BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 500:channels of nothing. Between internet and cable tv we spend $225 a month. My daughter cancelled cable and went straight internet and likes it. We bought our flat screens when we only used cable. What are the options today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 We cancelled cable around 7-8 years ago. Saved $100+ a month by doing that. Right now we pay $40 for 300mbps internet. A digital antenna works for watching local channels, but outside of football we don't really use it. I don't even keep it plugged in. We get Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu for free through our Verizon cell phones. Right now we're paying for Netflix , Apple TV+ and Peacock (when it was $20/year promo). Two of those will be cancelled whenever that Peacock promo ends. Those are currently being shared with my sister and parents. My sister shares her HBO account with us. I think the way to do it is to subscribe to one service for a couple months until you watch everything and then pick the next. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 We bought a new Sony 75" TV about two years ago and we now have Netflix, Max (that comes to us included with our AT&T fiber Internet), Paramount +, Amazon Prime, PureFlix (Christian entertainment), and Angel (free Christian entertainment). We cancelled all TV service about 10 years ago because we never watched TV shows. Our DVD/Blu-ray collection is about 300 movies strong so if we can't find some series or movie on all those channels we'll just get a movie from our own library. We went through all the NCIS/FBI/CSI Miami type of shows and are now on the Rizzoli and Isles series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 No cable for us, just Internet. No regrets. We have Netflix, Hulu (& DIsney), Amazon Prime, PBS, and plain old YouTube through a Roku box and a very old TV at this point. Hulu is the main live TV/sports package. I watch a lot of YouTube via the TV/Rolu. During the pandemic I discovered all the woodworking stuff on YouTube, for better or worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 DVD, Prime, and maybe Netflix, paired with over the air. Never have watched much TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Internet is $100 and the cable is $125. Adding up internet vs cable prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Forgot we use my parents Prime too. PBS kids is free. We do have around 300 dvds/blu rays but haven’t bought any in years. I find I can never seem to find anything to watch if I’m somewhere with cable. $100 for internet seems high but still saves you $1200+ a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 I pay for the fastest internet available..I use to do a lot of Xbox gaming 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Cable TV is a waste of money. Find a show you want to watch and get the free trial period for that streaming service. When you are done with that show cancel the service, or if it has other things you like then keep it. Mix and match as you please. Save some money by paying for 1 year instead of monthly if you know you’re going to keep it. Otherwise only keep them active while you are using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 While we are grocery shopping at Walmart Sunday, I’m goingb to look into a newer tv and set it up internet only and see what we find. When I tried to get off cable before, my wife blew a fuse. She watches a lot of Hallmark and like the one click find.. Tired of paying for services I don’t need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 On 8/19/2023 at 11:58 AM, BillyJack said: While we are grocery shopping at Walmart Sunday, I’m goingb to look into a newer tv and set it up internet only and see what we find. When I tried to get off cable before, my wife blew a fuse. She watches a lot of Hallmark and like the one click find.. Tired of paying for services I don’t need. No need for a new TV unless you want one. Pick your favorite device maker and buy their streaming device. Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, Roku, etc. Hallmark has a $5/month subscription if your wife has to have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 If your TV does the streaming then why would you need Firestick or Roku? Isn't that just a duplication of services? I know when I was looking at them I didn't see anything they offered that I couldn't get natively on our Sony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 She has to have it, if I remember it was different. A# far as Amazon firestick.. we have those now, but rarely use them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted August 19, 2023 Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 Some TV's are smarter than others. A friend bought me a Firestick thinking he was helping me out. His TV is older and didn't do HBO and others natively like mine does. I'm still handicapped from going about 15 years without even owning a TV. I missed the whole cable to Netflix-in-the-mail to streaming transition. I remember being at someone's house and playing with their "current" TV service. The delays between pushing the button and getting what you wanted seemed ludicrous to me. Even more so when I found out what he paid for that garbage-level service. I now know that this is the current state of TV and have accepted that. LOML is a TV watcher so we have a smart TV and internet. We have yet to run out of stuff to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2023 I’ve tried to contact Xfinity several times today. My next step is to try and hire Theresa Caputo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted August 20, 2023 Report Share Posted August 20, 2023 (edited) On 8/19/2023 at 3:06 PM, difalkner said: If your TV does the streaming then why would you need Firestick or Roku? My paranoia as a former computer security professional typing here... I don't trust the software in consumer appliances (TVs, fridges, etc.) and don't connect them to the network. Even if it's secure-ish when you buy it, it won't age well as security updates will quit long before the appliance does. E.g. Google only provides 5 years of security updates for Android. Most appliance makers don't even have a policy like that. My TV is over 10 years old. A Firestick or Roku is easy and cheap enough to replace if I decide it has some critical flaw. Usually some new feature will drive me to replace it every few years. Also, Roku and Amazon (and others), are what I consider to be software