Dropping cable - 2023 edition

I searched through a bunch of older threads, but this is a fairly dynamic topic and nothing seemed particularly up-to-date.

We've got Verizon Extreme HD cable, plus FIOS 75/75 internet, plus land-line phone in a bundle.  This is a package deal that is probably 10 years old, and I'm certain we're wasting money on it.  We currently rent 2 boxes.  Currently paying a little under $200 a month.

We don't watch the vast majority of the channels we have access to.  We don't really watch prime time TV in general.

What we don't need:

• Sports of pretty much any kind
• Full major network TV - ABC / NBC / CBS / FOX / etc
• HBO / STARZ / Skinemax etc

What would be nice to have:

• PBS access - home of weird niche cooking / crafting / history / travel shows we like
• SyFy channel - cheezy, I know, but as close as it gets to entertaining for us
• HDNet movies - interesting stuff sometimes; always unedited and no commercials
• TLC / Discovery / Science channel access  - Verizon recently cut the Science network out of our package, so we lost access to How It's Made and I believe Dirty Jobs
• On-demand access to a limited number of shows from the major networks - we currently DVR Bob's Burgers, What We Do In The Shadows, and sometimes American Horror Story, plus random movies we happen across

What we have and would keep:

• Netflix - has a pretty good range of material and we could plumb the depths a bit more
• Disney+ - we share one of our Netflix profiles with a family member in exchange for one of their D+ profiles; this would keep us well supplied with MCU / Star Wars / Pixar content

We have a PS3 and a PS4, plus a Chromecast.  We don't really use the Chromecast but it came free with our Google Home stuff.  The 2 PlayStations are currently both in the living room but we could move the PS3 to the other TV for streaming.

Is it as simple as canceling the cable TV package and adding a Hulu subscription?  Is Hulu even what I want for the limited amount of typical TV we watch, or is something else better?  I'm not really interested in adding 5 more individual streaming packages and putting the price right back where it is now.  I would go with 1 more, especially if it had limited commercials.

Both current HDTVs are the old dumb kind.  We will buy a new 4k TV in the moderate future but everything I read tells me I don't want to rely on the on-board apps for streaming.

The wireless network needs some updating probably, but if I sign a new high-speed FIOS contract I will either get them to give me one or just buy my own.

Thanks in advance!

I would look at the Paramount+ service and Hulu for what you listed. Paramount now carries all the Discovery network shows but Hulu will have Bobs Burgers and What We Do In The Shadows type stuff. 

Hulu and Amazon Prime would cover most everything you're after.

Fully expect Verizon to give you a bunch of E36 M3 about dropping the cable aspect. Don't count on it, but they may give you some cheaper price to keep everything bundled rather than splitting it up. 

I'd buy my own router rather than renting from them as well. In fact I did, because the Arris my internet provider was renting us was hot garbage. 

In reply to Duke :

Watching this with interest.  We have a similar FIOS package, one advantage has been we can view most of our channels remotely at the island house but it’s getting expensive for the amount we actually watch. We have some ability to get over the air broadcasts but weather does affect some channels.  

In reply to RevRico:

On the router rental, I was under the impression that since the connection is fiber optic vs. traditional cable we were stuck with their product?  If I’m mistaken on this I’m interested in suggestions.

In reply to 11GTCS :

For a modem, possibly, I thought about that after the fact. When I was burying fios a lifetime ago, they ran fiber to the modem/gateway then it was wireless or cat5. I have to imagine someone has put a fios capable model on the market by now, but I haven't looked because it hasn't been an option for me. 

Amazon has a couple so they're out there. 

If you get the gigabit speed they throw in the router with no rental line item. You can't delete it. Lower speeds have a separate router fee.

And yes - it's fiber to a gateway in the basement, then plain old coax from there to the router.

Also, it looks like TLC etc are part of Discovery+ rather than Paramount.

At first pass it looks like Hulu and Discovery+ would cover almost all our usual watches.

This is not the poop joke I wanted.

Look at buying a Roku stick. Turns your dumb tv to a smart tv, and you can access Netflix, Hulu, etc. from there. That way if you add or drop services, you can just subscribe/unsubscribe with 1 remote. 
 

But yes, it is a simple as dropping the cable portion and adding whichever service you want. We have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. 

Ahoy, mateys.  Don't overlook true commercial free viewing.  

