First move toward cutting the cord

[Al in Ohio]

With airplay and aps on appletv you can watch college football, History channel etc. Tivo alone can' t get all those channels.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[modhatter]

When we cut the cord several years ago, I connected an old laptop to the TV via HDMI. I installed Kodi (formerly XBMC) and hooked up a 3TB external drive and a cheap USB TV tuner (HDHR w/ 2 tuners). We control Kodi and the laptop with a Media Center remote control, and also use a wireless keyboard. Now, all live OTA TV is routed through the TV tuner into the laptop and is recorded on the external drive. This enables all the standard DVR functionality like pausing live TV, recording 1 channel while watching another, skipping commercials, etc. Just using free software and some hardware I already had lying around.

Kodi also provides a free EPG (electronic program guide) and scheduling GUI which works great. With 3TB of storage, we record tons of OTA HD programming (with 5.1 sound) and never come close to capacity. The external drive also contains our entire collection of about 150 movies (ripped from DVDs), our entire MP3 collection (ripped from CDs), digital photos, home movies, etc, all of which is nicely organized and played via Kodi. All our old DVDs and CDs are stored in a box somewhere.

There are also thousands of 3rd-party add-ons for Kodi that open up the entire universe of internet streaming. Some of these are quite obviously accessing illegal content, so we stick to the official Kodi add-ons that only access legitimate and reliable streaming sources. Still tons of great free content, including traditional cable programming, much of which is not available via Netflix and Amazon.

If you have an old PC or laptop lying around, and you're a tech-savvy DIYer, this is a great and fun alternative to collecting a bunch of new hardware (Roku, TiVo, etc). The USB tuner was around $35 and the MCE remote was $15. We already had everything else (laptop and external drive); plus there's no ongoing subscription costs. IMHO, Kodi is a must-have for serious cable-cutters.

I downloaded Koki, in what I think is a basic installation. I am not interested in downloading illegal content either, but since it does not appear to come with instructions, I am not sure what is legal and what is not. YouTube has people showing you how to install content, but I know most of it is not legal.

Where did you get your information from and how do you know which is legal content and what isn't? (other than the obvious)

 

[Cobra9777]

I downloaded Koki, in what I think is a basic installation. I am not interested in downloading illegal content either, but since it does not appear to come with instructions, I am not sure what is legal and what is not. YouTube has people showing you how to install content, but I know most of it is not legal.

Where did you get your information from and how do you know which is legal content and what isn't? (other than the obvious)

The streaming content comes via video add-ons. As I said, if you stick with the official Kodi add-ons, I believe it is all legal sources of online streaming content. Some of it may require that you set up a free account at the source website. The official add-ons come with the software. You just have to install the ones you are interested in. There are quite a few, so some experimentation is required.

Stay away from 3rd-party video add-ons and repositories unless you know it is accessing legal content. Typically, these 3rd party add-ons are the ones with how-to videos you've seen on YouTube. Many of them are specifically built to enable easy access to illegal streaming sources, like PrimeWire. It's not all illegal, but as you mentioned, it can be difficult to tell the difference since Kodi makes the actual source transparent.

Just stick to the official add-on's and use good judgment. If you find yourself watching a movie that's still in theaters, and with Russian subtitles, you've obviously crossed the line.

Yes, there are no instructions with Kodi. It is open source software, mainly intended for tech-savvy DIYers. I got most of my configuration information directly from the Kodi website and specifically the discussion forum. Any problem you encounter has been discussed there many times. There are lots of other good websites with helpful configuration advice as well.

We use it mainly as a free DVR for OTA content and to neatly organize all of our other media like photos, movies, and music that we own. We also use Netflix and Amazon for 90% of our streaming. But it's been fun to discover the whole universe of other free online streaming which is easily accessible via Kodi.

 

[sengsational]

I'm biased (because I wrote the software), but I use CW_EPG. You need a Windows PC with a decent sized hard-drive, HD Homerun connect device ($130, dual tuner), and a subscription to schedules direct ($25/yr). You can record two things at once. Of course there's dozens of other software options (SageTV, MythTV, etc). https://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun/hdhomerun-connect-na/

 

[Fedup]

I got my cable Bill reduced yesterday thanks to this thread. But I only managed to save $50 per month. Next year when my husband has more bandwidth, as he will be retired for good, then I will look for more ways to cut the cord.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[UpAnchor]

I see that Channel Master will be running the Black Friday deal again this year on their OTA DVRs. Wouldn't be surprised if TiVo does likewise with their Roamio and Minis. We got in on this last year with the CM but it was a tough choice between the two systems. After multiple days of deliberation, the prospect of zero subscription fees going forward won us over.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We used to have a dedicated laptop connected to the living room TV with an HDMI cable and a wireless mouse and keyboard downstairs, so we could watch anything on the web plus we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Then I bought an Amazon Firestick. It is easier than the laptop and has Netflix, Prime and Youtube plus a bunch of other channels I doubt anyone in the house watches. The laptop is still there but no one bothers with it anymore as the stick is easier. Upstairs we have a Roku streaming stick. In the family room there is an xBox plus basic cable that came at no extra charge with Internet. We don't record anything as we usually just watch Netflix and Prime.

