# Cutting the Cable



## mr drinky (Feb 22, 2014)

Decided to stop getting cable TV and installed an antenna on the roof of my new place. Over-the-air, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon are now my TV options. I also did Ooma for my telephone service. 

I'm sick of telecom companies with their hefty taxes, creeping rates, and bad service. 

k.


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## Dream Burls (Feb 22, 2014)

How's that working out for you?


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## mr drinky (Feb 22, 2014)

Not sure yet. It is hooked up in an empty house. A couple of years ago I downgraded to the most basic cable and didn't miss it all, so this was the next step. The cost of antenna wired to two locations was $550. I also got a Tivo with lifetime subscription $580 (after promotion that records antenna signals. And Netflix and HuluPlus each cost $8 per month as well. 

So there is an initial investment cost and some subscription services, but overall I will be saving around $100 per month. It will pay itself off after about a year, plus Tivo units with lifetime subscriptions have a good resale market. I could probably recover $100-150 after 4 years if I want to sell it and upgrade. 

The one nice thing is that the HD TV over-the-air (in addition to being free) is a higher quality than those same channels through cable companies as they don't have to compress the signal. 

I do definitely have fewer TV viewing choices, but oh well, who needs to be watching so much TV. If there is a TV show I really want to watch I can rent the episodes off of iTunes or Amazon.

k.


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## Jordanp (Feb 22, 2014)

Nice I haven't watched t.v for years any show I want to watch can be found online and you can watch it whenever you want.


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## Lucretia (Feb 22, 2014)

We dropped cable in late 2010. Don't miss it. Put an antenna up in the hubby's closet on the second floor and patched it in to the cable wiring. (Cost less than $40.) We probably have fewer outages with the antenna than we did with cable. We get the big 3 networks, fox, pbs, and a couple local channels. Since then if we go to a hotel with cable, we flip through the channels and see that we aren't missing anything. Right now I need to go up and adjust the orientation of the antenna--it got knocked askew and we aren't getting PBS now, but generally it's been great. For movies we get DVDs from the library. The library is also a good way to get tv shows--we check out a season at a time on dvd, and watch with no commercials. Plus you can replay when your spouse insists on talking at a critical moment in the show. 

Haven't made the jump with the phone yet.


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## heldentenor (Feb 22, 2014)

I did the same thing this year with an HD digital antenna and haven't missed much--but I cannot figure out for the life of me how to get NBC, ABC, or CBS. Fox, PBS, a whole lotta religious programming, and some others come through just fine. Drinky, any ideas?


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## Lucretia (Feb 22, 2014)

Have you tried www.antennaweb.org? You enter your address, and they tell you the direction you need to point your antenna for different stations.


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## mr drinky (Feb 22, 2014)

heldentenor said:


> I did the same thing this year with an HD digital antenna and haven't missed much--but I cannot figure out for the life of me how to get NBC, ABC, or CBS. Fox, PBS, a whole lotta religious programming, and some others come through just fine. Drinky, any ideas?



I just called this guy in MSP and he did all the signal testing/orientation for me. The religious programming is broadcast at a very weak signal off of the IDS building, so that stuff comes in pretty weak for me. Too bad huh. 

All my network channels come in really well along with the four tpt (PBS) stations. 

One can also consider Aereo when it comes. Bascially you rent a DVR/antenna and they are expecting to come to MSP within the year (I think). 

k.


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## Bill13 (Feb 22, 2014)

mr drinky said:


> Decided to stop getting cable TV and installed an antenna on the roof of my new place. Over-the-air, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon are now my TV options. I also did Ooma for my telephone service.
> 
> I'm sick of telecom companies with their hefty taxes, creeping rates, and bad service.
> 
> k.


I think you mean you are tired of the *government* taxes, and the cable companies creeping rates and bad service.


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## mr drinky (Feb 22, 2014)

Bill13 said:


> I think you mean you are tired of the *government* taxes, and the cable companies creeping rates and bad service.



