Cable went up. Again.
Cable co raised the rates again. We have the tv/phone/internet package for $150/mo including taxes. Since it's not going to get cheaper, we are looking for good ways to cut the cord. 1. We ...
Forum Discussion
We cut the cord about two years ago. We were paying about $150/mo for AT&T U-verse and Vonage VOIP. I had to purchase equipment since all of our cable boxes and modem belonged to AT&T. Initially, I think i spent about $300 on some coax, an outdoor antenna and mount, a modem and a wireless router. We also purchased a Roku 3 ($100) which is just a small internet interface that streams services to your TV. You will need a free HDMI input on your TV if you want to use the HD output on some Roku devices. There are also DVD/Blu Ray players that have wired/wirless streaming capability that cost less than a Roku. Amazon's Firestick is also an alternative at $40.
We went with Comcast ($40/month) for internet and Hulu and Netflix streaming content for about $8/month each. Keep in mind you will need a descent download speed of about 5 MBps or more to stream so it may not be an option in rural areas. Speaking of rural areas, your OTA TV reception may not be so great if you are far from station transmitters.
For VOIP, there are cheaper providers than Vonage. I have been using VOIPO since we cut the cord. Vonage was charging about $30 a month and VOIPO comes out to about $6/month if you prepay for 2 years of service.
We do not use DVR but most major OTA networks (CBS, FOX, etc) will have the show in their website to watch within a few days from the original broadcast. We simply hook an HDMI cord into our laptop and connect to our TV to watch shows like Big Bang Theory.
So after initial equipment cost, we went from paying $150 a month to $60. I do miss some shows on cable but it was worth it to me.
We went with Comcast ($40/month) for internet and Hulu and Netflix streaming content for about $8/month each. Keep in mind you will need a descent download speed of about 5 MBps or more to stream so it may not be an option in rural areas. Speaking of rural areas, your OTA TV reception may not be so great if you are far from station transmitters.
For VOIP, there are cheaper providers than Vonage. I have been using VOIPO since we cut the cord. Vonage was charging about $30 a month and VOIPO comes out to about $6/month if you prepay for 2 years of service.
We do not use DVR but most major OTA networks (CBS, FOX, etc) will have the show in their website to watch within a few days from the original broadcast. We simply hook an HDMI cord into our laptop and connect to our TV to watch shows like Big Bang Theory.
So after initial equipment cost, we went from paying $150 a month to $60. I do miss some shows on cable but it was worth it to me.
