Cord Cutters Thread

[NoName 17162]

17 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Disney taking over full control of Hulu. I wonder how that will fit the original Hulu programming like Harlots, Futureman or Runaways. Might be too non family friendly for Mickey. 

well, D+ is going to be separate from Hulu, right? like 2 different services/costs?

as long as that is the case and those shows are getting eyeballs would think they would keep em

edit: Runaways is a marvel property, so I assume that will continue or be shifted to D+. Is Futureman any good? keep meaning to check it out...

Edited May 16, 2019 by NoName

[MoJames 8258]

Futureman is dumb mindless entertainment you put on in the background while you are doing something else.

[TxTower 686]

Futureman is dumb mindless entertainment you put on in the background while you are doing something else.

That describes about 99% of programming these days.

[TxTower 686]

Has anyone found a good long range (60+ miles) HDTV antennae?

[Okie State 3889]

Has anyone found a good long range (60+ miles) HDTV antennae?

I'm using this one and it's working pretty well for me. I think I may need to move it a bit in my attic because I may be getting some interference from my AC ducts that causes sporadic lag in the picture. It would be ideal if you could mount outside.

 

I'll also add an amplified splitter so I can feed the signal to all of my TV's.

 

GE Pro Attic Mount TV Antenna, Outdoor, Attic, Long Range Antenna, Digital, HDTV Antenna, 4K 1080P VHF UHF, Compact Design, 29884 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYMVPVX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oFy3CbXM6K5EB

 

[ChickenSandwich 9960]

On 5/11/2019 at 4:13 PM, Okie State said:

Went ahead and paused YouTube TV at the end of my last $35 billing cycle. About to install an antenna in my attic to see how many channels I can pick up. If we get the main channels, I don't think we go back to streaming outside of Netflix and Prime. We just don't watch enough TV to justify it anymore.

Same. The 15 bucks for a few channels isn’t worth it. Added Amazon recast for DVR for OTA channels until football rolls around. Then whichever service has the red zone and LHN (right now PSVUE) will get my cash. 

[ChickenSandwich 9960]

24 minutes ago, TxTower said:

Has anyone found a good long range (60+ miles) HDTV antennae?

I tried multiple antennae including roof mounted and I always am out of range of 1-2 core local channels. What did work was using two antennae and a signal coupler (not splitter) to get all channels. (Attic and roof mounted)

*stand alone, the $50 flat powered ones seem to work best

Edited May 16, 2019 by ChickenSandwich

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

So May is my first full month of cutting the cord.  18 days in and I’m already bumping up against my Xfinity 1 terabyte limit.  Is this normal because it seems like a shit load of data use for just streaming tv.  If this holds there won’t be any cost savings for me.  Anyone else having this problem?

Edited May 18, 2019 by NeverMarryAStripper

[Okie State 3889]

I don't even know if I have a limit with my Xfinity. Have definitely never hit the cap if I do. I'll see if I can see how much we're using.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

I switched to Xfinity in November because it was the only high speed option in my area.  I checked my usage prior to ditching direct tv and switching to streaming and we were using between 300 and 500 GB a month.

[Okie State 3889]

Turns out I do have the 1TB cap...had no idea. Our usage seems to run around 300GB with the highest I can see being just over 400GB about six months ago. I'd say we are light to average users, but really don't know how much other people watch TV these days. We do less and less.

[dcbc 14644]

On 5/16/2019 at 11:05 AM, ChickenSandwich said:

I tried multiple antennae including roof mounted and I always am out of range of 1-2 core local channels. What did work was using two antennae and a signal coupler (not splitter) to get all channels. (Attic and roof mounted)

*stand alone, the $50 flat powered ones seem to work best

We have a fairly wide spread on our channels with one being both VHF and in the opposite direction of the others.  A preamp solved all of our problems with the roof mount antenna.  

[MNLonghornFUKM 8985]

Turns out I do have the 1TB cap...had no idea. Our usage seems to run around 300GB with the highest I can see being just over 400GB about six months ago. I'd say we are light to average users, but really don't know how much other people watch TV these days. We do less and less.

