I got rid of cable. Just internet now. Hook computer up to TV stream any sports off reddit.

I'm looking into this right now, will be interested to see what the recommendations are.

I have 27000 shares of ATT please dont cut them.

I was in your boat as well. I dumped the satellite Directv for $120 per month and picked up some Rokus and a Directv Now package for $40 per month. No contract and a third of the price. I still get all the channels I watched before and get cloud DVR to record the shows I watch.

OTA has a lot of sports, especially NFL. I was pretty nervous when I cut the cord seeing as how many games are on ESPN. Turns out not being glued to sports and "hot takes" makes me care very little about them. Still watch football when I can but I don't really need to see the latest big event if it's not on Antenna tv. Saved me a lot of time.

That Internet deal is awesome and a great indicator that you have options in your area. I only have Comcast available for high speed and I think they charge $120 for 100mb.

I wish I had cut the cord years ago.

check out this place for a good overview/tips/news

reddit.com/r/cordcutters

Comcast is also a PITA and you'll be stuck with the same old "renegotiate every year when your bill suddenly doubles" deal. I was super-thrilled to finally dump them last year and go to just internet/OTA TV. But Comcast may well be better than DirecTV/ATT. As much as I hated them, and believe me I hated them, they were shockingly much more competent than CenturyLink, which provides my gigabit internet for $75/mo.

If you want to go "cable free" but cannot live without ESPN, some of the streaming services (SlingTV, Hulu etc.) offer monthly packages that include it. But they're not super-cheap, so it's unlikely you'd get a total deal less than that $70 teaser rate from Comcast. They really want you to keep buying cable.

If you can live with Antenna, I'd recommend an HD Homerun. You can connect a single antenna to the device, and it pushes the signal to any compatible device on your network:

https://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/

I've tried a lot of different setups. I had Directv for a while, then cut the cord to antenna/netflix... then went to Sling, then eventually settled on a cable/internet bundle with no rental equipment. That last option is more viable even without an HDhomerun because the streaming experience has gotten so much better recently.

I ditched pay tv about 8 years ago and don't miss it. Presently have a $29 internet connection, a Netflix monthly and a Roku. We get somewhere around 30 channels over the air in the DC area, but most are crap (i.e. shopping channels or foreign language). We've long since become accustomed to watching very little and it creates a surprising amount of time to do other things! For example, instead of watching the superbowl I finally fixed my Bally Monte Carlo.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

I too have DirecTV. And every year I must call, go to cancel service person, bitch about paying x amount. This year my first attempt didn’t work at lowering the bill with the foreign country operator. So tried a different number that is a DirecTV number and not associated with ATT. Got a nice guy from Tennessee and after a lot of talk and him going to his supervisor I lowered my bill $40 off a month. Last year was $30 off a month. It’s a pain to do EVERY year but I do it because I know it’s doable if you have the patience.

If they think you’re serious about leaving they really try to make you happy. Like you said though. It’s a pita to keep renegotiate every year. They have been raping customers for years.

The HDHomerun for OTA is nice if you don't want to run antennas to each TV. That way you're paying for a single antenna (plus the box).

Keep in mind they also have versions for Cable. You just need to get a cablecard from the installer.

Yes they have been raping customers for a long time. But when I say to them that there are MANY other options nowadays other than DirecTV and will gladly cancel if they don’t lower my bill, they put me on hold, come back with a monthly discount. They know that they are overcharging for TV service and CAN lower your bill. Not everyone tries to lower their bill so the few that do isn’t really a big deal to them. But I foresee “hopefully” a change for the better in the future due to the amount of competition they have.

I dumped them for the same reason. They were actually more than any competitor and upcharged for HD, for dvr, etc.

I went to Sling on Roku and was largely satisfied until the main channels I watched stopped permitting record on first airing (news) for a channel I paid extra. I finally gave up. I download the news program on itunes - audio same day 2 hours later or video next day.

I still use comcast for internet but its really the only game in town.

