Cutting cable and switching to an alternative, Apple TV maybe?

[chrisddie61527]

Im just wondering if it is worth it and if there is anyone else here that cut there cable and just switched for something else.

 

My family are currently deciding whether or not we should do it.

 

Me personally, I dont watch TV. Weekends I just play videogames, visit some modding forums and see whats new, browse reddit etc. I never use the TV. While on weekdays Im mostly in school, after school I hangout with friends (omg he has a life) and when I get home I just watch Youtube videos and play videogames (wait nvm) and still, I dont use the TV. 

 

My Mom and my Sister on the other hand, my mom mostly spends time in the living room watching The Food Network, HGTV, and a channel that I think everyone has, The Weather Network. My sister is the same, she doesnt watch TV either. Shes mostly in her room reading a book or something I dunno. 

 

TL:DR Information about me

Im in Canada. Cable Internet and Phone With Shaw.

 

Mom - doesnt watch much tv

Sister - doesnt watch tv

Me - doesnt watch tv, but uses alot of internet, by that I mean Im always online. Playing videogames watching YT videos etc.

 

So now Im just asking for peoples opinions on cutting that cable.

 

• Is it worth it?
• What are some benefits?
• Have you tried it?
• Are you considering it?
• What are other alternatives other than Apple TV?
• Whats included in the alternative/Apple TV?
• Whats exactly in Apple TV, is it just Netfilx, vevo, crunchsomething, Flickr etc.

 

Another thing we have to consider is the Internet Speed. Im on the very basic plan with Shaw. Highspeed 10, advertised 10Mbps, speedtest.shaw.ca shows 21.06Mbps. Speedtest.net shows 21.88 Mbps. 

 

If my mom was watching something on the alternative, lets say like Netflix on Apple TV again, and I was gaming, and my sister was watcing a video, will it come to a point where there is just way too much traffic and therefore my internet just shuts itself off?

 

TL:DR If we cut the cable, and everyone was using internet, does that mean we have to pay more for internet speed now? We cut the cable for TV, but now were paying for more internet speed. Is it worth?

 

This is mostly focused for peepow that live in Canada, I want to ask Linus about there TV, Phone and Internet situation aswell  but I doubt he will reply. But you never know. Its my first post so I dont know if linus normally replies to people.

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Snickerzz]

i would say try out netflix if you mainly watch movies and dont mind watching a tv series a few seasons behind, hulu to tv, and amazon prime tv thing for uhh not really sure  

as for the internet, it wouldnt shut itself off, though you may lag in your game or your mom/sister may see a buffering circle for awhile

[Flyguygamer]

In our family we use yt, netflix, and amazon prime and between all three we watch everything we want. We still have cable but are getting rid of it next month.

[PhiberOptik]

• Is it worth it? For you, yes, but it sounds like you may need to teach your mom to be more tech savvy so she will be able to find a alternative to what she enjoyed on the TV on the internet.
• What are some benefits? You will save money, probably a lot of money, and as such will be able to adjust your funds for something your family desires more, maybe a vacation once a year.
• Have you tried it? No, my family isn't tech savvy enough, relies on the TV, and enjoys the programming to much.
• Are you considering it? When I live on my own, I will only have a internet plan.

If we cut the cable, and everyone was using internet, does that mean we have to pay more for internet speed now? No. But that strictly depends on how you use it. More traffic needs more speed, as you congest your network you will see your latency go up in games, if and when it is congested.

We cut the cable for TV, but now were paying for more internet speed. Is it worth? Depends on pricing for your area, and how useful the internet is for you and your family, it doesn't always have something for everyone.

[JTDeviceRepair]

Im just wondering if it is worth it and if there is anyone else here that cut there cable and just switched for something else.

 

My family are currently deciding whether or not we should do it.

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I did read the whole post, whether you watch tv for ten minutes a week, or 24/7 I always tell people to get rid of cable, there's no point!! Even Netflix, and Hulu, and appleTv, whatever....you just need 2-3 sites, never watch a commercial again, Videobull.com - has every tv show, every episode of every season, the only negative is you have to wait till the day after it airs to watch it, and they don't have streaming sports. The other 2 are movie25.com, and movie4k.to...movie 25.com has just about every movie you could think of, including new movies still in theatre, never any reason to pay to go to the movies ever again!

[atomicmonkey101]

just build a cheap media pc if you have a couple of extra parts lying around. My family uses my computer for itunes/music/online streaming like city tv. it works well. if you use itunes you can buy a seasons pass for tv series which is a good way to do it in my opinion because I dont pirate stuff.

