Cutting the cable, looking for some advice.

[FlaChief58]

The Mrs and I have decided to take the leap and cut off cable TV and start streaming. Along with vudu, prime video, Pluto tv and a couple other free streaming apps, I want to get an outdoor HD antenna for local channels.

My main questions for anyone who has done this are, what should I look for in an HD antenna (brand, range etc.) and of Hulu, sling, which one would give me the most similar channels to cable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by FlaChief58

Lots of information there, thanks.

It's just the Mrs and I for the most part and other than our phones tablets and tv we don't use that much data ( no Xbox etc). I'll do some research on KODI

Also if you are going to use KODI or use sites to download torrents so you can watch things. For example say you don't wanna pay for Netflix and you wanna watch the witcher. You log into the pirate bay and download the season put it on a flash drive plug it into your tv and watch it...

Shit like this is very simple and something I still do for some things....make sure YOU HAVE A VPN. If you do not your ISP will go ****ing bonkers and send you emails about how you are a thief, they will also block some kodi streams without having it turned on.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by underEJ

OTA looks so much better than any streaming. I love national game days. My antenna isn’t even outside. It’s just a black square I shove in the window when I have a game to watch. If you are in a city take advantage. It’s free and better. I spent about 30 bucks I think at the most at my local hardware store. Probably available for less from a source that carries a volume of that kind of thing.

I have an indoor antenna that I hooked up to 1 of my tv's just to see. I got 47 channels, but I wanted an outdoor antenna so I can hook up all 4 tv's without the extra wires showing. I've been looking at the 200 mile range ones so I can get Jacksonville, Gainesville and Tampa since a few times a year, we're just south of the cutoff for Chiefs games

[tyecopeland]

Sling is free for a couple weeks right now. Id check them out if you never have. I don't have any live TV and haven't for several years but I've done free trials in the past and sling seemed pretty good.

[MeaTy The Pimp]

I actually ended up with YoutubeTV. It is not bad, and has all of my locals as well.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by tyecopeland

Sling is free for a couple weeks right now. Id check them out if you never have. I don't have any live TV and haven't for several years but I've done free trials in the past and sling seemed pretty good.

I'll do that. Hulu is offering 1 month free too, so I'll try them too before I make a decision. I've been trying to convince the Mrs to do this for a few months now, but she's been hesitant, so I have to be careful here and make sure she's happy too.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by FlaChief58

I'll do that. Hulu is offering 1 month free too, so I'll try them too before I make a decision. I've been trying to convince the Mrs to do this for a few months now, but she's been hesitant, so I have to be careful here and make sure she's happy too.

Usually the biggest downside to cutting the cord is sports, shows can be found with a few clicks.

I mean there are tons of options through your PC though so if you want to plug a laptop up to your computer that's another way to get around it.

[kc rush]

Use an antenna for ota. The only things I miss about cutting the cord is loss of Royals games and no DVR. I have Prime, Netflix and the cheapest ad supported Hulu plan you can get. I'd cut Netflix and Hulu tomorrow if it was just me, but my wife and kids watch enough on the other services that we keep them.

I do want to get Disney + though.

The black square antennas work great for us.

[chinaski]

I bought a cheap outdoor antenna (RCA I think) at Wal-Mart for about 40 bucks. I removed my DirecTV dish and put the Antenna in the same place as the dish...I was able to utilize the existing coax going into the house. Works just fine.

I use Prime and Netflix primarily.

Don't miss Cable/Dish AT ALL.

[Shaid]

Antennae advise - to get the most channels, etc.

Here's a decent one that you can put in an attic or outside. I did a lot of research and this is one of the better options. Personally I'd recommend attic mounting to protect it but I'm always a bit extra cautious. I have it mounted in my Attic and get I think 42 channels at this point.
https://amzn.to/2QgIMzR

Here's an amplifier that I used to help boost my signal. Helped me fix some static I had on a couple channels and gave me a couple more.
https://amzn.to/2QBcuhW

I use an HD Homerun quatro to broadcast the antennae signal wirelessly to every room in the house. I have firesticks so just installed the app on them and I get a guide with listings, etc. Supposedly your supposed to need to pay for the guide, but I never had to.
https://amzn.to/2MRsyuZ

Now, with that said, I'd probably prefer to use the firetv recast because the dvr and integration with the firesticks is pretty nice. That's extra money I haven't spent yet since the Quatro works fine but I think it would have nicer DVR features, etc. I heard that it only records in like 720p though so waiting for a new version to come out before I consider moving to it instead.
https://amzn.to/35ld5tg

I got the Quatro when it was on a deal, so $100. Firesticks you can find for $35 normally, $25 occasionally. Antennae and amplifier ran around $85-$90 combined when I got them. I have a bunch of extra cable and connections from when I finished the basement of my house so I didn't have any cost there.

