topic Re: Cable or Other? in Among Friends

Cable or Other?

CherryHugs — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:02:27 GMT

Cable prices are high and going up all the time. Do you still have cable? Has anyone done the route of doing away with cable and getting Roku or Netflix or something else? I still need Wifi no matter what I get though.

Re: Cable or Other?

summerwind — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:31:39 GMT

I just got Roku, it's a good value, but mind the Terms and Conditions. They give away/sell everything, just like everyone else.

Was disappointed that apparently you can't "cast" from a Linux system tho.

Re: Cable or Other?

Kachina624 — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 18:35:00 GMT

@CherryHugs. There have been numerous discussions here about "pulling the plug". Most of them have correctly been in the electronics forum.

I got rid of my satellite service and got both a Roku and Fire Stick in order to decide which I preferred (firestick). I also got an inexpensive interior antenna on which I get about 50 local channels plus both QVC channels, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, all free. I also signed up for Sling which streams some live cable channels for monthly fee.

Re: Cable or Other?

Zhills — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 19:30:40 GMT

Call your cable company and complain. I got my monthly basic bill down to $22 a month. No premium channels!

They don't show the basic package but it is available!

I have a Smart TV and I can watch QVC by WiFi but the sound was mono and terrible!!

Re: Cable or Other?

sunshine45 — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 19:37:58 GMT

yes, still have cable. i wont be giving it up anytime soon.

have phone service, cable tv with premium channels and voice remotes, and high speed internet. i do call at least once a year to get the bill reduced or freebies.

Re: Cable or Other?

x Hedge — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 20:05:21 GMT

I've never had cable or satellite.

I'm not enough of a TV watcher to pay for TV.

Due to my location, I'm able to pick up about 65 digital broadcast TV stations, of that I may occasionally watch maybe 20 - 25 of them. I use old fashioned (now, new again) antenna that plugs into the back of the TV.

The number and selection of stations, the quality and strength of the signal, etc all depends on your location and their broadcast strength. I lucked out.

As @Kachina624 stated, this subject has been covered many times before, often in great detail, usually in Electronics.

Re: Cable or Other?

chrystaltree — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:01:15 GMT

Cable is pretty $$$, we did negotiate a better package that was $20 cheaper. Dropping cable wouldn't work for me because I work from home and my Comcast package includes the landline that I use for the fax and my wifi. My nephew and his wife a happy with their Amazon Fire Stick.

Re: Cable or Other?

chrystaltree — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:03:25 GMT

@sunshine45 wrote:
yes, still have cable. i wont be giving it up anytime soon.

have phone service, cable tv with premium channels and voice remotes, and high speed internet. i do call at least once a year to get the bill reduced or freebies.

Yes! All these years and I never knew we could do that. A friend told me and I called and got more premium channels and package that is $20 less.

Re: Cable or Other?

Mom2Dogs — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:10:14 GMT

@CherryHugs...I would love to lower our bill --I tried the antenna route, we live to far to get abc, cbs, nbc.....we pay $162.00/month.

Now we are being forced to put a set top box on all tv's, which the box is free for a year and after than somewhere around $5.00.

We currently have the boxes on two tv's they cost $10.00/box per month, we like having tv on our back porch in the summer, so we must get a new box on that TV.

We are renting the wireless router but I think we will purchase one, that will lower the bill about $20,00 a month...not sure how much they cost to buy, we will be shopping for one this weekend.

Re: Cable or Other?

Katcat1 — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:12:46 GMT

@CherryHugs I have Comcast and yes it is expensive as far as I am concerned. Satellite dishes are a real pain because if there is a rain or snow storm you can count on the service going out. There are other alternatives but I do not know anything about them.

Re: Cable or Other?

MarthaStewardess — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:24:43 GMT

We still have cable. Over the past 3/4 years I got nice, new flat screen tvs. Then last year, the ****** cable company required ugly boxes. We get two free for two years. So one of my tvs I can't even use without paying the extra for a box. I know it's not much. It's just annoying and the boxes are to ugly and big to go in my kitchen. Have thought about Roku for that tv, but don't know enough about it. I feel for people that have tvs on a wall and then have to have one of tnose boxes.

Re: Cable or Other?

Kachina624 — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 02:18:46 GMT

@chrystaltree. dropping cable or satellite has no effect on your landline or WiFi. I dropped mine and my phone and WiFi remain unchanged. The only difference is $113. off my monthly bill.

Re: Cable or Other?

AndiCat — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 02:27:01 GMT

I have internet and basic cable thru Comcast. I only kept cable because the bill would have been higher with just internet. I have a Roku with Netflix and Hulu and watch them more than cable.

Re: Cable or Other?

AndiCat — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 02:30:27 GMT

@Mom2Dogs buy your own router. It pays for itself in about 3 months. Just check your cable provider and find out which ones are compatible. Best Buy also has a list to help you.

Re: Cable or Other?

Allegheny — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 02:47:54 GMT

Yes, we have a package deal thru Comcast. Yes, it is very expensive. I cringe everytime I get the email that he paid the bill. I keep reading about all the various options posters are mentioning. However, DH thinks we have a large healthy money tree in the back yard and is very hard headed about exploring alternatives.

Re: Cable or Other?

hckynut — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 07:17:30 GMT

Have satellite provider and get all Fox Sports channels along with the 250 channel package. Order Center Ice Package every hockey season. It costs me less than $2 per games to watch my NHL team play their 82 game season. If I count all the other NHL games I have available to watch? Probably less the $.25 per game.

I love my in home entertainment, and much of it will not be found on Roku or Firestick. Amazon Prime we have and can watch a lot of free movies via streaming or downloading to watch at a later date. No way am I giving it up to save money. Can cut back on other things if it ever becomes necessary.

hckynut(john)

Re: Cable or Other?

CalminHeart — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 11:41:15 GMT

I cancelled cable 6 years ago and went with a satellite. I'm so glad I did. My bill is 1/2 of what cable would charge me.

Re: Cable or Other?

Jupiter Moon — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 13:17:06 GMT

We have cable and dislike the high costs that keep going up too. But would rather have it than other things that are popular. Would just cut back in other ways.

Re: Cable or Other?

lovesrecess — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 18:56:46 GMT

I just read about a wireless antenna that you buy for $36 with no monthly fee; you can pickup broadcast towers that are within 30 miles of your home; am tempted to try it; we have Spectrum and hate the service which is not reliable and the cost which seems to be going up for no reason. A friend pulled the plug on cable; went with another wireless antenna and could not pick up much of anything since she lives pretty far away from broadcast towers...she tried to go back to cable and they wanted to jack up the price as punishment for leaving; told her they only had "deals" for new customers. What a scam!

Re: Cable or Other?

Mom2Dogs — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 19:59:47 GMT

@AndiCat...we rent the modem/router for $10.00 a month, I thought we paid $20.00. ...Best Buy wants $130.00+ to purchase, so it is more than a few months, but will be worth it to purchase in the long run.