For those of you who have 'cut' the cord....

[bisontuba]

Hi-
For those of you who have 'cut the cord'-- whether Dish, Direct TV, Cable ( Time Warner), FIOS (Version),etc.......what have you found to be the best alternatives:
*HD antenna
*Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc.
*others

And for internet access, what have you found to be the best alternatives...

Tnx-
Mark

[Thomas Maurice Booth]

HD Antenna + Hulu (no commercials package $11.99/month) + Netflix ($9.99/month) + Amazon Prime (already had the membership).

(https://www.amazon.com/Vansky-Amplified ... ds=antenna" target="_blank)

By dropping our cable and home phone a few years ago, our monthly TWC bill went from nearly $200/month to $35! We haven't missed the cord.

TMB

[bort]

Tried it once before, and couldn't get into it. The end result was that I ended up with both Amazon Prime and Netflix, in addition to cable.

I think we pay around $80/month for cable and internet. I forget how it all breaks down, but we get a bulk service discount in my condo building, so that helps a lot. Plus, we only have 1 TV in the house, so it's not like we're paying a lot of extra fees for converter box rentals (is that still a thing?).

When I was without cable, the worst thing was not being able to stream a lot of things. Amazon and Netflix is cool, but it's kind of artificial after a while, and you just feel like you are watching pre-recorded shows. Not like TV is really any different, but it just feels different. Kind of like listening to CD's all the time instead of listening to the radio.

And for free Internet, I've never found anything that works better than just paying for it. I think it's pretty crazy how much people pay to get the absolute fastest speed 500MB up/down whatever... I think we're at 25 up/down and I've never had an issue with anything. You only need as much speed as it takes to be efficient and not wait for things to load. Beyond that, sure, you could boost my speed by 10x, but I can't read, type, or consume the content any faster than that.

[southtubist]

Never owned a TV, and I never really watched TV/played video games while a kid. The internet is going to replace TV anyway. You can watch all the "TV" on a computer on free public wifi these days.

It's not "TV", but it's close enough for me.

[MaryAnn]

I have an HD antenna and get all the local stations. Once, about 15 years ago, I got cable for a year and found that it was just as repetitive, and as full of commercials, as my local stations. So...meh. I still have to pay for internet though, and the cheapest viable option is currently costing me $40 a month. There was one six month period when I was living in the travel trailer, that I got both internet and cable TV for a reasonable price on a promotional offer. Now....I have other things to spend my retirement money on.

[Big Francis]

I built one of these for $11 and it works better than the $40-$60 antennas (antennae?) I purchased before. "HD antenna" is a way to double the price, there is no such thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

We also supplement that with Amazon Prime and Netflix. Those two run us a little over $200/year. No regrets.

Frank

[Rick F]

The only cord we cut was AT&T. They were charging ~$84 per month for landline service and slow internet (2.8 mps download) and wi-fi. Since our neighborhood provides partial cable TV service with Comcast, we added phone (VOIP), hi-def TV and DVR. I think it's called Xfinity X1. Also got their much faster internet service (89 mps download / 25 mps upload) and wi-fi. This is really faster speed than we need. Cost us $74 per month this year, but will probably go up to ~$130/mo next year. Then we'll probably opt for a lower internet speed.

[MaryAnn]

Somebody tell me what netflix is. I thought it was only movies. I generally don't watch movies because I have a face recognition problem (prosopagnosia, look it up) and have trouble telling the actors apart if they look similar. So....what else can I get with netflix?

[arpthark]

Select TV shows, comedy specials, documentaries. Original programming (House of Cards, Stranger Things, etc.) The TV shows are usually a season or so behind live TV... but you can binge watch at will. My fiancée and I have been Netflix-only for the past three years or so and love it.

http://usa.newonnetflix.info/catalog