I stream all of my TV now, no connection and don't run into any speed, quality, or data limits with Comcast. I use about 40% of my limit with what I'd consider average watching.

I'm guessing OP would do fine in Aurora IL with a $20 indoor HD antenna like this one, which is well-reviewed:
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/mohu-releaf-hdtv-antenna,review-3711.html

From my research last year, there's really no benefit to a amplified (i.e. plug in) antenna unless you're in the country -- they're big, expensive, and can introduce interference trying to amplify a signal that doesn't need amplification if you're in an urban setting.

I’ve considered an HD antenna myself. I put one up for my grandmother years ago and it worked great. The only thing I don’t know about and would need is to be able to record programs. And that I don’t know about, but if there are good recorders for over the air broadcasts I’d consider changing to an antenna.

I'm looking to dump Comcast as well and am currently exploring streaming options such as Play Station Vue and YouTube TV.

Just go internet only and an Over The Air antenna for sports.

OTA has WAY higher resolution, you wont believe how much better the HD is compared to cable!

Check into HDHomerun and NextPVR

Lots of options to DVR over-the-air content. Looks like Amazon just launched a Fire TV Recast that hooks up with the Amazon Fire TV Stick and is pretty well reviewed:
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-TV-Recast-over-the-air-DVR-500GB-75-hours/dp/B074J1GPB8

(I use TiVo because I've used it forever, love the interface, and already have a box with a lifetime subscription, but it's just way more expensive than the Amazon offering which looks pretty solid)

Here is a copy of my bill from Dish Network. It actually just went up by $3. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Welcome Package for the price. I've been on it for several years, so perhaps it's something you have to be grandfathered in. I also share a Netflix account with my wife's brothers and HBO Go with a friend during Westworld and Game of Thrones seasons. Also depending on your ethics of streaming things off of the internet, most sporting events can be found on various Reddit streams. For example, https://www.reddit.com/r/MLBStreams/. Basically any sporting event, show, or movie that you ever want is available for free online if you need to find it...though for the price of a $1.50 rental it's typically just as easy go visit a Redbox.

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You realize that Comcast $70 special with all the fees & taxes & other BS brings it to over $100/month. Cable is a rip also!!

Vid's guide to cutting the cord?

I dumped direct tv and went to over the air. Can’t beat free! Plus I get almost thirty channels including all the majors for sports. Only thing I don’t get is espn, but I can watch at work or stream it if need be.
I can buy a $2k pin every yr for what I was paying to not watch tv.

Google Fiber internet gigabit up/down. $70/mo (could throttle down to 100mbps for $50/mo or 5mbps for free, but why?)

Sling to get baseball games on Fox Sports Regional. This is a seasonal purchase, April - September. $25/mo half the year

Netflix (I also have Amazon prime for free shipping but watch it only occasionally). $13/mo

Rabbit ears get me the networks and I bought a $50 DVR in case there is something worth recording from live TV. $0/mo, $70 one-time for DVR and antenna

New Samsung 4K smart TV that integrates Chromecast/Sling/OTA/Netflix/Amazon/YouTube flawlessly with my Vizio 5.1 wireless soundbar. I use only the remote that came with the TV (I add a wireless mouse/keyboard if I am going to do stuff on YouTube). $550 one-time.

Don't watch much else except for some gratuitous Live PD on Friday night with my boy. It makes a fun drinking game when you have to take a shot when someone in Greene County, MO does something that would make a Jeff Foxworthy redneck joke. Expert level is if you can keep up with a drink every time there is a domestic assault call in El Paso TX. Unfortunately, you can get pretty drunk on domestic assaults in West Texas.

I cut the cable 2 years ago; Cable/Internet bill was about 280 a month. Most in boxes and fees. Screw that:

Kept Internet: 49 a month; 100down/20up
Sling w/ Cloud (I travel so I like to watch as needed): $30
FireTV on all Tv's (about 20 a piece one time cost)
OTA HD antenna (about 35, one time cost)
Netflix: was already member, $13
Prime: was already member, $79 annually

Never looked back!

