OT Technical Question on CATV ?

[rgc7]

I am really fed up with my CATV company and thinking about cutting the cable. Has anyone
Switched to the new types of antennas?
I have been reading up on them on Amazon , but The price range varies a great deal as well as the comments
By people who made the switch !
All helpful suggestions will be appreciated !

 

[d1042]

Assuming internet, 1. check out Pluto TV. 2. Ranges are never as advertised on the home antenna gadgets.
You may just use basic antenna wire from TV port to a high place with a metal connection aka wire hanger.
And 3. combined with Pluto, options can be Sling TV (basic pkge) and if you have friends and relatives (anywhere) - use the go Apps: HBOGO, Starz, ShowtimeAnytime, Hulu, Netflix, etc. Share the cost share the access.

(Note Pluto is gaining channels and is not going away anytime soon.)

 

[88ND]

I am really fed up with my CATV company and thinking about cutting the cable. Has anyone
Switched to the new types of antennas?
I have been reading up on them on Amazon , but The price range varies a great deal as well as the comments
By people who made the switch !
All helpful suggestions will be appreciated !

How easy can you get NBC, ABC, CBS real time on antenna ...ESPN you can't get off antenna.

 

[rgc7]

Thanks d1042 and 88 ND. I called the CATV company yesterday and I am paying just about $99
a month for really only watching a few news channels, a business channel, a home channel,and very
Rarely a movie channel because, with rare exceptions, I find most modern day movies to be trash.
I used to enjoy Turner Classic Movies, but the cable company now wants me to buy another movie
Package if I want to get that Channel back.
Of course, I also watch Sports but mostly College football and some baseball, so I really don’t
Need extra sports channels.
Thanks again, my friends

 

[twalsh]

How easy can you get NBC, ABC, CBS real time on antenna ...ESPN you can't get off antenna.

We had a contractor cut our line last summer and had to go a week without cable. I bought an HD antenna at Walmart and it worked just fine in getting the local channels. In HD.

 

[coolirish9]

Thanks d1042 and 88 ND. I called the CATV company yesterday and I am paying just about $99
a month for really only watching a few news channels, a business channel, a home channel,and very
Rarely a movie channel because, with rare exceptions, I find most modern day movies to be trash.
I used to enjoy Turner Classic Movies, but the cable company now wants me to buy another movie
Package if I want to get that Channel back.
Of course, I also watch Sports but mostly College football and some baseball, so I really don’t
Need extra sports channels.
Thanks again, my friends

go to the playstation vue site and check out the three different packages that they have. I only pay 40 something per month and get around 75 to 80 channels and they only give you the popular channels that most people watch. I have got several coworkers into changing over to playstation vue and they love it because of the cheap price compared to dish and other services

 

[rgc7]

go to the playstation vue site and check out the three different packages that they have. I only pay 40 something per month and get around 75 to 80 channels and they only give you the popular channels that most people watch. I have got several coworkers into changing over to playstation vue and they love it because of the cheap price compared to dish and other services

cool,
Is that $40 for each TV ?

 

[rgc7]

We had a contractor cut our line last summer and had to go a week without cable. I bought an HD antenna at Walmart and it worked just fine in getting the local channels. In HD.

Walmart sounds good ! Do you remember what it costs ? I have 5 tv’s counting little ones in the bed rooms !

 

[rgc7]

Assuming internet, 1. check out Pluto TV. 2. Ranges are never as advertised on the home antenna gadgets.
You may just use basic antenna wire from TV port to a high place with a metal connection aka wire hanger.
And 3. combined with Pluto, options can be Sling TV (basic pkge) and if you have friends and relatives (anywhere) - use the go Apps: HBOGO, Starz, ShowtimeAnytime, Hulu, Netflix, etc. Share the cost share the access.

(Note Pluto is gaining channels and is not going away anytime soon.)

d,

I down loaded the Pluto App , It is great on my iPad ! Is there anyway to project that from my iPad
To my large screen TV ?

 

[d1042]

d,

I down loaded the Pluto App , It is great on my iPad ! Is there anyway to project that from my iPad
To my large screen TV ?

