Cutting the cord on cable TV, can everything be streamed now? (connect, Comcast)
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Is there anything that cable TV (such as Verizon FIOS) provides exclusively that you can't get streamed now? I was thinking of also using Over The Air antenna for local news channels.
Is there anything that cable TV (such as Verizon FIOS) provides exclusively that you can't get streamed now? I was thinking of also using Over The Air antenna for local news channels.
Not that I've found. We cut the cord years ago, I used the Directv Now app or whatever it is now for "live" TV, and to get access to NBC Sports so we could watch the Olympics, but even that's unnecessary now with Peacock.
Most of the shows we watch are on Peacock or Paramount, so we have those, plus Netflix, Prime and Apple TV+. Still saving me a truckload of money per month compared to what I was paying for FIOS TV, plus DVR, plus cable boxes plus...plus...plus....
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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There is one reason we keep cable, and that's because we enjoy content on CBUT, a CBC TV station out of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Being about 150 miles away, we can't get it over the airwaves, and being in another country, they will not allow us to stream it on the internet from the U.S. We supposedly could use VPN to connect to a server in Canada and bypass the channel's region restrictions, but it's easier to just keep Comcast.
There is one reason we keep cable, and that's because we enjoy content on CBUT, a CBC TV station out of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Being about 150 miles away, we can't get it over the airwaves, and being in another country, they will not allow us to stream it on the internet from the U.S. We supposedly could use VPN to connect to a server in Canada and bypass the channel's region restrictions, but it's easier to just keep Comcast.
I recently installed a Roku Ultra. For free on there they have CBC programs, but I don't know if that has specifically what you are referring to. I watched some CBC news which I never saw before.
Update on canceling cable TV and using a Roku Ultra
I was paying $174 for Cable, TV and Internet from Verizon Fios. This is with one set top box and a multi-room DVR. I have canceled cable TV and now only pay $86 a month for 300 download internet and kept the landline. If I went to just internet at that speed it would be $59 a month, but the landline is still better than using mobile for business meetings. So for now, I kept the phone. This is all no contract, so I could switch to someone else entirely.
While I see there are costs to some Roku channels, I've not done any paid subscriptions yet. The CBS Evening News is available on there, so I don't know if there is a need to go to an over the air antenna setup.
The only downside I noticed on the Roku is the "live TV" shows don't allow you to rewind or pause it seems for most of them. Anything else streamed that is not live you can use rewind and pause. I'm use to watching stuff through the DVR so I could pause it even if it was live. But I have seen another over-the-air DVR I could add to this with an antenna so I could watch live and have that capability.
For now, there is far more stuff to watch I never heard of before on Roku and I'm still exploring. Another added benefit, is the Roku has a USB port, and I was able to watch MP4s. So far I don't miss anything from Verizon FIOS cable. What prompted all this was that Verizon dropped another channel I enjoyed watching, such as Antenna TV which had Johnny Carson. But I found, I can't recall if this was on Pluto.tv a 24/7 Johnny Carson TV, so there is even less of a reason to bother with the over the air antenna.
I don't mind buying this equipment cause it is a one-time cost and it isn't expensive. But the cable bill was going crazy plus dropping channels. I was paying $42 a month for the setup box and the DVR from them. Neither of these things you can purchase from them they told me it had to be rented. I was also paying over $20 a month for these additional fees and surcharges. Like a fee for sports something, which I never watched.
Ya we did that last week. My dad cancelled cable and just Kept the phone and internet..
They try hard not to make it easy to save $$$$ by only having 1 service -- I would like to get rid of the phone also and get a reg Bell landline again..... (Much better service)
Cool.
They seem to be tone deaf to customers. They swapped out the ONT box. For those that don't know, this is the box Verizon FIOS installs to convert the fiber optic cable to your home to ethernet and coax. The new ONT they put in a few years ago replaced one that had a battery backup. This allowed you to use your home phone with corded connections in the event of a power outage for about 5 hours. Without notice the new box didn't have a battery, no power backup. I was told by Verizon, if you lose your power, use your cell phone. I thought, this is stupid, another reason not to have a landline in your home if during a power outage it won't work. So while FIOS fiber optic technically was a vast improvement over copper wires, at least during a power outage home phone use to continue to work. They are still operating like they have a monopoly and customers have no choice.
They seem to be tone deaf to customers. They swapped out the ONT box. For those that don't know, this is the box Verizon FIOS installs to convert the fiber optic cable to your home to ethernet and coax. The new ONT they put in a few years ago replaced one that had a battery backup. This allowed you to use your home phone with corded connections in the event of a power outage for about 5 hours. Without notice the new box didn't have a battery, no power backup. I was told by Verizon, if you lose your power, use your cell phone. I thought, this is stupid, another reason not to have a landline in your home if during a power outage it won't work. So while FIOS fiber optic technically was a vast improvement over copper wires, at least during a power outage home phone use to continue to work. They are still operating like they have a monopoly and customers have no choice.
I've had mine replaced as well, went I upgraded the service past 100Mbit. The battery backup they installed with the old ONT was Verizon serviceable only - when the battery went bad, I had zero service for over a week waiting for a tech to come replace the battery. I asked them to just send it to me, no dice - "a certified technician has to replace that battery". Lady, it's not rocket science, I can do it myself. They credited me for the outage, but still a pain in the a$$.
My new ONT is plugged into the UPS under my desk - you can buy one at Amazon, any office supply store or electronics store. I don't have landline service anymore so it doesn't matter for phone, but it'll keep the network in my house alive for quite awhile during an outage. And I'm not reliant on Verizon to come replace a battery
Relying on the fractured streaming services is a fool's errand. That is why I just download anything I want to watch. That way, nobody can take it away from me part way through my viewing of a series; nobody can dictate when I can or cannot watch said thing; nobody can dictate where or how I can view it; and nobody can know when or even if I actually viewed it.
Don't just cut the cord. Cut the entire troll out from under the bridge!
Relying on the fractured streaming services is a fool's errand. That is why I just download anything I want to watch. That way, nobody can take it away from me part way through my viewing of a series; nobody can dictate when I can or cannot watch said thing; nobody can dictate where or how I can view it; and nobody can know when or even if I actually viewed it.
Don't just cut the cord. Cut the entire troll out from under the bridge!
Most TV Shows and Movies are not available for download. Typically the only way around this is to participate in piracy. At which point, sure, stealing is going to save you more money than paying for it.
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Update on canceling cable TV and using a Roku Ultra
