Cord Cutters - - - -


 
Well, I did it.


Knowing my Comcast/Xfinity bill cost $145 and change I would log in to my bank and send $150 every month without looking at the bill. I wasn't on a promotional plan and they told me this price is fixed unless I make changes to my plan. I did that for several months. A couple weeks ago I actually opened the most recent bill expecting to see about a $30 dollar credit for around months of overpaying. I actually found I was over $40 dollars behind. I suppose they didn't technically lie since they didn't increase the price if you plan on was on. However since I wasn't checking my bills I didn't realize they increased the equipment fees that they charge. I bought my own modem long ago so they can't change for that. but there was no way to get around paying for the boxes they supply to watch TV. like millions of others I've gone in circles with their customer nosuport for years.

Between the equipment fees and the most recent hidden hidden rate increase. for those that don't know what a hidden rate increase is, it's becoming common to take channels that used to be in your package and move them to a higher tear. Technically they didn't raise your cost. but they're moving the popular channels they know people want into the more expensive packages knowing many will switch to the more expensive packages to watch the channels they like. I finally decided to shut down the TV service. since I was getting the double play discount as soon as I shut off the TV service my internet service cost went up. they are the only internet provider in town and they know it so they can do that.

There's more to the story but this post is getting long. :sleep:
 
I cut the cord a few years ago. Probably like 5 years ago. I was paying over $250/month for DirecTV alone, not including internet. I started with Sling, which had terrible performance. Switched to DirecTVNow which had terrible performance, then did Vue for awhile until YouTubeTV came out. I really like YouTubeTV. I love how it has multiple profiles for different people and how it learns what you like. I rarely have to go to the guide to find something because it is right there on the home screen. I am missing out on a couple of channels that I used to watch, but it's worth it to save the money and the mobile app/performance is great too.
 
Derrick H said:
I cut the cord a few years ago. Probably like 5 years ago. I was paying over $250/month for DirecTV alone, not including internet. I started with Sling, which had terrible performance. Switched to DirecTVNow which had terrible performance, then did Vue for awhile until YouTubeTV came out. I really like YouTubeTV. I love how it has multiple profiles for different people and how it learns what you like. I rarely have to go to the guide to find something because it is right there on the home screen. I am missing out on a couple of channels that I used to watch, but it's worth it to save the money and the mobile app/performance is great too.
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I'm not saving as much as you with the route I took because I was already on one of the least expensive packages they offer for TV. But with canceling TV through cable I'm still saving about $25 a month. That's because I did sign up for YouTube TV. To be honest I could easily get by without that also but I got it for the rest of the family since I cancelled cable TV. It wasn't entirely about the money but that was the biggest factor. My other problem was their practices. So it was kind of a move on principal also. Unfortunately I have no comparable choice for internet.


I've found YouTube TV to be a decent service. A few months ago I did the free trial they were offering. Since then they updated the app with some nice features added to the guide. The nice thing about the YouTube app is it works where you want it without having boxes hooked into everything. My TV stand looks a little funny without the cable box living in it. :D.

I know YouTube offers free trials on the TV app from time to time. For anyone wondering if it's worth it I suggest giving them a try. It's a comparable option to cable/dish for less. At least less at this point. And you still get the features you may want like DVR. The multiple accounts Derric mentioned is also a cool feature.
 
LMichaels said:
Just wait until you exceed your data caps and get the overage charges
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Yeah:mad:. I've already had that conversation with customer nonservice. during that conversation they said we have a promotion for you to get higher download speeds going on right now. I asked them if it came with a higher data cap the answer was no. I then reminded them that I'm on the phone because they say I went over a data cap, and not so politely said are you trying to make sure I can do it quicker next time so you can try and ding me even more. I really do try to be nice to the person I finally get on the phone after going through their disaster of an automated service getting transferred three times to the person who should be able to help me and whatever department I end up in, but they make it very very difficult.

EDIT:
Speaking of who I get on the phone, I have put myself on hold before because I asked to be transferred to someone I could understand. there have been a few times the accent was just so thick I couldn't understand what people were trying to say to me.
 
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We've been bumping up and over our 'data cap' the last few months. It's pretty damn annoying considering the data costs to them are practically $0.
 