[IdeaStormer]

Like all addictions, its going to take some time to get over it but it is totally worth it.

 

You may not have as much an issue if you're already using a computer to get by for your entertainment. The big challenge will be those in your household with no secondary entertainment options.

 

To survive truly staying off the cable drug, you will need to provide options for the rest at home. A computer with Hulu, NetFlix, Amazon, YouTube easily accessible, easy as in point and click not login, search and dig for stuff. If they can't easily access something, cable will be back.

 

I've been off the wagon since 2005 and can say I don't miss it one bit. Sure I don't watch things that I used to like sports live, but sometimes view the clips after the fact. The positives are, I have no idea what marketing campaign is popular as I am not watching commercials so less brainwashing, I read more on what I want to read news-wise not force feed the tabloid news and public opinions (or news paid opinions). Your mind will be clearer and you will have a more positive feeling about life in general as you won't be bombarded with all the negativity that's pushed on TV watchers.

[E.Beadle]

Current Location: Lansing, Michigan United States

I've thought about cutting the cable out with our local provider which is comcast. However, with the way companies are around Michigan. When you have the basic cable + internet it makes the price goes cheaper for the package discount. If we were to just pay for one or the other the price jumps up. 

I do own an AppleTV and have stated the same thing with the AppleTV, Roku and other media platform that offer streaming apps on them. Why not cut the cable out and just run the internet. 
The reason above explained is why, my information comes from a comcast setup representative when they were setting up the internet and cable here at me an dmy girlfriends new  town home. 

[Christop406]

I've just recently started to cut the cord too, and I can recommend a Roku 3 box. That little box is amazing and does everything. Here in the US, we can couple that up with a nice antenna (if you live near a broadcast station and want to watch the occasional news program/olympics/local sports).

 

I use Netflix with my Roku and an antenna, and so far I haven't run out of content to watch. With the extra money we upgraded our Internet! So now we can download and play games, stream movies, and much more with little to no lag.

 

So far, cord cutting has been a good experience minus some minor bumps with the live OTA television. I'd recommend it for sure.

[E.Beadle]

I've just recently started to cut the cord too, and I can recommend a Roku 3 box. That little box is amazing and does everything. Here in the US, we can couple that up with a nice antenna (if you live near a broadcast station and want to watch the occasional news program/olympics/local sports).

 

I use Netflix with my Roku and an antenna, and so far I haven't run out of content to watch. With the extra money we upgraded our Internet! So now we can download and play games, stream movies, and much more with little to no lag.

 

So far, cord cutting has been a good experience minus some minor bumps with the live OTA television. I'd recommend it for sure.

To further to add on to that, what makes these stream boxes so nice is you can streamline your digital content from your laptop and pc with ease or order any movie you want from lets say the itunes store you can rent or buy a movie or series. amazon prime the same thing and so forth.

If you do know someone with cable, you can use their cable codes to get the stations for the cable you want. I use my mothers to watch HBO go, ESPN on the appletv. 

[Christop406]

To further to add on to that, what makes these stream boxes so nice is you can streamline your digital content from your laptop and pc with ease or order any movie you want from lets say the itunes store you can rent or buy a movie or series. amazon prime the same thing and so forth.

If you do know someone with cable, you can use their cable codes to get the stations for the cable you want. I use my mothers to watch HBO go, ESPN on the appletv. 

You just enlightened me. I've been wanting to watch the walking dead on AMC but I cut the cord and couldn't do it   You just totally blew my mind. I'm going to have to ask one of my friends if i can use hers to watch The Walking Dead. Thank you kind sir for making my life at least 1.3x better.

[E.Beadle]

No Problem.. Another thing I like about the Apple Tv is the following

Its also great for streamlining movies from your desktop or laptop that are in the itunes library
Streamlining music to any tv that has an appletv connected device at the same time.. Multi devices equal multi music rooms.  (great for parties)
it is constantly being updated. 

You can also mirror certain things with certain ipad and iphone models and applications. 

I use almost every app on there
Podcasts, if you download podcasts they can be streamed or if they are in the apple podcast store. 
vimeo, vevo, and a whole lot of others. 

My only issue is the apple tv is Infrared remote where the roku series are radio remotes. However I love the simple setup of itunes, and itunes library as long as thats running i can watch any digital content saved in mp3 or mp4 format.