Who's cut the (cable) cord?

[Imagineer5]

Almost 2 years ago we finally cut cable. I wish we had done it sooner! With a cheap antenna from Amazon we get local channels in clear HD. Our LG 3D TV is a smart TV so I don't need anything extra for that. We went from Comcast at $220/month to spending a total of $83 - 75 for Fios internet & home phone (which we only have due to alarm system), and 8 for HULU. I tried out Netflix for a few months but never used it. We do have Amazon Prime already so use that every so often, but mainly use Hulu for shows (kind of like how I used to DVR all my shows). I have a Fire Stick for the other TV's in the house.

 

[aprilchem]

We were cable-free for 9 years, but just got it back about 6 months ago. Before you cut the cord, I'd suggest that you do some research on the cost of high-speed internet that is NOT bundled with anything else in your area. In my area, it was $90 a month for the high-speed internet, and we pay $129 a month for internet bundled with cable and phone. When we didn't have cable we had Netflix and Sling, so the cost ended up being similar no matter what we chose.

I know it's not the same in other areas, though - my mom only lives 1.5 hours from us and pays $40 a month for high-speed internet.

 

[minorthr]

I'm inching closer to giving up cable. (DirectTV to be exact at around $140 a month).

I'm looking at the Amazon fire box set up with an antenna for local channels, HBO to go ( cause I'm NOT giving up GOT) and I'll keep Amazon Prime (I use it all the time for shipping so the TV portion is a plus) and Netflix.

I'd like some real life experience and what gizmos you use to get the most out of TV with the least amount of bill.

So I was in the same boat as you $160 a month for directv with no premiums we were barely ever watching it. I tested Sony Vue for a few months and got a free fire stick and just OTA but OTA never really worked, decided to dumb directv and go with VUE. When I tried to cancel directv they offered me like $50 off for 3 months but it wasn't coming anywhere near the $60 I was going to be paying for Vue. Then most likely on purpose directv kept screwing up with sending me the wrong boxes to send back my equipment. The third time I called to correct this the rep offered us a deal we absolutely couldn't refuse. It was better then the VUE pricing and even better then any new customer offer they were offering and we ended up going back to directv.

 

[snoodledoo]

So I was in the same boat as you $160 a month for directv with no premiums we were barely ever watching it. I tested Sony Vue for a few months and got a free fire stick and just OTA but OTA never really worked, decided to dumb directv and go with VUE. When I tried to cancel directv they offered me like $50 off for 3 months but it wasn't coming anywhere near the $60 I was going to be paying for Vue. Then most likely on purpose directv kept screwing up with sending me the wrong boxes to send back my equipment. The third time I called to correct this the rep offered us a deal we absolutely couldn't refuse. It was better then the VUE pricing and even better then any new customer offer they were offering and we ended up going back to directv.

How long does the new deal last?

 

[minorthr]

How long does the new deal last?

That I can not tell you this was one of those retention deals could be completely different for every person that calls.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

My bill is supposed to be over $100 dollars, but as long as Directv keeps giving me a $50 dollar discount I'll keep the service. Just called back in November and they gave me another one so I'm good for another year.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Sort of. I finally talked my husband into dropping comcast cable since we have Directtv. He wanted cable in case the Directtv went out which only happened once or twice in 25 years.

Then he decided to try Hulu and Roku. And we received a form that AT&T Uverse was now in our area with the fiber optic and it was cheaper than Directtv so he signed us up for that and dropped Directtv.

So at least we don't have Comcast Cable anymore. LOL

 

[MillauFr]

I know it's not the same in other areas, though - my mom only lives 1.5 hours from us and pays $40 a month for high-speed internet.

I pay $40 per month to Comcast for high speed internet. They tried to tell me that if I canceled cable my internet rate would go up. I said fine. Cancel the internet too. I told them I would keep it if they lowered my price to $40 per month and they agreed. I've been paying $40 per month for the last 10 years.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

We were cable-free for 9 years, but just got it back about 6 months ago. Before you cut the cord, I'd suggest that you do some research on the cost of high-speed internet that is NOT bundled with anything else in your area. In my area, it was $90 a month for the high-speed internet, and we pay $129 a month for internet bundled with cable and phone. When we didn't have cable we had Netflix and Sling, so the cost ended up being similar no matter what we chose.

I know it's not the same in other areas, though - my mom only lives 1.5 hours from us and pays $40 a month for high-speed internet.

This is me. I would have to pay $80-$90 per month for the level of internet I have (and need). My cable bill plus internet is $132/month.

So for me it's not worth it to cut the cord as the $500/year savings isn't a deal breaker.

 

[EveDallas]

I wouldn't mind getting rid of Direct TV, but my son would be very upset if he couldn't watch his sports. Plus my brother who lives with us in disabled and mostly house bound, so TV is his main entertainment.

 

[Disneyhayes]

This is what we are looking to do. Our AT&T u-verse bill is $230 a month. That adds to to what we spend on a trip to Disney each year

 

[havaneselover]

I think I've finally come up with a plan which I'll put in place in January. My current bill for cable/phone/internet is $150 and if I cancel I have to pay $150. But I can upgrade my internet from 50/50 to 75/75 and get the local stations, return my cable boxes, and switch to play station vue for about $100/month and not pay a cancellation fee. I will have to buy a roku stick ($40). Also, if my ds doesn't get a cell phone for his birthday I will probably port to ooma. That should cost another $5/month + $120 initial investment. In month 4 I would break even and after that I should be saving about $40/month.

 

[loves to dive]

We don't get cable out in the country where we live so we had no choice but to go satellite, we have Dish and also have Amazon Prime and use the fire stick but only for Grand Tour cause we have to have us some Jeremy, James and Richard. We have all the premium channels on our satellite. My son only has basic cable and only because he needed it for internet, he uses Netflix and his video game box for just about everything except local stations.

 

[PurpleDog]

I think I understand how cutting the cord works, but please correct me if I am wrong: You can purchase an over the air antenna to (hopefully) pick up ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS. All the other content you want would have to go through a Fire TV, Apple TV, or something similar. I live in southeastern Virginia and the best internet speed I can buy is capped at 3.0 mbps. I need much faster internet to even contemplate making the switch, don't I ? Also, is there an easy way to DVR a program to watch later ?

 

[aretha30]

We cut the cord 3 or 4 years ago and have Netflix, Hulu (commercial free), Prime (for the shipping but the movies and TV are nice) and antennas for the big networks. Sometimes we miss cable but not really. The bill was becoming outrageous and we rarely watch TV.

 

[nmrgrl55]

I think I understand how cutting the cord works, but please correct me if I am wrong: You can purchase an over the air antenna to (hopefully) pick up ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS. All the other content you want would have to go through a Fire TV, Apple TV, or something similar. I live in southeastern Virginia and the best internet speed I can buy is capped at 3.0 mbps. I need much faster internet to even contemplate making the switch, don't I ? Also, is there an easy way to DVR a program to watch later ?

We got rid of dish a few months ago. We have prime and Netflix but don't have a huge internet speed. We originally had up to 5 but it was only in the 1s. We switched to at least 5 but I think you will be fine with 3. We have multiple computers, tablets, Xbox and phones and the speed is fine. We have only had buffering issues a couple times total.

 

[portocall]

We are getting rid of Directv on Monday. We can no longer justify the expense since we are barely watching it. We kept it because we wanted to get the kids through Christmas Break or we would have cut it a few weeks ago. We didn't need to worry about though. The family room box broke a week ago and they didn't blink an eye about it. We have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.