In addition to streaming videos and music, we also have a camera doorbell that uploads to the cloud and so I tend to watch our data usage closely. We are typically close, but not dangerously so, of hitting our cap. For some reason in February, we went way over and I was looking yesterday at about noon and both Comcast and our router showed we had already used 16 GB...in half a day. I really don't think our habits in February changed that significantly and I've been trying to figure out what is actually happening. I also can't seem to figure out a way to determine what individual gadgets are using, which would really be useful information.
 
D, that's a major concern with any Internet connected device, especially what's known as "Internet of Things" type devices. Unfortunately, with consumer grade routers & firewalls, unless you catch it in the act, it can be really difficult to figure out what was chattering away so heavily. There may be a status/bandwidth page buried in your firewall that'll show you what's currently active.
 
I would never propose that anyone steal a signal of a sporting event, but if they were to consider it, they might want to try sportsurge.net. As for news, I downloaded the CBSNews app to my Roku, and that gets me all of the national coverage I need. I just navigate to the local stations for local news.
 
I just installed an outdoor antenna in December, and I hooked it up to the existing cable connection after termination my cable service. I also have a Roku device, but we don't use it that often. In fact, I am on my third unit in the past two years due to bad hardware. I keep it unplugged when not in use to keep it from overheating.
 
LMichaels said:
Just wait until you exceed your data caps and get the overage charges
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Not all Comcast areas have caps. I don’t have one. Probably because I can easily switch to Verizon FIOS.

Is My Household Included in the 1.2 Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan?

Find out if your area offers the Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan.
www.xfinity.com www.xfinity.com

I have been cutting the cord for a few years and it’s great. Netflix, YouTube TV, and Amazon are my viewing options. Pay around $110 for this plus 600Mbs Internet.
 
Rusty James said:
I just installed an outdoor antenna in December, and I hooked it up to the existing cable connection after termination my cable service. I also have a Roku device, but we don't use it that often. In fact, I am on my third unit in the past two years due to bad hardware. I keep it unplugged when not in use to keep it from overheating.
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I have no issues with my 3 ROKU devices. Occasionally VERY occasionally one may restart itself while watching it. I think it has been due to the device not caring what you're doing when it decides to update itself. They're great devices. I have 3 of them. Sadly I cannot get rid of Comcrap. Thanks to data caps and living where Moses lost his sandals not much on antenna, and certainly no baseball, hockey, etc.
People have recommended HULU but I priced them and to mimic what I have now with comcrap would cost me about $75 MORE per month than I pay the devil. So I stay with the devil on the lowest TV tier that affords me the programming I want along with their DVR service.
What I like about their DVR is I can watch it anywhere (even on my phone). Anyway sometimes it's better to have the devil you know
 
Clint said:
....... tried to find The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch (UFO type stuff........
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I started watching that show through History channel on Sling. I'm not so sure about the show yet. That ranch is only a couple hours from my house, so it peaked my interest kind of. Kind of in the same weird way that Coast-to-Coast interests me every once in a while if I am up late and can't sleep and need something weird and off-beat to listen to.
 
Tell ya something really interesting. There is a show on History Channel about tracking down Hitler. Very interesting and with VERY convincing evidence including eyewitnesses who saw him well after WWII and into the mid 1950's when it was reported he finally did expire
 
LMichaels said:
Tell ya something really interesting. There is a show on History Channel about tracking down Hitler. Very interesting and with VERY convincing evidence including eyewitnesses who saw him well after WWII and into the mid 1950's when it was reported he finally did expire
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I'm going to find that and add it to my (growing) watchlist. Sounds fascinating.
 