Roku or Firestick is way to go.
I ain’t knowledgable about the projecting thing

Do you use AmazonPrime? If so, the Firestick is preferable.

 

[rgc7]

d1042,
Thank again for the good info ! i’ll Check fire stick on Amazon .

 

[irish4life888]

Walmart sounds good ! Do you remember what it costs ? I have 5 tv’s counting little ones in the bed rooms !

With that many TV's you would be better getting an omni-directional HD antenna with an amplifier and plugging into your cable network. Just remember to disconnect from your cable company. I use this with Sling (paying 19.99/month got in early with them I think it's 25 now) and I have a pretty good package with ESPN 1,2,3. Along with my Prime Video, and there are other free movie apps such as Sony, and IMBD out there for your smart TV, Firestick, or Roku's, or Fire Sticks. So between internet and Sling I pay right around 50.00/mo for everything. This i the antenna I have and it's in my attic. You can go rogue and get a Kodi box and put it on some zero hour servers but internet providers are getting savvy to those and could get in some trouble for that. Which if you wanted to do make sure it's and encrypted connection through an outside proxy. (sorry that's my IT background coming out in me. ). Remember to check with your internet service provider to see what your data limit is. Most now are capping them because of this very reason. We have a 1TB limit every month. Between myself, and I tend to stream a lot, my wife who is not the internet a lot because of school but not streaming, and two teenagers that use the crap out of it gaming and steaming a LOT of youtube/movies, and we've not hit our limit, but became very close.

ClearStream 2V Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna with Mount - 60 Mile Range

 

[twalsh]

Walmart sounds good ! Do you remember what it costs ? I have 5 tv’s counting little ones in the bed rooms !

The one we bought was $50. Not cheapest or most expensive. Guy in that department recommended it.

 

[rgc7]

Thanks T Walsh,
Since I am paying just about $100 a month for cable, $50 is not very expensive at all !
Great info , as usual.
Thanks again

 

[rgc7]

With that many TV's you would be better getting an omni-directional HD antenna with an amplifier and plugging into your cable network. Just remember to disconnect from your cable company. I use this with Sling (paying 19.99/month got in early with them I think it's 25 now) and I have a pretty good package with ESPN 1,2,3. Along with my Prime Video, and there are other free movie apps such as Sony, and IMBD out there for your smart TV, Firestick, or Roku's, or Fire Sticks. So between internet and Sling I pay right around 50.00/mo for everything. This i the antenna I have and it's in my attic. You can go rogue and get a Kodi box and put it on some zero hour servers but internet providers are getting savvy to those and could get in some trouble for that. Which if you wanted to do make sure it's and encrypted connection through an outside proxy. (sorry that's my IT background coming out in me. ). Remember to check with your internet service provider to see what your data limit is. Most now are capping them because of this very reason. We have a 1TB limit every month. Between myself, and I tend to stream a lot, my wife who is not the internet a lot because of school but not streaming, and two teenagers that use the crap out of it gaming and steaming a LOT of youtube/movies, and we've not hit our limit, but became very close.

ClearStream 2V Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna with Mount - 60 Mile Range

 

[rgc7]

d1042,
Great information, how do I hook up that Clear Stream antenna ? After I cancel my service co.,
do I just go to the main cable box, which is in my garage, disconnect the main cable coming into the box and connect the cable Strean in its place ?
The just connect all the TVs to the cable connections wired into the house by the original builder ?
That would be super, if I can do that ?
Love both the info on Pluto and Tubi , super !
Thanks again, whisk I was a little more tech savvy!

 

[coolirish9]

cool,
Is that $40 for each TV ?

you can have multiple tvs hooked up for that one price. go to Walmart or best buy and you can get a roku device to stream it through for a price of about $30 something to $50 something dollars. I have a roku in the front room and bed room in my house. you can go to the roku website to set it up and upload some free movie channels into the roku device. I uploaded the tubi channel which is free only because it has a few brief commercials during each movie but it is just like nextflix and set up the same way. a lot of my coworkers have one or more rokus like me and love them

 

[88ND]

Thanks T Walsh,
Since I am paying just about $100 a month for cable, $50 is not very expensive at all !
Great info , as usual.
Thanks again

Oh how I wish I could get that cheap.
Three phone lines comimg in, a whole plethora of shit channels nobody watches.
This is how it goes here...in order of importance..
We watch..
NHL games/College Football (tied)
NFL games

Once the stanley cup final ends it's like withdraw until college kicks off. Luckily that time of year I'm on the lake 5 days of seven.

