Does Cord-Cutting Really Cut Costs? - Comments Page 2

Don't forget to check your local library. Many offer streaming movies and tv shows through apps like Hoopla, all for free.

We cut the cord a couple of years ago, and we seem to switch back and forth between Comcast and AT&T, whichever has the better deal for 12 months. The problem, though, is that sometimes to get the best deal, you have to take the TV package, whether you want it or not. For example, our 50 mps internet for $40/month from At&T expires next month. The best deal we can get from either Comcast or AT&T is abougt $60 for 60 (or 100 from Comcast) mps along with some TV channels. Oh, well. We don't have to watch them!

About a month ago I painfully signed another 2 year contract with Comcast (after having said the the past 2 years I would never sign another 2 year contract. The early cancellation fee is now $60/month not used. The only reason I stayed with cable is because is record Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune every day. Also, when I want to watch a show I only watch after recording it so I can fast forward thru commercials. I never could find anyone who could tell me how I could record from Hulu or the other options.

We cut the cord several years ago, put up an antenna and subscribed to Netflix. More recently we have installed apps for Kodi, Terrarium, and Mobdro. The problem for the future is the escalating cost of internet only. We have to make a decision in a month or so, as our contract is up. We may be forced to add some kind of TV package to get a reasonable rate. Oh, to be in almost any other country for reasonable internet service.

In Tucson, I cut off Comcast, got DSL service with Century Link for $35./Mo., bought my own modem, got Netflix which I share with friend, so basic cost CL DSL $25. plus NFLX $14. total about $40..streaming with DSL was fine an d surprisingly had no buffering delays like I had with cable..I could give a rat's butt for sports or TV with 15 or 20 commercial interruptions per hour..

Yes. Although my internet went from 44.95 to 64.95, my total costs are 64.95 + 5.99 for CBS All Access + 99 a year (Soon to be 119 a year) for Amazon Prime (more than TV access there, I got it mostly for the family plan's shipping.) My cable bill prior to this move was 159.95 + the 99 a year for Amazon Prime.

It is all going to change when we lose net neutrality

When you use Linux all is good.

We did a partial cord cutting in 2015. Previously we had Dish Network for TV and Verizon FIOS for internet and phone - total cost $225/month.
Now we have a minimum Dish package for for TV5 Monde, Verizon internet only, Callcentric VOIP for phone, TIVO with lifetime subscription, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. Total cost $140/month.

I sold my last TV set in 2009. I found the painting I hung in its place more interesting.

Anything I want to watch is being torrented right now. The producers don't seem to mind.

HBO has done nothing to oppose pirating of "Game of Thrones" episodes, which have become the most downloaded content in bittorrent history.

Old movies aren't downloaded enough to be worth a lawyer's letter. The studios long ago made all the money they're going to make on such things.

This week's release of a $100 million Avenger's spectacular is another story. I don't want to see that, it spoils my childhood memories of comic books and bed sheets tied around my neck. :-)

I still buy documentaries to support their producers, who are actually doing some good in this world. But the Hollywood "entertainment" industry can bite the Big Enchilada.

I never had cable since I always was satisfied with the over-the-air broadcasts available to me wherever I lived.I moved to my current location four years ago and give up TV viewing due to no over-the-air broadcasts and the monthly expense of cable.I do have internet service for $29 a month through a wireless ISP with very reliable service.2 mbps is fine with me as it is used for regular web browsing,e-mail and internet radio, fast enough as my needs.As time as gone on,I find most TV to be boring, repetitious,contentious and obscene in some cases.

We cut the partially cut the Spectrum cable, having kept the Internet cord (was $138/month, now $68/month) and replaced it with ROKU (one time $70), Hulu+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime ($40/month)and a digital antenna for local channels (one time $50). It has been two years, and we don't care to look back!

am not too sure that I could "cut the cord" from DirecTV. I am watching more and more Netflix and Amazon Video, the truth is. . .I am hooked on Netflix and Amazon Video!!! But my Hubby is "hooked" on several programs not offered by either Netflix or Amazon Video.

So right now, I am in a dilemma. I want to "cut the cord" but I can't. Someone said that DirecTV is not the same as it was before AT&T took over and they are spot on!!! I totally agree. I have had DirecTV since October 1998. But, I have been greatly disappointed with DirecTV since the AT&T merger.

My DirecTV is NOT U-Verse, either. . .It is still simply DirecTV. I am greatly upset over the increase in prices and the extra charges or fees. It is ridiculous and I believe this is AT&T doing all of this.