Clint said:
Youtube TV was awkward to me - I don't watch much TV but I do watch a lot of stuff on youtube. The layout & functionality of the TV service just wasn't easy. Hulu seems to either have stuff or not but with youtube TV I had to select something to record it next time it aired before it'd be available.
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It does take a bit getting used to it but I find the service to be great. I share it with 2 other people so we each pay $17/month for our own stream. You get 6 accounts and 3 streams. Things I like about the service:
  • Automatically extends recordings for shows that run longer than expected such as football, baseball
  • It's one button press to record sports. You just select a team. In the case of Red Sox, it will record when they're on NESN, Fox, or some other channel.
  • You can do commercial skip
  • It suggests other shows that you might be interested in
  • You can watch your shows anywhere you might be. On your phone, or at a ski lodge away from home.
  • Recordings are saved for 9 months
  • Unlimited recording space
  • The price since I'm paying $17 instead of $50/month. Even at $50, it's still a good value.
  • My wife/I each have our own account with our own shows/recordings.
  • For shows that you newly added and don't have recordings yet, you do have Video On Demand option which have unskippable ads. But the ads are better than regular TV. They're shorter and less frequent. I just mute the sound and look at my phone while they're playing. It tells you how many ads left and the total length of time. In other words, the average might be 3 ads for a total of 90 seconds. TLC shows on regular TV are terrible for the amount of ads they have and frequency. YTTV on-demand might have about 1/3 of the ads that TLC normally shows.
  • You can save a little money by finding discounted GooglePlay credits and using those to pay for the service.
  • YTTV has premium YT content available such as the Cobra Kai series for free.

So with cutting the cord, I'm paying $70/month for internet (600Mb/s), $17/month for YTTV for a total of $87/month. I was paying $97/month with Verizon for 1 DVR with basic cable and internet. I do have Netflix $13/month & Amazon Prime ($120/year) but I was getting them when I still was on the Cable TV cord. Lots of good content out there.

I like not having a cable box anymore. One on TV, I have a FireStick 4K. The other one (Samsung) has apps built in that are decent. I can go somewhere on vacation and take a Firestick with me to watch my shows.
 
I should preface this with I've never been a big TV watcher, not ever, except for sports. Sitcoms and drama shows, just not my cup of tea. Mrs Dollar does watch a lot of TV, however.

I just downgraded from Hulu Live to Hulu and am saving $50 a month. I've had Philo for a few months now because Mrs Dollar loves the Hallmark Channels. I found that I was watching Philo more than Hulu Live.

And Mrs Dollar wasn't watching anything on Hulu except Cheers, which we can get with Hulu. All the TV shows she really likes are OTA on local channels.

The only thing I was watching consistently on Hulu Live was the morning Squawk Box on CNBC. I decided that it wasn't worth $50 a month, when I can get the important morning news by following CNBC on Twitter and their YT channel.

IDK what I will do come football season. I'm an OU Sooner fan and every season, all but one or two games are available OTA. However, I do like watching all the CFB games on Saturdays. I get the NFL OTA except Monday Night Football, which I can live without. But there may not even be a football season this year due to Covid , mostly.

Bottom line, with a good OTA antennae, Tablo, and Philo and no need for ESPN ......... there's a lot of entertainment for cheap.

And ya should check out Philo, that's a pretty good deal.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I should preface this with I've never been a big TV watcher, not ever, except for sports. Sitcoms and drama shows, just not my cup of tea. Mrs Dollar does watch a lot of TV, however.

I just downgraded from Hulu Live to Hulu and am saving $50 a month. I've had Philo for a few months now because Mrs Dollar loves the Hallmark Channels. I found that I was watching Philo more than Hulu Live.

And Mrs Dollar wasn't watching anything on Hulu except Cheers, which we can get with Hulu. All the TV shows she really likes are OTA on local channels.

The only thing I was watching consistently on Hulu Live was the morning Squawk Box on CNBC. I decided that it wasn't worth $50 a month, when I can get the important morning news by following CNBC on Twitter and their YT channel.

IDK what I will do come football season. I'm an OU Sooner fan and every season, all but one or two games are available OTA. However, I do like watching all the CFB games on Saturdays. I get the NFL OTA except Monday Night Football, which I can live without. But there may not even be a football season this year due to Covid , mostly.

Bottom line, with a good OTA antennae, Tablo, and Philo and no need for ESPN ......... there's a lot of entertainment for cheap.

And ya should check out Philo, that's a pretty good deal.
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I get it the only sports I like is Formula One, Moto GP type racing. I watch some OTA but high winds will trash that. I have never cut the cord and I have no major news channels at all except local for weather. I like old stuff ,movies,westerns mostly.
 
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