Have you gone internet-only?

[Dylan]

No landline phone and want to burn cable once I figure out the right options. So this is a great thread for me!

 

[dartmouth01]

I haven't tried this yet, but I am probably going to try this with my brother once I'm on the road with the RV. Offer to pay for another cable box from someone who has cable channels you want. Then buy a slingbox and hook it up to the cable box and to their Internet. BasicAlly the slingbox controls the cable of like you're sitting there. It's like your looking at the tv that's hooked up to the cablebox. Actually if u were controlling the slingbox with your computer, like if you change the channel, you would see the change happen on the tv directly hooked up to it. Then watch the games from your computer or iPhone like you're watching it on the TV.

I'm going to cancel my cable pretty soon, as long as I can get Mets games on MLB.tv through my XBox. MLB.tv is coming to XBox this summer, but I'm not going to cancel the cable until I'm sure that the games aren't going to be blacked out here . . .



Either that, or I could work up a mailing address trade-off with Geoff so he can have his Red Sox and I can have my Mets

 

[Geoff]

Offer to pay for another cable box from someone who has cable channels you want. Then buy a slingbox and hook it up to the cable box and to their Internet.

You could easily pool your cable bill with a few neighbors. With Comcast, an add-on HD set-top box is about $9.00/month. As long as you're on the same fiber node, there's no way Comcast can tell. The cable modem is also plenty fast to distribute among a few houses unless everybody is streaming IP video.

I have crappy cell reception so I still have a wireline phone for my business calls.

 

[mlctvt]

Slingbox is great but it probably won't work if you have DSL. You need a fast upload speed from the provider side.
I have DSL at my home that is 3M download but only about 400-500K upload. I wanted to set up a slingbox that I could access from my VT condo where I also have DSL but the slingbox needs at least 600k upload speed to work properly.

I hate Comcast so I dumped them for Directv satellite over 10 years ago. No ATT uverse in my town yet either. Directv HD is excellent.

 

[Glenn]

Slingbox is great but it probably won't work if you have DSL. You need a fast upload speed from the provider side.
I have DSL at my home that is 3M download but only about 400-500K upload. I wanted to set up a slingbox that I could access from my VT condo where I also have DSL but the slingbox needs at least 600k upload speed to work properly.

I hate Comcast so I dumped them for Directv satellite over 10 years ago. No ATT uverse in my town yet either. Directv HD is excellent.

We're thinking of doing something similar since we just switched from DSL to cable internet.

What do you use on the recieving end to receive the slingbox signal?

 

[Sky]

Great thread! I've been looking to dump out of the triple-threat cable bundle myself. The only calls I get on the land line are telemarketers. The only up-side to having that landline...I give that out (vs the cell) on applications etc. I rarely answer the land line.

As for the cable TV....I'd have some pain over losing it...but I'm willing to go with alternative sources (NetFlix etc) just to stop paying the cable company.

Internet.....can't go without it...yet. But I could learn. Hit the internet cafe....work access, etc.

Because I'm tired of paying these outrageous monthly bills.

Cell phone bill....I'll stick with the basic phone I've got. Yes, it's technologically well below the Do All phones, but I'm not interested. Call and txt...totally adequate. Unfortunately, my daughter's iPhone (as nice as it is) is really driving he bill. We'll see what she does when the bill becomes hers (post college). We all make our own sacrifices. :>

 

[Bostonian]

I've long dreamed about the day to dump the cable myself. We have Fios internet, TV and Verizon Wireless - Two Lines. We have no land line. While we do pay $285 a month for all three (which isn't too bad), I would love to dump the cable since all I ever watch is Channel 4, 5, 7 and 25... Although I do like some of the shows on FX and what not. However, my wife loves MTV, HGTV, and a few other stations. I have been thinking of dumping the FIOS tv in lieu of Dish or DirecTV... But haven't decided yet. I do love the 35/35 High Speed Internet though so I could easily stream movies without any issue.

 

[hammer]

Interesting how people are looking to dump everything but internet but having a smart phone is a "necessity"...

I'd like to drop the landline but I'd lose the Fios bundle discount so the savings would be minimal. Dropping the Fios TV will not happen as long as we have a teenage daughter in the house...and I'm still waiting on the streaming options to get better.

 

[dartmouth01]

Legalskier, you're right, the smart tv's are doing some of the stuff that my computer is, but not all. they are basically like Roku or Apple Tvs built into the tv, so they are generally easy to use and require very little set up. but, I dont know of any smart tvs that have a tv DVR built in yet, which is the main reason I have my home theater pc set up. If you're fairly tech savvy, and know how to already hook up a computer to a tv, then you'll benefit from a HTPC I think. There is also alot of info on the web if you really want to dive into it, most of what I learned was from reading other people's experiences and tips/tricks.

