is cutting the cord worth it anymore?

gimruis wrote:

For you streamers, I wonder how much you’re paying for high speed connection itself. Many of you conveniently do not list that when you indicate how much you’re paying for streaming services.

I think many consider high-speed internet to be something they would have with or without streaming, so it’s not an extra cost just linked to going with a streaming service.

We have 1 Gig service from Xfinity for $93 a month, this is a business class plan where minimum up/down speeds are guaranteed because both Mrs. Grouse and I work at home and we have two teenagers sucking down bandwidth like there’s no tomorrow.

riverbassman wrote:

What do you use to get “local” news? I still like to watch local news/weather/sports. I live too far away and way too many trees so when I tried a digital antenna it didn’t work.

You can find “long range” antennas that can go 150 miles. If you are farther out than that I think you are SOL.

My place I can get Minneapolis, Rochester, and Mankato over the antenna.

gimruis wrote:

For you streamers, I wonder how much you’re paying for high speed connection itself. Many of you conveniently do not list that when you indicate how much you’re paying for streaming services.

ya great point. Most times when people compare the price they used to pay for dish or cable, that price included internet. And then the price they compare to now with the streaming services does not include internet. So not exactly apples to apples which majorly skews the comparison.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

ya great point. Most times when people compare the price they used to pay for dish or cable, that price included internet. And then the price they compare to now with the streaming services does not include internet. So not exactly apples to apples which majorly skews the comparison.

I think its a closer comparison than you may think. I was paying for internet when I had Direct TV. So IMHO it doesn’t need to be included.

Live TV on Hulu for local channels.

riverbassman wrote:

What do you use to get “local” news? I still like to watch local news/weather/sports. I live too far away and way too many trees so when I tried a digital antenna it didn’t work.

I think its a closer comparison than you may think. I was paying for internet when I had Direct TV. So IMHO it doesn’t need to be included.
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I have the same services basically you do and midco for internet and it’s less then 110 a month.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I have the same services basically you do and midco for internet and it’s less then 110 a month.

I just added it all up. Including internet and its $112.04. Still half the price of satellite

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

I just added it all up. Including internet and its $112.04. Still half the price of satellite

Who still uses satellite? I switched to directv stream a year ago. One provider and everything and more than what you guys get with your 15 different providers.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Who still uses satellite?

I do. I pay nothing close to what Ice n Eyes posted though.

And I’m getting NHL Center Ice for free.

gimruis wrote:

And I’m getting NHL Center Ice for free.

Now that would be sweet! I hated the dish getting covered in wet snow and the tv went blank until I cleared it or the heavy thunderstorms blocking signal for a few minutes. Those were my only complaints and maybe happened a handful of times a year.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
And I’m getting NHL Center Ice for free.

Now that would be sweet! I hated the dish getting covered in wet snow and the tv went blank until I cleared it or the heavy thunderstorms blocking signal for a few minutes. Those were my only complaints and maybe happened a handful of times a year.

You should look into the Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ Bundle, I get a ton of NHL games thru ESPN+ every night…except the Wild.

I have all that, but dont use it already unless the Wild play, well not all, dont have Hulu, the others I do with the Verizon contract. There are some occasions where I will flip to them its just a PITA flipping between streaming services all the time. I like hitting the previous channel button too much LOL

I guess I just don’t find TV very important. I watch maybe 1 movie a week. My time is spent away from TV

bigcrappie wrote:

Live TV on Hulu for local channels.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>riverbassman wrote:</div>
What do you use to get “local” news? I still like to watch local news/weather/sports. I live too far away and way too many trees so when I tried a digital antenna it didn’t work.

If you have a smart tv hooked up to the internet you can download the apps for the stations you would like to watch. I watch channel 5 out of the cities almost everyday. My locals are Duluth.

My Midco was 200 a month including internet. I switched my internet to the local co-op for 60 a month. They also hand out rebate checks every year so it will actually cost less than that. I pay for Youtube TV, Peacock, and Frndly. I am definitely money ahead. I should have done this sooner.

