How do i get rid of tv cable?

Sher
by Sher

I can't afford my 170. monthly cable bill but am not techy and am clueless what to look for with an antenna. I want real time t.v. not FAKE times. Suggestions?

  12 answers
  • Joanne lueke Joanne lueke on Sep 27, 2018

    Absolutely! We went with Direct TV and ATT internet a little over a year ago for the same reason, and cut our bill down to $80/mo. That includes everything including tax. Never looked back. We thought about streaming, but at the time no streaming service had local channels or real time tv. We are very happy we switched.

  • William William on Sep 27, 2018

    Just buy a good digital TV antenna. Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards. You will need to program the channels once you connect the antenna. Your owners manual will have instructions. Don't forget to cancel your cable when you switch.

    • Sher Sher on Sep 27, 2018

      Thx so much. There's so many options. Silly question but would I need to purchase an antenna for each TV? Do I really need to know the distance from my house to a cell or tv tower to make the best decision? I've called ATT and compared prices. Their quote was only a few dollars less than TimeWarner/Spectrum.


      Thanks for your help!!

  • William William on Sep 27, 2018

    Not a silly question. Yes you would need a separate antennas for each TV. No, distance does not matter to choose an antenna. You can go to this site, enter your location and it will tell you how many channels you can get. I actually three TV's. I made my own antenna for my living room and bought antennas for the other two. I get over 70 broadcast channels. I also have a Roku box and subscribe to SlingTV, Hulu, and Netflix. Costs me $4i a month. Also I get tons of free channels with the Roku.


    https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

    • Sharon Sharon on Sep 29, 2018

      William I would say antenna distance does matter if you live in a rural area with mountains and strong weather because there are far fewer signal towers to get your channels.

      Here on the Oregon coast it is harder to pick up channels with an antenna or get a cell phone signal. Since I've hooked up about 8 homes now, I have found the range of the antenna is a factor.

  • Yup, I would like to get rid of them too. My bill is around $100 a month. But where I live antennas do not work, you are forced to subscribe to a service. By the time I added up all the costs from the streaming services (I do not own a computer or pay for internet), Internet charges and cost of computer it was far more than what I am paying so I am stuck at least for now. Some people have had success in calling up and bargaining their rate lower.

  • Bobbie Harshman Bobbie Harshman on Sep 27, 2018

    Have an indoor antenna, but get only 7 stations. 2 are hometown but some days will not come in. The rest are public or religious broadcasting. Distance is 30 miles on antenna. I wish I had put out more money for a better distance. Bought this one at Walmart

  • Sharon Sharon on Sep 27, 2018

    Yeah I got tired of the $128 mo Direct TV bill so I cut the cord. I read up on it, and went to local home store electronics section and they recommended the antenna that sold the most in my rural area $35 for 75 mile radius., My store told me I could return it if it didn't work in my location for another one. I have hooked up all of my disabled clients as a caregiver to save them money too. I have gotten used antennas for clients at St. Vinnies and Goodwill for $2-$4.

    Then when you hook it all up, you get on your TVs menu and scan your channels to find what local free channels you get in your area, here it is all HD major networks, FOX, PBS, and about 4 local channels, or about 15 channels in all in my rural community. Free TV.

    If you want to watch alot of the programming you used to watch on cable, check out some of the streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HULU etc. Then run about $11 a mo. If your a movie buff, I got Netflix first. If you like TV programming, I then got Hulu. When I joined Amazon Prime I got there streaming service free. These are streamed through my DVD player thats hooked up to WIFI and TV.

    I got my cable canceled and got a local WIFI provider instead at $65 mo. for internet phone and WIFI (was paying $70 mo for a landline). You will need a network cable, HDMI cable, router to pick up your WIFI signal, a DVD player that has some of the streaming services pre-programmed on it, look for the little symbols on the box for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc..

    So the bottom line is that the equipment costs a little bit along with the install fee for a WIFI connection. When they install your WIFI they will hook up the phone and router to your TV.

    I did it myself, and I'm 71. The downside is once in a while the signal drops in strong storms, you just re-scan your channels. If you have a large home, you will need multiple antennas.

    The thing I love about streaming, I can watch anything I want at anytime or any day.... no more missed movies or programs, and I can pause it, or stop it and come back to it later if I'm busy.

    • See 2 previous
    • Sharon Sharon on Oct 01, 2018

      Thanks for clarifying that William, I do live in a rural area of the Oregon coast and the signals come over several mountains to get to us. Since I have hooked up quite a few homes, I have found the cheaper antennas that I get at thrift stores sometimes don't work here, so I've always gone and brought a better one at the home store.

  • OceeB OceeB on Sep 27, 2018

    Sharon, had all the right answers!

    • Sher Sher on Sep 27, 2018

      Y'all are amazing. I appreciate your help so very much! I'll try and buy one this w/e and hopefully figure out how to get back to this posting and let you know how it goes!!!

  • Kmdreamer Kmdreamer on Sep 27, 2018

    Get those wireless cable antennas they work well

  • Ros34087852 Ros34087852 on Sep 28, 2018

    Go to Wal-Mart and get a converter box

    • William William on Sep 28, 2018

      Converter box is only needed for old picture tube TV's. Not needed with new flat screen TV's.

  • William William on Sep 29, 2018

    I beg to differ with Sharon. Antennas do not have a range. They just receive a signal from the transmission towers. The type of antenna for location and terrain is a factor. Raisng the height of an antenna greatly increases reception. Which I did for my daughter in Indiana. Some stations have weak transmissions, may not be picked up, cut in and out, or signal loss. Here is a lot of information.


    https://www.antennasdirect.com/faqs.html

  • Oliva Oliva on Sep 29, 2018

    Your location, the number of buildings behind you on a terrace, and your choice of High Definition antenna will determine the number of stations you receive. Purchase your antenna from a store where you can return it without having to pay any "restocking" charge, or similar charge. You may need to try different antennas to determine which works best for you. Retaining additional cable wire sometimes improves reception.

  • Get a roku stick and netflix. Keep your internet. Netflix is so much cheaper than cable. I have netflix, hulu and Amazon prime and it's still cheaper. Plus no commercials!