I already had the firesticks in most places so really I spent close to $200 to get the antennae, etc. all up and running and broadcasting to the whole house. You can hook the antennae directly into your cable to spread it through the house but it can weaken the signal so that's up to you on how you want to mess with it. I prefer having the app with guide on all the tvs so it's a pretty decent setup that is totally free once you set it up.

[CapsLockKey]

Here's what we have for paid apps with two teenagers in the house.

Netflix
Hulu
AT&T TV with HBO (formerly DirectTV Now)
Disney+

If you are a Sprint customer you can get basic Hulu with ads for free.

Disney+ I will probably cancel now that Mandelorian is over and there doesn't seem to be any good original content coming out for another year.

Netflix and Hulu are probably the most used. Only keeping AT&T around because I was an early adopter so getting their big package with HBO for 60 bucks and I share it with my in-laws who use it all the time. I use it more for the sign in credentials for other TV apps like ESPN/Fox for live sports and HBO Go than the App itself.

Total cost is still way less than when I had satellite. Honestly there is so much good content on Netflix and Hulu you could flip flop cancelling and re adding between the two to save money. The live TV streaming apps are where the cost is.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by CapsLockKey

Here's what we have for paid apps with two teenagers in the house.

Netflix
Hulu
AT&T TV with HBO (formerly DirectTV Now)
Disney+

If you are a Sprint customer you can get basic Hulu with ads for free.

Disney+ I will probably cancel now that Mandelorian is over and there doesn't seem to be any good original content coming out for another year.

Netflix and Hulu are probably the most used. Only keeping AT&T around because I was an early adopter so getting their big package with HBO for 60 bucks and I share it with my in-laws who use it all the time. I use it more for the sign in credentials for other TV apps like ESPN/Fox for live sports and HBO Go than the App itself.

Total cost is still way less than when I had satellite. Honestly there is so much good content on Netflix and Hulu you could flip flop cancelling and re adding between the two to save money. The live TV streaming apps are where the cost is.

They're pushing up their WandaVision and Winter Soldier/Falcon shows to release sometime this year.

[Ribbs67]

I cut the cord from DTV..130.00 bucks a month for 2 TV's and recievers. Went to Hulu with Hulu live and get all my local channels plus a ton of sports channels. ( Like 70.00 a month) All the ESPNS alot of Fox sports networks Big Ten and SEC channels. Along with CBSSN. More sports channels than I had with choice and Ultra packages with DTV. You also have 200 hours of cloud recording storage. The only sports channel it doesn't have is NFL Network..which you can get if your ISP provider is on their list. Unfortunately mine isn't. The only drawback that I've found. Like it was mentioned before make sure you match your iSP data plan with your streaming needs. If anyone knows a way to stream the NFL Network I would like to know.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

I always laugh when people say I cut cable then talk about Hulu TV and whatever. It's basically cable still lol

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Kinda. But it sure as hell ain’t the same price. We save about $100 a month by using streaming services over satellite.

if you put broadband with that pricing you may save $20-$40. I need broadband and work from home. 100meg at least with seriously reliable Wi-Fi. I pay $140 a month for that and every channel that’s on FIOS, including all the pay channels. For $40 a month all this Roku, YouTube, Hulu etc. can’t touch that price.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

I always laugh when people say I cut cable then talk about Hulu TV and whatever. It's basically cable still lol

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

if you put broadband with that pricing you may save $20-$40. I need broadband and work from home. 100meg at least with seriously reliable Wi-Fi. I pay $140 a month for that and every channel that’s on FIOS, including all the pay channels. For $40 a month all this Roku, YouTube, Hulu etc. can’t touch that price.

Saving about $130 per month with YouTube TV compared to my old cable bill. Currently pay $59 for Internet and $54 for YouTube TV. Previously was paying about $245 for a bundle of Internet & very basic TV with no movie channels or anything.

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Kinda. But it sure as hell ain’t the same price. We save about $100 a month by using streaming services over satellite.

Not where I live. I have Dish with the sports package/Redzone for just about the price of hi-speed Internet. So it's about the same price BEFORE you start paying for programming with the internet.