's the best thing.

Yes, 200 a month is indeed insane. There are a multitude of streaming options that give something similar to the cable experience. Youtube TV, Sling, Playstation Vue, Direct TV Now are all pretty similar, IMO. The good news is, pretty much all of them have month long, or two week long free trials, so you can give them all a test run for free and see how you feel about them. The only thing you'll need to get going is some kind of streaming box. Roku works with just about everything and has different price points depending on if you want all of the 4K/HDR bells and whistles. Apple TVs are nice but kinda expensive. Amazon Fire and NVIDIA Sheild are other options. Many of the above cable alternatives offer deals where they give you a free streaming box for using them for a month or three. And Netflix and Hulu and HBONOW don't cost much and can suppliment anything else you might want to watch. If you are paying 200 a month I think its a nobrainer. You could get a souped-up, all the topings cable stream, Netflix, Hulu, and HBONOW for 120 bucks...and that is a LOT of content. Overkill for me. I mostly just do over-the-air antenna (with a DVR that strips off commercials that I set up) a free cableish thing called Pluto TV, and netflix, and then I dip into a month-at-a-time of any of the other stuff above when I want something different.

Anyways, here are a few decent videos to explain the options and prices involved for streaming media options and streaming boxes, respectively, but visiting the sites is the best way to get a feel for what channels you are getting or want:

[Banedon]

I'm doing it after the Cubs season is over. I'm counting on the new channel being available for streaming...if not, I'll find other ways of seeing the Cubs, but we watch so much streaming now, it just makes too much sense.

There are an abundance of streaming live tv options out there if you need that...SlingTV, Hulu with Live TV, Playstation Vue, Directv Now, Youtube TV....And it really just depends on the channels you need, the broadcasters that they have made deals with, and the prices as to which one is right for you. (Playstation Vue is probably the one I'm going to go for, but I'll be continuing to do my research between now and then.)

There's a nice comparison of channels here... https://clark.com/technology/tvsatellit ... el-lineup/

[SouthSideRyan]

How intuitive is the live TV viewing, I.e vs guide for standard cable

[entbird79]

Who has done it? What are the services that are good? What are the drawbacks. I'm paying $200/month for cable, and that feels insane. Convince me to do it. Or convince me to stay w/ cable if that's the best thing.

I haven't had cable/satellite for over 5 years and it's great! I also used to mooch off from friends/family for logins but I don't even do much of that anymore. I don't even have a DVR set up, I feel like I'm an old person (I am) with having to tune in at certain times on network TV but that's usually only for my kids. We have Netflix, which is also mostly for the kids.

The options are out there to get what you want and if you live near a city you can get a lot of channels over the air. We found that we were mostly having the TV on for background noise while working on other things so it didn't matter as much what the content was.

It works great for us but we're definitely not the type that sit in front of the TV for hours each night.

[Derwood]

I've considered doing this, but I just don't see it happening. My wife is way too much of a "flip through the guide and watch whatever" viewer, and neither of us binges anything. We subscribe to DirecTV but zero streaming services (I think we're the only people on earth who don't have Netflix)

[Transmogrified Tiger]

How intuitive is the live TV viewing, I.e vs guide for standard cable

Most of them have a guide view that's very similar. YouTube TV always defaults to a 'home' tab where they make recommendations at you by category(and for me, many times it's the sporting event I opened the app to watch), but you're just one button away from a guide view that shows what's on now and what's next. Plus I can change the order of the guide so I don't have to skip past the 40 channels I never watch to see what's on with the one I do. DirecTV Now has a similar level of customization.

[entbird79]

How intuitive is the live TV viewing, I.e vs guide for standard cable

My TV, a TLC low grade model with integrated ROKU, has a live TV guide built into it.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

My suggestion:

- Think about how you watch TV now. Do you default to it to find something on? If you do, is that just because it's the default or do you enjoy that ritual? Do you watch most things live, or are you a huge DVR user? Do you find yourself watching a huge number of channels or only a few? This is increasingly not a big issue, but what do you want to watch on, a smart TV? A Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV/other?

- Go to https://suppose.tv and play around with different combinations of channels, optimize for price/channels, etc. Get a sense for the options.

- Pick one and try it out. There's no contracts for any of these(although some make you prepay for a couple months to get any giveaways like a Roku/Apple TV), so you can try several and get a sense for what actually works well for your usage.


Personally, I've had YouTube TV for just over a year and it's worked great, it has all the channels I would reasonably want to have, it has the most generous DVR, it's easy to add shows to your library and binge watch later, and it's been super reliable. It just raised prices so there are cheaper options, but from what I read you're getting less for your money in some way with the alternatives(channels, DVR, reliability), so it's a good option for a lot of use cases. I use it on a Roku TV and on my phone/tablet without issue. You can have separate google accounts added to the account for separate DVR libraries/preferences too(although the apps don't make switching super easy like Netflix). My parents switched to DirecTV Now last fall(also on a bunch of Rokus) and they haven't had any big problems.

That suppose.tv site is amazing.

[soccer10k]

Who has done it? What are the services that are good? What are the drawbacks. I'm paying $200/month for cable, and that feels insane. Convince me to do it. Or convince me to stay w/ cable if that's the best thing.

Do you get every channel? Just curious as to why it’s so expensive. I think ours is around $80 with taxes and fees included. I get most of the sports channels but don’t have any of the premiums like HBO or Showtime.

At the very least, go through which channels you subscribe to and see which ones you can cut out. Then call whichever provider you have and go right to the cancel service option to see if they’ll offer you a deal. Tell them cost is the reason and that you’re not looking for more stuff but want to save money. I have Dish and I usually just have to agree to keep service for a year or two and they knock a bunch of money off the bill.

