TallTom
Registered
I did a search to see if this had been done here before but didn't find anything. So I thought it may help others that may decide to take the plunge of eliminating their cable or satellite contracts.
This isn't meant to be a know all the answer type thread. However it may serve as a starting point for others to also contribute what they may know or wish to discuss trying and we as tinkerers may all gain some helpful ideas from this.
I don't want to make this 3rd grade level thesis length post, but I do recognize that what may be simple for some may not be for others. So I will try and keep it basic yet helpful. And my results came from my area of the world. I can't speak for what others may be faced with when making this decision.
Also I will break this down into various cost vs results vs need categories.
My world. I bought a house to rehab. So right there I will say that I will be doing some re-wiring as a matter of rehab so this provided me a good opportunity to do some re-wiring to support this. Re-wiring is not necessary to do this, but many will find it better to do as far as results, convenience, aesthetics and end results.
I live in lower Alabama on the coast. So sea level and pretty much flat terrain. Heavily wooded. 2 story house. This matters a great deal for the first part of this discussion.
I have only one choice for cable service and that is MediaCom. The rest will be satellite providers with some form of internet service usually provided over phone lines. My cable also provides my internet service. The cable portion sucks, goes out frequently, and cost way more than its worth. I have no premium channels, basic family package and basic internet. Cost me $135 a month. My internet for the most part is OK but I was only asking for basic internet access. Easy to get that right for a company using my TV cable for connection.
Of the 85 channels they provide me, I watch about 15. I like the Big 4 for most of my local news and series shows. That takes up most of my viewing. I also like Discovery, Speed, Spike, History, and AMC occasionally.
That's my world.
I wanted to cut out cable completely, but still know I need a good internet service as most of how this problem gets solved for the Non Big 4 is via streaming content over the internet. So my first goal was to get my local channels replaced. To do this I bought an antenna. Yes the same antennas all families used about 30 years ago to get locals channels. By law now all of the local channels must provide Over The Air broadcast (OTA). So it stands to reason that an antenna should pick up local now.
I went to https://www.antennaweb.org/ and told it my location and it mapped out my stations and signal direction. I had them coming from the North and East (pretty easy).
So to prove things out I went to WalMart and bought this on sale for $25. https://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Pro-Outdoor-Yagi-Antenna/52162885
I hooked it up to the antenna input on my TV, propped it up in my closet on a ladder, pointed it to roughly North East, hit scan and it found 15 channels. Not only found them but the Big 4 were in beautiful 1080 HD, with crystal clear sound. After deleting the God and foreign language channels I had the Big 4 as well as 4 PBS stations coming in as nice as the cable version ever was.
So I was now on my way. I then replaced it with a better unit https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ematic-HD-TV-Motorized-Outdoor-Antenna-with-150-Mile-Range/46998188 and installed it up in my attic. I didn't care to use the rotating function I knew that I just needed a north east pointing antenna. So I attached it to a rafter pointing NE and scanned in 45 channels now. Most of them are repeated Big 4 channels just different local call signs. But I did get CW, GRIT, TRU, ME and UT44. These play mostly older programs but some I watch so that was nice to see it was there.
First note to share. I didn't need a 150 mile high end antenna. It was simply on clearance ($35) and it was a little heavier duty construction. Up in the attic it will be shielded from the outside elements and to be honest I could have stayed with the basic one to get my intended local stations.
Second and more important note to share. Most houses will be internally wired with RG-59 coaxial cable. Its cheap, its to code and it receives basic cable. So it gets the job done for basic cable and internet OK. Not great but OK. It by itself is probably responsible for a good bit of my cable signal and internet being flaky. They run a good signal to my house, and my house chokes it off because they saved money back then. Its crappy coax for sending high volumes of data and HD broadcast.
So do yourself a favor. Run good quality quad shielded RG-6 coax from your antenna to the TVs you intend to use it on. I ran 40 feet down to my bedroom TV split it off and ran another 50 foot run to the living room set. I can successfully split these to 4 more sets without losing signal quality because of the better quality RG-6 coax. Spend a few bucks to get this part right.
So now I have OTA UHD stereo sound broadcast of all of the Big 4 channels, as well as PBS and music stations and a bunch of others I doubt I will ever watch. You could stop right here and cut cable and go to all OTA reception for about $100 if you need to replace your coax. Less if you just do a cheap antenna.
So my part 1 was solved.
