Gone off cable TV | GTAMotorcycle.com

Gone off cable TV

crankcall

crankcall

Well-known member
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so long and short of it, my cogeco bill with some premium channels was about $150. that plus internet was little over $200. I put an over the air local antenna up and a Free to air sattlelite antenna which pulls about 200 stations. Many of the stations are eastern Europe and middle east and I don't understand the language, but there is some American content and BBC and the velocity channel, haven't figured it all out yet. But the best part I'm $150 bucks a month ahead. I'll keep the internet, it works well, and I had no problems with cogeco service, I just found there wasn't much I needed to watch for my $150. I had the whole thing installed by DR satellite for $940.00 all in. Yes I could have done it, but he's got all the settings for alignment and probably saved me a day(week) of tinkering, I calculate my payback is 7 months. Picture quality is awesome so far.
 
I cut cable with the same intentions. Just never got around to putting up the antenna. Got used to no TV. Not sure its even worth the effort to put up an antenna now. Probably just going to build a media PC and run xbmc and stream content.
 
I cancelled Rogers and put an HD antenna on the roof about a year ago. The signal is noticeably better than Robbers cause it's not compressed.

Better yet, I run the coaxial into my desktop computer, where I use Windows Media Player as a PVR. I just put in the postal code for Buffalo's city hall, and boom! ....I get a complete guide for all my HD channels. I can program recordings just like the Robbers box.

Even better yet, I use an old Xbox 360 to wirelessly stream the list of all my shows to another floor in the house, and watch the shows with NO lag.

Setup cost...About $200 (if you install yourself...and antenna type depends on your location. About 26 HD channels right now, but could get more with some tweaking. Includes all major US and Canadian networks.

Monthly cost... $0.
 
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So many people are getting away from TV. Good choice. I stream most of my stuff. I just use the TV to play ps4 lol
 
Bought an android tv box off aliexpress for $40 shipped. Every show and movie stteaming. Also live sports, some news and tv channels.
 
Update, electrically and signal, system is great. It was installed last nite. now I go look at the physical installation in the daylight, WORST INSTALL EVER! idiot has no cable clamps on a 12' drop from the satellite dish , and no clamps 8ft from ground on the OTA antenna. No caulking where cables go through masonary and a piece of scarp lumber covering the cable next to my back door. Do these install goofs have no clue ugly don't fly on houses in this neighborhood ? Now I get to re run cabling this am, and he was well paid the first time. I could call him back to correct it, but I don't think he would be any better on the second shot. And it was the company owner doing the install...............
 
1) He's not emotionally invested in your house.
2) Time is money
3) I don't think he cares about your house. Nothing personal, strictly business.
4) Is he Russian?
 
crankcall said:
Update, electrically and signal, system is great. It was installed last nite. now I go look at the physical installation in the daylight, WORST INSTALL EVER! idiot has no cable clamps on a 12' drop from the satellite dish , and no clamps 8ft from ground on the OTA antenna. No caulking where cables go through masonary and a piece of scarp lumber covering the cable next to my back door. Do these install goofs have no clue ugly don't fly on houses in this neighborhood ? Now I get to re run cabling this am, and he was well paid the first time. I could call him back to correct it, but I don't think he would be any better on the second shot. And it was the company owner doing the install...............
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Hey, he's a professional, and you aren't.
Are you going to try some tweaking now that you've seen the install?
 
Always inspect the work before forking over cash.
 
Would you guys recommend an antenna or chimney clamp?
 
inreb said:
1) He's not emotionally invested in your house.
2) Time is money
3) I don't think he cares about your house. Nothing personal, strictly business.
4) Is he Russian?
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ViperZ said:
wtf?
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It's the Vodka. I don't do business with foreigners period. When I had a quote to replace my windows, a guy from the Czech Republic gave me the estimate. Sounded way too low. Said thanks and good bye. If someone comes by that doesn't speak English without an accent, they don't get my business. Too many foreign dead beats.
 
inreb said:
1) He's not emotionally invested in your house.
2) Time is money
3) I don't think he cares about your house. Nothing personal, strictly business.
4) Is he Russian?
Click to expand...

I'm not emotionally invested in my house either, its where I live till the next house. I like my neighbors , they are particular about their property, as am I. Time is money, he booked to be here at 2, I called at 3, he was on his way. He showed at 5:30pm and stayed till 11:35pm when I told him go home. I would setup the remaining TV's . He was slow, I assumed that meant fastidious, seems its just means slow. He did not care about my house at all, I think his level of install is ok at 95% of his customers. It was lax and unattractive. But I spent a few hours on a ladder and its all happy now. Its not optimal , but I wont be here in 5-7yrs and it wont affect resale as it will be removed prior to listing. He was French. Someday someone will send me a cable/phone/IT guy that owns more than a hammer drill and a blunt flathead driver. I've had electricians / plumbers/ Hvac guys on other properties we have that did clean tidy work. Nothing like these wire stringing wanks. Professional indeed.
 
crankcall said:
I'm not emotionally invested in my house either, its where I live till the next house. I like my neighbors , they are particular about their property, as am I. Time is money, he booked to be here at 2, I called at 3, he was on his way. He showed at 5:30pm and stayed till 11:35pm when I told him go home. I would setup the remaining TV's . He was slow, I assumed that meant fastidious, seems its just means slow. He did not care about my house at all, I think his level of install is ok at 95% of his customers. It was lax and unattractive. But I spent a few hours on a ladder and its all happy now. Its not optimal , but I wont be here in 5-7yrs and it wont affect resale as it will be removed prior to listing. He was French. Someday someone will send me a cable/phone/IT guy that owns more than a hammer drill and a blunt flathead driver. I've had electricians / plumbers/ Hvac guys on other properties we have that did clean tidy work. Nothing like these wire stringing wanks. Professional indeed.
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Lol. A professional is just someone who gets paid to do something.

We switched to Canadian Netflicks. Kids can watch an entire run of a series, one after the other.
I'm waiting for the day that the TV stations rebel against Cable, and throw everything on the internet (hello Discovery).
Some have already, and we watch them commercials and all.
Beats paying for 80+ channels when you only watch two or three.
 
The biggest reason for me not dropping cable is sports. No doubt, you can get your fix for programming/movies online (via Netflix and other sources), but sports (in high quality) is still lagging. I also like a few cable channels that are simply not available otherwise. Now is it worth how much I am paying? Probably not. I will be very intrigued once the a-la-carte packaging becomes an option. I will likely cut 90% of the channels on cable.
 
Chaos said:
The biggest reason for me not dropping cable is sports. No doubt, you can get your fix for programming/movies online (via Netflix and other sources), but sports (in high quality) is still lagging. I also like a few cable channels that are simply not available otherwise. Now is it worth how much I am paying? Probably not. I will be very intrigued once the a-la-carte packaging becomes an option. I will likely cut 90% of the channels on cable.
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Watched UFC last night and the jays game today live on my android box. HD? Nah, but also not $10,000 over a decade
 
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