Fox News sometimes

Outside of that..Netflix, HBO GO, Prime movies.

A DVR

That costs about $258 month

 

[d1042]

I think 888 poster above is the guy for that question

 

[rgc7]

you can have multiple tvs hooked up for that one price. go to Walmart or best buy and you can get a roku device to stream it through for a price of about $30 something to $50 something dollars. I have a roku in the front room and bed room in my house. you can go to the roku website to set it up and upload some free movie channels into the roku device. I uploaded the tubi channel which is free only because it has a few brief commercials during each movie but it is just like nextflix and set up the same way. a lot of my coworkers have one or more rokus like me and love them

cool,

Thanks for the info. I went to wall mart today and bought two antennas that look like the old Rabbit Ear
Ones. I paid $8 for one of them and $14 for the othe one. First I hooked up the lest expensive one and I got
18 HD channels. I then disconnected that one and added the $14 one and then I only got 8 channels ?
I did get ABC but not NBC or Fox or Fox business news.
Can I get NBC, Fox, Bloomberg, Fox business news, and the Home Show If I add Roku ? Must I
First buy the RoKu device with the RoKu control. Before going to the RoKu Website to download TUBI ?
Thanks cool, great info.
If I can get those channels that I mentioned plus TUBI , I would have the perfect package especially if I
Put that $8 antenna on all my TVs !

 

[d1042]

cool,

Thanks for the info. I went to wall mart today and bought two antennas that look like the old Rabbit Ear
Ones. I paid $8 for one of them and $14 for the othe one. First I hooked up the lest expensive one and I got
18 HD channels. I then disconnected that one and added the $14 one and then I only got 8 channels ?
I did get ABC but not NBC or Fox or Fox business news.
Can I get NBC, Fox, Bloomberg, Fox business news, and the Home Show If I add Roku ? Must I
First buy the RoKu device with the RoKu control. Before going to the RoKu Website to download TUBI ?
Thanks cool, great info.
If I can get those channels that I mentioned plus TUBI , I would have the perfect package especially if I
Put that $8 antenna on all my TVs !

Here is the difference roku/firestick
Firestick allows download
Roku is locked

With the Firestick you can add
A VPN and with that you can then download Kodi
(no VPN=use at your own peril)

 

[rgc7]

Here is the difference roku/firestick
Firestick allows download
Roku is locked

With the Firestick you can add
A VPN and with that you can then download Kodi
(no VPN=use at your own peril)

 

[rgc7]

Thanks d1042,
You guys are really giving me a lot of very useful information.

 

[coolirish9]

cool,

Thanks for the info. I went to wall mart today and bought two antennas that look like the old Rabbit Ear
Ones. I paid $8 for one of them and $14 for the othe one. First I hooked up the lest expensive one and I got
18 HD channels. I then disconnected that one and added the $14 one and then I only got 8 channels ?
I did get ABC but not NBC or Fox or Fox business news.
Can I get NBC, Fox, Bloomberg, Fox business news, and the Home Show If I add Roku ? Must I
First buy the RoKu device with the RoKu control. Before going to the RoKu Website to download TUBI ?
Thanks cool, great info.
If I can get those channels that I mentioned plus TUBI , I would have the perfect package especially if I
Put that $8 antenna on all my TVs !

the tubi channel if free along with some other movie channels that you can upload into the roku but you have to have to pay though for cable channels like fox business news. if and only if you can afford to or are willing to pay $40 something per month then go to the playstation vue website and look at the three different pachages that they have. I get all fox news programming plus other channels I love to watch like HGTV,DIY, DISCOVERY channel and many more. I tried sling tv but playstion vue is way better for the money you are spending

 