Now my part 2. Getting my non local channels to me. This can be done by streaming content off the internet now. This is where I made most of my learning mistakes. However the first thing I needed to do was get enough data stream to my house. So I upgraded my internet service to the 150 MBPS package. (More on that later) I then bought 2 pieces of gear. A Netgear AC1900 Cable Modem and a Net Gear AC 2450 Wireless router. HOLY CRAP I have signal everywhere all the time as fast as I will ever need now. The key here that I learned was you need a LOT of wireless capacity and reliability to stream to multiple devices all over your house, all the time. Its one thing to get it to the house, its a whole other thing to get it to the devices all the time. Plus I am also using wireless to automate my smart home and they need some reliable stream as well. (Totally different thread could be done here). I now have 2 wireless networks, one 5G and one 2.4G. Capable of 2G per second transfer rates on 4 channels. This was a learning experience that I have boiled down to the what I chose as the best gear for the job. There are other pieces that can do the same, and I'm sure as good a job.
So now to get it to my TV. They have Apple TV, Google Chromecast, ROKU, etc etc etc. Lots of choices. Each offer their own package of content. Essentially packaging a group of channels through their unit. Just like your cable company but at a hugely reduced rate.
So now I'm streaming all the speed and data I need to my computer, or my phone, but not my TV. I convinced myself I needed a Smart TV because, well that is what they tell me I need. So I bought an outstandingly good TV on a Black Friday deal from Sam's Club. I got the Hisense 50" 4K Smart TV. Side note. Hisense is the 3rd largest maker of TVs and the picture and features I got were astonishing for $279.00. Hisense makes TVS for the brands you already recognize as big name quality. I won't do a TV review here. TVS are stupid cheap now. Lets leave it at that.
So I now have a TV capable of streaming content from the internet. I thought I was done. Lesson one. Smart TVs are Smart for various reasons, but all Smart TVs are not the same. Like your phone, they have Apps installed that they chose to offer. This may not be what you want to stream so the Apps are the limiter to the TV. To add more streams you can buy the various options listed above. I actually went with the Google Ultra Chromecast. I was all excited to think I got this done now. But no. Google has its limitations, on purpose. Plus any offerings they have, you pay as you go. Wanna watch this movie, pay this. Etc. It did allow me to stream content from my phone to the TV, but not from my PC to my TV.
Then I discovered the Holy Grail. I saw a demo of a KDLinks A300 Multimedia hub. Soon realized that in Jan of 2017, they released its new version the A400 model. Bought it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0MKYO8/?tag=hayabusamazon-20.
Now.......I can download any Android App there is and stream it to any TV I want wirelessly or hard wired. Wireless will require a Smart TV though. So this allows me to choose any of my streamed TV content to be played to my TV via this box. Internet----->A400-------> TV.
Had I known about this box first, I wouldn't need to have purchased a Smart TV or an Antenna or any 3rd party streaming gizmos. It's like a big SmartPhone except that it can also play games, and stream music or local content throughout your network. So if TV 1 downstairs wants to watch a movie, and TV 2 upstairs wants to listen to music, this acts as the server to provide that content. I'm still learning this thing but the more I learn the more I realize it can do.
I do like having a back-up OTA antenna for those events where I may lose internet. Storms, power outages at the service provider side, etc. It happens here with too much frequency so I can always watch local broadcasting in a pinch. And my Big 4 are my 80% watching time anyway.
Now you could do a more OTA only type of alternative and do an Antenna, with a DVR to record and playback content, which to be honest I almost went that way. But I didn't have any way to stream music throughout my house very easily. Or any way to say play games against my opponent located upstairs on TV No. 2
My cost before hand was $135/Mth.
Cable Modems were $300. Antenna was $35. A400 was $312.00. I bought a Smart $k TV for $280. This was not needed in the end, but admittedly makes life much easier and the quality of the picture is unbeatable.
My current Internet package is $60 a month. And I will probably bump that down to the 65MBPS package to $45 a month.
So for about $700ish, I get more channels than I had before and save $90 a month. Pays for itself inside of a year and I am not subjected to the Eff You rates that keep climbing.
You could do a simple OTA antenna and spend less than a $100, and cut off the basic cable.
If they come up with a cheaper internet delivery (Verizon may be there), I'll kick Mediacom to the curb for my internet also.
Internet cost are whatever you pay at in your world. I can't get around paying or the internet yet.
This was my journey. YMMV. But hopefully it will help those of you thinking about it to get off your hands and get there. :-).
Now that I know more, I could have done far more for less effort. This will hopefully help anyone get there easier now.
