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Cutting the Cord - Is There Life After Cable TV?


Ericandblueboy

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I don't like paying for cable but I still love to watch cable channel contents such as Bravo, MSNBC, FS1 & 2, BeIN Sports, etc.  More importantly, I like to record my program and watch it later, sometimes from a foreign country (I use a VPN to get around location services).

From my own research, there's no one provider (other than a large cable company) that fits my needs.  Sling TV has all the channels I want but no DVR feature yet.  Sony has a DVR service but generally doesn't allow you to watch outside of your home?

Has anyone else cut the cord and can recommend a set-up?

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We cut out a while back, as the only things we watch consistently are baseball and HBO.  We use either an Apple TV or Roku box depending on the room.  For the specific services, we use MLB, Sling TV, HBO Now, Amazon, and Netflix.  Unlocator is useful for MLB blackout issues, though I have found it is MUCH easier to set that up with Apple TV than with Roku.  The lack of DVR capability on Roku is annoying, though it sounds like they will soon allow recording: link

 

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On 12/1/2016 at 4:44 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

I don't like paying for cable but I still love to watch cable channel contents such as Bravo, MSNBC, FS1 & 2, BeIN Sports, etc.  More importantly, I like to record my program and watch it later, sometimes from a foreign country (I use a VPN to get around location services).

From my own research, there's no one provider (other than a large cable company) that fits my needs.  Sling TV has all the channels I want but no DVR feature yet.  Sony has a DVR service but generally doesn't allow you to watch outside of your home?

Has anyone else cut the cord and can recommend a set-up?

For whatever it's worth, I've never had cable, but I only started watching TV in recent years, and even then it has been very focused. The internet handles all my needs except certain movies and sporting events - if a spouse or family member subscribes to a service, you can kind-of, sort-of share accounts, and that way you have access to multiple things. I find myself watching an equal amount of Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and occasionally AMC; for sporting events, ESPN generally requires you to enter a provider name - I generally use Comcast XFINITY.

I know this didn't help much, but the upshot is that I've never had a cord to cut.

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Not sure of Matt's exact set up, since he does software stuff, we never have a normal set-up, but we use Apple TV with Plex, HBO, Hulu (not our account), Amazon, Netflix and I got the PBS passport (which is great because it's fully tax deductible) and a bunch of other apps that are free.  We just cut our Comcast Infinity services a couple months ago, but had been thinking about it for a while. 

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On 3/6/2017 at 3:00 PM, ktmoomau said:

Not sure of Matt's exact set up, since he does software stuff, we never have a normal set-up, but we use Apple TV with Plex, HBO, Hulu (not our account), Amazon, Netflix and I got the PBS passport (which is great because it's fully tax deductible) and a bunch of other apps that are free.  We just cut our Comcast Infinity services a couple months ago, but had been thinking about it for a while. 

But how do you get the Internet signal into your home? I could drop cable TV, but I'd still need Comcast's cable to connect to the Internet, or the Xfinity WiFi hotspot in the building next door that requires that I have a Comcast subscription to use it. (I hear Fios is finally coming to my neighborhood, but I hate Verizon every bit as much as I hate Comcast.)

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1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

You still need internet service.  There's satellite internet if you hate cable companies (which I do, but Fios internet is reliable).

Correct, we still have internet service, but dropping cable (even with all the apps we subscribe to) was a large savings for us.

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I've considered cutting a few times, but I watch way too much live sports (specifically, soccer) to have a practical way around cable.

Other than low quality, inconsistent, illegal feeds, I don't know how to get my FS1, BeIN, ESPN, Comcast Sportsnet, etc. without subscribing to Comcast.

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Yeah, I am not a huge TV person, I watch more TV when Hubby is home then I ever do when he is not.  And we really rarely watch live sports.  (We watched the superbowl, which we picked up over the air.) I could probably have even fewer subscriptions if it was just me.  It's nice because we also have my Mom's second home on Apple TV with our accounts so we can use it up there, and she uses Netflix from time to time, but she doesn't have to pay for things she doesn't need at times she is not up there.

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3 hours ago, DanielK said:

I've considered cutting a few times, but I watch way too much live sports (specifically, soccer) to have a practical way around cable.

Other than low quality, inconsistent, illegal feeds, I don't know how to get my FS1, BeIN, ESPN, Comcast Sportsnet, etc. without subscribing to Comcast.

You can get pretty much all the sports channels as add on packages.  Basically what you're not paying for is the rent on those damn boxes.  All the programs should be stored in the cloud, and you access everything via phone/tablet.  Sling TV has lots of sports but no cloud based DVR.  I'm hoping Google has local TV, sports channels, and cloud DVR.

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Sling, with taxes and the channels I want, is $90/month. But I wouldn't get ABC, CBS, PBS, CW, Showtime - stations I watch. I'd still need internet service - call it $60/mo after taxes/fees. Then I'd have to pay for VOIP service. Maybe $10/mo. That's about $160/mo. My Comcast X1 bill, after taxes/fees, including internet, phone, whole-house DVR (and some cloud capabilities) and a gazillion more channels (some of which I watch) than Sling is $200. Not a huge savings for a lot of functionality loss.

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8 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

(Insert Millennial joke about you having a phone line here.)

I get my VOIP through Comcast currently; I'd have to get it separately if I dropped my package.

Not yet willing to give up the phone number I've had for 25 years. Friends only have my mobile number, but schools, utilities, etc. all have my "home" number.

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Plex might do this, let me ask MK.  I know it saves everything in the cloud- as we can watch anything we want on it on our ipads, in GC, at home.  But I am not sure how the DVR really truly works, MK would know.

19 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

You can get pretty much all the sports channels as add on packages.  Basically what you're not paying for is the rent on those damn boxes.  All the programs should be stored in the cloud, and you access everything via phone/tablet.  Sling TV has lots of sports but no cloud based DVR.  I'm hoping Google has local TV, sports channels, and cloud DVR.

 

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I think the good thing with the streaming services is you can pay month-to-month. So if you want to binge the hell out of a show or two, or a sporting event, pay for a month, watch the show(s), and then drop the service.  And since most of them are $5.99 or $6.99 for a month, it's cheaper than a beer.

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