Finally Cut the Cord!! Who's with me!!

[Bob]

So, last month, my wife and I finally decided to ditch the overpriced, racket-like, cable package.  We were paying $200/mo. But that's not the issue. When we first signed up four years ago, our bill was a "modest" $120/mo. Then it slowly increased each year, to where it was when we cut it. I got so tired of seeing that $200 leave my checking account every month, and we really don't watch a lot of TV because we both work (I'm full time and she's part time) so are not at home a ton. 

 

So this month, it was refreshing to see my bill cut in half (I kept the 200 mbps internet service for streaming). I'm tying out Sling TV for the month. Its pretty good seeing that I really only want sports channels. 

 

So anyone else "cut the cord"?

[Tbs77]

So, last month, my wife and I finally decided to ditch the overpriced, racket-like, cable package.  We were paying $200/mo. But that's not the issue. When we first signed up four years ago, our bill was a "modest" $120/mo. Then it slowly increased each year, to where it was when we cut it. I got so tired of seeing that $200 leave my checking account every month, and we really don't watch a lot of TV because we both work (I'm full time and she's part time) so are not at home a ton. 
 
So this month, it was refreshing to see my bill cut in half (I kept the 200 mbps internet service for streaming). I'm tying out Sling TV for the month. Its pretty good seeing that I really only want sports channels. 
 
So anyone else "cut the cord"?

So I went from Directv to Directv Now (AT&T TV Now) and currently with YouTubeTV...I cut cord over a year ago... YouTubeTv has a lot of sports channels. I believe Fubo is for the sports enthusiast, too.

Just be mindful of your home internet dataplan and monitor usage because between number of concurrent streaming devices from family, friends, extended stay guests you may exceed your limit....I presume you have the standard 1TB (Terabyte) data plan for your High Speed Internet.

[Qapla]

If we were to cut the cord our Internet access would go up in price - they give a discount when coupled with the cable. We already were using more than the 1TB limit in the basic package and they do NOT offer unlimited with the "cable only" package.

 

So, the bottom line, for us, if we cut the cord and wanted to have the same access and watch the same programs we do now - the resulting sum of the various services would come to more than our current cable bill ... especially since the cable company gave us a better deal when we converted to the unlimited data plan.

[Dustparticle]

I have no cable and basically no TV almost 6 years.  A lot of reading since then.   

[campanula]

2 hours ago, Dustparticle said:

I have no cable and basically no TV almost 6 years.  A lot of reading since then.   

Me too...   More than 15 years.  Lots of video on YouTube  though.....

[Qapla]

I should add ... since one of my daughters pays the bill - my cable doesn't cost me anything  

Edited December 28, 2019 by Qapla

[JennyM]

I  was paying $25/mo on my internet plan ..I transferred home, bought a network cable and plug it to my neighbor's modem. Now, Im paying $6  monthly.

[Loopy]

I got rid of Dish a number of months ago. Too expensive and nothing much on it to see for what I was paying. A little over $70 a month. On a fixed income I found other things I needed to put that 💵💵 toward. 
 

All I have now is Roku. 
 

Now I enjoy listening to our music mix on YouTube. What a treat that is.

 

 

[Ahuvah]

We haven't got television channels either now ... just TV for youtube, broadcasting and the odd video. About four years now for us. Don't miss it at all.

[Dages]

200/month, that's really something. Woah. 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

I  was paying $25/mo on my internet plan ..I transferred home, bought a network cable and plug it to my neighbor's modem. Now, Im paying $6  monthly.

That's great. I think I'll do the same... my neighbour is out today...

Just Older

[Tbs77]

I  was paying $25/mo on my internet plan ..I transferred home, bought a network cable and plug it to my neighbor's modem. Now, Im paying $6  monthly.

You comment can be misconstrued as stealing the service...like this guy...

[JennyM]

1 hour ago, Tbs77 said:

 

You comment can be misconstrued as stealing the service...like this guy...

 

With my neighbor's permission of course.. Unlimited data anyway.. 🙂

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

With my neighbor's permission of course.. Unlimited data anyway..

Oops... Lol

Just Older

[ChocoBro]

Wow, 200 bucks. I have general cable free with my monthly rent.

 

Then my in-laws are paying so that we can have a few channels in HD, not that I care.

 

Then I need to pay about 17,50 EUR government mandated fees for democratic propaganda purposes a month (radio + TV) that every German household is obliged to pay.

 

An additional 30 EUR for unlimited data internet and phone with landline flatrate (which is important for calling into the meetings).

 

An additional 20 EUR for my sub-par cell-phone contract including data (I'm considering cancelling that in favor of a prepaid SIM but the deadlines and contract extension laws in Germany are a joke). My wife needs to pay an additional 20 EUR for hers.

 

I have considered subscribing to a streaming service, because of one or two shows I want to watch, but I have to admit I don't think I can deal with the massive range.

[Bob]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:02 AM, Qapla said:

If we were to cut the cord our Internet access would go up in price - they give a discount when coupled with the cable. We already were using more than the 1TB limit in the basic package and they do NOT offer unlimited with the "cable only" package.

