Cutting the Cord

We haven’t had a dedicated thread on this for a while, and I am considering making the move. Thought I would take advantage of the knowledge and experience here.

My current solution is Spectrum internet (200 Mbps) and TV, with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. We would keep Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ so the cost of them is a wash, and not a factor. A year ago I was paying Spectrum $115/mo on a promotion, and they eased it up to $144 about 4 months ago. This month they wanted to go to $210, and I talked it down to $175. The task is to get what I want, and see if I can save money. I don’t think it will be a problem.

I have Google’s mesh wifi, and two of our four TVs have Chromecasts with another one on order (the new version with Google TV). There are only two of us, and we rarely watch two TVs at the same time. We don’t have a gaming console, so no sucking up resources (or my soul) there.

Our TV watching habits are pretty much network shows which we DVR and watch later so we can skip commercials, the streaming services mentioned above, and 49er sports. I may watch the Panthers, but could either get an antenna or skip them, it would be a coin toss. I land on HGTV, DIY and PBS when I am surfing and there is nothing else on.

Okay, for the future state solution I am thinking the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ (no ads) package for $13 and watching the things we now DVR on demand. Will my Hulu login get me access on the HGTV/DIY/PBS apps? They say to log in with your streaming provider account, but is that package sufficient? (EDIT: I just realized that I pay for my mom’s Spectrum, so I will continue to have that account login.) Basically, I am looking at $13 for this against $100 with Spectrum for TV. I can add other channels like CBS All Access, Peacock, etc. and still be way ahead of the game if I need to. I could go to Hulu Live or Youtube TV, but we really don’t watch anything but sports live anyway.

I know I can cast the local news to my TV from their websites, so I have that if there is bad weather and just checking my phone isn’t enough.

If I stay with Spectrum I assume I will continue to pay around $75/mo for internet, and if they balk at that I can go to AT&T and get 300 Mbps for about $65/mo. Our 200 Mbps seems sufficient with two of us working from home, but I could bump that up for not a lot more.

What am I overlooking?

Changed from spectrum (increased to about $160 for cable and internet) to AT&T ($95 for cable and internet). I like the At&T tv where I can move my fire stick around anywhere and on vacation and have my tv. It’s a 1 year promo on a 2 year contract but heard they are good with keeping your rate down in year 2. I’ll see. But for $100 for tv and internet… not sure cutting the cord worth it for me

I use Hulu and we like it. We pay for the larger DVR space but honestly stream most shows so it’s not a huge issue if you stick with the base amount.

We have AT&T fiber - 1000 Mbps - and it’s great. Can stream TV, three computers online plus phones and all of our Ring cameras etc and no issues.

Cut the cord originally for the older DirecTV option and the service blew so we switched and haven’t looked back.

In NC Charter dominates the market and all the MSOs have decided they will continue with coax and the DOCSIS platform until the bitter end. They just aren’t willing to invest in fiber to the home. They will drive it as deep as possible but they still stop short of the home. It’s unfortunate.

A huge number of rural electric co-ops are using funding to deliver FTTH to their customers. With 20 billion more dollars coming in the next 10 years that will continue to grow. So moving to a more rural setting may benefit from an FTTH perspective.

I use You Tube TV with Spectrum internet. 200 meg service serves our family well. I have 3 TVs but only one for two at a time steaming . We also have Amazon and HBO Max through ATT wireless. No issues.

I live in Hickory and Charter will run a dedicate fiber to my house for 1 gig service. It’s a $200 installation fee and $100 per month. Way too much for me to pay currently. What I have is working

How much are you paying for the 200 meg service? I have a phone, internet & television bundle with 200 meg service with Spectrum for around $180 per month. I have talked to them about canceling the television service but that only gets my bill down to around $120. Add in a streaming service on top of that & I’m right back pretty close to where I started without all of the same channels. Of course if I was a new Spectrum customer I could get the same bundle I have for $120 or phone & internet for $90 but being a loyal customer gets you a much higher rate.

$44.99 plus $80 for YTTV. We have been Amazon prime members forever so the steaming comes with that. We get HBO max with ATT wireless.

There are also a lot of good free steaming services too. Peacock is a great streaming app.

Okay thanks. I will check into that when football season is over. I do like having the fox sports regional channel to occasionally watch the Hornets & some ACC football & basketball but I can give that up if I can cut my Spectrum bill that much. I have a feeling the streaming services will work out a deal with the regional channels when sports get back to normal. They probably thought they could get by without carrying those stations during the pandemic since there was no guarantee there would be anything worth watching on those stations.

I agree on the regional sports networks. They will sign that deal soon enough. But if they don’t I will switch once Braves games start.

I have spectrum internet ultra for $70 which is the 400 meg service. I have a HD TV ant on the roof that picks up just about anything over the air I need including local news. At one point I had a DVR hooked up the the over the air, but we never ever used it. I have three TVs wired up to the ant. The 400 meg supports me on virtual video calls, my wife and my daughter doing school while my 4th is watching disney all at once. I need to set up mesh.

