The Glade 4.0

So, anyone else a cord cutter here? I joined the gang today. Got my antenna mounted in the attic, lots of streaming catalogs, and still subscribing to Netflix with discs, so I think we'll have enough media to survive the winter.

Found in practice I would watch just about anything besides standard broadcast cable, and I was even getting frustrated with fast-forwarding commercials in stuff I'd DVR'd, so it was time to quit paying for it. Cut my bill from almost 200 bucks to 80+ tax (which is high for internet only, but since I was a current customer I couldn't really take advantage of "new customer deals", so it's overpriced. If I switch services or sign a contract I can push it lower.

Anyone have cord cutting "can't live without" tips?

I was a cord cutter for three years. I still would be, nothing about my TV viewing habits have changed by having cable, again. However, the "bundle" deal I get for have having multiple services through the same provider is so steep a discount that my total bill is actually cheaper with cable and a PVR than it is with just my internet and phone alone. So I have cable again.

Like you, I will torrent a TV show rather than watch the version I have pvred, because of the length of time it takes to fast forward through a single commercial break is typically more than the length of time to download a TV show. (Less than fifteen seconds for a 400MB 42 minute show.)

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I don't pirate anything, if there is a show that I want to watch that isn't on Netflix or Hulu I buy the season on Google Play. It's cheaper than iTunes and you can watch it in more places.

My bf had cut the cord, but he moved in, and I just re-upped my contract with Verizon. The girl child DVRs a ton of stuff and is happy to rewatch them over and over. We've also run into a few instances where the shows I'd like to stream aren't available (or an episode I missed isn't up), unless I buy the season, so having the DVR as a backup helps.

I also keep a landline (well, FiOS) to ensure I can connect to work when the VOIP or cell connection is wonky (or I don't want to use my cell minutes for international calls).

But the overall cost is starting to kill me. In a few years when my daughter is no longer watching this way, we'll rethink cutting the cord.

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When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

It is pretty amazing how much money it adds up to be over time with the fees they do on their bills. I was paying over 450 dollars yearly in box rentals and verizon surcharges and fees ALONE, and I didn't even have any of the fancy homeDVR stuff they're pushing.

My new bill should have sales tax, and that's it. I wouldn't even let them send me a router.

It's crazy. Taxes/fees are almost $30 a month, there's this stupid regional sports network fee and a Verizon broadcast fee that are not lumped into the taxes/fees. And that doesn't include the set top box rental. (I bought their "quantum" router outright last year when they were running a good deal on it - mostly because we needed a new one anyway.)

We just upgraded our set-top box/DVR to better accomodate my daughter's viewing habits. (We can have two things recorded and/or being watched at once, which includes on demand. We were recently running into cases where we had to stop a scheduled recording to watch something else. Now we can go up to 6 and have more storage.)

Still, that $130/mo. bundle becomes $190/mo. pretty quickly. We are also now on the fastest residential plan with respect to broadband, as the next tier down was having performance issues when the three of us are usually running 1-2 devices at once (each), and because I work from home several days per week. But with all the upgrades, the bill only went up about $20/month.

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When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

I pirate... everything. Even if i own it, I'll torrent it rather than find the physical media. It's faster.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Surprisingly, the thing I've missed most so far is the clock on the front of the cable box. I had no idea how many times I looked at that thing a day until it was gone.

Hah, we had the same issue. Had to find little-battery powered clocks to set up in the same place as the boxes used to be.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Been a cord cutter for several years. I watch some netflix and amazon prime stuff.

I do occasionally cheat. I have a slingbox installed over at my Sisters place that lets me watch the occasional sports programming.

I can't imagine ever paying comcast for TV again. No chance, at least not until the day comes that I can subscribe to channels ala carte.

If I could find a reasonable alternative to the Internet service, I'd drop them like a bad habit there. Alas the only alternative in my area is DSL through century link, and that quality of service sucks by comparison.

Haha, yeah that's exactly what I suggested to my wife too. Crazy stuff.



That was the last thing that finally allowed me to cut it, I signed up for NBA League Pass for my wife to be able to watch basketball, so she's good. NBA league pass is expensive (and likely overpriced), but it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than a year of cable.

I should probably chime in, given that we run seven over-the-air broadcast networks and cable cutters are our bread and butter...but it's a little difficult since I just signed up for cable a little over a month ago. I hadn't had paid TV service in close to 10 years, using Hulu and Netflix for most of my stuff, iTunes to bat cleanup, and more...maritime routes for problematic content.