companies. They kinda know what they are doing in that regard. Most of the appliance manufactures, get pushed into software by the market and I've found they don't really know what they are doing. Edited August 20, 2023 by Von Added last paragraph 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 Internet and TV services are our largest monthly expenses. We have 6 TV's of various ages, even though all are smart TV's, in the rental house. Even though all are smart TV's, we have Firesticks in all of them because the remotes are simple enough for anyone to operate, and everyone has Amazon Prime, or at least I expect someone in any group would. We don't have any kind of TV subscription or streaming into that house, but so far no complaints. House cleaning between rentals includes signing out of anything still up. We have fast internet there, and a mesh system that so far has handled large groups with no hiccups. For us, I like how easy it is with Prime to cancel some service we picked up to watch something we have to join a particular service to get. Some make it hard to cancel. I think I picked up ESPN+ last Spring to watch the Masters, and we're probably still paying for that. I need to remember to figure out how to cancel it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 23 hours ago, Von said: My paranoia as a former computer security professional typing here... I don't trust the software in consumer appliances (TVs, fridges, etc.) and don't connect them to the network. Even if it's secure-ish when you buy it, it won't age well as security updates will quit long before the appliance does. E.g. Google only provides 5 years of security updates for Android. Most appliance makers don't even have a policy like that. My TV is over 10 years old. A Firestick or Roku is easy and cheap enough to replace if I decide it has some critical flaw. Usually some new feature will drive me to replace it every few years. Also, Roku and Amazon (and others), are what I consider to be software companies. They kinda know what they are doing in that regard. Most of the appliance manufactures, get pushed into software by the market and I've found they don't really know what they are doing. With my WiFi system you can have a guest network. I wonder if putting the appliances on the guest network would provide any level of protection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 We've been using an antenna since TV's were CRT's. Added Netflix 6 years ago when we got a Blu-ray player that had Netflix built in and the last video rental store closed (we've since re-discovered the public library for movies). When we watch TV we first want to see what's "on", then if nothing appeals, revert to Netflix. And a big watch for us are the network news broadcasts, and PBS shows. I recently spent several days with a Roku only TV, and I'm not that excited about the prospect of that future. I certainly don't look forward to having to pay for multiple streaming services, and to keeping their various offerings sorted out. I don't relish having to figure this all out again when we move. The new place is on the fringe of the metro area, but hopefully my antenna's reception will still be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 This week I’m going to locate all the things we watch and then contact cable. I stopped watching Wrestling years ago because all the entertaining wrestlers are gone, but starting watch again.,trying to locate the best source for that.. We downloaded Freevee and the wife got most the programs she likes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 We're too far out in the country to get anything with an antenna. When I was growing up, we had 3 channels by antenna and that was all we had, but when they improved all that some years back, it put us out of touch with any over the air service. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted August 21, 2023 Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/21/2023 at 8:36 AM, Mark J said: With my WiFi system you can have a guest network. I wonder if putting the appliances on the guest network would provide any level of protection? Yes it will. It doesn't completely mitigate all risks, but it is worth doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 On 8/21/2023 at 1:43 PM, Von said: Yes it will. It doesn't completely mitigate all risks, but it is worth doing. I'm still trying to figure out a way to have a wifi for IOT devices that won't be on my wired network or will have a bridge/firewall to prevent it from hitting my wired network. All of my TV's have desktop computers connected with a wireless keyboard and mouse. The desktops are hardwired and running Linux. I'll never trust a streaming stick the amazon ones are probably recording all the audio in your home who knows about the other ones. People used to call me paranoid, but lately I've been saying i told you so to even IT experts who thought i was paranoid 3 years ago. If your curious research lastpass, which I'd been saying since day 1 was a terrible idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 On 8/23/2023 at 11:58 AM, Chestnut said: I'm still trying to figure out a way to have a wifi for IOT devices that won't be on my wired network or will have a bridge/firewall to prevent it from hitting my wired network. If I understand you right, your guest wifi will do just that (assuming you are separating your guest wifi and wired network, which would be the typical way to architect things). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted August 24, 2023 Report Share Posted August 24, 2023 14 hours ago, Von said: If I understand you right, your guest wifi will do just that (assuming you are separating your guest wifi and wired network, which would be the typical way to architect things). Guest wifi comes from AP (unifi AC LR) which is plugged into the main switch (netgear 5 port gigabit). Switch is between the router (Mikrotik Router) and AP. Any second network on the AP guest or otherwise is going to see the wired network. I"m not sure how the all-in-one units do this with out creating a connection to the network. An important piece of information is I don't have a "router" I have a router, switch, access point. All seperates as stability is 10x over any all-in-one router can maintain. The last time i've had to power cycle my network gear was in 2013 when i set it up. I'm thinking that a switch between the modem and router with another router and AP would do it. I'm just not sure if i can do it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.