The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money
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Hello:
If you have ditched cable, FIOS or satellite and found great ways to get the streaming service you want and the channels you want with good high speed internet we’d love to hear from you.
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What you gave up and what you got.
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Tips on getting DVR service
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Tips on best deals for wi-fi alone w/no cable commitment
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Price point, what can you get for say $80 to $100 a month versus a $150 cable bill?
Thanks for posting up your own experiences and tips to help the community for others who’d like to go this route.
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Several weeks ago I posted about Locast. If you live in a major city it is an easy way to stream your local broadcast channels for free.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Several weeks ago I posted about Locast. If you live in a major city it is an easy way to stream your local broadcast channels for free.
Yes, recall that post, just trying to have a thread with all helpful hints and advice in one place so people can refer back to old and add newer info as it becomes known.
So Locast fits perfectly in here as an option. I know some streaming services (paid) also offer local channels with their general line up of channels too. There are so many options out there now that it does get confusing and navigating which ones are the best choices for one’s tastes and budget requires some research
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Also, during the Black Friday weekend, Hulu has some great deals on their standard service. Two years ago I got Hulu for 99 cents a month for a year. This past Black Friday they increased it by a dollar and the new annual deal was $1.99 a month for a year. Who knows what the price will be this Black Friday. They don’t make you pay in advance for a year, but they just guarantee that price when you pay month-to-month. The deal is only for new customers, so every Black Friday I make a new account with a different e-mail and credit card.
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Last week, MrsGuin posted about AiryTV and some other free live TV services.
https://phatwalletforums.com/topic/25877/airy-free-live-tv-and-other-similar-free-live-tv-services
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I ditched my $95/month Dish Network when they took LivePD off the air. Now I watch the free Pluto TV mostly along with Netflix. Pluto has the first 48, Cops 24/7, and Midsomer Murders 24/7. I tried AiryTV for old TV shows like The Addams Family, but they were off the air yesterday and the shows can be taken off with no notice. They also have different stations on AiryTV on the firestick versus the Roku. I use NewsOn for my local and not so local news along with my locals news app that doesn’t always work. Also have Crackle, Plex, Stirr, and Redbox for free streaming of old stuff.
I do subscribe to Acorn TV but I will ditch that after my year is up and just watch the shows on hoopla. I get 25 free rentals a month on hoopla from one of my libraries that I have a card for and they have the Acorn shows.
I will probably get Sling for $30/month if anything good comes back to tv, but I’m not holding my breath.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Also, during the Black Friday weekend, Hulu has some great deals on their standard service. Two years ago I got Hulu for 99 cents a month for a year. This past Black Friday they increased it by a dollar and the new annual deal was $1.99 a month for a year. Who knows what the price will be this Black Friday. They don’t make you pay in advance for a year, but they just guarantee that price when you pay month-to-month. The deal is only for new customers, so every Black Friday I make a new account with a different e-mail and credit card.
I did the $1.99 Hulu deal for the first time this year. After the first month I added a gift card I got at a discount, so that helped. (I hadn’t been planning on getting it at all or I would have been better off with the gift card from the start.) I want to do the same thing this year. Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
I also have a Fire Recast for antenna DVR, which I’ve been happy with after the initial adjustment, ever since Microsoft killed Windows Media Center last year, which I’d been running for a very long time before then. Plus Amazon Prime. Between all those I have way more things to watch than I have time.
I have a terrible internet connection - no FIOS available in my area - so any suggestions of good internet at a reasonable price would be helpful.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Several weeks ago I posted about Locast. If you live in a major city it is an easy way to stream your local broadcast channels for free.
I have tried locast today and I’m really unhappy with it. The quality is good, the closed captioning is OK, but the worst thing is the ads. They keep interrupting you with the “Donate $5 for this service”, and they will let you watch like 10 minutes, then pop up the ad, and boot you back to the channel guide.
So yes, technically they’re free, but not really usable unless you pony up $5/month. I’m still using hulu for the 2nd year at $1.99/month.
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I have Comcast for internet and limited basic TV for $65/month. Internet by itself is $55/month, so there is really no reason for me to cut the cord. Having Comcast internet also gives me 5 lines of cellphone for about $17/month.
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@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
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@dangeruss said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
the worst thing is the ads. They keep interrupting you with the “Donate $5 for this service”, and they will let you watch like 10 minutes, then pop up the ad, and boot you back to the channel guide.
Yes, agreed. While technically free you could probably watch with no ads asking for money if you agreed to a monthly $5 donation. $5 a month is probably a good deal as it seems the alternatives for local TV cost much more than $5 a month (unless of course you get your local TV from an anternna like I get mine). What I like about this service though is you can even watch on your cell phone when you are not at home.
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@c3 One issue with Comcast, and possibly others, is they offer different rates at different locations. The price you receive is not available to me unless I get basically dial-up Internet speeds.
I also have a limited service but wanted higher Internet Speeds. Those speeds were only offered with larger bundles. When pressed they would offer “Internet only” but at a significant price jump even over the bundled rates. Finally was able to juggle speed and bundled price but still at the $100+ per month and they add a $6.00/month local TV access when I use an antenna in my attic.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
Thanks. It’s good to be prepared ahead of time. I was hoping it was like Sam’s Club where it just had to be inactive for a certain amount of time. Oh well.
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@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
Thanks. It’s good to be prepared ahead of time. I was hoping it was like Sam’s Club where it just had to be inactive for a certain amount of time. Oh well.
To be honest with you, I don’t know how Hulu defines a new customer. You might try on an account you haven’t used for some time. It may very well work and you will have nothing to lose for trying.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
Thanks. It’s good to be prepared ahead of time. I was hoping it was like Sam’s Club where it just had to be inactive for a certain amount of time. Oh well.
To be honest with you, I don’t know How Hulu defines a new customer. You might try on an account you haven’t used for some time. It may very well work and you will have nothing to lose for trying.
I used my account the first year, and my wife’s for the 2nd year.
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@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
Thanks. It’s good to be prepared ahead of time. I was hoping it was like Sam’s Club where it just had to be inactive for a certain amount of time. Oh well.
To be honest with you, I don’t know How Hulu defines a new customer. You might try on an account you haven’t used for some time. It may very well work and you will have nothing to lose for trying.
Since this was my first year, I’m going to have to make a new account anyway in November. Last BF I activated the deal on my old Hulu account from when everything was free, and I’d never had a paid plan there. So you’re right, it’s worth a try after another year to at least attempt to reactivate my current account. Nothing to lose, as you said. Thanks!
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@dangeruss said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@mrvietnam said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
@hbg1 said in The 'cut the cord' discussion thread: Tips, tricks & advice to get rid of cable, still get the channels you want and save money:
Does it have to be a new email address/account every year, or can I alternate between two existing accounts? I’m planning on creating a second account for the next year, but I’d rather not do that indefinitely.
The discounted deal is for new customers only, so you would need a new e-mail address and use a new credit card each time you do this deal. I also put a different family member’s name on the new account, just in case one day they ask why I have 5 different Hulu accounts.
Thanks. It’s good to be prepared ahead of time. I was hoping it was like Sam’s Club where it just had to be inactive for a certain amount of time. Oh well.
To be honest with you, I don’t know How Hulu defines a new customer. You might try on an account you haven’t used for some time. It may very well work and you will have nothing to lose for trying.
I used my account the first year, and my wife’s for the 2nd year.
I will have to try that, so I don’t have To make so many new accounts. The system will let you know right away if it accepts it or. not.