I bought our streaming sticks plus two Chromecasts for Christmas gifts for under $20 each when they went on sale and used deal stacking.

 

[wmc1000]

updating an old thread on cord cutting - The various live streaming service are nearing 7 million:

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/sli...tv-now-others-approach-7-million-subscribers/

Here are the current subscriber counts according to Strategy Analytics:
Sling TV: 2.34 Million
DIRECTV NOW: 1.8 Million
Hulu: 995K
PlayStation Vue: 745K
YouTube TV: 410K
fuboTV: 325K
Philo: 150K

 

[Katsmeow]

The one I think that has missed the boat is Playstation Vue. It has a very attractive offering. But, many people overlook it thinking that it requires you to have a Playstation.

 

[Badger]

Yes, two stations about 50 miles away. TV Fool identified more stations that could work with a roof mounted antenna, but that is not allowed in the subdivision.

Do they also disallow satellite dishes? That would require you to use cable to use your TV. Is someone in the subdivision getting a kickback?


Cheers!

 

[trapperjohn]

We decided to try HULU Live before cutting our cable. 80 - 90% of the time everything is just as good as our cable service. But we’ve found 2 annoying things, one of which may force us to stay with cable if we can’t resolve it. I’ll start with the deal breaker issue first.

1) we’ve noticed that when we watch live tv shows in the evening, parts of the picture briefly gets pixelated. The pixelation only lasts for a few seconds, but it happens so frequently throughout the show that we will sometimes switch back to cable to watch the show. Also sometimes the picture will freeze for a few seconds then catch up to the sound. The freezing is not as frequent as the pixelating, but it happens enough to be annoying.

2) sometimes the sound is just about 1 second behind the picture. We can tell it is because we can see the person who is talking in the picture start to pronounce a word before we hear him/her say it.

Does anyone else have HULU Live? Do you see this same behavior?

 

[Rustic23]

you might give one of the other services a try. I tried Hulu Live, Direct TV Now, and Youtube TV. I seem to get the best picture from Youtube TV. This industry is growing fast, and what works or does not work today might work tomorrow. I like the fact that you can start and stop a service in one month increments.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I tried Hulu Live and didn't have any issues with pixellation or sound synchronization (the latter I have with my cable at times but is usually fixed by pausing and restarting, or switching channels and back). I have 50 Mbps service which tests at around 45 at the Apple TV via wifi.

The killer for me was the program guide. You either have a choice of seeing all channels or the last ten (or so) watched, in the order they were viewed. No "favorites." I really don't want to have to plod through the crap I don't watch or hunt for my more favorite channels in random order.

[edit to add] I also didn't like the fact that Hulu Live via Apple TV isn't in Dolby 5.1. I think they're working on that and have brought it out on other platforms, including the PS4, Xbox1, and later LG TVs.

 

[walkinwood]

We decided to try HULU Live before cutting our cable. 80 - 90% of the time everything is just as good as our cable service. But we’ve found 2 annoying things, one of which may force us to stay with cable if we can’t resolve it. I’ll start with the deal breaker issue first.

1) we’ve noticed that when we watch live tv shows in the evening, parts of the picture briefly gets pixelated. The pixelation only lasts for a few seconds, but it happens so frequently throughout the show that we will sometimes switch back to cable to watch the show. Also sometimes the picture will freeze for a few seconds then catch up to the sound. The freezing is not as frequent as the pixelating, but it happens enough to be annoying.

2) sometimes the sound is just about 1 second behind the picture. We can tell it is because we can see the person who is talking in the picture start to pronounce a word before we hear him/her say it.

Does anyone else have HULU Live? Do you see this same behavior?

What device are you using to stream? Is it old? Try a different device. Also test your network speed.


Netflix used to stutter and reload all the time for us a few years ago. We updated our Roku and the problems went away.

 

[ncbill]

Do they also disallow satellite dishes? That would require you to use cable to use your TV. Is someone in the subdivision getting a kickback?

Cheers!

Both satellite dishes and roof mounted antennas are allowed under federal regs, assuming you own your roof.

So a SFR or townhouse qualifies, but a condominium probably would not (though they could be mounted on a balcony that is private to the unit)

 

[trapperjohn]

What device are you using to stream? Is it old? Try a different device. Also test your network speed.


Netflix used to stutter and reload all the time for us a few years ago. We updated our Roku and the problems went away.

I’m using a brand new amazon fire stick just purchased 2 weeks ago. But you may be on to something about the speed. I’ll have to check that out.