Ditching cable/satalite tv thread?

[colorider]

I swear there was a thread on here about getting rid of satalite/cable/comcast etc. I cant find the dang thing. I want to tell comcast to piss off and want to see what others are doing. Thanks to all who can lead me down the golden road.

[roberth]

I have no idea where the thread is but I am entering my 3rd year without cable/over-the-air TV. All I have is Comcast internet. TV was a giant waste of time for me, if I could have a true menu I'd sign up but they give us these packages with all these crap stations so I stay away.

[Zundfolge]

We dumped Commiecast over a year ago ... got the fastest CenturyLink DSL line we could get (I believe we're on either a 7mb or 12mb line ... in some areas they have 40mb available, which we have at work, which kicks ass). Anyway, it costs us something like $35 a month, but I think they have a $29.95 rate for the first 5 years for new customers.

Then we bought several Roku (http://www.roku.com/) boxes, mostly to run Netflix, but there are additional Roku channels that are pretty cool.

Then I set up Plex (http://www.plexapp.com/) on my wife's Mac (there's Windows and Linux versions available too, but we had a Mac and the Mac version is the best) and installed the free Plex app on the Rokus. I've downloaded a lot of movies and TV shows to the Plex server, additionally Plex has a YouTube app (which Roku doesn't have ... partially for technical reasons and partially because Google doesn't want to license it to them at a reasonable rate). If you don't want to mess with a Plex server but still want YouTube there is a way to "side load" a channel called "VideoBuzz" (http://utmostsolutions.github.io/myvideobuzz/) that gives you YouTube but its not supported by Roku and is probably a violation of the EULA with them :p

If you're really adventurous and technically capable you might look at running Raspberri Pi (http://www.raspberrypi.org) boxes loaded with RasPlex (http://rasplex.com/) instead of the Rokus ... but I'm not sure if they actually support all the Plex functions yet.

So all we're paying is for DSL internet that we'd have anyway plus $8/mo for Netflix ... add to that the antennas plugged into each TV and I get all the TV I want. Honestly I wouldn't take Commiecast back for free at this point.

Keep in mind I don't watch a lot of sports. If you want live sports there are some pay-per-month options with Roku, and whatever comes over the airwaves for free, but that's it.

[StagLefty]

I have Comcast for my internet connection only. Then it's Plex,Netflix, and Amazon Prime. A digital antenna for about 32 free channels and I'm good.

[blacklabel]

We cancel cable after football season and turn it back on in August. I wish there were more options for live sports.

[cstone]

Comcast Internet only here as well. Only one tv in the house and we mostly watch Netflix. No landline phone as everyone has a cell phone.

[hatidua]

I've gone without formal TV for seven years now. In looking back on those seven years, my only regret is not ditching TV sooner.

[colorider]

Roku box ordere this afternoon. Already have Netflix and amazon prime. Middle finger heading toward Comcast on Monday.

[Jmetz]

I have basic basic Comcast and Internet. Pretty much anything I want to watch I can find online and stream to the TV.

[electronman1729]

I have no idea where the thread is but I am entering my 3rd year without cable/over-the-air TV. All I have is Comcast internet. TV was a giant waste of time for me, if I could have a true menu I'd sign up but they give us these packages with all these crap stations so I stay away.

What he said, got rid of Comcast TV two years ago. Getting rid of TV WILL change your life. I dont have a antenna yet since Im too cheap.

[beast556]

Havent had TV service for three and a half years now. Got netflix a year ago and all is good. I cant bring myself to give the liberal media another cent of my money.

[Tinelement]

Actually, just got hooked up to dish today. I missed football!!

Haven't had tv for the last yr or longer.

Roku is great! Can stream the Blaze. That has been our tv.

[colorider]

I don't watch sports. I have my own business and too many hobbies that occupy my free time. My wife watches lame ass home buying shows, dress shows, and basically the shows that make men puke. My son watches cartoons and nature shows. I watch family guy, simpsons, and american dad. Deadliest Catch when the new seasons are on. Thats it. Cable is a complete waste of money for us. My wife is the hold out. She is scared she wont be able to watch her testosterone draining shows before she goes to bed. I think she can catch the show on Hulu + or amazon prime, or Netflix Will be delayed, but who cares.

[skullybones]

[QUOTE=hatidua;1380281] In looking back on those years, my only regret is not ditching TV sooner.[/Q

I agree.

[losttrail]

We have Comcast Business Class at our house. Since both the wife and I work from home most of the time, DSL couldn't cut it since we could only get 4-7Mb. With Comcast we get nearly 50.

