Several years ago the cable company offered me a great deal. Phone, thier fastest internet, and all thier tv channels plus a DVR for $99 a month. After 2 years, the prices started to creep up, and now I'm up to $208 a month. I suppose that would not be too bad if we could always find something to watch, but all too often I have 300 channels of nothing good on, so I watch a movie using Amazon Prime.
So I decided to look at ways to cut the cost. First was a call to Comcast. They told me I had a special rate, and even if I gave up the premium channels and downgraded my internet speed the price would be the same. This made me mad so I started looking for other options.
DirecTV looked good at $50 a month, but I did not want to sign up for a 2 year commitment without being able to try the service first. I have heard too much about spotty reception.
So I decided to see what I could get with an antenna. I built one using scraps I had around the house and info off the internet. Surprisingly, I get all the major networks, plus a few more. 29 channels in all and I'm not in a major metro area. The antenna is pretty big, but it's out of sight in the attic.
The next major need was a DVR. I'm not about to go back to watching commercials. Researched what was available. It needed to be as easy to use as the cable box, able to send Dolby 5.1 to my home theater system, and no monthly subscription fees. I ended up deciding on the Tivo Roamio OTA.
I also signed up for Hulu at $11 a month so we could finish watching current series on networks I can't get through the antenna. Once the current season is done I'll probably cancel it.
Once you drop TV, comcast raises the rates on internet and phone, so I called the local phone company for DSL. Much cheaper
All total, I'm saving a little over $130 a month. That's enough to pay for a WDW vacation in less than 2 years!
Good surprises:
The TV picture I get from the antenna is much BETTER than I was getting from cable. More vibrant with more contrast. Even my wife noticed.
My DSL service is only 6Mbs, compared to 200Mbs from comcast. I expected to see a difference in performance, but web pages load just as fast, and movies stream fine. I can't tell any difference in speed at all. I guess with only 2 people in the house I don't use more than 6Mbs.
Tivo marks the commercials on major network shows so you can skip the entire commercial break with one press of a button.
By spending a little time to plan what I want to watch and recording it, I'm actually able to see more good shows. I programmed to Tivo to record the season for the top 20 shows on the major networks. I never would have looked for them before.
Not so good surprises:
The Tivo suggests shows I can't get. That's annoying until I learn to ignore the suggestions.
Hulu does not send Dolby 5.1, so when I switch from Hulu to Tv, the volume is much louder.
Every so often the tv picture glitches a little. Just a quick jump a couple times per hour. I may be able to fix this by adjusting the antenna.
I can't get my wife's favorite show on Hulu or Amazon. But she can watch it for free on her ipad by going to the FYI network web site. Just can't fast forward through the commercials.
There were some costs to get this all set up:
$6 for a piece I needed to build the antenna
$65 install charge from the local phone company
$390 for the Tivo
In less than 4 months I will save enough to pay for all that.
If I was not able to build an antenna, I could have bought one just as good with an amplifier for less than $150
Overall I'm thrilled to save $130 a month with very little noticeable change in services.
So I decided to look at ways to cut the cost. First was a call to Comcast. They told me I had a special rate, and even if I gave up the premium channels and downgraded my internet speed the price would be the same. This made me mad so I started looking for other options.
DirecTV looked good at $50 a month, but I did not want to sign up for a 2 year commitment without being able to try the service first. I have heard too much about spotty reception.
So I decided to see what I could get with an antenna. I built one using scraps I had around the house and info off the internet. Surprisingly, I get all the major networks, plus a few more. 29 channels in all and I'm not in a major metro area. The antenna is pretty big, but it's out of sight in the attic.
The next major need was a DVR. I'm not about to go back to watching commercials. Researched what was available. It needed to be as easy to use as the cable box, able to send Dolby 5.1 to my home theater system, and no monthly subscription fees. I ended up deciding on the Tivo Roamio OTA.
I also signed up for Hulu at $11 a month so we could finish watching current series on networks I can't get through the antenna. Once the current season is done I'll probably cancel it.
Once you drop TV, comcast raises the rates on internet and phone, so I called the local phone company for DSL. Much cheaper
All total, I'm saving a little over $130 a month. That's enough to pay for a WDW vacation in less than 2 years!
Good surprises:
The TV picture I get from the antenna is much BETTER than I was getting from cable. More vibrant with more contrast. Even my wife noticed.
My DSL service is only 6Mbs, compared to 200Mbs from comcast. I expected to see a difference in performance, but web pages load just as fast, and movies stream fine. I can't tell any difference in speed at all. I guess with only 2 people in the house I don't use more than 6Mbs.
Tivo marks the commercials on major network shows so you can skip the entire commercial break with one press of a button.
By spending a little time to plan what I want to watch and recording it, I'm actually able to see more good shows. I programmed to Tivo to record the season for the top 20 shows on the major networks. I never would have looked for them before.
Not so good surprises:
The Tivo suggests shows I can't get. That's annoying until I learn to ignore the suggestions.
Hulu does not send Dolby 5.1, so when I switch from Hulu to Tv, the volume is much louder.
Every so often the tv picture glitches a little. Just a quick jump a couple times per hour. I may be able to fix this by adjusting the antenna.
I can't get my wife's favorite show on Hulu or Amazon. But she can watch it for free on her ipad by going to the FYI network web site. Just can't fast forward through the commercials.
There were some costs to get this all set up:
$6 for a piece I needed to build the antenna
$65 install charge from the local phone company
$390 for the Tivo
In less than 4 months I will save enough to pay for all that.
If I was not able to build an antenna, I could have bought one just as good with an amplifier for less than $150
Overall I'm thrilled to save $130 a month with very little noticeable change in services.
