Cord Cutting update / thoughts
Every couple years I look at cord cutting and I still haven't actually done it yet. Wanted to share my thoughts and ask folks if they are in the same spot or if there's something I'm missing.
I live in West Michigan and use AT&T Uverse for TV and Internet. Currently the lowest tier TV package that includes sports channels is $115 and bundled unlimited internet is an extra $30. Total of $145 + tax.
For internet-only service, the choices are:
- $70 + tax for up to 1,024 GB streaming monthly
- $100 + tax for unlimited data streaming monthly which I would inevitably have to select
So cord cutting "saves" $45 + tax, but it's not really $45 because I'd have to pay for additional hulu/amazon/sling services anyway to still stream sports channels. So the net savings would be much less than $45. Possibly no savings at all I suspect. I may also have to buy hardware to be able to stream on my 6 yr old TV.
So for me it's not worth the (potential) (small) savings to go through the hassle of changing. So I'm keeping TV service for now along with unlimited internet for $145 plus tax.
Change my mind?
Well just today after this post we got an email that DIRECTVNOW is going up again. 2nd time since they bought Time-Warner. I guess we will need to look at it again.
I really miss Dave and Charlie. If you know who they are you know why I miss them.
The dreaded mobile double
My bill is pretty expensive, but mostly due to land land line in my bundle - I like to throw my corded phone at the kids on my lawn. That way I can then reel it in without stepping on the grass myself. Fortunately my dial-up connection stays online the whole time.
Get a firestick, or an NVIDEA Shield , then educate yourself about IPTV and IPTV providers. If you have a good signal ( and its wired, you should ) streaming Tv will work great for you . You can get many free IPTv apps but just pay for a good one which is $10-$15 per month, max .
I am moving in June and am looking into cord cutting when I do that, but I am not a technical person at all and worry somewhat that I won't understand how all of this works. I don't know the first thing about different internet speeds or how things would work on multiple devices. It sounds like I could do OK just getting internet from somewhere and then doing either YouTubeTV or PSVue. Right now I have HBO Now and Netflix, but I will probably add Disney+ when it comes out. I may even cancel HBO after GoT since Last Week Tonight is on youtube. As someone who basically only uses the TV to watch sports or movies I feel like I could get along without cable fine, but how does everything stream through non-smart TVs? Is this something I would be able to handle as a relatively technology illiterate person?
if it were me? i'd wait a couple more weeks to cut the cord. apple is having some sort of streaming service event on march 25. i'm not (not, not) suggesting it will change things the way iphone changed cell phones - that's extremely unlikely - but it might be one more option.
YoutTube TV FTW
I took the plunge about a year ago and am very happy I did. I live in AA and had a crappy package with Comcast costing like $130 / month for internet and TV that didn't even have many of the channels I wanted. I cut it down to $50 for just internet at their slowest tier - which I've found to be plenty fast for streaming, gaming etc. I think I get about 25-30 Mbps down; Netflix advises that you need 6 Mbps down per HD stream that you are running.
I used YoutubeTV during football season for $40 a month. They have every conceivable sports channel included that I never had before with Comcast. I then cancelled it when the season ended because it's month to month with no contract and all I watch is football, Netflix, and Amazon Prime (sorry, I'm just not into basketball). I'll go back to YoutubeTV again in the fall for 4 months. I would have had Netflix and AP regardless of my TV/Internet plan status so I consider those to be a wash. I've saved a substantial amount of money with literally no dropoff in the content that I watch. I did recently subscribe to HBO via Amazon Prime Channels which is $15 a month and will keep that until Game of Thrones is done, at which point I'll cancel that again since it's also month to month with no contract.
I also switched my cell phone service from Sprint to Comcast Xfinity Mobile and have been pleasantly surprised with how great it is. I was paying like 90 bucks a month for Sprint between the plan and the phone lease. I bought out my phone and brought it with me. Comcast gives you unlimited talk and text for free if you have their internet service. They charge $12 a gig for however much data you use and operate a virtual network using Verizon towers. My signal is better, and I'm always on wifi so I never use over 2 gb of data.. My bills have been about $28 a month for 2 gb of usage plus fees and taxes.