P.S. This is Alexa friendly. Whole new thread can be written on Alexa.
This isn't meant to be a know all the answer type thread. However it may serve as a starting point for others to also contribute what they may know or wish to discuss trying and we as tinkerers may all gain some helpful ideas from this.
I don't want to make this 3rd grade level thesis length post, but I do recognize that what may be simple for some may not be for others. So I will try and keep it basic yet helpful. And my results came from my area of the world. I can't speak for what others may be faced with when making this decision.
Also I will break this down into various cost vs results vs need categories.
My world. I bought a house to rehab. So right there I will say that I will be doing some re-wiring as a matter of rehab so this provided me a good opportunity to do some re-wiring to support this. Re-wiring is not necessary to do this, but many will find it better to do as far as results, convenience, aesthetics and end results.
I live in lower Alabama on the coast. So sea level and pretty much flat terrain. Heavily wooded. 2 story house. This matters a great deal for the first part of this discussion.
I have only one choice for cable service and that is MediaCom. The rest will be satellite providers with some form of internet service usually provided over phone lines. My cable also provides my internet service. The cable portion sucks, goes out frequently, and cost way more than its worth. I have no premium channels, basic family package and basic internet. Cost me $135 a month. My internet for the most part is OK but I was only asking for basic internet access. Easy to get that right for a company using my TV cable for connection.
Of the 85 channels they provide me, I watch about 15. I like the Big 4 for most of my local news and series shows. That takes up most of my viewing. I also like Discovery, Speed, Spike, History, and AMC occasionally.
That's my world.
I wanted to cut out cable completely, but still know I need a good internet service as most of how this problem gets solved for the Non Big 4 is via streaming content over the internet. So my first goal was to get my local channels replaced. To do this I bought an antenna. Yes the same antennas all families used about 30 years ago to get locals channels. By law now all of the local channels must provide Over The Air broadcast (OTA). So it stands to reason that an antenna should pick up local now.
I went to https://www.antennaweb.org/ and told it my location and it mapped out my stations and signal direction. I had them coming from the North and East (pretty easy).
So to prove things out I went to WalMart and bought this on sale for $25. https://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Pro-Outdoor-Yagi-Antenna/52162885
I hooked it up to the antenna input on my TV, propped it up in my closet on a ladder, pointed it to roughly North East, hit scan and it found 15 channels. Not only found them but the Big 4 were in beautiful 1080 HD, with crystal clear sound. After deleting the God and foreign language channels I had the Big 4 as well as 4 PBS stations coming in as nice as the cable version ever was.
So I was now on my way. I then replaced it with a better unit https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ematic-HD-TV-Motorized-Outdoor-Antenna-with-150-Mile-Range/46998188 and installed it up in my attic. I didn't care to use the rotating function I knew that I just needed a north east pointing antenna. So I attached it to a rafter pointing NE and scanned in 45 channels now. Most of them are repeated Big 4 channels just different local call signs. But I did get CW, GRIT, TRU, ME and UT44. These play mostly older programs but some I watch so that was nice to see it was there.
First note to share. I didn't need a 150 mile high end antenna. It was simply on clearance ($35) and it was a little heavier duty construction. Up in the attic it will be shielded from the outside elements and to be honest I could have stayed with the basic one to get my intended local stations.
Second and more important note to share. Most houses will be internally wired with RG-59 coaxial cable. Its cheap, its to code and it receives basic cable. So it gets the job done for basic cable and internet OK. Not great but OK. It by itself is probably responsible for a good bit of my cable signal and internet being flaky. They run a good signal to my house, and my house chokes it off because they saved money back then. Its crappy coax for sending high volumes of data and HD broadcast.
So do yourself a favor. Run good quality quad shielded RG-6 coax from your antenna to the TVs you intend to use it on. I ran 40 feet down to my bedroom TV split it off and ran another 50 foot run to the living room set. I can successfully split these to 4 more sets without losing signal quality because of the better quality RG-6 coax. Spend a few bucks to get this part right.
So now I have OTA UHD stereo sound broadcast of all of the Big 4 channels, as well as PBS and music stations and a bunch of others I doubt I will ever watch. You could stop right here and cut cable and go to all OTA reception for about $100 if you need to replace your coax. Less if you just do a cheap antenna.
So my part 1 was solved.
