Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century

[Kurt R]

Well, I'm finally going to do it. I'm only what? 10? 15? years behind society?
I'm dropping cable. 200 channels and there's nothing to watch.
I might sign up with Sling or Hulu or something, we'll see. Per antennaweb I should get about 20 channels via antenna.

Also dropping the home phone, although I am porting the number to a cell phone. I've been using various prepaid cell phone plans for the last several years, and rarely using them since I've always had a home and work phone to use. I'm a little worried about searching out one phone when it rings, I'm not use to carrying a phone around when I'm home. Is anyone familiar with Panasonic's link2cell technology? It looks like it links a group of cordless phones to 1 or 2 cell phones via bluetooth.

Internet will be only 10mb for at least the next 60 days, as that's all the phone company offers. After 60 days I'll be a new user again at Charter and I can go back and get 60-100mb, and maybe add TV if I can't stand it.

[carlege]

I havent had it for 4 years and im fine. I buy sling tv when football season comes around so i can watch Auburn play football (as painful as it is sometimes)

[CurtP]

This just came in my email. Looks promising. 4 tuners, compatible with TiVo minis and includes all-in service (so no subscription fees). $400 though. It would be exactly what I'd get if I were cutting cable TV services. Ties together your streaming services too (which is a feature I really like on my current TiVo).

https://www.tivo.com/shop/ota-detail

[Kurt R]

I've considered Tivo, even considered switching from Charter's DVR to Tivo. I think some people were successful in buying the Roamio OTA, and a broken or cheap Roamio, and transplanting the cablecard slot into the OTA box. Which I wouldn't have to do if I don't go back to cable, we'll see.

Home phone is ported to a cell phone.

Tomorrow is the last day of cable.

DSL isn't working yet, but I haven't had time to look at it other than plugging in the modem.

I called the cable company today to disconnect, and of course they offered me a discount to stay. I mentioned the time to do that was two weeks ago when I set all this in motion, but that seemed lost on the rep I talked to.

I'm getting a Roku, There's free trials for Sling and Hulu. Also 30 day of HBO Go, which will save us from buying or renting season 7 of Game of Thrones. We borrowed and watched the other seasons on bluray.

[carlege]

Originally Posted by Kurt R

I've considered Tivo, even considered switching from Charter's DVR to Tivo. I think some people were successful in buying the Roamio OTA, and a broken or cheap Roamio, and transplanting the cablecard slot into the OTA box. Which I wouldn't have to do if I don't go back to cable, we'll see.

Home phone is ported to a cell phone.

Tomorrow is the last day of cable.

DSL isn't working yet, but I haven't had time to look at it other than plugging in the modem.

I called the cable company today to disconnect, and of course they offered me a discount to stay. I mentioned the time to do that was two weeks ago when I set all this in motion, but that seemed lost on the rep I talked to.

I'm getting a Roku, There's free trials for Sling and Hulu. Also 30 day of HBO Go, which will save us from buying or renting season 7 of Game of Thrones. We borrowed and watched the other seasons on bluray.

i watch my sling and all services through my Roku. The earlier versions were ok but the latest roku has to offer is a very very good device

[Kurt R]

I have an older Roku 3, there should be a Roku Ultra here Tuesday.

The reason DSL wasn't working is somebody cut the wires in the demarc. I don't know if Charter did that, or Centurylink the last time I dropped them. But it's working now. I borrowed a modem from a coworker. He had Centurylink when he lived in Dubuque, but their upload speed at their new house isn't fast enough, so he's on Charter (I think).

Per Speedtest I'm getting 10mb down, 0.77mb up.

Charter is 66mb down, 5.78mb up

[Kurt R]

Antenna success. Sort of. The Eau Claire NBC station is 61 miles away, and can't be pulled in with the Mohu 50 that I bought. However, the Rochester NBC station has a repeater just across the river and I can get that. So the Mohu is in the guest bedroom, facing west if it matters, most of the towers are just across the river to the west. From the antenna there's a splitter, one feeding the TV in that bedroom, the other going into the Mohu amplifier and then into the wall. In the basement there's a 3 way splitter that feeds the other 3 TVs in the house. All 4 TVs can pull in all the local channels.

The new Roku would have been here today except it's Presidents' day. The Roku I have is a 3rd generation Roku 2, not a Roku 3. I used to have a 2nd gen Roku 2, which should be the same generation as your XS. The newer one is a lot faster. They're now on the 6th generation, so I'm hoping it will be better yet.

[carlege]

if you purchase 3 months of sling tv you get a free roku or a great discount on the latest one. ive upgraded my roku 2 years in a row around college football season and i ususally order 5 months of sling tv so its a win win.