Is this the only service in your area? Id bail right now just to get away from the capped bullshit. Ain't nobody got time to worry about that

[Okie State 3889]

Is this the only service in your area? Id bail right now just to get away from the capped bullshit. Ain't nobody got time to worry about that

We have Xfinity and some really shitty DSL service. Our only hope is 5G.

We just cancelled YTTV though so our usage should be low for a while. Even with it, I don't think we ever got close to the cap since I didn't know we had one. It's bullshit that there is one at all though.

[Dahobbs 18332]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:35 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

So May is my first full month of cutting the cord.  18 days in and I’m already bumping up against my Xfinity 1 terabyte limit.  Is this normal because it seems like a shit load of data use for just streaming tv.  If this holds there won’t be any cost savings for me.  Anyone else having this problem?

Based on Netflix's numbers of 3.1 gigabytes an hour for HD and 7 gigabytes an hour for 4k, you'd have to watch nearly 5 hours of 4K content a day or nearly 11 hours of HD content a day to reach a terabyte limit within a month. I don't know that you could even find enough 4k content on Netflix to reach that limit. How many streaming devices you using? Any other heavy data use, like downloads on a computer? 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Dahobbs

[BTW 370]

Checking in.  Cut out  my Grande cable service yesterday.  Still keeping them for internet (they are the fastest and only really reliable provider where I live).  Monthly bill dropped $170.  I'm pretty mad at myself for not doing this sooner.  Youtube TV worked like a charm last night and I like being able to stream it from a phone/tablet/laptop as well as to the TVs.  Planning to switch over to directv or playstation streaming during football season for LHN, but otherwise it's going well. 

Does anyone pay for the a-la-carte premium channels alongside your streaming services? (HBO Now,  or whatever it's called etc)

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:35 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

So May is my first full month of cutting the cord.  18 days in and I’m already bumping up against my Xfinity 1 terabyte limit.  Is this normal because it seems like a shit load of data use for just streaming tv.  If this holds there won’t be any cost savings for me.  Anyone else having this problem?

This is not normal.  I watch 2+ hours per day in 4k HDR and that adds about 200GB per month at most.

[Buzzrock 15136]

Fry’s has the Roku 4K sticks on sale for $43



These are great because you can control the tv power and volume with the Roku remote.

[Dbeasy 15601]

Based on Netflix's numbers of 3.1 gigabytes an hour for HD and 7 gigabytes an hour for 4k, you'd have to watch nearly 5 hours of 4K content a day or nearly 11 hours of HD content a day to reach a terabyte limit within a month. I don't know that you could even find enough 4k content on Netflix to reach that limit. How many streaming devices you using? Any other heavy data use, like downloads on a computer? 

Today I learned that I should never go onto a capacity limited internet plan. Don’t judge me.

[Buzzrock 15136]

FWIW I believe you can pay for unlimited with Xfinity. AT&T Fiber is unlimited by default.

[mycox 587]

Netflix 4k is now $17 a month. I think 1080 is around $15. Shit is getting too pricey and I don't stream that much content.

Edited May 28, 2019 by mycox

[HouTex 1943]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:35 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

So May is my first full month of cutting the cord.  18 days in and I’m already bumping up against my Xfinity 1 terabyte limit.  Is this normal because it seems like a shit load of data use for just streaming tv.  If this holds there won’t be any cost savings for me.  Anyone else having this problem?

I posted up thread about my issue.  I was running up against my 1T limit on Xfinity and I finally figured out I was turning off the TVs without turning off the Rokus.  So I was streaming continually on two or three TVs 24/7.   That adds up.  Now I'm sure to hit the home button on the Roku and it takes it back to the home page and the streaming stops.  Then I turn the TV off with the power button on the Roku remote.  I went online at Xfinity and immediately I could see my usage go down to near pre-cord cutting levels.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

I think that may be part of my problem. But I went back and checked and I was running between 300 and 500 GB before I started streaming the TV service. That’s seems high to me. The only thing I can figure is it’s my son and his online Xbox gaming

[NoName 17162]

9 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I think that may be part of my problem. But I went back and checked and I was running between 300 and 500 GB before I started streaming the TV service. That’s seems high to me. The only thing I can figure is it’s my son and his online Xbox gaming

what are the chance he is torrenting?