For streaming I have Amazon Prime, which I would have regardless. Netflix which I had even when I had cable service. We have since added the Disney Hulu ESPN package, both Sling packages and Peakcock. I also have Starz (for wife) and HBO (for me) through Amazon. Cost wise I am probably where I was or a bit more, but have access to way more.

Between Sling and ESPN packages I havent had any trouble getting Niner Games.

I have ATT Fiber + YouTube TV… I had UVerse back in the day, switched to DirecTvNow and made the switch to YTTV a few month ago- like it the best of the streamers.

What I consider a cost-

Internet- 60
YTTV- 65
Netflix- 13
ESPN/Disney/Hulu bundle 13

Total 151

Our old Uverse bundle was 130 thru the end of the promo where it jumped to 185… I got it down to 160 after about a year… we are in the same ballpark, but we get so much more now, and its totally mobile

HBO Max - Free for a year
Apple TV Free for a Year
Amazon Prime- the TV part is free in my mind since we absolutely use the hell out of Prime for retail

Nugget, I’m gonna write this reply to you but also to a broader audience of anyone else who might have questions.

For you, based on your viewing habits, you may be okay with your slimmed down plan, but be careful thinking you’ll get access to a lot of live sports with espn+. It’s pretty limited actually.

One thing to consider re: AT&T vs Spectrum is that the Spectrum connection is asynchronous (if you have 200 mbs down you probably only have about 20 mbs uploading speed) and subject to “traffic jams” during primetime (that 200 falls down to like 50 with high latency when everyone on your street gets online at night). Fiber won’t suffer either issue. It’s synchronous (same speeds up and down) and your connection is not shared with your neighbors so it doesn’t slow down when they get online.

YTTV has had that recent price hike to $65/mo and it dropped the FS Regionals…however so did all the other streaming services except AT&T TV on what appears to be an add on package. I’ve tried everything but Sling now, and I find them to be the best service overall (streaming or otherwise), but they’re expensive for a streaming service.

That Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ doesn’t include any live TV networks (the only live stuff you get are the ESPN+ game streams)… So you won’t be able to use those credentials to login to any channel’s app live feed. e.g. If you want to watch HGTV on their app, live, you wouldn’t be able to do so, and you may be blocked from other content as well. If you want access to live broadcasts via Hulu you’re going to have to pay for HULU Live TV or whatever they’re calling it now. That was $55+ taxes and add ons last time I checked. I do think this and YTTV are the best streaming options, though a lot of people are happy with Sling’s slimmed down packages:

CNet did a table like this for all the streaming services in mid September 2020, and it can accessed via this comparison story: Hulu vs. YouTube TV vs. Sling TV vs. DirecTV Stream channels - CNET

Really the price savings in streaming comes IF you decide you don’t need live TV. That’s where the bulk of the cost is. I wouldn’t mix services like Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, apple tv+, disney+, etc with the live TV providers because they just aren’t the same thing. If you don’t care about watching live TV you can save a pretty penny streaming. You can still save over the big package cable and satellite providers (who are all mostly over $200/mo once off initial promotions) if you do stream live TV too, but obviously, not as much.

Right now, I am paying for $70 1Gbs Fiber (which is so welcomed right now with everyone working/school from home and all our smart devices, cameras, etc) and $65 for YTTV for a total of $135. I liked it a lot better when YTTV was only $50/mo (that was an incredible value), but the current bill is still the same as the best I ever had with TWC and $100 less than what Spectrum wanted (including all the equipment and other fees they charge that YTTV/HULU dont). The service is so much better too. Everything is delivered through that super fast Fiber connection (any Fiber is gonna be great) and the cloud based DVR is fantastic (being able to fast forward through commercials on DVRd shows/sports is chefskiss.gif)

Also other, to me, huge advantages of streaming services are that:

  1. your account travels with you. Just bring a streaming stick and you have all your stuff wherever (some very minor limitations in regards to local CBS/ABC/NBC affiliates)

  2. you can put a TV anywhere and move them around easily. I don’t think this gets enough recognition. Not only do you not have to mess with all those slow cruddy cable boxes and wires, but you aren’t tethered to a wall connection, so you can watch TV anywhere you have a power plug and some wifi. That makes it so easy to do a TV in a garage, backyard, on the screened porch, or in a room that wasn’t wired for cable. In laws also use it to run a 55" at tailgates through a mobile hotspot. That part is pretty great IMHO.

Just to throw this out there: if you’re looking at cutting the cord and are expecting to continue having access to all the stuff you get from a big cable bundle (but at a cheaper cost than your cable bundle) don’t do it. Part of cutting the cord is giving up some content in exchange for lower costs. If all the extra channels/shows/dvr stuff is a must-have for you, you can probably get by with a streaming tv service (YTTV, Hulu Live TV, Sling, Fubo, etc.) but you’ll eventually find yourself subscribed to so many services that you’re likely going to be close to paying what you originally were for cable.