Though a day late, but dollars ahead, I have found my local library absolutely free (save a $3us/year tax on my property bill) and with internet only ($30us/month [we are rural so 'fast' doesn't exist here really] and we exist at ~12 GHz or less)there's YouTube and I do subscribe to Amazon Prime so call that $120us/year. Along with 'BookBub' (free) and streaming NPR and BBC since we are in a radio-shadow that makes phone service exactly the same as 1951 Italy, just like my FM reception in any canyon, my MONTHLY cost for internet, Amazon, and books costs me about $41/month. I have a cheap Trackfone I can use if I want to walk up the driveway about 1/4 mile or so, and doesn't bother me much to miss about 90% of all incoming phone calls. In MOST respects it's FAR better than 1951 Italy - and in an emergency, a real one, I have a CB with a 1K watt 'kicker' on it and find REAC does just fine if there's an emergency - and it actually still works if a tree takes down multiple power-telecommunications lines, unlike my neighbors who pay for VOIP and then find they also need a Cell phone and plan as a back-up.

If I cared I could reactivate my General Radio License (no cw required any more at all)and if I needed,get someone in a near-by city to patch me through to a friend or hardware store.

So, yeah, I think I was paying just over $270 a month for cable and phone when I had a housemate addicted to old TV shows, sports, and had to have a real 'land line' until the power went out and he found out that they just don't build 'land lines' like they used to- or like we do on a ranch in the Great Basins and Ranges of NoCal and NW-central Nevada. 5 ranches get together and spend a couple of hundred split 5 ways to keep a phone line open down our 15 miles or so of driveway.

Adjusted for inflation I think that's about what we paid in the 1950's for a HUGE 'Channel Master' with a rotating motor on top of an ~200 foot Western Red Cedar tree about 15 feet from the house(which really didn't get it completely above the valley crest -- and that hooked to an 'in-attic' power-signal booster home made from the ARRL handbook to receive 1 clear channel and 2 filled with snow, ghosts, shadows and noise. FM was basically not around, but AM proliferated, especially at night with good 'skip'. It's when I fell in love with just how amazing Libraries are.

So I think that accounting for everything in 1950 dollars except the phone, we are paying about the same. But have FAR less convenience. With only 1 TV station there is never a question what to watch. And our phone was a 'ring-down' because my grandfather worked for the City so it was free, albeit 12 party line that the city let us keep into the mid 1960's when we had to switch to dials with numbers and letters.

And I STILL feel a tad too connected.

An FYI for all Comcast customers.

If you intend to get rid of Comcast as soon as your contract expires be aware that Comcast does not honor their contracts' ending date.

Buried in the fine print of their contract you'll find they require a 60 day written notice of termination of service. (To be on the safe side notify them at least 65 days in advance.) Without that they will terminate your service on the day you request but will continue to bill you for 60 days of service - service you don't have.

I got fed up with the $200+/month Comcast Triple play Jan, 2017. Taxes, fees and equipment alone were $60+/month even with my own router/cable modem and we only had the HD DVR on one 4K TV. We made due with limited SD content on the other two HD TVs. We already had Amazon Prime and Netflix.

I kept the 150 mbps Comcast internet ($80/month), replaced Comcast Cable TV with Sony PlayStation Vue ($40/month) and home phone with Google Voice (free) and Caller ID Name and Number (CNAM) with E911 services from Callcentric ($1.50/month). I figure I'm paying about the same monthly for content/services as I was for Comcast Cable TV and Phone.

The big savings for me comes from eliminating the taxes, fees and equipment charges. I had bought 3 Amazon Fire TVs (two sticks and one box at black Friday prices for about $140) and an Obi200 box (about $40 on Amazon) for the VoIP phone. These are one-time purchases with breakeven at about 3 months.

Finally we could watch the same content on all 3 TVs, 4K from Amazon Prime and Netflix on the 4K TV and HD on the two HD TVs plus we have better quality phone service!

If you're streaming most of you content, you have to consider monthly data caps. To combat this, I bought later an HDTV antenna (about $20 on Amazon), a 4-tuner Quatro from SiliconDust (about $100 black Friday price at Best Buy), a 4TB MyCloud from Western Digital ($120 refurbished from WD Store) and DVR/Guide subscription from SiliconDust ($35/year). The breakeven on this was about 4 months but most of the content we watch we can watch live or DVR from Over-The-Air (OTA) with this setup. Content is broadcast over our local network and played back by the HDHomeRun app on any of our devices, Fire TVs, Fire Tablets, Windows computers, Android phones...