Unfortunately, there was absolutely zero chance of The X-Files returning to television and me not being able to watch it live, so I dug out my digital antenna (a Mohu Leaf) only to find that our current abode, at the base of a mountain, was ill-equipped to pick up the requisite signals. So, in a panic (this was on a Saturday evening, and The X-Files was premiering the following night), I turned to the local cable concern.

I only have the bare minimum, just so I can get my local channels. It also boosted my internet speed and removed the data cap, as the fiber provider hasn't gotten to our complex yet, and comes with HBO, so that's another subscription I canceled (HBO's cord-cutter-targeted standalone service, HBO Now). So it's been fine.

Amusingly, that's the original intended purpose of a cable provider.

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Nice, although you do know that every episode of the X-files is available on Hulu too, right?

Oh, I have the HD copies on iTunes. And Blu-ray. And the old DVD sets. But these are new episodes goddammit, and I was damn sure going to watch them as they premiere, not wait hours (or, heavens forfend, until the next day).

Hahah, hours, nice! I'm literally watching the first episode of the new season right now, so I guess timeliness isn't as much of a priority for me. However, I bet in your broadcast TV world, a lot of the "office talk" is about the episode that aired last night, so the delay would be crucial.

It's more a function of my own personal, undying obsession with The X-Files. Most of us are cord-cutters too.

Haha well that's awesome. I made it through episode 1 and 2 this afternoon, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to the rest.

This for me as well. Do not even miss cable

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

There have been a few times where I cheated and borrowed someone's cable login to watch something that wasn't available any other way.

My parents just got internet (They're growing up! I'm so proud!) and I set them up a Netflix profile on my account. It's the first step in their cord-cutting as well.

I'm pushing mine in that direction, but now that they're retired they're very much in the camp of "I turn this channel on and watch everything on it for six hours." So moving them in a more targeted direction is proving to be difficult.

My wife watched her first NBA game on-air tonight. "Is this in HD?" "Yep!" "This looks as good or better than our cable did!" "Yep!"

So, that's going well.

I became a cord cutter when our cable bill shot up $80 from one month to the next for no reason. I called to try to cut my channels back, and it was actually going to cost me more to have less channels. I told them to cancel everything except my internet service. They talked me into keeping their basic package, which they wouldn't even admit existed till I canceled. It gives me around 15 stations, basically it's the local broadcast stations plus a few others. At $10 a month it was worth it to not have to go buy an expensive antenna and hope I could get everything I wanted, since I live pretty far from any broadcast towers. I already had a HTPC I had been using as a DVR, so I paid the extra $2 a month to keep my cable card since otherwise I was going to have to figure out how to make it work with one of those mini-boxes.

We bought a years subscription to Hulu, it's a little more cost effective that way. I had originally changed out Netflix from discs only to streaming only, but have added discs back after the Red Box went out when our local Walmart closed. My parents have dish network, and cutting the cord is not an option for them where they live, OTA, or cable for that matter, simply doesn't exist out there. I got their dish login, and I use it for the Watch ESPN app, to cover my sports, outside what is on the Network affiliates. The HTPC mostly DVRs stuff off of CBS since it isn't available on Hulu. That covers pretty much everything except for Game of Thrones. I'll probably just wait till the season is nearly over and subscribe to HBO now for a month and binge watch it.

Yeah, basic cable packages are the great mystery, to most people. Here in LA, it's about $15, but I think you're required to rent the box. That used to not be the case - could just run the cable into the set. But now that adds about $10/month.

Oh, wait - I take that back. The "Starter" (!) TV package is $19.95, but that includes a digital adapter. And right now they have a special deal, $10/month for a year.

If there were any baseball games on broadcast TV these days, I'd probably do it. But I have to go for a $70 package or something to get Dodger games on that stupid Dodger channel they set up. Makes me wonder if WGN still broadcasts Cubs games. That's one of the starter channels. I could re-live my youth!

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I've been cord free for about 6 years. I love it. I don't pirate, but I haven't run into any blocks for things that I want to watch. It helps that I have zero interest in any sports.

Services I pay for: Netflix, Hulu Plus (the no-commercial upgrade), Amazon Prime, and HBO Now. And my ISP, I suppose. But I'm locked in to a 40 Mbps price that is 50 bucks cheaper than their standard price. Like Jhorra, I pay for seasons of shows I am interested on Amazon when I want to watch them as they air (Better Call Saul currently).

I did pay for Aereo when it was available. Less because I wanted to watch local tv, and more to encourage this sort of behaviour. It's also why I pay for HBO Now, because there's only really 3 shows I watch on that.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!