Has anyone switched from cable/DTV to OTH HD antenna?

[SteveChris]

Recently I switched bank accounts and it forced me to look at how much i spend every month when transferring bill payments, it was surprisingly less than i thought it would have been.
But my cable bill was insane, I looked into it to figure out why.

I have the turbo internet (mid-tier for time warner here) and that's like 40 a month.
The rest of the $200 bill is cable that i rarely watch.
The kicker was when they sent me a letter last week saying congratulations on my new great rate.. Savings? perfect timing i thought.
Except the letter said they are RAISING me $15 but they were supposed to raise it by $30 so...you're welcome!

I called and downgraded to basic, so i have a whopping 10 channels but i don't care.
NYC over the air digital has those 10 channels plus some more..a lot more but many are in spanish or useless for me.

My bill is still $120 when i can get these channels all for free (well.. $50 price of an antenna)

anyone made this switch??

 

[Mjavant1985]

Yes, cable is way overpriced. I was paying around $150 a month for Internet/Cable. I have now dropped this to $50 a month, with just 30mbps internet and netflix, hulu. Any other tv shows or football games I want to watch I just stream or torrent them.

 

[trc46]

My dad actually went to radio shack last night to buy the over the air hdtv box and he likes it more then his at&t. He is going to keep the internet and use the box for tv. All he watch's is tv land and the local news anyway.

 

[SteveChris]

50 a month sounds nice. It seemed to make sense to go to basic cable but now they're charging me over 60 for channels and equipment rental. less channels than the free over the air! so for 60 i get a guide and dvr??

It would be cheaper to keep hulu plus, netflix, and even pay for some episodes if i really want. The annoying thing would be shows like game of thrones. But they shoot themselves in the foot, i tried every way to pay for that show outside of getting hbo. They don't allow it..so torrents it is!

 

[black92]

Yes, cable is way overpriced. I was paying around $150 a month for Internet/Cable. I have now dropped this to $50 a month, with just 30mbps internet and netflix, hulu. Any other tv shows or football games I want to watch I just stream or torrent them.

Same here. Cut the cable 3 years ago and save $80 a month now:banana:

 

[65fastback2+2]

http://www.simple.tv

dvr and channel guide for OTA HD antennas

 

[P49Y-CY]

oh yes, i did this years ago. got a leaf antenna which basically looks like a sheet of paper, and i get all sorts of ota programs in high def. much better reception than the big analog antenna on the roof so i took that down.

to me, there are so many commercials on tv it makes no sense to pay for it. :beer:

 

[starnsey]

oh yes, i did this years ago. got a leaf antenna which basically looks like a sheet of paper, and i get all sorts of ota programs in high def. much better reception than the big analog antenna on the roof so i took that down.

to me, there are so many commercials on tv it makes no sense to pay for it. :beer:

I have this same antenna.

I haven't had cable in probably 5 years. Between my xbox, netflix, amazon prime, antenna, and lack of actual time to watch TV, it makes absolutely no sense to have cable. Even when I go to someone's house who does has cable, I just spend the entire time looking at about 10 channels on the menu guide wondering why there is nothing to watch.

I also just switched from Time Warner Cable internet ($45/month - "up to" 15 megabits download speed) to Verizon Fios ($50/month - averaging about 55 megabits download speed) so now I never have to worry about Netflix or Amazon Prime NOT being in full HD. **** cable companies

 

[UnorthodoxCreat]

I pay about $45 for cable internet which also provides the OTA channels which is good cause I don't get good OTA reception. I pay about $9 for Netflix streaming. Haven't paid for cable for about 3 years and I can't say I miss it.

 

[oldmodman]

I have a roof top HD antenna on a rotator.

Plus I am always canceling one cable service and taking advantage of another companies cheapo one year sign up rate.

I paid TWC almost 180 per month at one time too.

Here a really inexpensive HD antenna and rotator on Amazon.

Lava HD-2605 UHF/VHF HDTV Antenna with Remote Control - Amazon.com

 

[PoohBear]

I just did the switch a few months ago and have some withdraws. Mostly sports is what i'm missing. I have netflix and hulu. What do you guys do for sports?

 

[hoamskilet]

we dumped our cable over 3 years ago. Set up a home server and HTPC's and they've paid for themselves with the savings. Have not even remotely thought about going back at any time

 

[03cobra#2]

Only draw back with cutting the cord is sports.

 

[65fastback2+2]

firstrowsports.eu

 

[kxt]

The only time I've ever had cable was while at college. I don't miss it. I grew up w/ OTA and now have OTA and love it. The little antennas like the leaf are ok and you can get decent range but with a fullsize antenna you can get a lot more channels. The old uhf/vhf combo antennas will work fine so don't think you have to have a new antenna. There is no such thing as an HD antenna. All the 1970's rabbit ears will work. The new designs from folks like channel master do have the best reception. I have an antenna in my attic that is about 24"x36" and can pick up channels in about 70 mile range. My dad has the same antenna mounted on the exterior plus has a rotor and we live in the northern NC area (greensboro) and can pick up as far north as roanoke, raleigh to the east, and even charlotte. He can get over 50 channels FOR FREE which includes subchannels. ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW, ION, PBS, and more. I guarentee the QUALITY will be better than cable or satellite (satellite really compresses their signal). I rarely have trouble except on a few channels when we have storms.

No you cannot see sportscenter, duck dynasty, or top gear, but you can see a lot of sports and all the major networks shows. Oh and did I mention its all free. NO BILL!

If you have a flat panel tv you will NOT need an digital converter box, those where for the old CRT tvs.

 

[65fastback2+2]

i run

hulu
netflix
simple.tv to 2 roku's on both tv's
Use a C2 antenna on the simple.tv
Also run plex media server on a desktop to both roku's
and what little else I miss I can get via amazon, redbox, vudu, etc.
and if I miss anything else (like sports), then firstrowsports.eu streams stuff

been on this setup for over 2 years. dont miss hardly a single thing.

 

[P49Y-CY]

The little antennas like the leaf are ok and you can get decent range but with a fullsize antenna you can get a lot more channels. The old uhf/vhf combo antennas will work fine so don't think you have to have a new antenna. There is no such thing as an HD antenna. All the 1970's rabbit ears will work. The new designs from folks like channel master do have the best reception.

originally i hooked my flatscreen up to my rooftop chimney antenna that came with the house, and it got pretty decent reception and variety, but it seems like this small leaf unit gave me more channels and better overall reception.

 

[kxt]

the leaf is amazing for its size, but I bet a channel master like... Pick up FREE Digital TV with Channel Master digital HDTV Antenna CM-4228HD for the best TV antenna reception plus an amplifier and you can reach even farther out.

 

[AAG]

$35 for cable internet and $8 for Netflix is all I spend per month. Plus I also have Amazon Prime. I will never go back to Cable/Satellite for tv

 

[PoohBear]

the leaf is amazing for its size, but I bet a channel master like... Pick up FREE Digital TV with Channel Master digital HDTV Antenna CM-4228HD for the best TV antenna reception plus an amplifier and you can reach even farther out.

This is the same antenna I bought and get over 60 channels. A lot are religious worshiping channels and other languages I don't watch. It picks everything up nicely. Recently I lost NBC. i'm going to have to go up on the roof and mess around with it and actually adjust it this time.