I wouldn't want to get into a discussion about how America has achieved a very mediocre to poor telecommunications infrastructure after trailblazing the industry for decades, but needless to say, bad government policy and bad companies have taken our fine country to new low-speed limits. 

k.


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Feb 22, 2014)

I think you made the right decision. I cut out cable a long time ago, even when there were not so many options. To stay with cable these days almost makes no sense, other than convenience. Even then, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu (combined) offer that and more, at a massively lower price.


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## daveb (Feb 22, 2014)

Stupid question time. I would love to tell Verizon to take a hike but what to do about inet service? I can meet my tv needs w antenna, netflix and couple others. But unlimited data on fon is just as pricey.


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Feb 22, 2014)

Dave,

Personally I use an internet provider and pay $35 a month. I have data on my phone as well (300mb/month/$20), but I subsidize it with wifi at home and at work. From what you are typing, I'm thinking you want to run everything through your phone as a hotspot? There are unlimited data plans, and the prices are getting better out there. Shop around.


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## mr drinky (Feb 22, 2014)

AFKitchenknivesguy said:


> I think you made the right decision. I cut out cable a long time ago, even when there were not so many options. To stay with cable these days almost makes no sense, other than convenience. Even then, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu (combined) offer that and more, at a massively lower price.



Another thing I learned from an employee at Century Link is that the more you bundle your services the less likely you are to switch (he was a salesman and had all the stats). So that is why they push those triple-play plans with a good discount for the first 1-2 years. After that it just keeps going up and up.

But if you play two internet service providers against each other you can often keep the good discounts coming year after year. In fact, my Comcast agent recommended calling back after the discount period to 're-discount' it. 

Also, never rent their cable box or modem. To get a really good modem off of Amazon will cost you $80, but if you go through them you will rent one for $8 per month excluding taxes and pay for it multiple times during your service. It's a complete rip off. 

k.


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## daveb (Feb 22, 2014)

Thanks gents. Guess I never thought about isp alternatives to verizon, comcast etc. I'm going shopping.


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## Salty dog (Feb 23, 2014)

Because my house is located a block away from a major University I just pick some student shlubs unprotected wifi. And I don't have to camp in the yard to do it.


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## Lucretia (Feb 24, 2014)

Bill13 said:


> I think you mean you are tired of the *government* taxes, and the cable companies creeping rates and bad service.



If you investigate your bill a little bit, you'll find out that most of those "federal" charges aren't taxes. They're fees the government allows the cable/phone company to charge to recoup their investment in the infrastructure. The government DOES have a role--they limit how much the provider can charge you (or your bill would be much higher.) They're additional charges from your cable company, not taxes.

My bill breakdown is about 66% paid for the actual service, 33% paid in cable company "fees" (a lot of them disguised with "federal" in the name to look like a tax), and 1% in tax.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/understanding-your-telephone-bill


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## 29palms (Feb 24, 2014)

3.5yrs cable free and don't miss it one bit. Now I'm working on my land line and internet. I can go with an over air ISP and Ooma I have to run the numbers. Our land line/DSL is $83/mo and that's too much to pay IMO. I could recoup the Ooma in a year.


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## apicius9 (Feb 24, 2014)

Got rid of a TV altogether about 18 months ago, very liberating experience. In most cases I could not remember in the mornings what I watched at night - and not because I was drinking




Now I read more and surf the web - not rememberig where I surfed or what I ordered the previous night...





Stefan


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## icanhaschzbrgr (Feb 24, 2014)

apicius9 said:


> Got rid of a TV altogether about 18 months ago, very liberating experience. In most cases I could not remember in the mornings what I watched at night - and not because I was drinking
> 
> 
> 
> Now I read more and surf the web - not rememberig where I surfed or what I ordered the previous night...


