Dropped Cable Today
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REWahoo
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I've had no land line for nine years and have activated credit cards via my cell phone on many occasions. Not an issue.
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Covbro
Dryer sheet wannabe
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We dropped cable TV early this year. We don't miss it all. We got tired of the ever increasing monthly bill. We purchased an OTA antenna and installed it in the attic. We get about 57 channels, with excellent HD on some channels. Matter-of-fact, we were surprised to see better graphics quality than on cable and satellite. We also watch Netflix movies and TV shows. We got rid of our landline because we weren't using it. Always looking for ways to save money.
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RetiredAndFree
Recycles dryer sheets
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Adult DD's, 32 and 29, have only ever had cell phones, and between them, trust me, they have CC's aplenty. We've been cell only for three years and have experienced no negative issues whatsoever. And the bliss of not having the phone ring off the hook with political calls at this time of year? Priceless.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
What's a landline??
I understand, but there are folds in my brain and neurons that haven't been used for decades apparently. I think the decision to keep the copper emerged from somewhere in that zone. I finally trained my relatives to dial my cell, maybe it's time reduce expenses by $40/mo.
Calico
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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My landline expired (in the literal sense) about 4 years ago when the guy digging around for my septic tank accidentally cut through the phone line. I had been debating getting rid of the landline anyway, so I just never had it fixed. I continue to put that old expired number on my checks and any forms that require a phone number. I guard my cell phone number carefully and only give it out to a limited number of people/businesses.
ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
What's a landline
We still have one. But only because we aren't paying for it. (We live in a parsonage and the church here, DW's employer, pays the utilities and such.) And as so many of the folks there are north of 60, I'm pretty sure they want to keep their landline. If nothing else, it gives us a small discount on DSL, I guess, which is the only non-satellite "broadband" available in this tiny little town.
Our council approved our putting an antenna up. We have the antenna and it's a matter of mounting it on the mast where the dish currently resides. The problem is that I need a really big ladder or other equipment to get up there, as it's on the edge of the roof, about 15 feet up, not really accessible with anything I have now. Once I do that I plan to shut off the dish. And as it's over $100 a month until then, I guess I have motive to get it done.
One tiny nit here: There is no such thing specifically as an "HDTV" antenna or a "digital" antenna. It's a marketing thing often done to convince people they needed to buy new antennas to replace their perfectly good antennas that had been picking up analog signals. An antenna is an antenna, it either picks up the RF frequency or it doesn't, regardless of whether the airwaves carry an analog or a digital signal. Other than that nit, carry on!
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Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
I'd like to get rid of cable, but I'm not sure how clear a picture I can get from an OTA antenna. Also, we watch a lot of tv in the winter and channel selection is very important to DW. So I'll need to research this to make sure she would still be able to get her shows. Then I'll tackle the landline issue.
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
There's an app for that...free!
I use this 'antenna helper' app on my Android phone when we are in the RV. Tells me all the OTA signals I can get at my location, their strength and direction. Our small antenna on the top of our RV gives us a great picture on any signal the app rates as 'moderate' or better. With a better antenna even the weak signals would probably be flawless.
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
I use mid-range DSL from ATT and the intro price was $24 a month, going to $44 after 6 months. It is fine for web stuff, Netflix, and the like. I imagine it would be slow if you are used to cable or whatever, but we live in the country and that's all that is really available. No other paid service.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
There's an app for that...free!
I use this 'antenna helper' app on my Android phone when we are in the RV. Tells me all the OTA signals I can get at my location, their strength and direction. Our small antenna on the top of our RV gives us a great picture on any signal the app rates as 'moderate' or better. With a better antenna even the weak signals would probably be flawless.
Thanks!!! I should have suspected that there was an app for that. There's an app for almost everything.
The subject of internet, phone and television is so complex that very few are able to deal with all the options.
Imagine a personal service, that would allow you to sit down with an expert, to match needs with expense. Perhaps a community college course. ... Or... maybe to develop a new franchise designed to save the average household hundreds of dollars a year.
It's a jungle out there... Not a day goes by that I don't find a new program, app, or video source that is either free, or better than what I have settled on.
The platforms are becoming infinite. While I use Plex, the number of free channels available from other sources widen the playing field. The free "frontrowsports " mentioned in an earlier post provides a free alternative to the costly TV sports contracts.. Kodi (XMBC) and some older programs are listed here, as are many of the newer specialty alternatives.
If for no other reason than to be familiar with geektalk, this website lists some of the alternatives.
Plex Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net
When you get to the bottom of the page, click on the "more" button.
Imagine a personal service, that would allow you to sit down with an expert, to match needs with expense. Perhaps a community college course. ... Or... maybe to develop a new franchise designed to save the average household hundreds of dollars a year.
It's a jungle out there... Not a day goes by that I don't find a new program, app, or video source that is either free, or better than what I have settled on.
The platforms are becoming infinite. While I use Plex, the number of free channels available from other sources widen the playing field. The free "frontrowsports " mentioned in an earlier post provides a free alternative to the costly TV sports contracts.. Kodi (XMBC) and some older programs are listed here, as are many of the newer specialty alternatives.
If for no other reason than to be familiar with geektalk, this website lists some of the alternatives.
Plex Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net
When you get to the bottom of the page, click on the "more" button.