[rgc7]

the tubi channel if free along with some other movie channels that you can upload into the roku but you have to have to pay though for cable channels like fox business news. if and only if you can afford to or are willing to pay $40 something per month then go to the playstation vue website and look at the three different pachages that they have. I get all fox news programming plus other channels I love to watch like HGTV,DIY, DISCOVERY channel and many more. I tried sling tv but playstion vue is way better for the money you are spending

 

[rgc7]

Thanks to all of you for really giving me a good education on CATV, Streamlining media, Apps,
Etc. It not only gave me a lot of useful knowledge, but also a lot of bargaining power.
“ The Art Of Te Deal. “
I knew that I had to stay with the CATV company for the internet because they are the “ Only game in town “ out where I live.
So I called this morning and told them that I wanted them to break down my monthly bill into
The parts of the package ( internet, land line , which we still use to call Europe , and finally my CATV.
I told them that I was going to drop both the Telephone service and the CATV. They said that since I had been with them a good number of years they would work with me to keep me as a customer. I said that
I would listen to what that had to say.
Well they just about cut my CATV bill in half, upgraded me to the full sports package and gave me the movie package that I wanted and not the one they wanted to give me !
They also gave me the phone service free with over 4 hours of international calls free.
They they also upgraded my internet to the highest speed that they offer !
Thanks guys , your information was very helpful in my getting a really great deal !

 

[irish4life888]

Thanks to all of you for really giving me a good education on CATV, Streamlining media, Apps,
Etc. It not only gave me a lot of useful knowledge, but also a lot of bargaining power.
“ The Art Of Te Deal. “
I knew that I had to stay with the CATV company for the internet because they are the “ Only game in town “ out where I live.
So I called this morning and told them that I wanted them to break down my monthly bill into
The parts of the package ( internet, land line , which we still use to call Europe , and finally my CATV.
I told them that I was going to drop both the Telephone service and the CATV. They said that since I had been with them a good number of years they would work with me to keep me as a customer. I said that
I would listen to what that had to say.
Well they just about cut my CATV bill in half, upgraded me to the full sports package and gave me the movie package that I wanted and not the one they wanted to give me !
They also gave me the phone service free with over 4 hours of international calls free.
They they also upgraded my internet to the highest speed that they offer !
Thanks guys , your information was very helpful in my getting a really great deal !

No problem rgc7,we'll talk in 24 months when that deal runs out lol. BTW, with all the savings the first round on you the next home game you come too?

 

[d1042]

Thanks to all of you for really giving me a good education on CATV, Streamlining media, Apps,
Etc. It not only gave me a lot of useful knowledge, but also a lot of bargaining power.
“ The Art Of Te Deal. “
I knew that I had to stay with the CATV company for the internet because they are the “ Only game in town “ out where I live.
So I called this morning and told them that I wanted them to break down my monthly bill into
The parts of the package ( internet, land line , which we still use to call Europe , and finally my CATV.
I told them that I was going to drop both the Telephone service and the CATV. They said that since I had been with them a good number of years they would work with me to keep me as a customer. I said that
I would listen to what that had to say.
Well they just about cut my CATV bill in half, upgraded me to the full sports package and gave me the movie package that I wanted and not the one they wanted to give me !
They also gave me the phone service free with over 4 hours of international calls free.
They they also upgraded my internet to the highest speed that they offer !
Thanks guys , your information was very helpful in my getting a really great deal !

WOW! great news, very happy for you!
Can you renegotiate my deal?

 

[irish4life888]

I have a lake house and I like to have cameras, and my wifi thermostat, that I can view from the internet. There was only ONE game in town then they charged me 60.00/mo for 12mps lol. Then I get my last bill and it was for 99.00. They said they are raising the rates. This is some really old mom and pop cable company. I called and some woman answers "hello" and there are kids and dogs in the background. I lookup the business address and it's a house lol. I can see when I do a trace route they are are using Frontier as their internet gateway.

What I found out by a flier in the mail is that the electric company there is now offering internet through their grid for 25mbs/$12.00 a month for 2 years, or 19.99 a month, no contract, cancel any time and that rate is guaranteed for three years. Pretty sure this cable company is just going for a money grab because they know they will be out of business soon. I paid my regular rate, along with a cancellation notice, and said to sue me for the rest. If they want to send it to collections I'll fight it.