• Spectrum internet - 75 bucks a month
• Synology NAS - can get a decent one in that 2-300 bucks range.  The media versions do hardware transcoding with paid Plex subscription, so when you move to a smart TV you can start running Plex.  Or you can sideload Plex on a firestick.  DS220+ or DS420+ do hardware transcoding and are the McBudget models.  
• Hard Drives - as much as you can afford but you could do it all with just a few Tb.
• Nvidia Shield (awesome) or sideload Kodi on an Amazon Firestick when they get dirty cheap on black Friday.  PS(x) are no bueno for streaming any more.  They are probably ok for 1080p but would likely choke on 4k, plus they are power hogs.  Firesticks have a surprising amount of horsepower for the price.
• Run SABnzbd (downloader), Sonarr (TV Shows) and Radarr (Movies) on the Synology NAS.  All readily available with plugins. I have heard it costs around $50/year for newsgroup access to a few different newsgroups.  
• Thats it.  Everything you need at your fingertips.  

Duke said:

If you get the gigabit speed they throw in the router with no rental line item. You can't delete it. Lower speeds have a separate router fee.

And yes - it's fiber to a gateway in the basement, then plain old coax from there to the router.

Also, it looks like TLC etc are part of Discovery+ rather than Paramount.

At first pass it looks like Hulu and Discovery+ would cover almost all our usual watches.

 

Unless there is some special on Gigabit, it's highly unlikely that:
a. You need that much speed.
b. You'll actually get that much speed. 

I have 500/mb down and even with my own fancy modem hardwired to my gaming computer I never see more than about 325-350/mb down. 

If you don't go Gigabit, buy your own modem and router. There is absolutely no reason to pay the rental fee, for a modem or modem/WiFi router combo. I bought our current setup in Sept 2017. Between the modem and Amplifi Wifi setup I think I spent $450. They've worked perfetly since then. I would have spent at least double in that amount of time on rental fees. 
 

93gsxturbo said:

Ahoy, mateys.  Don't overlook true commercial free viewing.  

• Spectrum internet - 75 bucks a month
• Synology NAS - can get a decent one in that 2-300 bucks range.  The media versions do hardware transcoding with paid Plex subscription, so when you move to a smart TV you can start running Plex.  Or you can sideload Plex on a firestick.  DS220+ or DS420+ do hardware transcoding and are the McBudget models.  
• Hard Drives - as much as you can afford but you could do it all with just a few Tb.
• Nvidia Shield (awesome) or sideload Kodi on an Amazon Firestick when they get dirty cheap on black Friday.  PS(x) are no bueno for streaming any more.  They are probably ok for 1080p but would likely choke on 4k, plus they are power hogs.  Firesticks have a surprising amount of horsepower for the price.
• Run SABnzbd (downloader), Sonarr (TV Shows) and Radarr (Movies) on the Synology NAS.  All readily available with plugins. I have heard it costs around $50/year for newsgroup access to a few different newsgroups.  
• Thats it.  Everything you need at your fingertips.  

That's way more effort than I'm willing to spend in order to save $600 a year.

We have Comcast - love/hate relationship.

Triple bundle saves us $40/month.  TV, internet, land line phone.  

$30 land line phone?  We have to have it to get the $40 discount cause if we drop it we lose our Triple discount.  Dropping the land line will cost me $10 more a month. 

Comcast service guy says folks get the land line and never hook it up. 

z31maniac said:

Duke said:

If you get the gigabit speed they throw in the router with no rental line item. You can't delete it. Lower speeds have a separate router fee.

Unless there is some special on Gigabit, it's highly unlikely that:
a. You need that much speed.
b. You'll actually get that much speed. 

I have 500/mb down and even with my own fancy modem hardwired to my gaming computer I never see more than about 325-350/mb down.

Are you streaming TV over that?  My intent is to drop the TV part of my cable package and go all streaming.

Never had cable in my life. I do have Netflix, Hulu, HBOmax, Disney+, Prime Video and Crunchy Roll lol

In reply to Duke :

If like me you appreciate the classics add TBS.  Watching Casablanca, Gone with the Wind,  or old Cary Grant movies etc. is my go-to when I really want to relax.    There are some great car races ( like Grand Prix) that I overlook the hooky driving and appreciate the background.  

Duke said:

z31maniac said:

Duke said:

If you get the gigabit speed they throw in the router with no rental line item. You can't delete it. Lower speeds have a separate router fee.

Unless there is some special on Gigabit, it's highly unlikely that:
a. You need that much speed.
b. You'll actually get that much speed. 

I have 500/mb down and even with my own fancy modem hardwired to my gaming computer I never see more than about 325-350/mb down.

