Any cord cutters here?

About a year and a half ago, I returned some never-used Comcast analog equipment that supposedly free. Found out that I had been being charged “rental” for them for years. After adjusting my montly fee of $145 (TV and internet), I was given a discount supposedly to compensate me somewhat for the overcharge. New rate was around $125. After a year, the rate was returned $145.

After a few months, while checking my bill online, I saw that I had just been billed $195, which included extra services and taxes. When I contacted customer support, I was told my two-year promotion had ended. Bogus. I’ve had extended basic for 30 years and understand a graual increase in fees over the years for whatever reason…but $47 in one month!! The only option given to me was another 2 year promotion with another 100 channels added to the current 120 lineup for $130 (before taxes). Since I only watch maybe 20 channels max, that is now 200 channels that are either duplicates, foreign language, or pay for view.

Anyway, I’m thinking about going to a service like Sling TV to watch via the Internet and was wondering if anyone else has cut the cord from Comcast/AT&T/DirecTV/Dish. My 9 year old TV has a HDMI port; so hoping I will be able to hook up something like ROKU successfully. If not, I will have to either get a new TV pronto or simply watch online for a while.

Hey Howard

We cut the cable years ago. There may be a couple channels that would be nice to have but we don't miss them. We just have a small antenna that doesn't even clear the roofline with an inline signal amplifier inside the house. After you weed out all the foreign language channels, duplicate PBS etc we get over 25 stations. Most in HD which is actually clearer than cable or satellite due to compression faults. Then add in Netflix for $9-$10 and Amazon Prime which gets you the free shipping plus Amazon Streaming for another $9 a month. It's amazing how much original programming the streaming companies offer.  You can also cast On-Demand from the networks with your smart phone or computer. You probably will need a newer TV for ROKU. I don't know much about ROKU, but I believe you can individually purchase programming like the sports networks instead of having to buy an upper level programming package

Howard since you are in the bay area, have you ever thought about going to a digital antenna to receive your local channels OTA.  That's what I would do. 

Now I know you are going to say what about Comcast Sports Net and all that stuff.  I listen to the games on MLB.com.

I personally pay for Comcast high speed internet (it's my only option up here) and stream most of my stuff.

I can't stand paying for services that force you to watch commercials.

I cut the cable in 2008. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime, and a VPN that doesn't keep logs  , I can watch what I want, whenever I want, commercial free at a fraction of the cost of cable.

I don't watch sports, so that might be an issue for others.

If you want to stay with comcast ask to talk to a retention specialist.  Often times you can save a lot of money be telling them you are quitting because of the increased prices.  I cut the cable years ago and get by similar to Archie Marx

we were cut cord for years, and recently went back.

The only one things that are tricky are live sports- MLB, or NFL you end up with a subscription.

Bonus tip:
If you have comcast internet the local channels are (or used to be) ClearQAM/unencrypted, so a splitter and a coax to your TV and you should get the local channels.

I'm what they call a 'never cord'. Since moving out of my dad's house I've never had a land line or cable TV. I have a cable internet connection, cell phone, a subscription to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and occasionally other providers as well.

If Netflix or Amazon don't have something I'll find it on wheretowatch.com and decide if I want to watch it enough to pay for whatever service it's on. I've never used sling.tv but it seems like it's worth trying out.

My two main notes are: your internet service price may increase due to using more data for streaming. It might be worth shopping around for a new provider.

Second, you will almost certainly have less options for what to watch, possibly including some of your favorite shows or channels, or have to do with watching them well after they air. You may also find that it's worth not having to deal with Comcast.

We have recently dumped Directv. We are now streaming via a $40 Android tv box and using the Kodi ap. One time purchase of $40 on Amazon. We can watch anything you can think of. New tv/cable programs are available the first day they are run. I can watch current box office movies the day they come out, maybe 2-3 days later at the most. It takes a little bit to figure out all the little ways to make it work better, but once you do life is good not spending 125+ every moth. Berta bought a Amazon Firestick for the Tv in the bedroom and we run Kodi on it too.

Sports are available too, but I do not watch, so I have not looked into that.

