Need help 'Cutting the Cord' with Cable

I have the same things with my cable company and would like to be done with them...but afraid to make a change....your right...its just too darn expensive!! especially since my cable gives me tons of sports of which I don't watch....and doesn't give me stations I would like unless I add on more expense....geeze....

Hope you get some good responses so we can both benefit....

My kids don't have cable or satellite and use netflix and other sites. I couldn't do that. I want my tv. However, I did get rid of cable 3 years ago and went with satellite...and now pay about 1/2 of what I used to pay to cable. I don't have any movie channels and have one of the mid priced channel options. I do have my dvr hooked up to the internet in case I want to buy a movie but I haven't even done that yet.

We don't have cable; we have a DirecTV package that runs about $70/month. Too expensive for my tastes, but I do love some of the HGTV, travel, cooking channel, shopping, and other shows -- and DH loves to follow his favorite college and pro football teams and to watch the Braves during baseball season. That's why we continue to pay. There are a few things we can't get through other "streaming" means or with a digital antenna.

Verizon has a sports-free TV package that saves about $40 per month. You don't get any of the dedicated sports channels. I don't watch sports much so the savings are more than worth the occasional inconvenience. And many sports events are on radio (free!). I multi-task by getting other work done while having a game on radio in the background.

If you go the satellite route get Dish. There is a reason why Direct TV only compares themselves to cable providers and Dish pokes fun openly at Direct. With ATT acquiring Direct it's only going to get more expensive.

Using WiFi/Internet is a great way to go. You can get a huge library to stream and cover a lot of new content from major networks for about $28 a month using Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu +.

For hardware your best options are FireTV or Roku. Both can be bought in a set top or stick. Roku looks like it is a better deal by streaming content but a vast majority of that content is junk. As for streaming apps the best are also available on the FireTV. FireTV has better hardware and is much more versatile that Roku. Chromecast is another option but requires a PC, tablet, or phone to control and streaming is really it's only function.

Stay away from internet providers that have data limits or caps. Data limits on home internet is kind of silly, if you pay for it you should be able to use it.

I would avoid DISH.... recently they have deleted FOX, they are trying to delete CBS... friends who have them are deleting DISH....

We had Comcast, now have AT&T Uverse... like ALL they continue to raise prices continually...the only way I see around that is to use one for a promotional period, then d/c and switch to the competitor...??? I could not live without internet....

Sports Free Package I didn't know about that option I will look into it.

My provider is all about the sports and I am not

On 12/22/2014 pachutabelle said: I have recently had satellite tv turned off at Mom's house after she passed away. I would however like to have tv available for visitors so I have been exploring other options. I have been reading reviews on Amazon of digital antennas that will pick up channels within a certain mile radius. They are not very expensive and appear to be easy to install. This might help you out also. I would be interested if anyone has experience with these.

If you go to http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx and put in your zip code and street address you can see what is availible where you live but that doesn't mean you will get those channels. The antennas attach where the cable cord goes and before I got rid of cable I bought an indoor antenna and put in on a splitter with the cable to see what channels I would get. But if you have an old tv that isn't hd then you also need a converter box. I think the picture I get over the air with an indoor antenna is a lot better than the picture I got with cable on an hd tv because I never upgraded to hd on cable and the picture was compressed. I think the picture is beautiful. People have videos on youtube that tell you how to make the indoor antennas too.