Are you streaming TV over that?  My intent is to drop the TV part of my cable package and go all streaming.

 

Yep. We have Prime, Netflix, Hulu+ Live, and HBO Max. And I think my fiance pays for Discovery so she can watch ghost shows. 

Absolutely no issues with streaming that over Wifi to the Amazon Fire Cube that runs all the apps. 

If I decide to sit at the dining room table for a meeting, or a task that only needs one screen (so I can get out of my home office for a bit), I still pull 150mb down over Wifi. And it's strong enough I can sit on the back patio for a meeting over Zoom if the weather is nice. 

In reply to z31maniac :

OK, thanks for the info.

For better or worse we are in the Google ecosystem for home devices, so we'll be using a Chromecast.  I have one HD device (have to see if I can find the remote for it) and if we make a switch I will move this one to the second TV and just buy a new 4K one for the main TV.  They're like $30.

[edit]  Also, I have no desire at all to stream through my phone and cast to the TV.  Whatever I get has to run natively either via the Chromecast or a new TV itself.

I got rid of cable in February, I really don't watch much tv anyway. I have Amazon and Netflix, Discovery+, and Floracing.  I haven't missed it but after a couple months the shiny happy people at Optimum raised my rates higher than I was paying for internet, cable, and phone. They're without question the worst people I've ever dealt with but that's another rant. 

If you don't watch sports look up PhiloTV subscriptions. 

I pay for 50mb/50mb from Verizon Fios for $55/mo, and this is what I actually get.  More than double what I pay for.

I add Netflix, Disney, and Prime.  Currently borrowing Hot for Teacher's Hulu login for a few shows we watch together.  That plus a Roku smart TV gets me more variety than I can ever handle.  The speed you see above has never (and I mean never) caused buffering, reduced page loading, or reduced video quality, even if I'm watching 4K streaming while a houseguest streams something on their laptop.  The router I purchased from Fios when I got service 5 years ago and I can't remember the last time I reset it, other than some random power outages (although it has been on a UPS for the last 9 months).  It's almost like the ISPs are pushing faster internet as if you need to spend more money for better quality.

More internet speed is like a bigger fuel pump.  It's only a benefit if you need it.  Otherwise you're just spending money.

Duke said:

In reply to z31maniac :

OK, thanks for the info.

For better or worse we are in the Google ecosystem for home devices, so we'll be using a Chromecast.  I have one HD device (have to see if I can find the remote for it) and if we make a switch I will move this one to the second TV and just buy a new 4K one for the main TV.  They're like $30.

[edit]  Also, I have no desire at all to stream through my phone and cast to the TV.  Whatever I get has to run natively either via the Chromecast or a new TV itself.

 

If you want to get rid of the modem rental fee and you're already a google user, here is essentially the Google version of the Amplifi sysmtem I have for WiFi. 

https://store.google.com/us/config/nest_wifi?hl=en-US&utm_source=sem_pla&utm_medium=dr&utm_campaign=GS107233&utm_term=dtb&utm_content=ds_prospect_platform&gclid=Cj0KCQiA99ybBhD9ARIsALvZavUoCyUQ8OWUyVzL68QvTWnIYXmWIhoMMnUK0Rrv6pEmNDw9aYcJk0AaAtqPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&pli=1

We dropped cable 10 years ago. Currently, we have Netflix, my daughter has Paramount, and my son has Disney. We share the logins. 

You can probably also save a fair bit by ditching the home phone.  I ditched mine just over 22 years ago.  We both had cell phones, we had just spent 6 years living in an RV, so we figured we didn't need the expense.

Mom and Dad still have a land line, and easily 50% of their calls are about vehicle extended warranties or some other scam.

Only thing I pay for coming into the house is Fios for internet.  $55 for their cheapest plan which (as you can see in my screencap above) is more than enough speed for a handful of streaming things.

Still need to figure out a way to get a tuner for an antenna because I'm currently using a projector as my TV.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

The landline is currently part of a 3-piece bundle.  It costs $25 a month but to drop just it and keep cable TV and internet would actually be more expensive.  It's never used for personal calls and we can lose it if we take the time to contact a bunch of governmental entities and medical offices to change our contact numbers to our mobiles.

If we go internet-only we will drop both the landline and the cable TV package.

PlutoTV is what I watch mostly. Once HBOMax is fully gutted I'll drop it. We're keeping Disney+ because of the kids.

The way things are headed it looks like I'll be reinstalling Kodi, getting a VPN, adding a few well chosen plugins, and watching anything I please. Yarrr....