Unfortunately Vid already used that title for his home-birth tutorial.

Great material.

I cut Comcast's cable TV service and kept internet about 4 years ago. I haven't looked back! I use an HD antenna for local HD programming, Netflix and Hulu.

Live TV is actually fun to watch and I don't mind the TV commercials when something good is on, otherwise Netflix/Hulu are my go to services.

I figure I've saved about $7200 since then ($150 a month for cable TV x 48 months)

I have DirectTV Now. I pay $30 month with no contract. I added HBO to Go for $5/ month. DirectTV Now also gave me a free Apple TV with my first three months prepaid.

I pay $15 for Netflix, $6 for CBS (Star Trek Discovery) YouTube Red at $10 month.

So basically $65 a month. I use to pay $60 a month just for cable box rental. Then about $180/ month for my channels.

Totally 100% happy I cut the cord!

The thing I like about DirectTV Now and Sling TV is the 40 channels or whatever they provide are all solid channels. I found I watched very few channels out of my cable lineup of hundred++ channels.

Usenet runs about $7/mo, and you can pretty much find everything on there. Stream to all your TVs / devices using plex.

Cutting the cord is harder when you only have a few internet options. We only have comcast(cable)or frontier(dsl). I've called multiple times to get my bill lowered and have threatened to cancel. They'll call my bluff and ask for my cancellation date. Then I have to call then back and say I've changed my mind.

I have 2 OTA antennas that I can use. Problem is where I'm at winter reception is great but once leaves grow back it's too inconsistent and I cant get bigger antennas. I'm just not that close to the towers. I had no cable for 2 years and felt more productive too because I didn't feel the need to have to watch tv because I was paying for it. Problem is, there are 6 other people that feel differently.

If I could get internet for $50 a month, I'd cancel cable in a heartbeat. It's $125 with all fees and taxes with internet. Internet by itself would be $75 otherwise. I like knowing that what I want to watch will be coming in when I want to watch it or on demand. I hate cable but until there's more competition around here, I have to make it up as I go along

Fubotv - app on Firestick and Roku. Allows me to watch most live tv, Bein Sports, and lots more.

We use Hulu/Netflix, Prime as well.

Ooma telephone. Buy the base ($80?) , then $5/month.

We use a 60 mbps internet, no issues. Xfinity (Comcast - why use a different name?) still rips us off though.

Plex is great if you share with others. Free.

Yup, welcome to the Northeast.
Same here.
Check out the Fubotv app. We pay the same $75 for internet, then another $50 for the app, but get a lot of channels, plus 30 hrs of recording, and many shows are on demand.

Okay, here's some advice that sounds odd, but it worked for me. I was in a bar last year complaining about Spectrum's cost (Tampa, FL area) and new requirement to buy a box for each of my TVs which I had to pay for monthly, not just the main TV as was previously the case. A guy told me to stick a large paperclip into the cable connection on my TV to get just about as good reception as you can with one of the HD antennas. I didn't believe him, but researched online and sure enough, there are YouTube videos showing how to do it. I had already bought one of the HD antennas which I attached to my main TV. I have two guest rooms, so I used the paperclip idea on those TVs and it really worked. They bring in good HD signals for the regular local networks (ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, CW, MeTV, some channels featuring westerns like Grit, GetTV, Comet, MorTV, PBS, and other stuff, which should be good enough for anyone spending a few nights in my guest room. I think this will work best if you live in a city. Pictures below. Also, after I cut cable I bought a Roku stick for my main TV and it's amazing. Using it I get all kinds of free programming. Nothing like ESPN or HBO of course, but still good stuff: Pluto, The Roku Channel, Crackle, Tubi, Filmrise, etc. Hundreds, if not thousands of things to choose from. Plus, I already had Amazon Prime for the free shipping, which incidentally adds hundreds more movies, which I had been paying for all along, but not using. If I want to watch a sporting event that I can't get on local networks, I take the opportunity to eat out at a nearby pub or visit a friend. It's a great new lifestyle and I have more time to play pinball, rather than watching network news, which was eating up my brain anyway.