[MoJames 8258]

Well, I got bumped 10 bucks on Directv now. So I'm going to be switching.

Probably going to go PSVue as I have a Firestick downstairs, a PS3 in the kids room and a PS4 in the bedroom. The main problem previously was the local channels and I've produced a work around for it.

I also like the option for 5 consecutive screens without an increased price.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

what are the chance he is torrenting?

He’s not. I have access to his stuff and I’d see it. I have an eero WiFi system and I can get on the app at any time and see each connected device and its data use rate. I need to see what info I can pull off my router to see if I can figure out where the data use is.

[Okie State 3889]

He’s not. I have access to his stuff and I’d see it. I have an eero WiFi system and I can get on the app at any time and see each connected device and its data use rate. I need to see what info I can pull off my router to see if I can figure out where the data use is.

Phone streaming incognito mode during 30 minute bathroom break.

[Grumpy Camel 2]

6 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

He’s not. I have access to his stuff and I’d see it. I have an eero WiFi system and I can get on the app at any time and see each connected device and its data use rate. I need to see what info I can pull off my router to see if I can figure out where the data use is.

Any chance you have Nest cameras set up inside/outside your home?  They eat up a big chunk of data due to them continuously recording and uploading to cloud.  I have an Xfinity cap in my area as well and this was a big reason why I chose to go with Ring devices.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Grumpy Camel

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

No cameras

[NoName 17162]

13 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

He’s not. I have access to his stuff and I’d see it. I have an eero WiFi system and I can get on the app at any time and see each connected device and its data use rate. I need to see what info I can pull off my router to see if I can figure out where the data use is.

fair enough, just a strange thing that it would be using that much - wonder if he has an XBOX with small disc size and is downloading/installing/deleting/downloading another game in his library? but even then that wouldn't be that much of your cap.

either way, let's all agree that caps suck

[ChickenSandwich 9960]

On 5/18/2019 at 3:20 PM, dcbc said:

We have a fairly wide spread on our channels with one being both VHF and in the opposite direction of the others.  A preamp solved all of our problems with the roof mount antenna.  

Holy shit thank you. Pre Amp solved all problems. Re-cast works brilliantly now. + repith

[dcbc 14644]

20 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Holy shit thank you. Pre Amp solved all problems. Re-cast works brilliantly now. + repith

Nice.  Glad it worked for you!

[Soldierhorn 206]

On 5/16/2019 at 10:41 AM, TxTower said:

Has anyone found a good long range (60+ miles) HDTV antennae?

yes.  I live in Killeen/Ft Hood and get all the Austin channels (~60 min south) and all the Waco channels (~60 min north) along with the Temple/ Killeen channels.  I shouldnt be able to because it is perpendicular to my antenna but I also get Bryan/College Station channels sometimes (~50 min east). I get about 50 channels with my antenna in the attic and my house is in a low spot. 

[Soldierhorn 206]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:35 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

So May is my first full month of cutting the cord.  18 days in and I’m already bumping up against my Xfinity 1 terabyte limit.  Is this normal because it seems like a shit load of data use for just streaming tv.  If this holds there won’t be any cost savings for me.  Anyone else having this problem?

I've never used Xfinity. I have unlimited download with Spectrum

[Soldierhorn 206]

On 5/21/2019 at 9:57 AM, BTW said:

Checking in.  Cut out  my Grande cable service yesterday.  Still keeping them for internet (they are the fastest and only really reliable provider where I live).  Monthly bill dropped $170.  I'm pretty mad at myself for not doing this sooner.  Youtube TV worked like a charm last night and I like being able to stream it from a phone/tablet/laptop as well as to the TVs.  Planning to switch over to directv or playstation streaming during football season for LHN, but otherwise it's going well. 