You can't cut the cable/satellite if you watch a lot of sports.  It's the only reason I still have directv.  I'm still considering getting rid of it since $1500/yr is a lot to be able to watch Giants baseball and college football.

A VPN works, I have a friend who uses one to watch MLB in market games on mlb.tv.  I'm pretty sure that's against the terms and conditions though.

I wish they would offer an in market package.  I'd pay a few hundred bucks for that and get rid of directv.

You can't cut the cable/satellite if you watch a lot of sports.  It's the only reason I still have directv.  I'm still considering getting rid of it since $1500/yr is a lot to be able to watch Giants baseball and college football.

A VPN works, I have a friend who uses one to watch MLB in market games on mlb.tv.  I'm pretty sure that's against the terms and conditions though.

I wish they would offer an in market package.  I'd pay a few hundred bucks for that and get rid of directv.

$1500 a year to watch the Giants???    

You can't cut the cable/satellite if you watch a lot of sports.  It's the only reason I still have directv.  I'm still considering getting rid of it since $1500/yr is a lot to be able to watch Giants baseball and college football.

A VPN works, I have a friend who uses one to watch MLB in market games on mlb.tv.  I'm pretty sure that's against the terms and conditions though.

I wish they would offer an in market package.  I'd pay a few hundred bucks for that and get rid of directv.

$1500 a year to watch the Giants???    

To be fair, I almost always listen to the radio broadcast. It's $1500/yr so Mrs. oyster boy can watch the Giants and not come out to the garage to bug me in my man cave.

I sort of went backwards and went from cord-cutter to having cable, but that's only because it was actually cheaper to get cable than it was to get just internet... Makes no sense, but it does... Regardless 95% of the media we consume is on our Home theater PC, you could use an android tv box as well as is mentioned.

A few things to keep in mind...

Live sports will be tough... The MLB package is the best, and if you're a Giants or A's fan you can very easily get around the in market blackout by using a service called adfreetime: https://adfreetime.com/ for $2 you can watch any game, as well as consume netflix content from outside the US if you want. Football is more difficult, although if you're niners or raiders fan then you can almost always get those games locally... Basketball has a similar package to MLB and adfreetime should work for it as well.

Within the Kodi app (can be put on any PC, MAC, or Android Phone/tablet/device) you can download the Exodus addon which gives you access to essentially every somewhat major tv show and movie known to man... With this you can stream Game of thrones in HD before it is live on the west coast... It's seriously good stuff!! I would recommend installing kodi and exodus and giving it a shot for a little while prior to cutting the cord.

Hey Howard.  I have found that negotiating a price with Comcast works best by asking for a 2 year contract with no accelerations.  When I get close to the end of the 2 year term, I call and insist on the same deal for an additional two year period.  I pay $199 per month for high speed internet, unlimited VOIP  "landline" service and a  couple hundred channels of TV, including HBO, Showtime and a few other premium channels.  That rate also includes a monthly lease fee for a 2- channel Cisco, high speed modem and router plus a second box for the guest room TV.  Hobie-Dave and I took my bill and his into the local Comcast store and were able to secure the same deal for him.  Much less than he had been paying in the past.  He pays a little more than me because Vallejo City taxes are much higher than Danville.  The Xfinity to go app is a nice "no cost" additional benefit with Comcast.  If you can stream, you have access to your entire DVR and lots of live TV.  I know there are a lot of cable haters out there but I have found Comcast to be the best deal out there.  You just have to stay away from their limited time offers.  And YES, I watch sports.

Hey Archie and other cord cutters.. I was ready to cut the cord, but the cost of internet only service was about 80% of the full package.
How or where do you get your internet service with a reasonable price? (I'm in Elk Grove). I think the Internet only service was about $80...

Hey Archie and other cord cutters.. I was ready to cut the cord, but the cost of internet only service was about 80% of the full package.
How or where do you get your internet service with a reasonable price? (I'm in Elk Grove). I think the Internet only service was about $80...

I pay $40 for basic broadband in the Lincoln area. It is the only thing we can get. I found out when we had a problem that we were paying for slow 2mbps plan, but when we started checking found out they can't throttle it down and we are getting at times over 12. That is not great for some ways to get internet, but for broadband it is pretty good I think. Most times everything plays well. Just not in 1080.