topic Re: Cut the Cable...update in Community Chat

Cut the Cable...update

excpa — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 23:53:24 GMT

Chopped Spectrum to minimal TV and high speed internet and wifi. Saved $68/month. Already had a roku and an Amazon Fire Stick and Prime membership. I am a PBS supported, so I get Passport. Added Sling Orange ($20/m) and Acorn ($5/m). Net savings: $43/month. I spent a few hours on channel set-up and selection and think I've got the hang of Sling (still too many sports channels). Included in set-up time: selecting shows for my watch list.

Net result: Saving money and spending way too much time watching TV. So many cool looking documentaries, movies and british mysteries/crime shows. 17 seasons of Midsommer Murders alone! And Morse. And Inspector Lewis. And Great British Baking Show. And Third Rock.....

I don't think I'm going to live long enough to make it through my current watch list... and more keep coming. I'm going to die happy!

Re: Cut the Cable...update

GCR18 — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:02:02 GMT

I am considering the same.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

excpa — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:20:15 GMT

@GCR18 It's kind of scary at first but more than worth it. The number of options decreases for cable, which is somewhat freeing. And the quality of the options has improved tremendously. I would be much richer and happier if I had done this a lot sooner. And, in spite of what the cable company wants you to believe, you can always go back if you find it doesn't suit you.

No regrets here.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

Italian Girl — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:41:49 GMT

Can you still watch QVC?

Re: Cut the Cable...update

sunshine45 — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 03:16:56 GMT

@Italian Girlwrote:
Can you still watch QVC?

whether or not you have a cable subscription or any other subscription......qvc is free online. you can always watch it on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

Kachina624 — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 03:26:36 GMT

There are several ways to watch QVC. It's available many places as an UHF channel which you can get using a simple, cheap interior antenna. I get QVC and Q2. I also get NBC, ABC, CBS and a couple of PBS channels. You can also get QVC using the Fire Stick or Roku or by going through YouTube. I've enjoyed the Olympics on NBC in HD just using the antenna.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

Quse — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 14:08:58 GMT

I have considered doing this for many years and might this year. We all watch on our tablets, don't even use the tv.

The problem is trying to get Spectrum to quote and actual price and not have to talk to them for a half hour while they run through their seliing schpeels....

Re: Cut the Cable...update

excpa — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 18:21:51 GMT

yes, you can still watch QVC and other ,shopping channels. Free apps are available for them (and many others). Keep saying "NO" to spectrum or call back for a different rep. Tell the rep exactly what you want and then ask for a price. The only thing I had to listen to was "you can't get this back", which isn't true.

I am so grateful for getting a totally incompetent rep on the chat line. Otherwise, I would still be paying too much for too little. Also, try the 7-day free trials. If you don't watch much during the free trial, you might not want the service.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

hannah64 — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:03:02 GMT

I have called Spectrum Charter several times and asked for the BASIC Cable and they say they don't offer it anymore. They say they only offer what we have which is EXPANDED Basic. I guess this happened recently when they were bought by Time Warner. Which one were you able to get? I am really interested to know.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

riley1 — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:15:16 GMT

@excpa - Congratulations, you did it!!! We cut the TWC cord a couple of years ago. Have Roku, Netflix, Hulu and several apps we added.

It takes a minute to get used to, but sure beats the other option. You can pick and choose what you want to buy and switch around as well.

You mentioned Midsommer Murders (my favorite) give Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries a try (Netflix).

Re: Cut the Cable...update

excpa — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:47:30 GMT

I was told the same thing: no more basic cable. But it appears as a line item on my bill, so when I said just cancel my TV service, they said I was grandfathered in and coulkd keep it. If I cancel TV service, I can never get basic cable again. Boo Hoo. My guess is canceling TV sevice means I don't want it. I'm waiting to see my next itemized bill before decideding how much cable I want to cut. May add a couple of sling-shots to try it out.

@hannah64

Re: Cut the Cable...update

LonestarBabs — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 17:13:49 GMT

Glad for your success, and you inspire me to think about doing something similar. We have 5 TVs: 1 on an HD box and 4 on digital adapters. Our package was grandfathered in with the purchase of Time Warner by Spectrum. However, it's too expensive and keeps going up and the price of the equipment just nickels and dimes us each month.

So, I have placed 3 Roku Express+ boxes in my Amazon shopping cart, along with a wifi signal booster for internet. The Rokus will be used on the 3 TVs that are watched the most, and we can deal with OTA antennas for the other 2. I want to look at using SlingTV and Netflix on a monthly basis and feel that this setup could be the answer. Upfront costs for Roku boxes are recouped after one or two months.

Could just do OTA master antenna and see how many channels we pull in that way, too.

Either way -- I can't wait to walk into a Spectrum store and drop all the boxes and remotes on them to say Bye Felicia!

Re: Cut the Cable...update

riley1 — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 17:36:32 GMT

@LonestarBabs - FYI when you drop off all the equipment, make sure you get a receipt and everything on it is correct.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

LonestarBabs — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 20:02:42 GMT

@riley1 Absolutely right about getting a receipt. I had a major hassle with them when I moved a few years ago. I went to their retail office/store, turned in all equipment, got a receipt, then kept getting billed month after month for equipment not returned. Then threatening letters to turn me over to a collection agency. Each time I would call, read the receipt number and all reference information, and receive assurance that the situation would be cleared up. It took three months before it finally was resolved.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

riley1 — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 20:23:32 GMT

@LonestarBabs - Yup, me too. Unbelievable.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

excpa — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 22:46:40 GMT

@LonestarBabs

Consider making one of the roku's an amazon fire stick. With the free apps for music and video you can see the amazon programs on a roku. A little bit of an effort, but it works. It seems to be a one-way deal: haven't been successful in getting roku programming on fire stick. I had to buy Acorn thru amazon, since I couldn't get it flow from roku to fire stick. No big deal, but you get better payment options from acorn than from amazon. At least for now.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

occasionalrain — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 23:02:33 GMT

I've been thinking of eliminating cable. I have ROKU but the lack of numbers made me think it was going to be a cluster giving me a headache. My latest Comcast bill had yet another increase, over $200. So I decided to give R a try. It didn't work and after trying for awhile, I got a clue and changed the batteries. Solved the problem.

I don't think it will be at all annoying once I get used to it.

I called Comcast meaning to cancel but they reduced my bill by a little over $30 so I'm staying while I get proficient with ROKU. I need to decide which services to get, so many choices. I'd like to watch the PBS shows unedited. I hate that we don't see them as the British do, in their entirety.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

riley1 — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 23:05:29 GMT

@occasionalrain - Once you get the hang of Roku, there are plenty of British shows on Netflix. Also, there is another you can purchase - I think it's called Britbox - don't know how much per month it is though.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

occasionalrain — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 23:10:13 GMT

@riley1wrote:
@occasionalrain - Once you get the hang of Roku, there are plenty of British shows on Netflix. Also, there is another you can purchase - I think it's called Britbox - don't know how much per month it is though.

Thank you. Sometimes too many choices are as bad as not enough. Whatever it costs, it can't be more than Comcast. At least I won't be paying for a multitude of channels I never watch.

Re: Cut the Cable...update

riley1 — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 02:18:02 GMT

@occasionalrain - That's for sure, lol.