Does anyone pay for the a-la-carte premium channels alongside your streaming services? (HBO Now,  or whatever it's called etc)

no. and wont

Pay for internet: $65/mth

pay for IPTV (for all the sports channels, PPV, and LHN): was $5/mth but went up to $7/mth

pay for VPN: $4/mth 

and one other station for political stuff

[Soldierhorn 206]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:51 PM, HouTex said:

I posted up thread about my issue.  I was running up against my 1T limit on Xfinity and I finally figured out I was turning off the TVs without turning off the Rokus.  So I was streaming continually on two or three TVs 24/7.   That adds up.  Now I'm sure to hit the home button on the Roku and it takes it back to the home page and the streaming stops.  Then I turn the TV off with the power button on the Roku remote.  I went online at Xfinity and immediately I could see my usage go down to near pre-cord cutting levels.

yeah, even though I have unlimited internet usage through spectrum, it bothers me when things are running unnecessarily.  I bought a wall switch that I can turn off and on with a remote.  All the tv entertainment devices plug into a surge protector and the surge protector plugs into the switch that plugs into the wall. from my recliner, I can turn everything off at one time when I go out the door or to bed. 

[dcbc 14644]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:16 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I think that may be part of my problem. But I went back and checked and I was running between 300 and 500 GB before I started streaming the TV service. That’s seems high to me. The only thing I can figure is it’s my son and his online Xbox gaming

In the days before we went totally streaming, we had a 250 gb cap for cheap internet.  I had a few warnings, and realized I needed to turn off the "start next episode automatically" feature on Netflix.  I'd have a few drinks, start watching a show, and wake up hours later wherein four episodes had streamed.  I also cut the Netflix quality down to 480p (and didn't notice after a while).  Once I had the option of unlimited for over double the price, I grabbed it.  I have to threaten to leave about once per year, but it's reasonable.  During the summer, even before my kids started gaming online, we'd crack 1 TB repeatedly.  During the school year, it's around 800 gb per month.  The quality of all of the streaming services were set to MAX once we got unlimited. 

Check the autoplay feature on Netflix.

[SDG 3336]

On 1/8/2019 at 7:53 PM, DCLonghorn said:

 

 

It's not the cooking channel, but YouTube TV has one random cooking channel I've never heard of. The Mrs has tuned in a few times. And Pluto TV has a bunch of Gordon Ramsey episodes for free.

 

I just discovered Pluto TV and for a free service it’s excellent. I may just keep the ATT watch (free with my phone/iPad) and Pluto TV and drop my DTVnow service that I’m paying $50 a month for.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13739]

As far as hitting a 1T limit, make sure you are closing the streaming apps when you’re done watching them. Turning off the TV shouldn’t stop the data stream. Makes sure others in the house know this.

its just me watching a couple of hours max of TV per day but I’ve never come remotely close to hitting a limit.   

[Gardner Barnes 1579]

I posted this elsewhere but this is probably a more appropriate thread.


The kids have been out of school now for a week or two and I have kept an eye on what they watch.

It’s literally 100% streaming.

Wife almost never watches TV and while I do watch DTV - I travel so much I hardly watch enough to justify the $200/month cost.

What is holding me back, however, is that I took an unlimited data deal with ATT for the 4 phones in our house if I tied our DTV and ATT accounts together.

Not sure if this is a deal Or not....Our phone bill cost is $260 for 4 phones with unlimited data. 3 of those phones are on that att payoff plan at roughly $75/month

I would hate to lose the unlimited data option - as we use a lot of data.

[texas08 1599]

On 6/4/2019 at 11:16 PM, Soldierhorn said:

no. and wont

Pay for internet: $65/mth

pay for IPTV (for all the sports channels, PPV, and LHN): was $5/mth but went up to $7/mth

pay for VPN: $4/mth 

and one other station for political stuff

just curious and don't want to sidetrack much...what VPN do you use for $4/mo? PM me if you want. Thanks.

