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Cutting the Cable Umbilical Cord (Finally :))

R

RWinOR

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2010
269
0
Greenest and wettest place in North America
My family has just freed ourselves from the Large Cable TV Bill. It feels so refreshing, and leaves my wallet a little fuller.

We bought a small indoor HD leaf antenna from Mohu that can be hidden behind a picture. That gets us all the live TV we need. The rest of the time we are on Netflix, streaming video from our own servers, or if there is something we really want to watch streaming video from the Net.

Has anyone had experience with this antenna? I should be receiving mine by tomorrow.
 
i dont see a need to cut any cord. I get super fast verizon fios tv, internet, and phone for less then $90 a month.
 
Doc750 said:
i dont see a need to cut any cord. I get super fast verizon fios tv, internet, and phone for less then $90 a month.
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Not doubting that you get this great deal, but can you expound on how it is that you pay so little for all three services?

Obviously the provider(s) that one has available plays into this. For comparison, with DirecTV and AT&T, the absolute lowest total rate I could ever garner for all three services (TV w full HD package but no movie channels and an HDDVR, 6Mb/s internet or faster, and unlimited telephone) was around $130 including taxes and fees. And getting that rate took many phone calls and begging for things or threatening to leave. Even still I couldn't hold on to that low total forever.
 
I would love to cut the cord but the problem with Comcast in our area is that if you get rid of cable TV service our internet fees jump up so high (because you loose the bundled discount) that its not even worth it.
 
Doc750 said:
the promo period ended last yr, and I signed up for a new one.
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You are explaining very little here. What is the promotion you have been getting? Does the price you are quoting include all fees and taxes? How were you able to "sign up" for the promotion again?

As I wrote, I'm not doubting you have the deal, but some explanation is helpful; otherwise your original comment about why you personally don't "need" to cut the cord just seems a bit snarky.
 
jmcrutch said:
You are explaining very little here. What is the promotion you have been getting? Does the price you are quoting include all fees and taxes? How were you able to "sign up" for the promotion again?

As I wrote, I'm not doubting you have the deal, but some explanation is helpful; otherwise your original comment about why you personally don't "need" to cut the cord just seems a bit snarky.
Click to expand...

I'm not being snarky at all. I just don't see the cost/value benefit for cutting the cable at this time.

here's the link for their current promo for $85


when my promo period ended last year, I called them up and told them to cancel it b/c I'm switching to comcast, they then offered to extend it for another year.
 
Doc750 said:
I'm not being snarky at all. I just don't see the cost/value benefit for cutting the cable at this time.

here's the link for their current promo for $85


when my promo period ended last year, I called them up and told them to cancel it b/c I'm switching to comcast, they then offered to extend it for another year.
Click to expand...

In a dense population, like those that offer a number of cable services, it works. However, most locations only offer one or the other, and the cables company(s) know that. Where I'm at, only Comcast is available so there's no competition or options. I have seen FiOS at a relatives house [outside of the state I live in], and I wasn't too impressed to be honest. Internet was ok, TV was horrible. I'm sure it's all based on opinion, location, etc. Regardless, even if we went with an antenna, we'd still need Internet for all the other, so we'd still be locked in. Not sure it's worth the effort...
 
not to hijack the thread, but i was on a fios plan for the 1st 2 years and after 6 months it got really expensive, at the end of the 2 years I called to drop all of my movie channels and several cable boxes after getting my ATV2's, and they gave me an even better deal for 129.00 for 35/35 internet, xtreme HD, showtime/tmc/epix, and phone. this one is good for the entire 2 years, not just the 1st 6 months.

at my house, I have a choice of 3 providers, before you throw in directv and dish network, so I think I will always get a good deal on my cable/internet.

I dont think I could ever cut the cable, but cutting back on it felt nice.
 
hardax said:
I would love to cut the cord but the problem with Comcast in our area is that if you get rid of cable TV service our internet fees jump up so high (because you loose the bundled discount) that its not even worth it.
Click to expand...

I can agree with you on the cost. We dropped Comcast tv service about a year ago. I went from paying around $110 a month to around $70 for just internet. I travel for work almost every week and my wife watches very little tv, so we don't miss much. EyeTV and ESPN3 via Plex gives me just about everything I care about watching. Doing a free trial for Netflix now, but I don't think we really watch enough to justify paying for it. I used to torrent some items, but don't feel the need any more.
 
Doc750 said:
I'm not being snarky at all. I just don't see the cost/value benefit for cutting the cable at this time.

here's the link for their current promo for $85


when my promo period ended last year, I called them up and told them to cancel it b/c I'm switching to comcast, they then offered to extend it for another year.
Click to expand...

Well, that's certainly legit. The Promo I saw, however is "$89.99 plus taxes and fees" which I will assume means the end result is at least $95.

That said, many people have already cut the phone cord, so the way they look at it, it's what's the cost of internet + cable/sat versus cost of internet only. Verizon's Double Play runs around $80 plus taxes and fees after the 6 month promotion. Typically, if a customer decides to "cut the cord" they are going to save about 40% of the cost of a "double play" like the above. Assuming they can get free OTA TV, then should they choose to drop cable, they can potentially save around $500/year at a minimum, maybe more, depending on the particular location's circumstances. To some this is nothing, and they'd rather have access to all their channels. To others, the $500 is better spent elsewhere.

The same logic applied to people deciding to cut their home phone cord, and people have done it in droves. Yet there are plenty of people who'll gladly pay $40/month just to have that phone on the wall.
 
jmcrutch said:
Well, that's certainly legit. The Promo I saw, however is "$89.99 plus taxes and fees" which I will assume means the end result is at least $95.