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I have high speed internet including internet tv with hundreds of channels and all the premium channels for just 46 a month
Xfinity in south florida

The EE's out there with Master's degrees who specialized in RF are shaking their heads right now.

Saving aboot $6.50 a day since we cut the cable. |Took videos dumping the cable boxes, remotes, DVR and modem in the drop box. What a feeling.

Bought a fire stick for one teevee, son has his own chromecast gizmo, bought a modem for $40 at Microcenter (was paying $10/month to rent one). Paying for internet and Hulu. "Parasiting" son's Netflix and Bezosvision so all good. Once enough of us cut the cable watch internet rates double. Then close neighbors will pair up on wifi to cut costs in half.

Like my wife pointed out, 20 years of current cable (we were paying $250/mo) basically is a decent car in 20 years.

Rule number 1 about usenet

Cable is expensive and I personally think cox Comcast all the others are inferior to att direct tv

As for their customer service they are absolutely terrible and I could see how this would drive someone away from them

But the service and quality direct tv and att is unmatchable to me with the other providers.

I literally have their cancel service loyalty line on speed dial and have to call them every few months when they feel like changing my bill.

They are very annoying but the service and sports packages are amazing.

If I didn’t have them I would just go to a free streaming service and regular tv.

Just my 2 cents. I had other providers in the past and they were far worst then direct tv and their quality was not even a competitor

As is Google Fiber. $226/mth for 1G symmetric Fiber 220channels + HBO + most other premiums. FWPs.

The only thing keeping cable alive is sports and senior citizens who do nothing but watch TV all day.

I went with high speed internet and playstation vue, its great because they have a cloud DVR and still have local and sports channels, if you have multiple family members then they can have separate profiles with separate DVRs and preferences, their packages I think start at $44 a month with sports $50 depending on other channels you watch that might be all you need but we love it

but I also have netflix and hulu for on demand shows that playstation vue doesn't have like for like south park since they don't have comedy central

And the million so called reality tv shows.
Sports is the only reason I still have it
Guilty as charged. Otherwise I’d cut the cord with a chainsaw

I think the point is to take the gig fiber internet for $70 (or less) and figure out what to do with the other $156 (or more) per month.

I would trade Netflix for HBO, and I would put at least $100 in my pocket and maybe buy Sling/Hulu if there is a need.

For me it is MLB, which can be hacked to allow in-market subscriptions instead of subscribing to Fox Sports Regional, but why not spend the extra $20 per season to go legit and get better video and a person to call when stuff stops working. MLB.com had no interest helping me fix streaming problems when I was connected to an IP address through Amsterdam but calling from a landline in the middle of the U.S. while trying to watch a Royals game.

Other sources of free content usually require playing a similar cat and mouse game. I would rather pay someone a couple hundred bucks per year to give me something that works instead of trying to game the system. For me, cutting the cord is going cheap but not going rogue and stealing content.

The worst part is, you can see the way things are trending with networks trying to pump their own subscription services with "exclusive content". Luckily all of it looks terrible. Most of those networks are painfully slow to adapt, and do a poor job of replicating what it is that worked with services like netflix to begin with. That's what happens when you have a bunch of crusty old white guys running an entertainment empire. You get Blue Bloods, now with exclusive bonus content from the ultraweb.

Sports are definitely what keep me tethered, and my want for passive noise. I hate selecting a show and then ignoring it while I'm doing something else. I'd rather just have a rerun of the simpsons on in the background that I didn't spend 20 minutes picking out. Hard to explain..

My HTPC crashed tonight, and broke a lot of my stuff... sort of bad timing. When I started this the streaming services from the tv providers was dreadful. Now it actually works, and with cheap hardware (like Roku). I would probably suggest that route for someone that doesn't want to completely cut - just a handful of Rokus and basic cable (assuming you get a good deal when bundled with your internet).

IF it were just me sure...
Happy Wife = Happy Life
The longer she's watching GoT or some anime crap; the more time I have to work on my pinball projects... which are plenty.