Posted on 11/08/2014 5:22:56 PM PST by Jamestown1630
This is my first Vanity; please let me know if I've done it incorrectly. (I'm not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, when it comes to this stuff :-)
We are divorcing our cable bundle. It's just too expensive, for what we're getting.
We've got a new TV, a Roku, and are planning on subscribing to HULU. We will also be ditching the 'phone part of the bundle, and going to some kind of VOIP.
The only thing we're not going to be able to access, is Fox news. Does anyone know of a conservative alternative TV news station that might be available to us with our new set-up?
Thanks very much, JT
Try going to http://www.hulkusaa.com/watch-fox-news-live-streaming/
Just hook up your laptop through an HDMI or older style monitor cable. Almost all flat screens have at least one or the other and get pretty high quality streaming of FOX NEWS 24/7.
ENJOY!
If you don’t like Netflix, I highly recommend Amazon Prime with their streaming service. Lots of great free movies and very low rental for newer movies. Plus, if you buy stuff online, a lot of what they ship has two-day service.
Wow!
We began planning this a month ago, when we realized that we were paying almost $200 per month for tv/internet/phone. Then, today, our bill went up over $7; so for us, this is a done deal. It’s a waste of money, for hundreds of channels we never even use.
I remember hearing an interview on radio or TV; it must have been about 15 years ago. Some telecom guy was saying that they expected in the near future to have people paying over $200 per month for all their connections.
I laughed; I thought that it would never happen; and if it did, I certainly wouldn’t pay it.
And yet, here I am ;-)
-JT
For VoIP, have a look at Ooma. Great service and you’ll pay for it in 6 months or less, then it’s free for life. (Yours or Ooma’s, not yet sure which, but so far so good).
What did you do with the email?
Prior to breaking the ties to the cable company, what did you do to change anything and everything having to do with the old email address?
Suchis as, going to all the people you gave it to, as a contact, and telling them the new email addy ?
AFAIK, unlike the post office, there is no provision for one to do similar with ones email; give a forwarding address.
I have ROKU and you can watch some Fox shows free but they are delayed a day. You get adapted to it. I also hooked up HD antena in attic for about $50. Get all my local stations for weather and the alphabet stations.(not big into them) I get netflix for $9.99 a month and get all of the shows I want.
I’m starting year 3 in January. I never looked back and feel free as a bird!
Only thing we pay for is wifi and Netflix.
The ‘husband unit’ in my household sympathizes; he’s always saying that he remembers when the SciFi channel was actually science fiction, and not horror :-)
-JT
Check your freepmail for link :)
I think you can get SiriusXM on Roku. They have Fox News on Sirius.
Yep, which is why I hardly ever use it. I've enjoyed commercial-free Netflix programming since we dumped cable over a year ago.
Gosh, with all of these responses, I seem to have hit a common nerve! I can’t thank you all enough for your advice.
It’s going to take us a while to go through all of this information, but we are very, very grateful.
Will go through it all, and get back to you as to how things go. (New TV is finally set up tonight; old tv in the dumpster; and the lasagna is almost burning :-)
-JT
I’m probably going to be doing this myself. Comcast tried to jack my rate $30/month recently. I called them to see if they’d do something. I told the guy he needed to fix it or I would be canceling everything except internet. All of a sudden he ‘miraculously’ found a way to put my rate back where it was. But I pay for a lot of programming I never use. So, I’ll be following in your footsteps soon enough.
Yes, please keep us updated on how you’re adjusting to the new media.
We need competition. We only have two choices where I live, and they cost about the same.
People not far from us, have other choices.
We need small companies offering alternatives...
-JT
Hi;
Well, we’re keeping the Internet part of the bundle, and ditching the cable tv and ‘phone. (Going to get Ooma.)
We figure this will take our bill from about $207.00 to $75.00, for at least a couple of years.
-JT
I am thinking of getting Amazon Prime. I am going to sign up for the free trial because I heard you can get some of the HBO shows like the Wire and the Sopranos.
We do, too. Even my kids don't miss cable.
Welcome to the party. These 3 are the backbone of streaming (NETFLIX, HULU, AMAZON PRIME). Netflix and Amazon are in a content war which benefits the consumer as both have good new stuff. Amazon is currently showing a large number of HBO Series. Hulu I dumped because I can’t see paying for something chock full of commercials that expects you to watch something in a week or two. If you are okay with that, they will keep you up on most current TV series. All of these are about $10 a month. Amazon is also useful for buying TV series and streaming them when they go on sale.
Local TV was very close with Aereo, but it got shot down. A good HD Antenna can get that for you but a streaming cloud based local service for urban areas is the future. HBO and CBS have recently indicated they are going streaming so this is the crack in the dam for cable providers. Showtime is now matching HBO. Red Box also tried to get into this but couldn’t make it work. All in all you have to work a little harder, but you get to watch what you want when you want on any device that streams. Cable is an endangered species.
Finally, cloud streaming handles most stuff, but you can even build your own media streaming library by ripping your DVD/Blue Ray collection. Most devices now support various media servers for this. The last nut to crack is setting up a DVR like service for anything you pull over an antenna, but default Windows handles that with a little effort. With your new found savings it is easy to experiment with hardware and services and still come out ahead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.