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Bestwifeever
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We dropped the landline a few months ago. I ported the number to a new cell phone as we have had that number for 35 years and I felt like I needed it for several reasons. I then killed my old cell phone as only five or so people even had that number (who all know our old landline number anyway). It has worked out really well.
I just finished my annual call to Time Warner. This call is to lower my monthly payment back to the intro rate for internet service. They keep throwing in free starter cable tv on top of that when I ask them to cancel the TV part of the service. This is the second year they have done that. Five minutes of phone call equals $600/year savings. Having a local competitor makes this negotiation easy.
I already have my primary TIVO box recording OTA in HD. So the cable TV is almost irrelevant too me. It's lower quality (SD vs HD).
I already have my primary TIVO box recording OTA in HD. So the cable TV is almost irrelevant too me. It's lower quality (SD vs HD).
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Now that I'm a snow bird, I sign up new with the appropriate cable company every 6 months, getting the new customer deal each time. It's working out great. All I have to do is return the equipment before heading to the other house, and make an appointment to get the new set up. This way I get the new equipment, a decent price, and a decent package each time. The companies keep telling me I can go dormant while out of town for just $10/month (per service), but what would be my incentive to do that? Pay extra to get less service for higher prices?
+1 for Obi + Google Voice.
The one-time cost for an Obi100 is around $35 on Amazon. After that, totally free calling in US and Canada, with most international calls at 1-2 cents per minute.
It's the best solution I've seen for people wanting to dump their landline service, but not yet ready to go pure cellular. In our case, we get sketchy cellular reception at the house and have several wired and wireless handsets that we wanted to continue using.
GTFan
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
+2 for Obi and GV, if you really need a cheap VOIP solution. I've been using it for years after we got sick of telemarketers and pols calling, not to mention all the junk fees with a landline. Many just get by with cells.
As for the frontrowsports recommendation to get live sports, this is a big YMMV. These are often crappy and unreliable streams that you're bootlegging from somebody broadcasting them over the net. And if you like your sports in full HD with DD 5.1 sound like me, no way.
If you're a frugal (ok, cheap) guy like me that still wants all his sports, call your cableCo every year and select the option to downgrade or cancel service. This gets you to the retention reps with the best deals - on Comcast this always gets me a good double play deal (HSI/cable) for less than $100 a month. You have to have HSI anyway, right? My current deal gets me 50mb HSI + all channels + HBO for $90, and I expect to get something similar in a couple of months when that promo expires. Been doing this for years.
As for the frontrowsports recommendation to get live sports, this is a big YMMV. These are often crappy and unreliable streams that you're bootlegging from somebody broadcasting them over the net. And if you like your sports in full HD with DD 5.1 sound like me, no way.
If you're a frugal (ok, cheap) guy like me that still wants all his sports, call your cableCo every year and select the option to downgrade or cancel service. This gets you to the retention reps with the best deals - on Comcast this always gets me a good double play deal (HSI/cable) for less than $100 a month. You have to have HSI anyway, right? My current deal gets me 50mb HSI + all channels + HBO for $90, and I expect to get something similar in a couple of months when that promo expires. Been doing this for years.
easysurfer
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Other reason to to OTA.
Dish just dropped CBS for a lot of cities.
CBS programming goes dark on DISH networks - CBS News
Dish just dropped CBS for a lot of cities.
CBS programming goes dark on DISH networks - CBS News
Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Here's an interesting twist to the Dish and CBS agreement. Apparently, the ability to automatically skip commercials has been degraded.
Dish Deal With CBS Effectively Makes Ad-Skipping DVR Pointless – Consumerist
Dish Deal With CBS Effectively Makes Ad-Skipping DVR Pointless – Consumerist
easysurfer
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Wow. I'm assuming this deal to degrade only applies to Dish DVRs? All the more reason to go OTA if a big CBS fan.
I love watching CBS This Morning, but if I had to watch the commercial and local news I'd considering no longer watching. I always skip past the interruptions.
M Paquette
Moderator Emeritus
Wow. I'm assuming this deal to degrade only applies to Dish DVRs? All the more reason to go OTA if a big CBS fan.
I love watching CBS This Morning, but if I had to watch the commercial and local news I'd considering no longer watching. I always skip past the interruptions.
Manually skipping the commercials, as Dish customers with DVRs predating the Hopper/Joey models do, still works just fine. A few taps on the +30 second button and I'm back to the program.
Only the automated commercial skip done on programs more than a day or two old is disabled for CBS. Manually skipping these still works just fine.
Dropping Xfinity-Comcast cable TV and phone (keeping Internet) after the holidays when Costco isn't so crazy with shoppers. DirecTV is already offering the 2015 NFL Sunday Ticket and Costco has upped the free gift card to $300 through 1/15/15. I'll finally have TV back in my master BR, guest BR and exercise loft and this time they'll be wireless HD.
OP
OP
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I'm interested in some Starz programming. That can be purchased through Apple iTunes or through Amazon Instant Video. You can buy an episode or a season. It's expensive, but way better than paying a monthly cable bill and having to DVR the shows of interest.
HBO series are available the same way.
Occasionally a series is available on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon for a period, but often not.
HBO series are available the same way.
Occasionally a series is available on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon for a period, but often not.
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