Question Have you "cut the cord" or are you considering doing it?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Guide community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Status
Not open for further replies.

SHaines

Community Manager
Staff member
Apr 1, 2019
57
28
4,620
With the last few months of folks living in relative isolation, content has definitely been a major pasrt of our lives. As you rethink the way you interact with media, how many of you have decided to "cut the cord" by dropping cable television?

If you're still watching cable TV, have you considered dropping it? If you've already cut the cord, was there a specific moment or reason why?

I cut the cord around 20 years ago, before we really had a name for it. I was just very frustrated by the quality and quantity of ads you're forced to stomach to watch basic cable. I spent so much time switching channels to avoid commercials that I ended up just getting rid of cable completely.

We'd love to hear from you!
 

dabonz

Prominent
Jul 8, 2020
2
0
510
Greetings,

I myself cut the cord like 5 years ago I was still new at IPTV got it from kodi and did google search now I watch my IPTV and also Netflix and Hulu and Vudu and Disney+ and Amazon Prime along with CBC Gem I like my streaming and would never go back to cable

Cheers
Dabonz
 
Jul 16, 2020
2
2
10
CUT NOW! As a long-time programmer with extensive digital video experience I've worked on the Intel DVI project, the very first digital video for PCs in 1991, 1080p HD, 2160p 4k HD, 4320p 8k HD, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV which made fiber obsolete in many countries 15 years ago), I find I have no need for cable or satellite. I cut the cord at least 15 years ago and there's nothing I can't find to stream one way or another. Except for Netflix and Amazon Prime (which I was already a member of), I don't subscribe to "mini cable" like HULU or FUBU, where you still pay a small fortune for many channels just to get the half-dozen or fewer you actually want to watch. I don't pirate, but am all for p2p'ing anything you'd normally need HULU or FUBO or others to watch. They are more pirates than the users they charge for networks you don't want. I will only pay for channels that I actually watch, like HBO GO and other single-provider streamers if I can't find a free way around them. Give me a system where I can pick my half-dozen networks and just pay for them, not the entire package. I mean, $59.00 USD a month for scores of channels I don't ever watch? Sounds like the 21st century version of cable to me.

Comcast has been trying to hire me as a digital video consultant since I was on the team that developed post-fiber IPTV for Europe in 2005, 15 years ago. They are still dependent on 1980s coax & 2003 DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems. They just started delivering an honest 1080p in the last several years & don't seem to have any plans for 4k UHDTV in the foreseeable future (the minimum standard in Europe and most of Asia) Their consulting rate is $10.00/hr less than my plumber charges and half what my auto mechanic charges hourly. I know some of their programmers and most wouldn't pass a high school course. No wonder, the xFinity platform actually degrades and becomes more buggy every time you see that dreaded message - "Don't turn off your cable box. xFinity is downloading a new upgrade." The first release was worse than the previous STB software and it has gone steadily downhill ever since (as prices go up). The settop box app that came with DirecTV in the 1990s, "Microsoft Ultimate TV" was actually much better than the current DSTB software in America (as are the European fully 2-way IPTV systems).

American cable companies deliver 20-year-old technology with lossy compression/decompression, at vastly inflated prices. Don't enable them. Let them die a deserved death.
 
Jul 14, 2020
3
2
10
Greetings,

I myself cut the cord like 5 years ago I was still new at IPTV got it from kodi and did google search now I watch my IPTV and also Netflix and Hulu and Vudu and Disney+ and Amazon Prime along with CBC Gem I like my streaming and would never go back to cable

Cheers
Dabonz
No, I haven't cut the cord yet. I do have Amazon Prime along with Dish TV which is expensive but I do get many shows I haven't found elsewhere. I live 75 miles away from a major city so an antenna probably wouldn't do much good, although I haven't tried that yet but will in the future. I have a Roku TV so I can get a lot of good shows for free.
 

jeb1

Distinguished
Apr 3, 2010
8
0
18,510
With the last few months of folks living in relative isolation, content has definitely been a major pasrt of our lives. As you rethink the way you interact with media, how many of you have decided to "cut the cord" by dropping cable television?

If you're still watching cable TV, have you considered dropping it? If you've already cut the cord, was there a specific moment or reason why?