 

So, the bottom line, for us, if we cut the cord and wanted to have the same access and watch the same programs we do now - the resulting sum of the various services would come to more than our current cable bill ... especially since the cable company gave us a better deal when we converted to the unlimited data plan.

Interesting. Its cheaper for you to keep the package deal I see. That makes sense.

 

My concern is going over the 1 TB. We do have a solution for that. When we only want to watch local channels, we use the antenna we bought. When I want to watch ESPN, TNT for sports, I fire up the firestick and start streaming. 

 

It seems like a lot to go through, but its just as simple as changing the TV input mode.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Bob

[Qapla]

9 minutes ago, Bob said:

When I want to watch ESPN, TNT for sports, I fire up the firestick and start streaming

 

I'm sure that counts as part of that 1TB data count.

 

We have three 4K TV's that streaming is the only way they get TV and all the Internet use all count as data use on our system. We have gone over the 1 TB more than once ... thus the change to "unlimmmmmited"

[digital_dreamer]

Never had the cord. 😀

I had TV (via air) when a kid, but never got cable when on my own. It helps when you’re hard-of-hearing and you don’t get much from the programs. By the time Closed-Captioning and subtitles were made available, the ship had already sailed. I just had other odd interests, like electronics and computers. Now, those interests can take up just as much (or more) time and money, if one lets it. So, that danger is still there.

 

So, congratulations on the move! It’s so expensive and time consuming. 

 

 

[digital_dreamer]

3 hours ago, Qapla said:

 

I'm sure that counts as part of that 1TB data count.

 

We have three 4K TV's that streaming is the only way they get TV and all the Internet use all count as data use on our system. We have gone over the 1 TB more than once ... thus the change to "unlimmmmmited"

Well, “unlimited” means different things to different carriers and providers. Some have gotten into legal trouble providing “unlimited” data, but throttling it after a certain cap, like what Verizon Wireless (phone data services) did to the California firemen who were relying on it during the big 2018 fire. Be sure to read the small print.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/

[digital_dreamer]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:07 PM, JennyM said:

With my neighbor's permission of course.. Unlimited data anyway.. 🙂

That can still be a violation of the Terms of Service. But, I’ll leave it at that. Best of wishes!

[JennyM]

 

2 hours ago, digital_dreamer said:

That can still be a violation of the Terms of Service. But, I’ll leave it at that. Best of wishes!

Usually terms and conditions  are only one sided... It only favors the company... 

[ChocoBro]

10 hours ago, digital_dreamer said:

That can still be a violation of the Terms of Service. But, I’ll leave it at that. Best of wishes!

Those terms and conditions can also violate law. I can give my wifi password to anybody I like, so why should cable connection be any different.

[Myew]

Never had cable TV. My parents were on dial-up until late 2007... I probably kept the phone line tied up for about 10 years. After I got on disability, we finally got DSL. Maybe 8 years back they got cable internet, and I moved out a few years ago got cable internet myself. It's cheaper and better in town than outside city limits, I paid around $55/mo for 100Mb down/3 up. They get around the same for $80. Earlier this year I switched to AT&T's $10/mo DSL for low income. I also get Amazon Prime for $6.50ish/mo with low income benefits. Speeds are poor, disconnects frequently, can't do all what I want. Meh. $50 is a sizable amount of money per month on a fixed income, trying to focus on the more important things...

Edited December 31, 2019 by Myew

[Pjdriver]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:58 AM, Bob said:

So, last month, my wife and I finally decided to ditch the overpriced, racket-like, cable package.  We were paying $200/mo. But that's not the issue. When we first signed up four years ago, our bill was a "modest" $120/mo. Then it slowly increased each year, to where it was when we cut it. I got so tired of seeing that $200 leave my checking account every month, and we really don't watch a lot of TV because we both work (I'm full time and she's part time) so are not at home a ton. 

 

So this month, it was refreshing to see my bill cut in half (I kept the 200 mbps internet service for streaming). I'm tying out Sling TV for the month. Its pretty good seeing that I really only want sports channels. 

 

So anyone else "cut the cord"?

I changed over from cable tv to subscribing to youtubetv......not Youtube, but youtubetv. I like it because I can choose the channels I want without them telling me what the packages will contain.  

With cable you might want a particular channel. If it’s a popular channel like TMC, they gouge you, then give you other junk channels you don’t really want, to make you think you’re getting a good deal. Youtubetv doesn’t do that. You can individually pick all your channels. 

 

It takes a little to adjust to the youtubetv format but I’m used to it now and like it.

[CHecker]

I'm glad to hear that because I've been thinking about YouTube TV as well. I've been thinking about it ever since it came out. I just didn't know how adequate it was going to be. We have dish network right now and have no extra frills. I've got it narrowed down to as low as I can get it but I still want to get away from the satellite bill. Unlike my cellphone I have Verizon and would like to go with a cellphone provider  but don't know much about them or the coverages they have. Verizon works best in our area,  AT&T or Sprint don't work at all and I don't want to get stuck with them when I switch my phone.