Cutting the cord

[simon1]

No tv aerial is going to be effective if you cannot mount it high enough.
I got great reception from stations 75 miles away, but I used a ten-foot pole on the roof of a two-storey building.

I was thinking about a 20 foot pole or so. That's about the size Dad had when I was a kid, but we were only about 10-15 miles from Tulsa. I'll talk to the electronics shop and maybe a TV repair shop and see what they say.

An antenna is the only option we have here besides satellite. We don't even get County water or natural gas from the utility companies as there are no lines laid here. Propane and well water.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

If it were up to me, would just have a radio, and once a day stop by the library to go online with my tablet.

Yeah, I am that cheap. I mean frugal.

Anyway, I am not in charge.

 

[simon1]

If it were up to me, would just have a radio, and once a day stop by the library to go online with my tablet.

Yeah, I am that cheap. I mean frugal.

Anyway, I am not in charge.

A man after my own heart. SWMBO would not stand for no internet...there are packages from Amazon delivered here several times a week.

When I lived in FL the Internet was slow and always having outages. In one month, we had 15 outages of at least two hours. The cable selection on our package was good and priced right. I moved to AZ and we have very fast Internet, few outages, and the cable package is expensive as is the total package. My next-door neighbor has satellite and although it is cheaper is always giving him grief. Another neighbor has an elaborate setup but you need to be an engineer to configure it. All to save $50 a month.

We are supposed to get up to 12 Mbps with the satellite, but I just did a speed test and download was a blazing 14.75 Mbps and upload was a lightning 1.05 Mbps. Amazing performance. I am being sarcastic if you can't tell.

 

[razorboi]

...We are supposed to get up to 12 Mbps with the satellite, but I just did a speed test and download was a blazing 14.75 Mbps and upload was a lightning 1.05 Mbps. Amazing performance. I am being sarcastic if you can't tell.

Satellite upload speeds are usually much slower, making it a deal-killer for on-line gaming. But that's also true of the lower tiers of cable and high-speed internet connexions, primarily because most ordinary customers have light upload requirements. Those with larger (non-business related) files to transmit, quickly learn to upload the files over-night.

 

[simon1]

Satellite upload speeds are usually much slower, making it a deal-killer for on-line gaming. But that's also true of the lower tiers of cable and high-speed internet connexions, primarily because most ordinary customers have light upload requirements. Those with larger (non-business related) files to transmit, quickly learn to upload the files over-night.

I do okay with the little uploads I do, but the download speed can be a pain. The TV bill is about $90 a month and the internet is about $70 a month. About the only option we have.

 

[davent]

If it were up to me, would just have a radio, and once a day stop by the library to go online with my tablet.

Yeah, I am that cheap. I mean frugal.

Anyway, I am not in charge.

There was a day where i somehow managed without a home computer, an hour here and there on a computer at the library met my internet needs. Watching TV has been a total non-starter for years, i wonder if i could go back to my earlier internet usage, be a good thing for me, unthinkable for my house mates.

Have made it for a few solid days of not using the internet, even managed a few month sabbatical from B&B.
dave

 

[razorboi]

...The TV bill is about $90 a month and the internet is about $70 a month. About the only option we have.

Oh, $160 each month? That is rather dear.
Read books instead!

 

[Earcutter]

Man, if all you had was radio here where I’m at, am or fm, you had better be one repentant, conspiracy loving cowboy or you’ll become one soon! Yikes! And now you know why I have satellite radio!

 

[RSC]

Sherman stations are closest at about 80 miles, and Dallas is 100 miles away. There is an electronics shop where we got our two-way radios for the cars at the P.D. so I might stop by and talk to them. This antenna looks interesting...if it lives up to the hype.

https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-Outdo.../B017JEF126/?tag=10bestlongrangetvantennas-20

80 to 100 miles might be difficult if you're in a wooded area. I get stations 108 and 120 miles away, but I'm at an elevation that helps with curvature of the earth and I had to do quite a bit of investigation and experimenting. I would be very skeptical about the 150 mile claim for this antenna. Tvfool.com might be a good resource to start with. That site will let you run an analysis for your particular location. And the electronics shop sounds like a good idea.

 

[njpaddy]

I've owned a home computer since 1993 and would sooner spend money on better internet service than anything else. Yeah, 99.999% is crap, but I wouldn't be able to fix half the stuff on my car or around the house without it.

If it were up to me (it's not), I'd dump cable tv, Netflix, Acorn, Britbox, landline phone and the cell phone that my wife says I need but never use. Netflix has really gone downhill. After 10+ years of netflix, both dvd and streaming, even my wife wants to dump netflix. The problem with dropping netflix is that she wants Hulu in its place. Oh God, I really don't need to see 130+ episodes of Mom. We both enjoy some shows on Acorn and Britbox, but Brit and Aussie shows only make 8-10 episodes in a season, so it's a long wait in between. I'd save money dropping all steaming and just buying the DVDs I want.

 

[FarmerTan]

I've owned a home computer since 1993 and would sooner spend money on better internet service than anything else. Yeah, 99.999% is crap, but I wouldn't be able to fix half the stuff on my car or around the house without it.