My TVs aren’t smart TVs. That’s also part of the reason I haven’t considered switching to a streaming service. I’d have to upgrade several TVs in the house to make that happen. I should have mentioned this earlier.

gimruis wrote:

My TVs aren’t smart TVs. That’s also part of the reason I haven’t considered switching to a streaming service. I’d have to upgrade several TVs in the house to make that happen. I should have mentioned this earlier.

Or just buy a Roku stick for $30. And to your other point, I agree with Grouse, internet is a sunk cost for most people today, they are getting it regardless of streaming or cable. Also, a lot of people don’t really have internet options beyond the local provider, unless they went to satellite. We were lucky to get Fiber Optic from Metronet in our neighborhood, which lowered our high speed internet from $90+/month with Comcast/Xfinity to $60/month.

gimruis wrote:

My TVs aren’t smart TVs. That’s also part of the reason I haven’t considered switching to a streaming service. I’d have to upgrade several TVs in the house to make that happen. I should have mentioned this earlier.

Tv’s are dirt cheap. Wal-mart regularly has 55-70″ smart tvs on sale for $600 or less. I have 3 55″+ in my house from Walmart that were less than $500. If you think of $/hour of use- its probably the cheapest thing in the house besides the bed

BigWerm wrote:

Or just buy a Roku stick for $30.

Do I need one of those for each TV?

Jake’s right, the cost of flat screen TVs are pretty cheap compared to what they were years ago.

Yes, you need a stick for each tv. It will consume an HDMI port so depending what else you have plugged into the ones you have that may pose a problem. Get the fastest one that is out now. The remote is unchanged but the new 4k stick is so much better than the old one I had. I have a smart TV, but I cannot add the directv stream app to it so I have to use the Roku for that. Works well.

I got a 70″ smart Tv on black friday 2 years ago for under 300. TCL makes about the best budget tvs out there and they are Roku TVs or its built in so you dont need a stick. I bought one for my wife and its fantastic. Better picture than my Vizio too.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
Or just buy a Roku stick for $30.

Do I need one of those for each TV?

Jake’s right, the cost of flat screen TVs are pretty cheap compared to what they were years ago.

I remember my first smart TV was 1500 bucks. And last black Friday I bout 4 65 incher smart TV 4k blah blah for 300 a piece.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I remember my first smart TV was 1500 bucks. And last black Friday I bout 4 65 incher smart TV 4k blah blah for 300 a piece.

No kidding. The first ones that came out that were only 32 inches were still 1000 bucks! Wish other items would come down in cost like that.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I remember my first smart TV was 1500 bucks.

I bought a 52″ plasma back in the day for 1800. Still the best picture I have ever seen from a tv. Even the new OLEDs do not compare 20 years later.

Just FYI

My Xfinity cable and internet just went up to $214, 4 years ago when I first started using Xfinity it was $141.

So today I called and ended up complaining about the cost increase from 4 years ago with a gentleman from Johannesburg South Africa and I now have a 1 year lock in at $175. I guess it pays to call and threaten!

gonefishin wrote:

Just FYI

My Xfinity cable and internet just went up to $214, 4 years ago when I first started using Xfinity it was $141.

So today I called and ended up complaining about the cost increase from 4 years ago with a gentleman from Johannesburg South Africa and I now have a 1 year lock in at $175. I guess it pays to call and threaten!

Dear lord! People actually still pay that much for cable and internet! When my bill went over $100 ten years ago, I dumped cable. Now we just pay $40 for internet and still stream mostly any show or movie out there 100% free. Just watched some Netflix shows and we don’t even have Netflix. Honestly I can’t believe cable/dish still exist. Once everyone has an internet connection, cable/dish is dead!

Eyeguy what platform are you watching everything for free?

We are looking to cut the cord finally!

Any one that watches ESPN, MLB, Big10 and the NFL.
Do you have any thoughts on Fubo?

Free = ads. It ain’t worth it.

Denny O wrote:

We are looking to cut the cord finally!

Any one that watches ESPN, MLB, Big10 and the NFL.
Do you have any thoughts on Fubo?

Fubo, YoutubeTV and Hulu+ are all pretty similar. Fubo is about $10 a month more last I checked. Fubo you get Bally for now anyway, who knows where that is going to end up.