I cut the cord around 20 years ago, before we really had a name for it. I was just very frustrated by the quality and quantity of ads you're forced to stomach to watch basic cable. I spent so much time switching channels to avoid commercials that I ended up just getting rid of cable completely.

We'd love to hear from you!

Live north of Charlotte, NC and get 43 channels from my indoor antenna.
 
Jun 30, 2020
6
1
10
I think it also depends on the generation and era you were born in. For myself, once I moved out of my parents house, I never really got cable in the first place. So, can't really say I "cut the cord". More that I never got the cord at all!

On-demand streaming for the win.
 

SafetyAlways

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2015
4
2
18,515
I am still a cable consumer. I was involved in a horrific accident in September 2018. I'm still bedbound and facing several more surgeries and quite a bit of PT. I need something to take my mind off pain and to be background noise while I am on the computer. I ignore basic cable for the most part and watch the premium channels because of the absence of commercials. Commercials are insulting. The mainstream news, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC etc. are no less an insult if not more of one, because they use the first amendment as a shield to be able to not be truthful when giving us "news" even to the point of either leaving things out of a story, or editing things in, or simply making up the entire newscast. I'm now in my seventh decade and it has been depressing and upsetting to watch this happen. I am so glad we have the internet available to us and individuals are now able to video an event that can be vetted and fact-checked, and we see a truthful and factual news story. I have spent my life learning, I love it. I get frustrated and even a bit angry when I'm given fantasy and told it's fact. I'm sorry I've gone off on a tangent. I should just say simply, I get my entertainment from cable (sometimes computer) and virtually all of my news online.
 
  • Like
Reactions: azbacks
Aug 16, 2020
1
0
10
I cut out cable when I realized I hadn't watched anything on it in over a year. That was around 2 years ago. I also got rid of Netflix and Hulu around the same time. Most the time i don't have any streaming services or at least not paid ones except prime which I have for shopping. Almost never watched anything on there until last few months. Personally I'm fine with free services with advertisements and my other half found that I actually have excellent antennas He was able to see every football game he wanted to last year. As far as baseball phone company has it so can get MLB through them so he didn't miss those either. For Nascar download Fox sports app and/or NBC Sports app. There's also a Paid Nascar app. I'd guess it's cheaper then cable bill though.
I say most of the time since right now I do have showtime but only for last month or so and will only be a few more weeks til I shut it off again . Did the free trial when went to cancel for offer for half price for 3 mo.s. In one we had already watched what we wanted on there and gonna end it early..
I just wish I could ditch my internet, well internet provider, as easily. If phone service was alot better here I'd maybe switch to just that since internet is getting more expensive and seems to be getting slower. Oh well guess stuck with it for now.
 

Lee_Bo

Prominent
Dec 6, 2019
5
2
515
The wife and I sat down several years ago and we look at what we were paying for the Spectrum bundle vs. cutting the cord and streaming everything. We were paying something in the area of $300 a month for tv, internet and phone service. We decided to go with Spectrum for internet only and YouTube TV. Tmobile is currently paying our Netflix bill and we also have Amazon movies with our Prime account. We also installed Apple TV's on a few of our tv's. Current monthly bill is $115 and were getting more channels that we actually watch with YTTV than we did with Spectrum.
 
I'm a retired engineer. I worked on GPS, SATCOM, commercial aircraft displays and autopilots and lots of other cool stuff. I'm no Luddite by any means. However, I did tire of the recurring bill for cable TV shows I had no interest in. I miss some sports but not enough to pay for them. I'm happy with the 20 or so OTA channels I get plus Prime and Netflix.

I still have a cable telephone landline (at a ridiculous cost) but only because I haven't gotten around to setting up VOIP. This is a simple thing to do and will eliminate all the ROBO calls (my son has his set up so that if you don't press the "5" key, you are disconnected. He also rings multiple phones, has local call-in numbers in a few other countries and other cool stuff. Doing all that is a bit techie, but doable for many people.
 

