Cutting the Cord - No MORE Cable

[FTW_Perverse]

I've been wanting to do this for a long time.  I currently have Comcast Xfinity services and want to essentially get rid of my cable bill (minus the internet of course).

 

So what is the best way to do this?

 

I assume an HDTV antenna.  Any suggestions on which one?

 

And would like suggestions or recommendations on how to record anything I view on television.  Software/hardware required?

 

And finally, without a cable provider, is there any way to still get premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc?

 

Any help you can provide is appreciated!!

 

[RatedBlam]

Hmm, I have no clue on how This works in America but in Finland

almost every house has an antennae(afaik there are no HDTV ones) and TV trough antennae is almost free.

And they do have special channels trough antennaes and we have IPTV for some special channels.

And at least here they just sell set top boxes(a requirement, no more analogue TV) that have a HDD inside.

And our IPTV thing offers storage at their servers.

But in 'Murrica things are probably nothing like this.

[Unknown_Guy]

Hmm, I have no clue on how This works in America but in Finland

almost every house has an antennae(afaik there are no HDTV ones) and TV trough antennae is almost free.

And they do have special channels trough antennaes and we have IPTV for some special channels.

And at least here they just sell set top boxes(a requirement, no more analogue TV) that have a HDD inside.

And our IPTV thing offers storage at their servers.

But in 'Murrica things are probably nothing like this.

We have similar IPTV here in Latvia with archive, pausing live stream, recording for later, movie renting, news portal and you can even order pica. There's internet TV with almost all the same functionality too where you can pay like 9 euros and use it for month.

[BKOben]

HDTV antenna - check this http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/ will show you what you can recieve in your area if any. There are amplified atennas as well if needed. This is very limited depending on location. I happen to recieve none at least with standard non-amplified antenna, havent dropped the money for a powered one.

 

Googlechrome cast is great if your an android user and still works with ios if your not.  last I checked its still $35 and gives access to plenty of sources with more coming seeing how the SDK is available for devs so keep a eye out for new apps some are poping up on the play store already. No need to record anything from netflix and other sources from chromecast as they are all mostly ondemand type services. You can google other reviews and thoughts on the chromecast for more info.

 

I would assume you may be able to setup a HTPC with tv-tunner card that is attacted to the antenna, then use software to record the over the air channels. Not 100% sure if it can work but I would assume it should.

 

With out a cable provider its hard to get premium channels except HBO if you know someone who subcribes to HBO and is willing to let you have the login for HBOGO you can use that with the chromecast. I am not sure of others such as showtime.

 

One thing is certain I dont miss my cable tv provider especially comcast! I thought I left them when I moved to NC from FL but my ISP is TWC... surprise Comcast is back in my life now........

 

If you have any other questions I would be glad to help as best as I can.

[MarioS]

If you  know someone with Cable and have HBO they allow three users on HBOGO on the site or through the app, Maxgo same thing Showtime depending where you are you can watch live streams from the showtime anytime and on demand stuff as well. Starzplay you can do the same. 

I personally built small htpc for this and just use a family members access since they never use online or app stuff. Until they decide to do alacarte this would be the best option. 

Depending on where you are I use http://www.gomohu.com/ I love my mohu leaf I do have the ultimate which gives me nice range for an indoor antenna, it's multidirectional and the amplifier is usb so it can be powered by your tv if you want but I plug it in to power. I also use hdhomerun So I can have it run over the network. 

If you can I recommend an outdoor antenna but I live in the city and it's not allowed. 

[rennaws]

Check out antennaweb.org ....when I cut the cord that website helped me figure out what I needed and what I could expect to get out of it. I tried at first with just the antenna but then discovered I needed an amplifier, then powered distribution something-or-other - ended up getting everything they recommended by the time I was done but luckily it was all fairly inexpensive. Winegard is a good brand I think.

 

SiliconDust makes network tunners that work great and are easy to setup, lets you watch tv on any pc on your network. My personal dvr rig is an old core2duo pc with two haupauge? dual hd tunner cards and it has no issues recording or hosting the files to watch on other computers. I use Windows Media Center, nothing complicated or expensive needed in that dept either. If I was starting from scratch I would probably just go with 2-3 SiliconDust boxes instead of the internal cards.

 

For the last few years I just type what I want to watch in google and it's usually faster than pulling it up locally...it's just too easy and my antenna has yet to pick up any premium channels so......