[Soldierhorn 206]

6 minutes ago, texas08 said:

just curious and don't want to sidetrack much...what VPN do you use for $4/mo? PM me if you want. Thanks.

IPVanish. I like it a lot. easy. reliable. I can pick the area/cities or ip I want it to default to the server and secondary location. A little slowdown in download speed but not much and certainly not enough to interrupt anything I do. 

When I originally signed up with IPVanish, it was $5/mnth. Maybe a year ago, they had a special where the cost per year equated to $4/month and I can keep that price for life as long as I stay current.  I dont know if the special is on but, if not, I assume it will be at some point

[Soldierhorn 206]

23 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

It’s literally 100% streaming.

yeah, this is what I noticed going over to people's houses for get-together-s. 

I was talking to a young mother (early thirties) about this on sunday at a get-together.  Her biggest challenge is not tv right now, it's to get the boys to stay outside LOL

[Redneck Mutha 8189]

Cancelled hulu live as we were having a lot of tech issues with connecting, sound delayed, etc.

Switched to spectrum choice for $30/mo, which gives us all locals and affiliates (cw, cozi, plus pbs), a bunch of music channels, plus 10 channels of our choice.  Tried several ota antennas with no luck. 

No tech issues and unlimited streams has been great. No dvr and a bit higher cost for the number of channels sucks.

But the spectrum lineup plus philo (58 channels for $20) covers our needs. And we've not even checked out Amazon yet, even though we are prime members. 

[Buzzrock 15136]

I encountered YTTV’s concurrent stream limit - 3 - when we had a party and I tried to have World Cup showing on 4 screens throughout the house. Not a huge deal day to day but might kinda suck for football parties.

[elfenix 34754]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:47 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I switched to Xfinity in November because it was the only high speed option in my area.  I checked my usage prior to ditching direct tv and switching to streaming and we were using between 300 and 500 GB a month.

if you have comcast's router (or if your neighbor does), you can use xfinity wifi, and that usage doesn't count against the cap, currently.  the rate limit on it is 28 Mbps, which is fine for watching 1080p streams (don't have a 4k set so dunno about that).  i connected my firetv stick to it.  my roku tv won't do the authentication necessary to use xfinity wifi, unfortunately.  i think the boxes may be able to. 

[Anton Chigurh 3335]

I encountered YTTV’s concurrent stream limit - 3 - when we had a party and I tried to have World Cup showing on 4 screens throughout the house. Not a huge deal day to day but might kinda suck for football parties.

 

 

Could you use the FoxNow app instead? You can stream World Cup in 4K with certain devices too, FYI.

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 22310]

if you have comcast's router (or if your neighbor does), you can use xfinity wifi, and that usage doesn't count against the cap, currently.  the rate limit on it is 28 Mbps, which is fine for watching 1080p streams (don't have a 4k set so dunno about that).  i connected my firetv stick to it.  my roku tv won't do the authentication necessary to use xfinity wifi, unfortunately.  i think the boxes may be able to. 

I have my own router. I think that most of my usage was due to my sons XBox. Since he’s been out of school he has been working 6 days a week plus running 6 miles a day with his cross country team so he hasn’t been gaming at all and our usage has fallen to well below the cap

[Buzzrock 15136]

1 hour ago, Anton Chigurh said:

 

 

Could you use the FoxNow app instead? You can stream World Cup in 4K with certain devices too, FYI.

 

I thought about that as I was making my last post. I don't know how sophisticated the system is, like can it tell that I'm using my YTTV credentials with Fox Now or ESPN and still limit me. I'll have to do some testing.

[Skipper 6412]

9 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

I encountered YTTV’s concurrent stream limit - 3 - when we had a party and I tried to have World Cup showing on 4 screens throughout the house. Not a huge deal day to day but might kinda suck for football parties.

I was leaning YTTV based on initial but 3 would definitely be an issue.   Is that standard?  Do others offer more?