Replacing cable/fiber TV service....with online and other services

[YeOldeStonecat]

So I'm getting sick 'n tired of forking out so much money each month to AT&T for their U-Verse service. Sadly in my town the cable provider is horrible...nobody good like Comcast is available.

Forking out about 200 bucks a month for a bundle of 18 meg internet and the U-200 plan with U-Verse....which is just a notch or two above the basic TV service.

I'd love to cancel the TV service...cut that bill in 1/2..if not a bit more.

Seems some combination of newer antennas and open source boxes and internet services should be able to fill the gap...at quite a cost savings.

Found info on this antenna
http://www.gomohu.com/

Boxes like Boxee or Roku and Apple TV and open sources packages like XMBC and online services like Netflix and Hulu Premium.....

Looking for peoples feedback on what they've done to replace the increasing cost of cable subscriptions.

 

[Xander]

I torrent all the current TV shows I watch and use Netflix for anything else. Haven't had cable/satellite in about 4 years now.

 

[JD1248]

I bought this antenna from amazon, Antennas Direct DB4E Antenna. Put it in the attic, the picture is beautiful, get about 70 channels in the Chicagoland area. Not all of them speak my language. Now, I'm trying to convince the mrs to let me get rid of a certain satellite company and start streaming, and saving.

 

[TimJacobs]

I torrent all the current TV shows I watch and use Netflix for anything else. Haven't had cable/satellite in about 4 years now.

This^^^

I have all my torrents set up on an RSS feed. Alot of things that I want to watch that is a lil older is on Netflix....

 

[uprighttech]

A couple years ago we got an antenna to pull in OTA HD and a Roku. We have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime for most of our streaming. We are about 70 miles from where we're pulling stations (Nashville), so we have a giant 12' long Winegard outside and just get the basics (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc), but if you're in or close to a large city, you could pick up more channels with less, as JD mentioned.

We want to keep things legal. But if you don't care about that, look into XBMC with Sabnzbd+, Sickbeard, Couchpotato, and Headphones for a completely automated movie, TV and music downloading and organizing system.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Won't be torrenting...don't touch that stuff.
I'm not wanting to find movie sites that stream movies that are currently out in the theaters...illegally...I'm wanting to do all this "above board".

Basically just trying to get opinions/experiences of what is out there now.
From what I'm reading, you cannot replace current cable/fiber/satellite TV...with one product. You need a bunch of different products to provide several different services, of which the sum will get you about 75% (just guessing) of what you get with current cable/fiber/satellite services.

We love our regular local TV channels....from what I gather I'll still be able to get those via the new TV antennas.

We (and the kids) love the other channels....FX, Discovery, Animal Planet, I love Velocity and various cooking channels, travel channels, wealth network channel, the wife needs her HSN and QVC and Family and OWN and those wifey type channels. And the daughter likes her Nickelodian channels and other kid channels.

There are those "other channels" that I'm wondering if I will be able to get those through some service.
USA Network
TNT
TV Land (great for classic shows)
SyFy
A&E
Discovery

Just trying to research what's out there....

 

[isavecomputers]

Utorrenting my favorite CBS TV shows resulted in Verizon sending my wife an email mesage last year about illegal downloading. I ended up getting a DVR to prevent further messages like this. I would love to get rid of the TV cable bill if I could find away to make everyone in the house happy by online viewing.

 

[Xander]

For those outside the US, I just started a trial of UnoDNS. $4/mo and you get access to tons of streaming sites including Netflix US/UK/Canada/etc, Hulu and so on. My trial ends tomorrow and I'm definitely signing up.

 

[SAG]

There are those "other channels" that I'm wondering if I will be able to get those through some service.
USA Network
TNT
TV Land (great for classic shows)
SyFy
A&E
Discovery

Just trying to research what's out there....

There is a third party add-on for XBMC for the USTVnow site. It has a bit of the stations you are looking for.
I reckon the USTVnow site was created for Americans living overseas. Pretty nifty.
Though there is a fee to pay to get access to all the channels, you can still get about half a dozen or so for free.

Check out XBMCHUB man, you can probably find all the answers you are looking for in there.

 

[nlinecomputers]

So I'm getting sick 'n tired of forking out so much money each month to AT&T for their U-Verse service. Sadly in my town the cable provider is horrible...nobody good like Comcast is available.

Forking out about 200 bucks a month for a bundle of 18 meg internet and the U-200 plan with U-Verse....which is just a notch or two above the basic TV service.

I'd love to cancel the TV service...cut that bill in 1/2..if not a bit more.

Seems some combination of newer antennas and open source boxes and internet services should be able to fill the gap...at quite a cost savings.

Found info on this antenna
http://www.gomohu.com/

Boxes like Boxee or Roku and Apple TV and open sources packages like XMBC and online services like Netflix and Hulu Premium.....

Looking for peoples feedback on what they've done to replace the increasing cost of cable subscriptions.

What do you like to watch in the way of sports? NFL is impossible to watch online. NBA and MLB have plans that let you watch over the internet but you pay $$$ for that.

