Cut the Cord.. finally.

My main TV is a smart TV. I can stream YouTube, Hulu (if I had it), Netflix (use a buddy's account currently), etc... directly on it using the apps that came with the TV. I haven't looked to see if there is an OTA app or something similar yet though. I can't remember if the other two have any apps or are even WiFi capable so I'd need some sort of receiver for them, if they even make them. Otherwise I guess I'd have to either upgrade those TV's or just hard-wire them in.

 

The benefit of wired is your TVs’ built-in ATSC tuner scans the channels once during setup, you save what you want locking them in, and you change channels as you would normally with your remote.

I’m personally not running an HDhomerun so I can’t tell you if it’s cumbersome or has issues on a tablet, nevermind if it’s possible on a TV, because it’s a wireless setup, dependent on your home’s Wi-Fi network coverage, and the user friendliness of the app how it works what not.

I can say even though we have OTA antennas, most of our family still mainly consume online streams because it’s on demand, you pick what you want. With OTA, you’re stuck with whatever they broadcast. We have 2 smart TVs, the other TVs have Android boxes to make them smart.

Off to bed, but glad to help later.

Cheers!

 

I've got basic channels 2-13, Netflix, and Hulu. I don't miss cable at all! Actually, YouTube is what I watch most of the time.

 

Agreed. I have local channels only for the 10min of news and weather and we have Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime for movies. Actually thinking about getting rid of Netflix, but I'm hoping they come back with another killer series like Longmire. Regular TV is just commercials briefly interrupted by program.

 

I wish I knew how the house was wired for cable. I'm assuming that if any endpoint in the house is being used that I could hook up a multimeter and if I get continuity, then at least I know a device is hooked up somewhere? Does that follow?

 

Did it years ago, but with the segmentation of programming... Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO Go, and now Disney I don't think it's any cheaper if you want them all

 

That's what I'm still working out TBH. I typically watch a lot of various cable news channels as well as CSPAN, Comedy Central (South Park), and Discovery/History, so I'm trying to figure out how to get those w/o having to pay for them, or at least w/o having to pay to stream them all separately.

 

Have a peak at the cabling that’s coming in the house. How many and figure out what is currently feeding your main TV splitter.

 

I've been cable free for about 8 years. I subscribe to 3Mb/3Mb Fios for about $40 and stream Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube primarily. The only thing I miss is baseball games, but I just listen on the radio now. Whenever I am visiting somewhere with cable I get refreshed on what I'm missing, which is nothing. Just Garbage.

 

I was with Dish for a while, so I know that's running in to the house. I'm not sure what the previous owner had or where the main splitter would be though. I'm assuming somewhere up in the attic?

 

Haven’t had cable in 4 years and I don’t miss it. I had an antenna installed in my attic and all local channels are crystal clear.

 

Ah, I see. Hard to say, depends how it was all tunneled at the beginning. Ground cable, the splitter is usually in the basement. Satellite splitter maybe the attic.

 

Basements are all but non-existent here so I'll rummage around in the attic this weekend to see if I can figure out what's going on w/the cabling. I haven't found cables/connectors in any of the closets.

 

Jason, this looks like a good resource too based on your location:
https://www.solidsignal.com/m/t.aspx?Tag=cut-the-cord-oklahoma-city

 

Thanks! Actually, I'm not sure that I need to go the antenna route now. I'm looking at YouTubeTV, Fubo and a couple of other streaming services that have the local channels included in their package.

 

check directv now too. It works as an app on your roku, apple tv, fire tv etc.. no need to get any Dish. Has different packages. I have the basic package / HBO for $25 a month and I get all I want. they also sent me a free ROKU when I signed up.
I was setup online in less than 10 minutes.

 

Hey all,
I've cut the cord for some time now and it was the best thing I ever did. I'm using the following.
An OTA (Mohu Sky 60), for all my HD channel.
Using Fios as my internet provider, up to 1 Gig speeds. ($60 a month) Cable couldn't cut it, I'm on tail end of my cable run.
I use Plex media on a server I built to stream all movies and shows collections. Plex also allows of OTA recordings. So it eliminated HD Homerun and my other dvr's.
Most of my TV's are smart enabled or use it in conjunction with Nvidea shield devices.
All my TV's and and computers are hardwired in using mixture of cat5e and cat6 cabling. So I don't get any lag.
Also when I ran new cabling and my walls were open I ran conduit to each location in case of future upgrades.