Now my part 2. Getting my non local channels to me. This can be done by streaming content off the internet now. This is where I made most of my learning mistakes. However the first thing I needed to do was get enough data stream to my house. So I upgraded my internet service to the 150 MBPS package. (More on that later) I then bought 2 pieces of gear. A Netgear AC1900 Cable Modem and a Net Gear AC 2450 Wireless router. HOLY CRAP I have signal everywhere all the time as fast as I will ever need now. The key here that I learned was you need a LOT of wireless capacity and reliability to stream to multiple devices all over your house, all the time. Its one thing to get it to the house, its a whole other thing to get it to the devices all the time. Plus I am also using wireless to automate my smart home and they need some reliable stream as well. (Totally different thread could be done here). I now have 2 wireless networks, one 5G and one 2.4G. Capable of 2G per second transfer rates on 4 channels. This was a learning experience that I have boiled down to the what I chose as the best gear for the job. There are other pieces that can do the same, and I'm sure as good a job.
So now to get it to my TV. They have Apple TV, Google Chromecast, ROKU, etc etc etc. Lots of choices. Each offer their own package of content. Essentially packaging a group of channels through their unit. Just like your cable company but at a hugely reduced rate.
So now I'm streaming all the speed and data I need to my computer, or my phone, but not my TV. I convinced myself I needed a Smart TV because, well that is what they tell me I need. So I bought an outstandingly good TV on a Black Friday deal from Sam's Club. I got the Hisense 50" 4K Smart TV. Side note. Hisense is the 3rd largest maker of TVs and the picture and features I got were astonishing for $279.00. Hisense makes TVS for the brands you already recognize as big name quality. I won't do a TV review here. TVS are stupid cheap now. Lets leave it at that.
So I now have a TV capable of streaming content from the internet. I thought I was done. Lesson one. Smart TVs are Smart for various reasons, but all Smart TVs are not the same. Like your phone, they have Apps installed that they chose to offer. This may not be what you want to stream so the Apps are the limiter to the TV. To add more streams you can buy the various options listed above. I actually went with the Google Ultra Chromecast. I was all excited to think I got this done now. But no. Google has its limitations, on purpose. Plus any offerings they have, you pay as you go. Wanna watch this movie, pay this. Etc. It did allow me to stream content from my phone to the TV, but not from my PC to my TV.
Then I discovered the Holy Grail. I saw a demo of a KDLinks A300 Multimedia hub. Soon realized that in Jan of 2017, they released its new version the A400 model. Bought it here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0MKYO8/?tag=hayabusamazon-20.
Now.......I can download any Android App there is and stream it to any TV I want wirelessly or hard wired. Wireless will require a Smart TV though. So this allows me to choose any of my streamed TV content to be played to my TV via this box. Internet----->A400-------> TV.
Had I known about this box first, I wouldn't need to have purchased a Smart TV or an Antenna or any 3rd party streaming gizmos. It's like a big SmartPhone except that it can also play games, and stream music or local content throughout your network. So if TV 1 downstairs wants to watch a movie, and TV 2 upstairs wants to listen to music, this acts as the server to provide that content. I'm still learning this thing but the more I learn the more I realize it can do.
I do like having a back-up OTA antenna for those events where I may lose internet. Storms, power outages at the service provider side, etc. It happens here with too much frequency so I can always watch local broadcasting in a pinch. And my Big 4 are my 80% watching time anyway.
Now you could do a more OTA only type of alternative and do an Antenna, with a DVR to record and playback content, which to be honest I almost went that way. But I didn't have any way to stream music throughout my house very easily. Or any way to say play games against my opponent located upstairs on TV No. 2
My cost before hand was $135/Mth.
Cable Modems were $300. Antenna was $35. A400 was $312.00. I bought a Smart $k TV for $280. This was not needed in the end, but admittedly makes life much easier and the quality of the picture is unbeatable.
My current Internet package is $60 a month. And I will probably bump that down to the 65MBPS package to $45 a month.
So for about $700ish, I get more channels than I had before and save $90 a month. Pays for itself inside of a year and I am not subjected to the Eff You rates that keep climbing.
You could do a simple OTA antenna and spend less than a $100, and cut off the basic cable.
If they come up with a cheaper internet delivery (Verizon may be there), I'll kick Mediacom to the curb for my internet also.
Internet cost are whatever you pay at in your world. I can't get around paying or the internet yet.
This was my journey. YMMV. But hopefully it will help those of you thinking about it to get off your hands and get there. :-).
Now that I know more, I could have done far more for less effort. This will hopefully help anyone get there easier now.
P.S. This is Alexa friendly. Whole new thread can be written on Alexa.
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