Can you keep your same cell phone number when switching to Xfinity?
March 14th, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
Yeah I kept my number.
A buddy of mine introduced me to an IPTV ????????. I paid for a years worth of cable with everything included. PPV, WWE, NBA league pass, NFL ticket, etc. I paid $70 for the year in January. So far so good. I have access to any channel imaginable and I can access my account from anywhere I have internet access.
whats the name of the iptv provider ?
I think it’s something like xstreamz . Com
My buddy set it up for me. I’m still currently paying for cable due to the fact I’m still learning about it.
i have DirecTv and currently pay $15/mo for that (I also have ATT cell).
I actually called a year ago when my initial 2yr rate of $60/mo. was going to balloon up to $140+. I threatened to cancel and go to DirecTV Now, which is digital (I have a Roku Tv). That would have ranged from $45-$75 per month.They gave me a $55, $45 and $15 discount to keep me on satellite.
I will have to call again in a couple of months and make the same threat. If they don't extend the discounts I will probably wind up with the mid tier DirecTv Now package, which is 110 channels, including local channels, BTN, FS1, ESPN, etc. Will be about $60 per month.
Waves tiny Comcast flag!
I never pay for cable. I just peer through my neighbor's window with my universal remote so I can change the channel without him knowing.
Bastard!..... I knew my tv wasn't changing channels on its own!
If you go with UVerse Internet. You get unlimited data with DTVNow. That's what I'm using for what it's worth.
I used to have AT&T Uverse w/ DVR & all of the channels w/ highest speed internet it was total of about $180... I said I am done w/ this... Bought a $40 HD antenna a year and a half ago, comes in perfect and get all the local/major channels... So I just pay my $9 Netflix a month , my $70 a month internet and use my friends' log ins to stream games... If the series is not on YouTube or Netflix I do not watch it... Worse case scenario I go to the Michigan bar to watch games and look at hot chics... F*ck cable...
I did a lot of research. For me switching from Comcast at $225 a month no special channels ( movies ) was just too much money. I went with 150Mb Internet only from Comcast 65 bucks. I bought SlingTV Orange at $25 a month includes ESPN ESPN2 ESPN3 a number of other sports & entertainment channels (no Fox sports, no BTN ...unfortunetly)...about 35 cable/streaming channels; also bought a AirTV recording box to record digital TV over the air (OTA) using a digital TV antenna.It’s been great, the box was about 100 bucks one time pkus a $50 1TB USB drive. Also have $12/mo Netflix. The SlingTV/AirTV has a nice program grid which shows both streaming channels and OTA channels in one “TV Guide” screen, also show popular Netflix offerings in same interface...
No complaint on quality, saving $125 a month is sweet. May add cloud recording through Sling for $5 a month.
Location - Oakland County/Metro Detroit
Cord Cut to Google TV
I have an old generation AppleTV so I have to control it thru my iPhone instead of the AppleTV controller. Works very well for only $40/mo, except, if there is a data surge and I get kicked out, re-booting loses my place in line if I'm operating in the DVR mode, which I usually am since I mostly watch M sports on it. This means if the game is still playing and I'm skipping commercials and half time to catch up (usually I'm live by the end) I get an unexpected preview of what is to come because it will re-boot to live instead of the "recorded" stream.
For March M I'll upgrade to Roku or new AppleTV and can report back. I suspect its the old AppleTV controller, not GoogleTV.
I switched out of Brighthouse cable to Hulu Live after BH infuriatingly lost service during a Michigan football game. -$95 to deduct cable, then +$35 to add Hulu Live to my Hulu account. Netted to about $60/mo savings. After being a lifelong cable subscriber, I was a little nervous that it would be an adjustment but it took me all of 1 day to not care. Only difference to me is that live sports seem to be delayed 20-30 seconds via streaming. I'll take $720/year to deal with that delay. I do have a nice and stable 250mbps internet connection, which helps.