Now looking to upgrade the media room...lol.

 

That's quite the setup. Gigabit internet isn't available where I live yet, so I'm stuck with cable unfortunately. Think I'll go out to Best Buy tonight and snag a Roku Ultra to try out a few services and see how it goes.

 

Sas

Jason, your perfectly fine with cable service.
It really depends on where you end up being on the line of service.

I would suggest the following, talk with your cable provider and see if they offer a internet only package. It should be based on a month to month contract, meaning no annual contract. I would get the highest tier you can afford. Keep in mind, even though I have a Gig of service, no internet provider will guarantee a gig. They based it on speeds up too a gig. So it definitely varies. I would look on your cable providers website and buy your own modem/router. On their site they will have approved and tested routers that will work with their service. You can buy that from anywhere, if you need help chime in here and can help you on that.

Next you need to decide how your going get your internet signal out. Like I mentioned I'm mostly hardwired and I'm running wireless as well. My vacation home, I'm on cable service, and ran a no annual contract. My own router/modem and wireless router. Again if you need help here just ask away.

Over the air antenna's, is really customer preference. I would check to see what available in your area. Just google ota hd channels, using your zipcode, you should get an pretty accurate ideal whats available. I went with a Mohu Sky 60, it what I thought worked best. Look around you can find them on sale.

As for streaming boxes, you can choose from a variety of brands, such as Amazon fire stick, Kodi, Roku, and Nvidia Shield. Since I owned most of these, I say my favorite has been the Nvidia Shield, only because of simplicity of using it. Amazon prime will usually have these in their Lightening deals and your able to snag one of these at a really good price. Also if you have a Best Buy in your area or another electronics store most will price match.

Of course any questions please ask.

 

I tested out the Roku Ultra over the weekend using HULU on a 100Mbps cable connection. There were a few times when the line got really busy that it took 5-6s for a channel to load, but for the most part everything loaded within a second or two. There is a fiber company that has been installing a fiber ring in the area for the past year or so, so I've been waiting on them to offer service to our neighborhood so I can jump on with them. But for now the 100Mbps will be fine. I'll probably upgrade from the wireless 802.11b/g/n cable modem+router I currently have to an AX (WiFi 6) version at that point as well. It looks like I won't need to worry about an antenna either as HULU has all of my local news channels.

 

Been off cable a year. YouTube premium, Netflix.
1Gbps Comcast = 400mbps wired.
130.00 No taxes.No contract.
Would have been 80$ but over Comcast 1 terabyte cap. Avg 1.3 tb per month. So extra for unlimited

 

<sigh>
PS Vue is shutting down the end of January.
I've been with them since just about their beginning, and I've been about 95% satisfied.
Now to research a replacement. dammit.

 

Finally had to upgrade my cable modem + router. After 6+ years it was having to get reset nearly daily and the VOIP quality had degraded quite a bit. Tthe streaming services on the Roku (Hulu, Pluto, Tubi, etc) haven't had an issue since. Glad I finally cut the cord.

 

Did you buy your own router? or are you paying it through the cable provider?

 

My wife and I went full cord cut for 6 months. Both had unlimited plans and just hotspotted our phones to our firestick. Only once during football season did I run out to the grocery store with my phone forgetting I was hotspotting. You would have thought the world was coming to an end by the influx of texts I received. Bit the bullet and got internet after my mom came out to visit and complained the whole time. Now we have prime, netflix and use a HDHomeRun to get our antenna to all our tv's wirelessly. Works pretty slick. And we bought our router.

 

I always buy my own.

 

I tried it and it sucked.

I like the DVR that I get for 10.00 a month and i can record shows.

I pay for Hulu and Netflix because a friend that doesn't make that much money cant afford it so I let her use my account that I never use.

Kind of a secret charity.

I like cable and like that I can record and fast forward shows.
I just got used to it.

Summer i have it taken out for 4 months because we dont use a tv all that much and there is nothing on any way

 

My brother has youtube tv and LOVES it. you can access any tv show played within the last month [cloud storage]. He watches sports on it too.