Thought this might be good for area specific conversation. I currently have dish which I like a lot but I've noticed I rarely watch actual tv. Mostly I watch shows on Netflix or Amazon and rely on TV for Seahawks and a few basic shows. I'm not sure that this justifies over $100. I'm thinking about picking up a digital antenna and going with Hulu plus and a few other online price dears with maybe some form of DVR for my tv wants. Anyone done this and if so what are your thoughts so far? I figure bad comes to worse I can always go back and get an introductory rate on top of returning.

No, I want to though, but my wife enjoys TV too much.

Before I married her, I'd been without cable/sat TV for...maybe 5 or 6 years.

She makes a very healthy salary + bonus, so I don't raise this as an issue.

Dump the sat/cable and save the money.  Buy a nice TV antenna and you'll be able to watch plenty of major events, including Seahawks games in HD.  I do netflix, amazon and use the TV antenna when there's something exciting to watch.

Oh, and if you're computer savvy I can point you to the right direction for acquiring other network programming that isn't OTA.

Depends on where you live and how much antenna you are willing to live with.  I just tried this with an amplified indoor antenna and it was a no go in Bothell.

-john

We tried an amplified antenna out here in Silverdale and didn't pick up squat.

I apparently get pbs, fox abc cbs and nbc plus a few others according to antennaweb I think the website was. I might get a free antenna from ge as part of a product screw up coupon so I figured no loss if it doesn't work. Did you have good reception according to any specific websites? If the antenna works great, if not I'd be ok just doing online and maybe some computer stuff. I'm vaguely tech savvy but have a friend who is like Johnny Mnemonic So if it's Mac compatible I'd be good.

I ditched satelitte over a year ago. I use an antenna attached to a Silicon Dust ant-to-network adapter and windows media center to DVR all my favorite shows in HD. I also have Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime and certain station web sites that stream their content. The only thing I miss is live sports on espn/TNT, otherwise its been awesome. Love watching a whole TV series over the course of a few weeks. Streaming is a great way to absorb content.

Dropped cable almost 10 years ago and never looked back.   I use Netflix for movies and occasionally buy a disk.    I check news over the Internet so really do not miss any of that.

I have to admit that I've never deliberately purchased cable.   Never had a landline either.  15+ years.  

I haven't had cable for years. Don't miss it. I do have amazon prime, and the roomie has Netflix and hulu though.

I chopped it back to the lowest package until the antenna arrives and I can see if I can even get anything on it. Now to look into DVRs. Thanks for the comments so far.

There are a few sites that show local TV coverage maps. I'm in a dead spot and can only get Q13 on our amplified roof mounted antenna. We do everything else online through Netflix and Amazon.

Had Comcast digital cable for about a year five years ago.  Nearly 200 channels and nothing good was ever on.  TV is dead.

Tivo has an OTA only version.   You can get it with a lifetime subscription.

-john

I haven't seen tv in years. Life is better when you live it.

Fired Comcast six years ago.
Got real tired of paying $70 a month for content that was 75% advertising.
The rest was pure garbage television.
At that time I had hundreds of DVD's.  Movies, TV and docs.  Now I have more.  
I collect Film Noir and pre-code films.  I have too many films of many genre's to count.

Through internet voodoo I get access to the BBC.
BBC Two and Four have the best documentaries.
BBC One shows F1 ten times a year.

Through the magic of unnamed Eastern European websites I get Sky F1 and Motors TV.
Motors TV is showing Rnd 4 of the British GT series at Silverstone as I type.

During the NFL season I can watch selected NFL games on Sky 2.
Spike puts the Powerblock shows on their website.

Netflix and Hulu are "meh" to me.

I walk the dog a lot and do a lot of road trips.  Better than TV.

Getting ready to pull the plug on Dish and going with Apple TV or Roku for movies.  What kind of antenna are you guys using?  I'm looking at the Weingard FL6550A.

Dropped all TV service in '07.

No regrets whatever.

Dropped Cable in 2000, so 15 years ago... When I see TV at other people's houses, I almost can't stand to sit through the commercials...

Let's see 15yrs x 12mo x $100 = $18K

I dropped cable years ago in favor of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and whatever TV programs are available through local transmissions.  I've found that I spend more time away from my TV but enjoy a more focused spectrum of entertainment suited to my personal tastes.

Check out Antenna Web  You can put in your address and it will give you a general idea what programs you can pick up with an antenna.  I have been using the Mohu Leaf indoor Antenna with good results in the greater Seattle area.

Antenna Web will give you an idea if an indoor antenna or an attic/roof antenna is more suitable for your own application.

Honestly,  It feels great to cut the blood sucking cable & telephone companies out of my monthly bill obligations.  Looking forward to finding alternatives for high speed internet and mobile phone services.