Thanks for the explanation. So if I'm following you, you're using your computer as the brains of the operation and your tv to display the signal from the computer; which means you don't need a "smart tv" with all those bells and whistles (which helps keeps costs down). You also don't need to buy a new, updated tv every few years because your upgrades are to your computer, not the tv. A fusion of computer and tv.



Interesting. Those USB tuners appear to be for Windows (which is the system I use)- I'm wondering whether they are compatible with Mac, as I think my son would be interested in one.

I will be looking into mac tuners soon, since I think I may downsize to a mac mini for the RV (my current HTPC is a big on the bulky size). I remember a device called El Gato Eyetv from a few years back when I was on a Mac that was a tv tuner, not sure if they have an HD version tho. Anyways, I will probably dual boot the mac with windows XP so I can just use PC hardware, which will be alot more easy to come by.

 

[Glenn]

Called today at lunch to shut off the landline and the DSL. Phone calls: Cell phones. Internets: Cable.

 

[o3jeff]

Called today at lunch to shut off the landline and the DSL. Phone calls: Cell phones. Internets: Cable.

Did they try to offer you a reduced rate now that you were canceling?

 

[Glenn]

They didn't. I had called to shut off the phone before...and they offered me a bare bones phone for $7.xx a month and then dropped my DSL to $30. But the taxes on the phone brought the monthly bill up to $20...for a line we just used to receive calls. We had the most basic phone and basic DSL. I don't know if we could have gone any lower.

 

[mlctvt]

They didn't. I had called to shut off the phone before...and they offered me a bare bones phone for $7.xx a month and then dropped my DSL to $30. But the taxes on the phone brought the monthly bill up to $20...for a line we just used to receive calls. We had the most basic phone and basic DSL. I don't know if we could have gone any lower.

What DSL is over $30/month? I have the fastest available in my location PRO level and it's only $24.99/month. Cable is over $50.00/mo for even the lowest plan.

 

[Glenn]

What DSL is over $30/month? I have the fastest available in my location PRO level and it's only $24.99/month. Cable is over $50.00/mo for even the lowest plan.

That's interesting! Who's your providor? We have AT&T aka: SNET.

 

[legalskier]

I remember a device called El Gato Eyetv from a few years back when I was on a Mac that was a tv tuner, not sure if they have an HD version tho. Anyways, I will probably dual boot the mac with windows XP so I can just use PC hardware, which will be alot more easy to come by.

Found it, thanks.

 

[mlctvt]

That's interesting! Who's your providor? We have AT&T aka: SNET.

AT&T / SNET Connecticut.
I've had it for 10+ years. They used to have a teaser rate then the charges went higher after 12 months. Each year I'd call up and bitch and they'd give me this rate if I signed up for a year. So I'd call just before the year ended to get the good rate for another year. Then a few years ago I threatened to go to cable and they upgraded me to the Pro level at no increase. The last few years they stopped asking and the price hasn't increased.

I do have a "long distance" plan with them too but I never use it I use my cell phone for all long distance. We actually don't answer or use our land line at all now but we still have an answering machine hooked up to it.

 

[Glenn]

That's a cool way to keep the same rate!

Test called our old land lane last night: "The number you have reached is not in service". So that's all set.

 

[o3jeff]

Have any of you tried one of the HD antenas (http://www.antennasdirect.com/) ? Your thoughts? I am not too far from where most of the local station broadcast from so it might be an option.

 

[Glenn]

Have any of you tried one of the HD antenas (http://www.antennasdirect.com/) ? Your thoughts? I am not too far from where most of the local station broadcast from so it might be an option.

Try getting one of those dgigital converter boxes and testing the signal. You could probably get by with a box and a saet of rabit ears. I tested a digi xpnverter awhile back and was able to get a few signals.

 

[skijay]

I am using a Winegard SS 2000 SquareShooter UHF Amplified antenna for my OTA reception. It does work well, it's mounted outside on a former Dish Network mount (about 8' off the ground, pole mounted). I have it oriented in such a way that I get the Hartford, CT (3.1,2,3,4,5,6), (18.1,2.3,4), (20.1,2), (24.1,2,3), (30.1,2,3), (59.1,2) and (61.1,61.2). From Springfield, MA(22.1,2), (40.1,2), (57.1,2,3,4). Channel 59 is hard to get. Also on windy days channel 20 and 61 will pixelate. The antenna is stable and does not drift in the wind. I had the "super" Dish (the one with multiple LNBs) on it and that kept the satellite signal on windy days.

I am about 40 miles away from the Hartford broadcast area and 20 from Springfield.

When I was having work done at my house over the years, a contractor would always ask what type of satellite antenna the Winegard it was