If it were up to me (it's not), I'd dump cable tv, Netflix, Acorn, Britbox, landline phone and the cell phone that my wife says I need but never use. Netflix has really gone downhill. After 10+ years of netflix, both dvd and streaming, even my wife wants to dump netflix. The problem with dropping netflix is that she wants Hulu in its place. Oh God, I really don't need to see 130+ episodes of Mom. We both enjoy some shows on Acorn and Britbox, but Brit and Aussie shows only make 8-10 episodes in a season, so it's a long wait in between. I'd save money dropping all steaming and just buying the DVDs I want.

We could be brothers.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I've officially cut the cord.

This morning I took all the boxes and such associated with cable tv back to Comcast and dropped my cable television service entirely.

I still have Comcast internet and Comcast (landline) phone service. I'm going to look into getting a less expensive telephone setup. I'm also still renting the Comcast modem/router box but I'll be looking into alternatives there, too.

The big issue for me (which kept me with cable until now) has always been college football. What I've done finally is sign up for YouTube Live. I have every college game now + I record every college game. The recording on the YouTube service last for nine months but that will allow a lot of off season college football game watching. So, for football I'm a lot better off with this vs the cable and its limited options for games.

I also signed up for Hulu (without commercials, but not live) because my daughter talked me into it. We've long had and watched Netflix and will continue it. I have Amazon Prime, too, but for the shipping; I seldom watch tv on AP.

Even with all that I'm saying money, but my main issue with Comcast is their lousy service and the lousy and difficult to use remotes and such. Now I can turn on the tv, and do everything I need to do to find what I want to watch with my Roku's remote control which is easy to use and intuitive (unlike Comcast remotes).

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[FarmerTan]

I've officially cut the cord.

This morning I took all the boxes and such associated with cable tv back to Comcast and dropped my cable television service entirely.

I still have Comcast internet and Comcast (landline) phone service. I'm going to look into getting a less expensive telephone setup. I'm also still renting the Comcast modem/router box but I'll be looking into alternatives there, too.

The big issue for me (which kept me with cable until now) has always been college football. What I've done finally is sign up for YouTube Live. I have every college game now + I record every college game. The recording on the YouTube service last for nine months but that will allow a lot of off season college football game watching. So, for football I'm a lot better off with this vs the cable and its limited options for games.

I also signed up for Hulu (without commercials, but not live) because my daughter talked me into it. We've long had and watched Netflix and will continue it. I have Amazon Prime, too, but for the shipping; I seldom watch tv on AP.

Even with all that I'm saying money, but my main issue with Comcast is their lousy service and the lousy and difficult to use remotes and such. Now I can turn on the tv, and do everything I need to do to find what I want to watch with my Roku's remote control which is easy to use and intuitive (unlike Comcast remotes).

Happy shaves,

Jim

Sounds like a good alternative to me.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Thanks. I live in a heavily wooded, hilly area and the closest broadcast stations are 80 to 100 miles away.

I just purchased an antenna That gives me a 200 mile range. Give one a try they are expensive.

 

[Lefonque]

If it were me I would cut out everything except internet. If you are in the USA there must be a better internet option, even if it costs a bit more, and all the other things can be found there.

Australia has pretty poor internet, for a developed country, but I still rely on it for most of my media and information

Totally agree internet is appalling in Oz.

 

[Rhody]

I wonder if anything has changed in two years for @simon1
I hear talk about the need for rural broadband but some say it’s not needed or isn’t infrastructure. I couldn’t get by without internet. We gave up a land line. That’s just a telemarketer receiver anyway.

 

[Tomo]

All I have is wireless 4g internet. We stream tv and radio.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

I've officially cut the cord.

This morning I took all the boxes and such associated with cable tv back to Comcast and dropped my cable television service entirely.

I still have Comcast internet and Comcast (landline) phone service. I'm going to look into getting a less expensive telephone setup. I'm also still renting the Comcast modem/router box but I'll be looking into alternatives there, too.

The big issue for me (which kept me with cable until now) has always been college football. What I've done finally is sign up for YouTube Live. I have every college game now + I record every college game. The recording on the YouTube service last for nine months but that will allow a lot of off season college football game watching. So, for football I'm a lot better off with this vs the cable and its limited options for games.

I also signed up for Hulu (without commercials, but not live) because my daughter talked me into it. We've long had and watched Netflix and will continue it. I have Amazon Prime, too, but for the shipping; I seldom watch tv on AP.

Even with all that I'm saying money, but my main issue with Comcast is their lousy service and the lousy and difficult to use remotes and such. Now I can turn on the tv, and do everything I need to do to find what I want to watch with my Roku's remote control which is easy to use and intuitive (unlike Comcast remotes).

Happy shaves,

Jim

I did the exact same thing (Comcast) as you, Jim. Don’t miss the $210/mo bill.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

Do not leave me here alone with these weirdos on B&B

It takes one to know one…just saying.

 

[simon1]

I wonder if anything has changed in two years for @simon1

Nope.