[squally1313]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

[Banedon]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I was lucky enough that we had a fiber internet company open up shop in town in the last few years and I was able to get MUCH higher speeds for the same or less money than I was paying Comcast. I know a lot of folks are stuck with Comcast as the only option though, and that sucks hard. I did have the for my internet and directv for my tv for quite a while though. Not sure it saved me money, but I felt good knowing I was giving Comcast less money.

[entbird79]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I pay $45 a month but I'm in crappy rural Iowa so that might not be a good comparison. What speeds do you need to have? I can stream everything without issue and I probably have slower internet than 95% of people on here.

[squally1313]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I was lucky enough that we had a fiber internet company open up shop in town in the last few years and I was able to get MUCH higher speeds for the same or less money than I was paying Comcast. I know a lot of folks are stuck with Comcast as the only option though, and that sucks hard. I did have the for my internet and directv for my tv for quite a while though. Not sure it saved me money, but I felt good knowing I was giving Comcast less money.

Yeah we're in downtown Chicago, so I'm guessing I'm not locked in, especially living in a neighborhood (Bucktown) that I'm guessing has a large amount of people without cable. I've done some half assed research but really I just want someone to tell me which company to call to get fast, reliable internet (and what it costs), and then I can figure out the streaming services from there.

[Banedon]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I was lucky enough that we had a fiber internet company open up shop in town in the last few years and I was able to get MUCH higher speeds for the same or less money than I was paying Comcast. I know a lot of folks are stuck with Comcast as the only option though, and that sucks hard. I did have the for my internet and directv for my tv for quite a while though. Not sure it saved me money, but I felt good knowing I was giving Comcast less money.

Yeah we're in downtown Chicago, so I'm guessing I'm not locked in, especially living in a neighborhood (Bucktown) that I'm guessing has a large amount of people without cable. I've done some half assed research but really I just want someone to tell me which company to call to get fast, reliable internet (and what it costs), and then I can figure out the streaming services from there.

Ah, yeah...too many ISP options is not something I've had to deal with downstate.

[Sammy Sofa]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I pay $45 a month but I'm in crappy rural Iowa so that might not be a good comparison. What speeds do you need to have? I can stream everything without issue and I probably have slower internet than 95% of people on here.

I pay $45, too. It's Verizon for 50 MB/s service. I bought my own modem/router, so that cost is minus any equipment rentals, but to expand on the original question, Verizon was also providing my cable when I dropped it. It was very easy to simply switch from a triple play-style bundle to just internet.

[Sammy Sofa]

So I somehow pay more than $200, but it's for cable and internet, and it's the second part (in addition to overwhelming laziness) that has always stopped me from actually doing anything about it. I've always just had Comcast provide both in a package set. How easy is it to just get internet (at similar speeds to what I'm getting now)? How much are you guys paying for internet service on top of your cord cutting options?

I was lucky enough that we had a fiber internet company open up shop in town in the last few years and I was able to get MUCH higher speeds for the same or less money than I was paying Comcast. I know a lot of folks are stuck with Comcast as the only option though, and that sucks hard. I did have the for my internet and directv for my tv for quite a while though. Not sure it saved me money, but I felt good knowing I was giving Comcast less money.

Yeah we're in downtown Chicago, so I'm guessing I'm not locked in, especially living in a neighborhood (Bucktown) that I'm guessing has a large amount of people without cable. I've done some half assed research but really I just want someone to tell me which company to call to get fast, reliable internet (and what it costs), and then I can figure out the streaming services from there.

I think the only options in Chicago are RCN, Comcast and AT&T for cable, yes? I had Comcast when I lived there, and it was fine, internet-wise. Definitely would suggest getting your own modem/router instead of using their equipment.

[Banedon]

I was lucky enough that we had a fiber internet company open up shop in town in the last few years and I was able to get MUCH higher speeds for the same or less money than I was paying Comcast. I know a lot of folks are stuck with Comcast as the only option though, and that sucks hard. I did have the for my internet and directv for my tv for quite a while though. Not sure it saved me money, but I felt good knowing I was giving Comcast less money.

Yeah we're in downtown Chicago, so I'm guessing I'm not locked in, especially living in a neighborhood (Bucktown) that I'm guessing has a large amount of people without cable. I've done some half assed research but really I just want someone to tell me which company to call to get fast, reliable internet (and what it costs), and then I can figure out the streaming services from there.

I think the only options in Chicago are RCN, Comcast and AT&T for cable, yes? I had Comcast when I lived there, and it was fine, internet-wise. Definitely would suggest getting your own modem/router instead of using their equipment.

Are there not any fiber options there?

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah we're in downtown Chicago, so I'm guessing I'm not locked in, especially living in a neighborhood (Bucktown) that I'm guessing has a large amount of people without cable. I've done some half assed research but really I just want someone to tell me which company to call to get fast, reliable internet (and what it costs), and then I can figure out the streaming services from there.

I think the only options in Chicago are RCN, Comcast and AT&T for cable, yes? I had Comcast when I lived there, and it was fine, internet-wise. Definitely would suggest getting your own modem/router instead of using their equipment.

Are there not any fiber options there?

I know someone who has AT&T fiber, and apparently it only is available to, like, 20% of the city, tops. I think that's the only option for that.

[snoodmonger]

Who has done it? What are the services that are good? What are the drawbacks. I'm paying $200/month for cable, and that feels insane. Convince me to do it. Or convince me to stay w/ cable if that's the best thing.

Do you get every channel? Just curious as to why it’s so expensive. I think ours is around $80 with taxes and fees included. I get most of the sports channels but don’t have any of the premiums like HBO or Showtime.

That's the cost of the entire internet/cable/phone bundle. And I still don't know why it's so expensive. We have one of the faster internets they offer, and we do have an upper tier cable package.