DirecTV with NFL Sunday Ticket. But thinking of dumping DirecTV. Wife may balk at that since she loves Chopped, Buying Alaska, Living Alaska. I like the last two and Chopped is ok. We'll see.

[brokenscout]

I have Direct TV, I use bill pay, it should be the same every month , so I don't really check my mail. They have been adding "packages" on and say I know owe $226. Fuck them. Tired of cable companies

[dirtrulz]

There are a few websites that upload current tv programs. watchseriesus.com and free-tv-video-online.me wich also has movies. The only annoying part is they have popups, if you have a good blocker than it is no problem. Actually the popups are not from those sites they are from the hosting sites. If you want to watch free current movies then potlocker.net has tones of movies. Some of the current ones are obviously recorded form a theater but some of them are very good recordings and the older movies are ripped from dvd. We had netflix for a while but the available shows and movies never seemed to change and the shows were always very old.

I have not had any virus' or anything form any of the sites but what we did was get a cheap laptop with hdmi and use it only for watching television, that way if something does get on it we can just wipe it and start over.

We went from over 200 a month for internet and tv to 40 for internet and get HD local channels with an antennae. A little benefit of watching everything online is no commercials.

[Zundfolge]

My wife watches lame ass home buying shows, dress shows, and basically the shows that make men puke.
If you go with an antenna to get over the air TV in addition to the Roku, you can access Create (http://www.createtv.com/), which is PBS's version of HGTV. Basically its all their home improvement, cooking, crafting and travel shows without all the leftard nonsense. Here in The Springs its channel 8-3 (I was actually surprised how much TV you can get over the airwaves these days, with everything gone digital each station can have multiple sub channels). Apparently up in Westminster you have a ton more stations (http://tvlistings.aol.com/listings/co/westminster/over-the-air/80003)than we have down here in The Springs.


There are a few websites that upload current tv programs. watchseriesus.com and free-tv-video-online.me wich also has movies.
If you're running a Plex Server in conjunction with your Roku you can install the "Unnsupported App Store" (http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/UnSupported_AppStore) which will allow you to install a channel called "Let Me Watch This" (http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/LetMeWatchThis) which allows you to watch files (movies and TV) that are hosted on numerous file sharing sites ... its not as refined an interface as things like Netflix but it does allow you to access a lot of currently running TV shows.

[dirtrulz]

If you're running a Plex Server in conjunction with your Roku you can install the "Unnsupported App Store" (http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/UnSupported_AppStore) which will allow you to install a channel called "Let Me Watch This" (http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/LetMeWatchThis) which allows you to watch files (movies and TV) that are hosted on numerous file sharing sites ... its not as refined an interface as things like Netflix but it does allow you to access a lot of currently running TV shows.


Plex server? way over my head, Hooking the computer to the tv is about as far as I go.

[NFATrustGuy]

I dumped my Direct TV back in July. I had planned on using a Mac Mini computer as a DVR with a HomeRun dual over the air tuner. The Elgato EyeTV software has an audio sync problem that I could never overcome. I looked into installing Plex, but the installation requirements were over my head... Something about an SQL server or database or something like that...

i ended up buying a Tivo Romio DVR. It works with cable or antenna. I also recently added a Tivo Stream device so I can download recorded shows to my iPad and watch them when I'm on the road. After getting used to the Tivo DVR interface, I now actually prefer it to the Direct TV DVR. I paid for the lifetime subscription for my Roamio ($400) so it'll be a few months before I break even.

Since I live in Loveland and my HOA doesn't like external TV antennas, I had to buy a fairly sizable antenna for my garage attic in order to receive the Denver area channels. I worked with the guy at Denny's antennas and bought the antenna and a few splitters and amplifiers. The guy was really helpful in determining exactly what I needed based on my address and the number of TV outlets I wanted. As it stands now, I have 3 outlets in my basement and 4 outlets upstairs. The picture quality is every bit as good as satellite. Here's the website for Denny's Antennas. I have no affiliation with them... Just a happy customer.

http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/

I continue to use Comcast for my high speed Internet. I'd rather use Quest DSL, but they don't have high speed capability in my neighborhood.

I hope this helps.

[Zundfolge]

Plex server? way over my head, Hooking the computer to the tv is about as far as I go.

I looked into installing Plex, but the installation requirements were over my head... Something about an SQL server or database or something like that...
Setting up a Plex server is as easy as downloading and running the installer. Installing Acrobat Reader is harder.