CUTTING THE CABLE/SATELLITE TV CORD (The Ultimate Guide)

[b1ggjoe]

Hey Everyone,

A while back, I had posted the following thread:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=15395

This thread has proven to be one of the most enlightening, informative and incredible threads that I have ever been involved with.

Thanks to everyone's feedback on that thread, along with tons of research on this SNB website overall, it has had a powerful and positive direct impact on me personally. Especially in the area of laying the right kind of 'network infrastructure' foundation for me to move forward.

Initially, that thread had to do with having the right type of network environment, given many variables, to stream HD Movies.

However, I was only looking at it from streaming my own HD 720 & 1080p movie collection.

I'm pleased to say that I'm probably going to go with the WD TV Live in about 2 weeks for this.

I will have an external HDD plugged-in to the WD TV Live for starters, so that the WD TV Live can play/stream my movies from this external HDD to my LCD TV via HDMI.

Once my 'NAS4Free' Box is finished, then WD TV Live will be accessing my movie collection over the network on my new custom-made NAS Box and then streaming it to my LCD TV via HDMI.

Anyway, this is initially where that thread started...with lots and lots of questions.

Throughout the course of that thread, I was exposed to other technologies such as:

- ROKU

- HD Homerun

and etc.

Now what started out as questions for streaming my own personal collection of HD Movies has started me on a quest to possibly 'Cut The Cord' completely, with regard to Cable TV and/or Satellite TV.

Having said that, I make the following request:

If anyone has had success either partially or completely 'CUTTING THE CORD' with regard to Cable TV or Satellite TV (This doesn't include Internet access)...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share your thoughts, input, feedback and strategies.

I've only just begun my research but this topic is a few years old already, so I have to believe there is much to say on this issue.

So far what I'm *considering*...

- ROKU Box for 'Streaming HD Content in General'. This seems to have the largest library of content available for streaming.

- HD Homerun Plus - I'm not entirely sure about this yet...but I'm considering it. I'm thinking that if it works the way I think it does, I can have just one (1) HD Homerun Plus connected to my network and it will be able to stream OTA HD content, including live and local channels to ALL of my flat-screen LCD/LED TVs, including Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones.

But I still need to do some research on exactly how this works and if it's worth the expense.

For example, what if I just got one of these Antenna's and plugged it in straight in to the Coax connection of the TV:

http://store.gomohu.com/curve-30-indoor-hdtv-antenna.html

Unless I would need one of these Antenna's X every TV in the house. Then the investment in the HD Homerun Plus makes sense.

- Netflix + Hulu+ Subscription - Have more movies and tv shows available for streaming.

- VUDU- This is free but is good for OnDemand 1080p rental purchases of movies.

- DVR- I have to still research whether to create my own DVR box to record these shows, or is it even necessary when you can watch 'OnDemand' with the likes of Hulu+.

Anyway, you get the idea.

So again, please feel free to add your thoughts and experiences on this.

My new upgraded network infrastructure is now 'kick-butt' thanks to this website...so now I'm getting ready for the next step.

Thanks to everyone in advance!!

Bee Jay

 

[thiggins]

Some of it is dated. But I assume you have read the Diary of My Switch To Internet TV series http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/mult...1097-diary-of-my-switch-to-internet-tv-part-1 and its related discussion thread http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=3072 ?

I used an HD Homerun with Windows Media center as a DVR for awhile. Worked well, but I get only 3 OTA stations. I think Plex supports Homerun, too.

You might also look at PlayOn / Play Later. http://www.playon.tv/features/hd

What you are going to find is that more commercial networks are requiring you to authenticate with a cable / satellite account credentials before they allow access to some or all of their content. This is part of the industry's TvEverywhere initiative, aimed at blunting the effect of cord-cutting.

The other factors working against cord-cutting are metered bandwidth and the fact that cable and fiber customers get both TV and internet from the same provider. So if you drop the TV portion of the subscription, they get you with higher internet pricing.

The incumbents won't go down without a fight. And I'll bet that the average "triple play" (TV / phone / internet) bill will continue to rise for most people.

In the end, the thing that killed it for me was hassle. With a DVR, everything is in one place, easily accessed. With most cord-cutting setups, you cobble together content from multiple sources. So everyone in the household has to remember which program is where. Geeks may be ok with this. But Ms. SmallNetBuilder was not pleased.

 

[JPElectron]

I use Simple.TV - Hulu - and Netflix - that's plenty enough TV for me.

 

[DrewG5]

Roku with simpleTV is the solution I have found that works best for me. As pointed out the industry is fighting cord cutters requiring logins from cable/fiber accounts and, not broadcasting sports events over the air in local markets.

This action IMHO is a bad choice by the content providers. They have a choice make money streaming video to me through advertising or, don't make money at all.. The saddest part is I'm willing to bet they could make more money that way than through a 3rd party cable/fiber Co.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

[stevech]

If I could figure out how to cut the cord with evil Time Warner Cable (soon to be Comcast), and retain the content we watch (as below, no ABC/CBS/NBC desired), I would. Dish & Direct are even more expensive.

• Discovery
• FoodTV
• Cooking Channel
• Nat Geo
• NBCSN (sports network)
• Universal Sports Netw (road bike racing, etc)