 

[d1042]

I have friend who is from Japan, and her Father told her of a disaterous event that happened in his town in Japan. Apparently is was some natural disaster that devasted the town and surrounding area.
He told her that before the disaster a flashlight was sold for $1.00!
And after the disaster? that flashlight sold for?
$1.00
It would have been dishonorable otherwise?

So your Mom n Pop untility provider know where they fit in, in the social pecking order.

 

[rgc7]

No problem rgc7,we'll talk in 24 months when that deal runs out lol. BTW, with all the savings the first round on you the next home game you come too?

Irish4life,
Thanks , and I’ll happily pick up the first round as well as the second round !
I’m also going to try RoKu and if that works, and my wife can get her programs from it,
I will then cut the cord.
I am reading that on RoKu one gets NBC, CBS, FOX, etc. I just don’t know if they are
Live and in real time, or delayed past programs ?

 

[rgc7]

I have friend who is from Japan, and her Father told her of a disaterous event that happened in his town in Japan. Apparently is was some natural disaster that devasted the town and surrounding area.
He told her that before the disaster a flashlight was sold for $1.00!
And after the disaster? that flashlight sold for?
$1.00
It would have been dishonorable otherwise?

So your Mom n Pop untility provider know where they fit in, in the social pecking order.

 

[rgc7]

d1042,
Very good story about honor ! When, I worked in Germany, I befriended an old WW1 German War veteran. Every morning when I came to work , the older gentleman would be reading his newspaper.
We would greet each other, and he would then shake his head about something that he read in
The morning paper, and say” Herr ......( RGC) , tnere is no more chivalry in the World ! “
I often think of that kind old gentleman who lived by his code of Honor and Chivalry!

 

[rgc7]

Oh how I wish I could get that cheap.
Three phone lines comimg in, a whole plethora of shit channels nobody watches.
This is how it goes here...in order of importance..
We watch..
NHL games/College Football (tied)
NFL games

Once the stanley cup final ends it's like withdraw until college kicks off. Luckily that time of year I'm on the lake 5 days of seven.

Fox News sometimes

Outside of that..Netflix, HBO GO, Prime movies.

A DVR

That costs about $258 month

 

[rgc7]

88,
From all the info , our friends on this Tread have provided, I got my CATV company to come down fron a $100 to $ 54. A few months ago they had me up to about $140 a month, but I Got them to come down to $100, but I did’t like the changes that they made in my program. If you get the right person and tell them that you are very unhappy and considering Cutting the Cable or switching companies, I think that they will be willing to come down quite a bit ?
I’ll stick with the $54 deal for now, which I think is very good as far as CATV prices go, but I am going to
Go out and buy RoKu and if their News programming Is live and not delayed, I can watch NBC for ND football, Fox,and CBS and CNN for opposite views, as well as A number of business channels
Pluto is great and gives you a complete CATV type program with at least 100 programs ,absolutely free !
TUBI is outstanding and gives you thousands of free movies, comedy, drams, mystery, historical,
Foreign, etc. the movies do have commercials, so that give me a break a for “ Refreshments “
Love the foreign movies because my wife is German and, I can keep up with both my German and Spanish ( which over the years went from near fluent to Pi .. poor from lack of use and well as hearing loss ).
if RoKo can give me the real time news, there would be absolutely no need fo CATV , so
I can put RoKu on each of my 5 TVs for a one time cost of about $200 to $250 , and be completely done with CATV.

 

[88ND]

Thanks to all of you for really giving me a good education on CATV, Streamlining media, Apps,
Etc. It not only gave me a lot of useful knowledge, but also a lot of bargaining power.
“ The Art Of Te Deal. “
I knew that I had to stay with the CATV company for the internet because they are the “ Only game in town “ out where I live.
So I called this morning and told them that I wanted them to break down my monthly bill into
The parts of the package ( internet, land line , which we still use to call Europe , and finally my CATV.
I told them that I was going to drop both the Telephone service and the CATV. They said that since I had been with them a good number of years they would work with me to keep me as a customer. I said that
I would listen to what that had to say.
Well they just about cut my CATV bill in half, upgraded me to the full sports package and gave me the movie package that I wanted and not the one they wanted to give me !
They also gave me the phone service free with over 4 hours of international calls free.
They they also upgraded my internet to the highest speed that they offer !
Thanks guys , your information was very helpful in my getting a really great deal !