I'm in the same boat with Stefan, except that I got rid of TV about 9 years ago or so. The only problem I have now  no immunity to television at all. When I came somewhere with TV working, I can't stop from peering at it (no matter what they shows). Otherwise it's fine


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## kodo (Feb 24, 2014)

yeah i sold my TV 2 months ago haven't watch any cable show or anything for the past year
i just use Amazon Prime for my show needs and torrent any show i want to watch that not on prime.


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## rodneyat (Feb 24, 2014)

Also check into Aereo See when or if they plan to be in your area. 

I am also an avid user of PlayOn and PlayLater. Check them out too.


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## mr drinky (Feb 24, 2014)

Lucretia said:


> If you investigate your bill a little bit, you'll find out that most of those "federal" charges aren't taxes. They're fees the government allows the cable/phone company to charge to recoup their investment in the infrastructure. The government DOES have a role--they limit how much the provider can charge you (or your bill would be much higher.) They're additional charges from your cable company, not taxes.
> 
> My bill breakdown is about 66% paid for the actual service, 33% paid in cable company "fees" (a lot of them disguised with "federal" in the name to look like a tax), and 1% in tax.
> 
> http://www.fcc.gov/guides/understanding-your-telephone-bill



I actually heard a great radio/podcast bit on this about a year ago. Basically, these 'federal fees' were charges that cable/internet companies were allowed to bill to build the 'internet superhighway' way back when, but the standards that were set early on were so low that it it only took them a handful of years to achieve, now the cable/internet companies have declared "mission accomplished" but continue to charge these fees. These fees are not going to the federal government coffers and are not going to improve internet speeds or services -- they simply go towards profits now and they are billed as a federal tax. Win win win for the corporation: no obligation for improving service anymore, improved profits for years, and get to blame the feds. Awesome.

The one thing I will say is that it was bad federal policy back in the early '90s, but even then most people wouldn't have predicted the accelerated technology developments that happened in the subsequent 10 years. And now our representatives are so pocket of big corporations that no one ever tries to repeal this private corporation tax against Americans. 

When I lived in France my triple-play cost one third what it does in the US, and I had faster internet speed. And French telecoms companies are second only to the US in sucking. Rant done.

k.


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## Lucretia (Feb 25, 2014)

To put a little perspective on the early 90s: it was before google. Remember Mosaic, anyone? It was the first browser to let you post images, sound, video clips, etc. Before that everything was text--usually in amber or green characters on a black background (if you were lucky they were white.) In the late 80s people in my office had to share computers. We had just gotten to the point where everyone had one to work on in the early 90s--and this was a NASA laboratory. Imagine having to wait for your cube mate to finish what he was working on to free up the computer in order to check your email.


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## apicius9 (Feb 25, 2014)

O.k., now, be honest: Are you REALLY sure you guys were on the moon in the late 60s??? Sounds like I had my own XT before NASA employees had theirs...

Stefan



Lucretia said:


> To put a little perspective on the early 90s: it was before google. Remember Mosaic, anyone? It was the first browser to let you post images, sound, video clips, etc. Before that everything was text--usually in amber or green characters on a black background (if you were lucky they were white.) In the late 80s people in my office had to share computers. We had just gotten to the point where everyone had one to work on in the early 90s--and this was a NASA laboratory. Imagine having to wait for your cube mate to finish what he was working on to free up the computer in order to check your email.


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## Lucretia (Feb 26, 2014)

YOU had an XT? I DREAMED of having an XT! I had an abacus with missing beads and a knotted piece of twine! The big dogs tended to have better computers than the lab grunts--they needed them to keep track of their appointments and play Leisure Suit Larry.

I read an article that said the computer on the Apollo rockets had less computing power than a programmable toaster does today. Pretty freaking amazing.


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## apicius9 (Feb 27, 2014)

Freaking amazing is right. And I loved playing Leisure Suit Larry  At the time I upgraded to an AT laptop that weighed around 22 pounds IIRC, and for an upgrade from 2 to 4 MB (!) RAM I paid the equivalent of what today would get you a very nice notebook. But those were fun times.

Stefan


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