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Old 08-10-2016, 11:02 AM
 
436 posts, read 570,585 times
Reputation: 590

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We dropped cable (cept internet of course) a year ago and saved ourselves almost a hundred a month. Once we took a step back for a few days without it we realized we were hardly ever using it. We use the internet for basically everything, from news to entertainment. We got a modern antenna (which btw have come a LONG way) for PBS cooking shows and have been much happier with the extra cash instead of shows we barely watch. TWC should have never jacked up our rates, we would have continued to keep paying over a grand a year for something we never really used.

If you are on the fence about cutting the cord then I recommend calling your provider and getting rid of it for a month, if you can. They will be sending you "plz come back, here's a better offer if you do" letters within two weeks if you cant deal without the kardashian channel or whatever you kids are watching these days.
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Old 08-10-2016, 07:20 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,400,512 times
Reputation: 24745
We live out in the country almost to Salado. We've never had cable. We used to have an outdoor antenna, which worked okay, but as it aged parts started falling off.

My husband decided to do some research when we were going to replace it, and he discovered a different kind of antenna. It works great - because of our location, we get all of the Austin area broadcast stations, all the stations between here and Waco, and when atmospheric conditions are just right, Houston channels.

He made it himself; the first one was made out of cardboard and wire. He says one of these days he's going to make one that is accurate - the one up there now was his experiment of a few years ago and he needs to get the angles exactly right, not just almost right, and use a different kind of wire. (Understand, this is the man who will research anything to within an inch of his life and work tirelessly to get it right.) The antenna is located in our attic, easy to adjust if necessary, and attached to the TV by the same cord that came from the rooftop antenna before we dispensed with that.

Really expensive - cardboard we happened to have from a box something was delivered in and wire that he had in his shop.

Fractal antennas.
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Old 08-10-2016, 08:07 PM
 
2,360 posts, read 1,914,836 times
Reputation: 2118
We use KODI along with some addons for other things.. never paid a tv cable bill in 5 years, just internet bill.. use antana for locals and love the grit and laff channels.
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Old 08-10-2016, 10:59 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
1,297 posts, read 3,100,368 times
Reputation: 1168
Use antennae for the local channels and sling tv ($25/mo). Gives me all the same channels I normally watch anyway.
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Old 08-11-2016, 08:34 AM
bpb
 
46 posts, read 53,237 times
Reputation: 89
The frustrations I have with cable/uverse and the associated services ('net, phone) is the unending list of fees attached to them. I can't remember if it was the phone or tv part of the uverse bill, but 25% of the cost is from random fees. I'm done with it.

I'm just over 10 miles from the tv tower hill in Westlake, so I ordered a couple passive 30-mile antennas yesterday to see how they do. According to tvfool and antennaweb sites, there's quite a few OTA channels available. For other cable channels I like, I'm looking into one of the sling services, like eastontracks mentioned.

Is Tivo a DVR that I could use with OTA channels? Does anybody know of other HD DVRs available?
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Old 08-13-2016, 10:29 AM
 
Location: Dallas
31,290 posts, read 20,737,754 times
Reputation: 9325
Quote:
Originally Posted by lpc123 View Post
Has anyone in Austin dumped TWC for DirecTV lately? I am considering doing this, but I have heard complaints about both providers. Anyone have buyer's remorse?

We cannot "cut the cord" because of the channels we want (Fox Sports SW, Hallmark, Hallmark Movie Channel, etc.), but we are not happy with the quality of TWC's service. U-verse and Grande are not available where we live.
I've been on TWC (both internet and TV) for a few years and they now have wonderful service. It never goes down. I have no complaints. I could not have said that four years ago.
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Old 08-13-2016, 10:32 AM
 
Location: Dallas
31,290 posts, read 20,737,754 times
Reputation: 9325
Quote:
Originally Posted by bpb View Post
Is Tivo a DVR that I could use with OTA channels? Does anybody know of other HD DVRs available?
I've used TiVo with TWC for three years and it works great. TiVo can also work with OTA input.
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Old 08-13-2016, 12:07 PM
 
658 posts, read 2,006,616 times
Reputation: 430
Quote:
Originally Posted by lpc123 View Post
Has anyone in Austin dumped TWC for DirecTV lately? I am considering doing this, but I have heard complaints about both providers. Anyone have buyer's remorse?

We cannot "cut the cord" because of the channels we want (Fox Sports SW, Hallmark, Hallmark Movie Channel, etc.), but we are not happy with the quality of TWC's service. U-verse and Grande are not available where we live.
We just quit Direct TV and before that we had Dish. Dish was a better deal cost wise. Direct just kept adding fees to our bill.

If I was to go back to any satellite TV I would definitely use Dish.
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Old 08-13-2016, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Austin, Tx
316 posts, read 877,219 times
Reputation: 201
We are ancient cord cutters from the time our boys were born (14+ yrs ago).

OTA antenna, Amazon, Netflix & Google Play and previously library rentals before the streaming services became popular.

Love the peace and quiet without the cacophony. Visitors are bemused when they find we have just one TV in the whole house.

The millennials with their plethora of screen choices will make TV obsolete in the not too distant future. Movies, music & TV shows are all available a la carte now. Sports is their last bastion.

PS: i just received my TW internet bill and they are back to slow boiling the frog again. Have to stop by at their office & get it squared away. Google Fiber is on the horizon and not a day too soon. i still remember 9.6 kbps and dumb terminals from 20+ yrs ago.
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Old 09-07-2016, 02:15 PM
 
473 posts, read 405,775 times
Reputation: 1561
Not cool that DirecTV makes you buy their higher priced "Choice" bundle ($60 12-mo intro/108 reg) versus "Select" ($50 12-mo intro/$81 regular) just to have our regional Fox sports channel (FSSW).

If they really want to pull me away from TWC, they would just need to add that one channel to their basic bundle.

TWC gives me FSSW and even with their "surcharge" of $8.75, their Internet/TV bundle is a lot cheaper than splitting TWC (for Internet) and DirectTV (for TV). However, to be fair, DirectTV includes in their pricing a DVR and a second box, while TWC just gives you one basic digital box (no DVR) for their lower price.

From that standpoint, it is not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, unless the DVR/second box thing is not important to you.

Last edited by lpc123; 09-07-2016 at 02:15 PM.. Reason: add one word
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