GOOD for you brotha.

That's awesome. !!!

 

[88ND]

88,
From all the info , our friends on this Tread have provided, I got my CATV company to come down fron a $100 to $ 54. A few months ago they had me up to about $140 a month, but I Got them to come down to $100, but I did’t like the changes that they made in my program. If you get the right person and tell them that you are very unhappy and considering Cutting the Cable or switching companies, I think that they will be willing to come down quite a bit ?
I’ll stick with the $54 deal for now, which I think is very good as far as CATV prices go, but I am going to
Go out and buy RoKu and if their News programming Is live and not delayed, I can watch NBC for ND football, Fox,and CBS and CNN for opposite views, as well as A number of business channels
Pluto is great and gives you a complete CATV type program with at least 100 programs ,absolutely free !
TUBI is outstanding and gives you thousands of free movies, comedy, drams, mystery, historical,
Foreign, etc. the movies do have commercials, so that give me a break a for “ Refreshments “
Love the foreign movies because my wife is German and, I can keep up with both my German and Spanish ( which over the years went from near fluent to Pi .. poor from lack of use and well as hearing loss ).
if RoKo can give me the real time news, there would be absolutely no need fo CATV , so
I can put RoKu on each of my 5 TVs for a one time cost of about $200 to $250 , and be completely done with CATV.

Just make sure you can watch that stuff live.

See if you ultimately cut the service they just gave you a deal on.....odds are they won't let you cut more and give you internet stand alone for some crazy cheap price.

If they do that's amazing but I'd have my doubts. And naturally without internet, Roku, firestick et al are worthless.

That's a ridiculous deal you got from them that I'd be delighted to have.

 

[rgc7]

Just make sure you can watch that stuff live.

See if you ultimately cut the service they just gave you a deal on.....odds are they won't let you cut more and give you internet stand alone for some crazy cheap price.

If they do that's amazing but I'd have my doubts. And naturally without internet, Roku, firestick et al are worthless.

That's a ridiculous deal you got from them that I'd be delighted to have.

 

[rgc7]

88,

Yes, the $54 a month for the cable is very good, but I am still paying about $70:a month for internet, and with
Taxes and other “mysterious “ ucharges that they add to their bills my total for internet, and CATV comes to
$154.44 a month total.
I also get land line phone service, but they told me that was free with the bundle of all 3
Services !
So the whole deal seems very good.
I think the CATV companies realize that with advances in streaming media and HD antennas many people
Are cutting the cord or cutting back on the services, so they seem very willing to cut decent deals to keep
Their customers who say that “ the cost of their CATV services are too high and, therefore , they are thinking about going to a competitor because that competitor is offering that same service at X number of $,s.
In any case, nothing lost by trying, and if you don’t like the answer from the first person, call back again in a few days and try with another person !
Good luck !

 

[d1042]

88,

Yes, the $54 a month for the cable is very good, but I am still paying about $70:a month for internet, and with
Taxes and other “mysterious “ ucharges that they add to their bills my total for internet, and CATV comes to
$154.44 a month total.
I also get land line phone service, but they told me that was free with the bundle of all 3
Services !
So the whole deal seems very good.
I think the CATV companies realize that with advances in streaming media and HD antennas many people
Are cutting the cord or cutting back on the services, so they seem very willing to cut decent deals to keep
Their customers who say that “ the cost of their CATV services are too high and, therefore , they are thinking about going to a competitor because that competitor is offering that same service at X number of $,s.
In any case, nothing lost by trying, and if you don’t like the answer from the first person, call back again in a few days and try with another person !
Good luck !

What the Cable Co.’s are realizing is the shift in focus is to rape internet users, charge more for internet to offset the cord cutters. CATV is becoming like a land line phone, so they will get you on the other end!