 

[FoolishTech]

I dropped paying for TV quite a few years back when Netflix first started streaming - Back then I used usenet to get everything I wanted to watch if it wasn't on Netflix.

When I married she insisted on paying for TV until last year when I convinced her to drop it. I also quit doing usenet. So for the last year we've pretty much been living on Netflix streaming and DVDs.

Occasionally there are a few things I like to watch that I've used Windows 8 Store (XBOX Store) to download, like Louie, The Walking Dead, and a few movies here and there.

Mostly that only works because we rarely get to watch anything adult anymore with a 4 year old. There is SO MUCH children's programming on Netflix streaming that it's absolutely pointless to look anywhere else.

I have a Roku I've only used for Angry Birds. I've found that majority of things available on it are either crappy, you have to pay for it anyway like $4-$10/month, or it just doesn't exist like it should have (ahem Podnutz channel). So I think the Roku is worthless, even for Netflix (see below).

FYI Netflix streaming experience is best on the Wii if you have one - using Netflix on everything else (like the Roku) just sucks, usually it doesn't even have the Netflix for Kids option - though the exception is my new WD TV Live Hub, where the Netflix experience is close to that of the Wii but still not great - would be better if the remote was point and click like the Wii or the Roku.

Speaking of WD TV Live Hub - you can also snatch a WD TV Live Streaming box to stream from the hub to other TVs throughout your house. I know it also works with Slingbox so that's something else to investigate. My only complaint about WD TV is not playing MS Store DRM files - except I think I can use Windows 8 "Play To" feature to stream it to the WD hub without issue - just haven't tried it yet.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

There is a third party add-on for XBMC for the USTVnow site. It has a bit of the stations you are looking for.
I reckon the USTVnow site was created for Americans living overseas. Pretty nifty.
Though there is a fee to pay to get access to all the channels, you can still get about half a dozen or so for free.

Check out XBMCHUB man, you can probably find all the answers you are looking for in there.

Thanks...will dig into them.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

What do you like to watch in the way of sports? NFL is impossible to watch online. NBA and MLB have plans that let you watch over the internet but you pay $$$ for that.

Nah....no care in the world about football or baseball or golf...only "sports" I follow a bit is UCONN Husky Hoops! Since I went to UCONN. And they're on local channels.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Thanks F_T......

The Wife does have an Apple TV box......in the upstairs bedroom.
Doesn't use it much at all.
Guess we should get into it...see what it's about..sounds like it's probably a little bit like a Roku....

And then gotta figure out how to get 5x TVs going. Right now with ATT U-Verse...we have the main unit in the living room, and the 4x mini set top boxes on the TVs in the other rooms.

 

[SAG]

And then gotta figure out how to get 5x TVs going. Right now with ATT U-Verse...we have the main unit in the living room, and the 4x mini set top boxes on the TVs in the other rooms.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Raspberry_Pi

 

[FoolishTech]

Thanks F_T......

Update: this conversation got me off my bum to try and get that DRM content I have on my WD TV somehow. I give up. Turns out the ONLY way I can play DRM content purchased from Windows 8 Video store is ... only with Windows 8 Video Metro app. They won't even play in Media Player, Media Center, or Play To (my WD TV)

So for the first time in a good 4 years or so, I give. I'm back to usenet :| It's a shame I have to pirate all the shows I've already PURCHASED just to watch them... Lesson learned.

 

[SAG]

So for the first time in a good 4 years or so, I give. I'm back to usenet :| It's a shame I have to pirate all the shows I've already PURCHASED just to watch them... Lesson learned.

have to pirate

to pirate

pirate

You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means.
In all seriousness, when I made the jump a few years ago, I downloaded a vast majority of my movies instead of encoding them myself. 15-30 minutes to download vs 4-8 hours to do it myself... and I owned the physical copy already... is that really pirating?

And for the record, I own the DVD or BR of (almost) every one of my videos... even Lord of the Dance.

 

[3ft]

Double thumbs up for torrents + Netflix + Hulu. I haven't subscribed to cable/satellite TV programming since 2005. I used to miss my local news, but most anything these days I can just stream from their websites.

 

[uprighttech]

15-30 minutes to download vs 4-8 hours to do it myself... and I owned the physical copy already... is that really pirating?

And for the record, I own the DVD or BR of (almost) every one of my videos... even Lord of the Dance.

I don't know if pirating is the best term, but it is illegal regardless. It is actually illegal, in most cases, to even rip DVD's that you own. Title I of the DMCA prohibits the circumvention of DRM except for a few rare exceptions.

 

[SAG]

I don't know if pirating is the best term, but it is illegal regardless. It is actually illegal, in most cases, to even rip DVD's that you own. Title I of the DMCA prohibits the circumvention of DRM except for a few rare exceptions.

The legeality of it I'm aware of. My professional business life is... what's the term, "purer than Caesar's wife". But what I do with what is mine in my own home and never leaves there.... well, that's my personal business.

From Kentucky? I grew up in Breathitt Co.