That said, many people have already cut the phone cord, so the way they look at it, it's what's the cost of internet + cable/sat versus cost of internet only. Verizon's Double Play runs around $80 plus taxes and fees after the 6 month promotion. Typically, if a customer decides to "cut the cord" they are going to save about 40% of the cost of a "double play" like the above. Assuming they can get free OTA TV, then should they choose to drop cable, they can potentially save around $500/year at a minimum, maybe more, depending on the particular location's circumstances. To some this is nothing, and they'd rather have access to all their channels. To others, the $500 is better spent elsewhere.

The same logic applied to people deciding to cut their home phone cord, and people have done it in droves. Yet there are plenty of people who'll gladly pay $40/month just to have that phone on the wall.
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FIOS internet without the package is $55. So for $30 more I get internet, and phone on the wall for landline calls. Which then allowed me to drop my at&t wireless bill to the 700 min plan w/unlimited call mob2mob for free. If I need to call a land line I can do it from my home phone for free.

I also get basic cable channels, and usually 3-6 months of free HBO/Cinemax. I love the idea of netflix, and hulu +, but honestly unless you like watching foreign films, old films, and last years tv shows, it really sucks.

So for me the $30 extra is well worth it.

Tilpots said:
Thanks for sharing. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Dont mention it
 
FIOS internet without the package is $55. So for $30 more I get internet, and phone on the wall for landline calls. Which then allowed me to drop my at&t wireless bill to the 700 min plan w/unlimited call mob2mob for free. If I need to call a land line I can do it from my home phone for free.

I also get basic cable channels, and usually 3-6 months of free HBO/Cinemax. I love the idea of netflix, and hulu +, but honestly unless you like watching foreign films, old films, and last years tv shows, it really sucks.

So for me the $30 extra is well worth it.
Click to expand...


As I said, your situation is legit. If everyone could get that deal, they probably would take it.
 
Our cost with Comcast in the Pacific NW is very expensive. I was paying $90.00 for Digital TV service (NO movie channels) plus $9.00 for the privilege of receiving and watching the HD stations. This was above and beyond the cost of the Cable internet. Yeah thats $100.00 and all we really watched was the local stuff and Netflix. So now I downgraded to Cable modem and Basic/Basic for $10.00 more than the cost of the Cable Internet. Had I just gone with Cable Internet only it would have gone up $15.00. You know basic/basic is the 30 or so analog stuff you never watch anymore. I will not even hook it up to the TV. This saves me $5.00 on my internet only. So I essentially save $90.00/month.

I just received the antenna, and the HD from the antenna is far superior to the HD I was receiving from Comcast. With the antenna, I receive over 32 digital stations, the primary ones the cable company distributes plus all the side band stations the networks picked up for changing from analog to digital.

For today I am an extremely happy camper.
 
^^Congrats! You should be happy. I hope you enjoy the cable free lifestyle. May I be the first in this thread to recommend Plex. It's fantastic!
 
I wish that I could cut the cord; if there was a legal way of reliably receive ESPN, ESPN2, and other live sports channels during college football and college basketball seasons in SD or HD (preferred), I would do it, too. Sure, there are some websites that have lines to games streamed, but to save bandwidth, they only stream in sub SD quality that looks ok only on smartphones, tablets, and small laptops--don't look good at all on a 50" plasma. For the rest of my TV viewing, I usually download from the multitudes of streaming sites or from the antenna in the attic.
 
We cut TV cable almost two years ago. We've got scads of TV to watch on a homemade Sage TV DVR and a pair of Hauppauge 2250 dual digital tuners. Two antennas pointing in different directions give us 18 HD channels.

An Apple TV2 with Netflix $8 month & Apple rentals gives us more to watch than we have time to. Even MLB and NBA (US) can be bought on the ATV2.

Just learning VoIP (PAP2T) and that's bloody amazing too for light to moderate phone users.
 
I can't cancel either. FIOS is $69.99 a month plus another $8 in taxes, fees and cablecard for internet (15/5,) HD Prime TV, and phone which I don't even use.

That price is good for at least another 15 months.

It doesn't make sense to quit for me.
 
Last edited:
hardax said:
I would love to cut the cord but the problem with Comcast in our area is that if you get rid of cable TV service our internet fees jump up so high (because you loose the bundled discount) that its not even worth it.
Click to expand...

What?!? Here the bundled discount is 5% if tv service is bundled. How much is yours?
 
I'm getting 40 mbps fiber from Qwest for $19 a month :3 Then $10 for a landline and $8 for Netflix. Have CAT6 all through the house and have ripped my DVD collection to my desktop PC and can stream it to most devices in the house (iPhone, iPad, PS3). 'tis a thing of beauty.
 
GFLPraxis said:
I'm getting 40 mbps fiber from Qwest for $19 a month :3 Then $10 for a landline and $8 for Netflix. Have CAT6 all through the house and have ripped my DVD collection to my desktop PC and can stream it to most devices in the house (iPhone, iPad, PS3). 'tis a thing of beauty.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are dialed in. I wish I could get those prices. Is your Qwest line a DSL?

I have Comcast High Speed Internet ($45.00) with power boost (Up to 25mbps, $10.00) and modem rental ($7.00) for the combined low price of $62.00. Add the basic/basic ($10.00) and I am sitting at about $75.00.

Netflix has also gone up here, it was $8.00 about two months ago now it is $10.00. My $62.00 internet cost was on top of the $100.00 Digital TV service, and I do not have a land line. We have only cell phones in our home. Hence the whole reason we are dropping the TV side of the service.
 
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