At least, all that is IMO.

FWIW, at our house (just my wife and I) we cut the cord, had Netflix and Hulu subscriptions (had these before ditching cable) and wound up weaning ourselves off of them. Here’s where we’re at now:

  • Northstate Fiber Internet ($70)
  • Disney+ (free with our cell phone plan, but will run out soon, will convert over to Dis+/ESPN+/Hulu w/commercials for $13)
  • Sling ($25, will unsubscribe this month when we move over to the Dis+/ESPN+/Hulu package).

That’s it. We’ve got an OTA antenna, but I haven’t hooked it up yet. We also watch a good amount of content from Youtube, Twitch and free programming from Pluto TV.

One other thing. I haven’t tried it yet but the best TV deal might be Hulu Live with the unlimited streams option (would probably spring for the upgraded DVR too). Especially if you have family in the area. I’m trying to figure out how that isn’t just a family plan… Split it between multiple households and cut the costs for everyone. You can even make separate profiles for each household to overcome variance in personal preferences and setup. You can do this too with YTTV, but with only 3 streams max active, it’s gonna be a lot more limited. I have thought several times about making the move to Hulu and splitting an account with 2 of my siblings so we each only pay about $25 for it [($55+$10+$10)/3]

Since WiFi uses a free, non dedicated spectrum available to everyone, when more people get on the speeds will slow down. Whether it’s fiber or coax.

5G will resolve the latency issue since it’s dedicated spectrum that’s paid for and not everyone can get on it. You’ll obviously pay that price when the time comes but it’s coming in the next 4-6 years.

WiFi is all short range. Your WiFi exposure tends to only extend to your property, or maybe up and down the street a house or two in the burbs. The only conflicts you are going to have you probably already have - with your neighbors also running wifi networks. However, wifi apportions channels on the bandwidth spectrum so these slight overlaps are not impactful (maybe in a a dense apartment building).

Otherwise, WiFi has no meaningful impact on your general internet speed. WiFi doesn’t handle the traffic from your home to the local hub… That’s all via a wired connection, whether it’s Fiber, or cable, etc. And therefore slowdowns (if any) there are related to that technology, not wifi.

Widespread availability of true 5G is probably going to take a lot of casual users off of wired connections (which ironically will speed some of these up), but more importantly, it will finally merge the cell phone and internet bills of many of these people. Whether there is a cost savings there remains to be seen, but there is certainly room for it.

clt has att fiber. 1647 gb downloaded last month. gotta have bandwidth

My wife works out of the house and her business pays for good internet.

We have Amazon Prime because it’s worth the cash.
I get Non live Hulu on my phone.
Antenna’s for the networks which is rare.
I pay for Netflix and Sling Blue. (15.00 & 25.00 a month.
I add sling orange during college football season

The best thing about my setup is the flexibility. I’ll add Disney or Hbo for a month, binge their good stuff and drop it.

The only thing I’ve wanted to see and been unable to figure out is this Duke game on Saturday.

The only thing I’ve h

Sling is the diet soda of live streaming. I’ve been tempted a few times myself.

The non-live services are definitely nice/smart to pickup then drop. Especially since their content gets stale fast. Even Netflix. If I weren’t splitting the bill with 4 other people I’d dump it regularly. I’m about to dump HBO and Apple TV and maybe add disney next month for Mandalorian. I’d rather not keep it for more than a month though. There’s nothing else on it we haven’t seen or want to see.

But you can also cancel or pause the live streaming services too. I already paused YTTV for a month this year and saved the money. If it weren’t for quarantine, it would have been longer.

Google Responds to Roku’s Warning About Dropping YouTube TV

Published 41 mins ago on Apr 26, 2021
Jess Barnes

Google has responded to Roku’s statement Monday, denying the claims made by Roku and noting that the negotiations between the streaming platform and YouTube TV’s parent company are ongoing.

Roku sent out a statement to customers Monday morning saying that Google is trying to set “predatory, anticompetitive and discriminatory terms” while negotiating to keep YouTube TV on Roku. Roku claimed that Google wants preferential treatment when it comes to ad placement and content search results. The statement also claimed that Google was demanding that Roku update hardware to meet Google’s specs, a move that would likely increase the cost of Roku products, putting the affordable streaming devices at a higher price point than Google’s Chromecast.

Google has now responded with its own statement, shown below.

“We have been working with Roku in good faith to reach an agreement that benefits our viewers and their customers. Unfortunately, Roku often engages in these types of tactics in their negotiations. We’re disappointed that they chose to make baseless claims while we continue our ongoing negotiations,” a Google spokesperson said, via The Verge. “All of our work with them has been focused on ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for our viewers. We have made no requests to access user data or interfere with search results. We hope we can resolve this for the sake of our mutual users.”

You Tube TV needs to get their crap straight. I have switched to ATT TV. YT lost the regional sports networks.