Sharmick

Estimable
Feb 10, 2020
17
2
4,565
Four years ago, I experienced being lewdly insulted by my service provider. That after being treated the same by a previous provider who we had ten years. We opted to quit cable for TV completely. So we got an OTA (Channel Master) with an RCA rotor. We get more channels than we watch, and can depending on how we point it, pull in channels well over 100 miles away. I'm not sure if that's courtesy of sunspots, atmospheric condition, or magic. Doesn't matter, we're just happy with the "normal" 33 local channels though we only watch ten of those.

We do subscribe to Internet service and are grandfather for the 35 Mbps service which is more than adequate for our rural location and how we use it. We are constantly bombarded with both DISH and DirecTV with offers to return and ignore them. Our dream is when the supposed state sponsored FIOS reaches our area, but honestly, we don't really need it. One thing, for whatever reason, our OTA doesn't share the pixilated screen of the TV during storms we had with cable. A jiggle might happen 2-3 times but the picture remains crystal clear. Finally, if you install an OTA, if the installer claims you don't need a grounding wire, ignore that. Have them install the best quality grounding wire they have or get your own from Amazon. Mama Nature doesn't care about people think they know about her.

How I wish I could use an antenna but unfortunately, to have the least amount of neighbors (one on each side and 5 on the top of the hill), we don't get any TV reception without cable. We live in a "gully," which is high stone cliff in front and high steep hill behind us. Before cable, we had 2 antennas. Got 1 snowy channel with one and 2 snowy channels with the other one. all "local"channels ( if you want to call 50-100 miles away local). I haven't had the nerve to cut the cord yet because my husband is totally clueless in technology and may not be able to work the streaming services, but I'm tired of paying $216+ a month. I've made my choices on services and plan to keep the internet and I calculated it would only cost me around $90 a month for everything.
 
Sep 3, 2020
1
0
10
For year, since nobody in my house follows sports, we have been just fine with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Youtube Premium. Originally on a Roku box, now Fire Stick. Internet started out as DSL, then cable modem, now fiber optic. We might be tempted to subscribe to one or more additional services depending on which big-but-late player strikes out on their own.
 
Sep 5, 2020
1
0
10
I am going to drop the cable this month. I have been trying different things, and plan on streaming through a Firestick. Also put up a OTA and get the locals just fine. I totally agree with the idea of subscribing to the channels I want, instead of having to pay for a bunch more just to get a few good ones.

Thanks for the information....
 

bsc249

Distinguished
Oct 30, 2012
13
0
18,560
Just took the first step a few days ago! While switching to Youtube TV is "technically" cutting the cord, it is a baby step :) However, their channel lineup is now extensive enough that my wife couldn't argue and with a guide she can set the channel lineup to her liking and record ANYTHING she wants, it was now a no brainer :) Gotta love unlimited DVR you can watch ANYWHERE!

Previous Spectrum internet/tv bill: $230/month
New bill with Verizon Fios 200 Mbps plan and Youtube TV: $104/month.
Unless you have 4 kids, 200 MBps is plenty! We have 3 tv's, all smart, 2 cell phones, a tablet, and 2 laptops - we never run into a problem.
Mobile phone bill is separate and I use google voice for our home phone because the wife won't give up the number... Tmobile pays for Netflix, We pay for Disney+ and we have had an Amazon Prime account for years so we have their video ta boot!

The only difference is that I did have HBO with Spectrum, even though we never watch HBO. Honestly, we only got it to watch Game of Thrones :) However, they would not let me get rid of HBO alone to lower my bill since I was part of a grandfathered account from Time Warner...

PS: Now that Ib'm with Verizon Fios, my interent is not only much more stable, we had countless interruptions/drops with spectrum, but I'm get in house WiFi at 250MBps up and down and 300+ for Ethernet connections! Again, on their 200 MBps plan at $40/month.

Oh, one last important detail, I bought their router. It's 300 bucks. I don't pay $15 bucks a month in additional rent so in 20 months it will have paid for itself.
 
Sep 10, 2020
1
0
10
We cut the cord years ago. The cable companies are out of control. They add hidden expenses on top of already high prices. We have Netflix at a discount through T-Mobile & got an extra line through them for internet. We also bought a smart tv & picked up blu-rays at yard sales.

The last time we watched network tv was the final episode of Big Bang Theory. Netflix, YouTube & Vudu have a lot to offer. We don’t miss cable at all
 
Status
Not open for further replies.