I dropped my cable tv completely several months ago after an especially bad phone call with Comcast.  I also upgraded my internet at the same time.  I don't watch a ton of TV, but what I do watch I can easily get via the internet or OTA.  All the TV devices like Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, etc make it really easy if you have a decent internet connection.  
I was also really surprised how many channels I could get with a cheap outdoor antenna.  I bought a small one (maybe 1.5 square feet) from Home Depot and put it on my roof and immediately got 32 channels.  That's in SE King County.  The picture quality was much better than Comcast too.  A couple channels drop out in the spring because I am completely surrounded by tall trees, but other that that the only thing I've really noticed is that I spend way less money on TV now.
I also changed to VOIP phone service that only changes the local taxes each month (after you buy their hardware).  So far it's working great.  I really only have the landline for the unlikely event where my wife or kids might need 911 service, so that's why I'm paying for a service that includes e911.  Otherwise I'd just use cell phones.

I've read that UHF signals most stations use now don't go through obstacles as well as the old VHF signals did, so those of you having issues with indoor antennas might try an outdoor one.  Mine is un-amplified and pretty small but it works great.

I dropped Comcast 3 years ago when I broke up with my Ex who was addicted to reality TV (strike number 1).  Since then I bought an HD antenna through Amazon and pick up 20+ local channels, including all the local major channels in full HD.  So watching Seahawks and other local programming is no issue.  For everything else I use Netflix and HBO GO.

I'm VERY happy, and take extreme pleasure in not giving Comcast anymore money!

I'm in Federal Way and bought the 35 mile radius HD antenna ($25).  Ran the cable through the wall mounted TV, and then taped the antenna to the back of the dresser.  Totally hidden and the signal works perfectly.

For those who have dropped Comcast, who are you using for internet service? Are you happy with them?

oh I'm still stuck with Comcast for introwebs. There's no escaping that where I live. It's either comcast or the worlds slowest DSL ever. Seriously, it's the absolute lowest tier of DSL that you can buy. I'm sorry, but any "broadband" that still says things like "up to twice the speed of dialup!", isn't.

Oh well, maybe Google fiber someday...  

Same here, Comcast is basically the only serious choice for broadband in my area.

I have FiOS.  Used to be Verizon's but they sold to Frontier.  No difference in service quality.  Very good, no downtime and bandwidth holds up fine.  I highly recommend it if you have it available.

I dropped Comcast years ago, it was an adjustment at first but after a while I don't really missed TV all that much.  All the commercials, and honestly very rarely was anything good on the hundreds of channels.  I still pickup a TV series here and there on DVD/Bluray, no commercials and a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for all the other stuff I have no interest in.

Will be moving to the southeast area of Auburn this fall and hope to finally cut the cord with the cable company.  Also, I'm not going to have a landline phone installed either since everybody in my family has a cell phone.   I think that I've survive with a digital antenna and hopefully I'll be able to pull in 5 to 8 channels.  BUT!! will still need a internet service.

...I guess I'm get my Walking Dead fix on DVD at the end of each season!!  I figure that once I cut the cord, I'll research TV service option(s) via the internet.

I'm hoping that there will not be a munity within my family over this action!!

I'm currently using advanced stream for the inter webs as I can't stand Comcast. Went a different route for the antenna and now I'm looking at the Mohu leaf and some of amazons brand antennas. I'll probably go with the Amazon one as its pretty well rated and just return it for a Mohu if that doesn't work. I'll post results as they happen.

In 2 years or longer, of 7-10 people in the house, MAYBE 1 or 2 people watch TV for 1 hour in the day usually in the evening....I seriously need to set up my Dish to steal the WIFI signal from the house next door....it is about 100yds away....and cancel the $200 a month bill at this house...

And YES, we own both houses and YES it sucks having to accounts.....and I may just run a cable under ground instead...

Just an update to this, I picked up the 1byone antenna that is the first thing that pops up on amazon and it worked for all channels upstairs. Sadly the big TV is downstairs but Im thinking about punching a hole out and getting the antenna through to the signal area on the ground floor. Works like a charm on the TVs upstairs though. This antenna seems to prefer windows over walls or atleast free space.

Yes, radio definitely prefers things like glass. Get it above the house and outside if you really need range. A low voltage wall mounting bracket and cable outlet (~$5) will make a clean install to the wall.


100 yards is about the spec limits of cat5e especially with burial grade if you're not doing conduit (it would probably work just fine though and I'd probably try this first). If you wanted it within spec and last basically forever fiber would make it easy peasy and gbit speed between switches (any older 1u switch with SFP ports and fiber modules would work great <$100 for both if you go used, ~550m max length instead of 100m for cat5e/cat6 and gigabit). Or point to point and external antennas like the ubiquity ones would be easy enough.