[Kurt R]

3 weeks in, thought I'd provide an update.
The biggest surprise is we don't watch HGTV anymore. Used to have it on all the time, just as background noise or stuff to watch when there's nothing on, but I don't think we've tuned it in more than once or twice.
I received a Centurylink survey and did not give very high marks. I had two main issues with them.
First is they offer a $25 gift card if you sign up online. But online the only choices are "Buy a modem" or "Lease a modem", but I'm borrowing a modem so I don't need one.
The second was they said I could only get 10mb at home. When I had Centurylink Prizm a few years ago the tech doing the install said I could get 20mb, and I think that's how he configured it, but I don't remember. A coworker used to work at Centurylink and I had him check with a tech who still works there, he says my location would definitely support 20mb.
Why is that a big deal? I tried working from home and watching DirecTv now at the same time, and that just won't work.
So surprise, they called me back. They took $25 off my first bill to make up for the gift card, and will cut the price from $45/month to $35/month because it's only 10mb.
Still, I can't work from home on DSL, so I'll probably go back to Charter when I'm a "new customer" again, probably after our summer trip. "New" customers can either get internet for $45/month for a year, then it goes up to $65/month, or TV and internet for $80/month, and that price is good for 3 years, plus a free DVR. When that ends, it's 3 years older me's problem, and maybe Centurylink would have upgraded our area by then.

DirecTV Now on a Roku works great, except the guide is slow to load. Also their login works on a lot of network's websites and roku channels to watch their content.
I've got 2 more weeks on the HBO Go preview, got through GoT season 7 and Westworld, I'll probably drop it when the trial is up, I watch too much TV as it is.

[CurtP]

Been a few more weeks - how's it been? Getting tired of the cable bill, but I can't find any savings if I get another service like DirecTV Now. I'm very close to ordering an antenna, J-pole and amp and doing an attic install like this:

[Tim]

Originally Posted by CurtP

Been a few more weeks - how's it been? Getting tired of the cable bill, but I can't find any savings if I get another service like DirecTV Now. I'm very close to ordering an antenna, J-pole and amp and doing an attic install like this:

I've been tempted to try this one, but the website almost seems like snake oil.

http://antennadeals.com/HD8008.html

Thoughts?

[Kurt R]

It's been going pretty good. The Mohu will pull in local stations just fine, unless it's raining. Then a couple low power ones will have issues. I'm on month 2 of the 3 month $10 DirecTVnow offer. It buffers sometimes too, I don't know if that's on their side or if it's my 10mb DSL. Netflix doesn't seem to buffer so maybe it's them.

Racing - I miss being able to DVR F1 races, ESPN shows them live on ESPN2 and replays on ESPNNews, and I don't get that channel.
I also don't get CBSSN, so no Blancpain GT, no Aussie supercars, no delayed Pirelli World Challenge. PWC is on Youtube this year, free, and St Pete was terrible to watch but COTA was much better. We'll see what Long Beach is like this weekend.

I've thought about an antenna in the attic but all I would gain would be the Eau Claire NBC affiliate rather than the Rochester MN station. I am using an old Magnavox DVR to record local stuff, it is 16:9 but it's only SD quality. I have recordings on it from 2010. Anyone want to watch the last few episodes of Lost or a few episodes of Fringe?

I am liking the extra money in my pocket each month. Maybe not the first month because I bought two Rokus, but this month was pretty sweet, next month will be the same, and then DirecTVnow will go up to $35, so I'll be at $70/month for that and the DSL internet. Looking at the Charter TV + Internet for $80/month, but on top of that you have to pay $11.99 for at least one box and the $8.49 local channels fee, so with taxes and stuff you're back over $100.00/month.

[Jake]

We've considered dropping satellite service, but I still have reserves. It truly is expensive for what you get, but by the time I consider the costs of a replacement streaming service, plus Netflix/Hulu/HBO/Showtime, it all starts to add up to the point where another fifty bucks a month keeps me with DVRs, all the channels, live sports (not for me), locals (antennas are useless in my area), etc.

I think the interesting thing is that the kids don't watch the satellite TV at all. Just YouTube and Netflix.

[Kurt R]

Originally Posted by Jake

I think the interesting thing is that the kids don't watch the satellite TV at all. Just YouTube and Netflix.

I think that's the hardest transition for me. I don't need to set my schedule around the TV schedule, just watch what I want when I want, most everything is available on demand. Can't skip commercials like I could with the DVR, and the same commercials usually play every break, but there's usually fewer of them.

I would think the Waterloo or Cedar Rapids stations would want to put up a repeater in Dubuque, like KTTC does here. They could probably put them all on the same tower.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Jake

We've considered dropping satellite service, but I still have reserves. It truly is expensive for what you get, but by the time I consider the costs of a replacement streaming service, plus Netflix/Hulu/HBO/Showtime, it all starts to add up to the point where another fifty bucks a month keeps me with DVRs, all the channels, live sports (not for me), locals (antennas are useless in my area), etc.

I think the interesting thing is that the kids don't watch the satellite TV at all. Just YouTube and Netflix.

My son doesn't even understand the concept of live tv. He is 5 and can search netflix better than most kids his age yet I still hear "I don't know what to watch..." Boy, you don't know how good you have it!!!