r/Cordcutting • u/Dapper1975 • 7d ago

Breaking the shackles of cable TV

My journey has gone something like this:

  • Several years ago, I got rid of Comcast (XFinity) internet access and cable TV for Verizon FIOS, basically as soon as it was available in my area. I pay $45/mo for 300Mb up & down. That is more than enough bandwidth for me, and the service has been rock solid for me.
  • Eventually replaced FIOS cable TV with Youtube TV. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was at least half the cost, and I preferred it to regular cable. I want to say it was $50/mo.
  • The honeymoon period with YTTV ended when they kept increasing the cost. I think it peaked at $95/mo.
  • I have also had a combination of Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+, HBO Max, Disney, and Apple TV+ at some point. Oh yeah - Netflix too.
  • Basically, no more cost savings from the original Cable TV bill. (Boo!)
  • At the beginning of 2025, I started looking to find a better setup. I set up a Plex server on a local Promox VM. I also purchased the lifetime Plex Pass for around $100 (good investment).
  • I'm running the Plex app on my Samsung TV. It works great, no playback issues, but the UI can be a bit sluggish at times. It's a minor annoyance that I can live with. I may look at an Apple TV box to run the Plex client app if/when the new model comes out at the end of the year.
  • A couple of months ago I suspended my YTTV subscription. I decided not to cancel outright, so I would have something to fall back on.
  • I bought an inexpensive indoor antenna to get local OTA stations. While I don't watch a lot of OTA content, I needed to at least have local news and NFL coverage. The reception is pretty good, with the occasional drop out on a couple of stations. I will be experimenting with the location of the antenna to see if the drop outs can be eliminated. I am prepared to invest in a better antenna if it comes down to it.
  • For the most part, the quality of the OTA picture is fantastic, noticeably better than compressed cable broadcast.
  • I just installed a new HD Homerun and set up Plex to use it (easy peasy). I discovered over the past few weeks of watching OTA programming that I had become dependent of DVR functionality. I watched a bit of pre-season football the other night, and the inability to pause & rewind aggravated me. Problem solved!
  • I also have access to the Samsung TV and Plex TV programming, so there's plenty of free content.
  • I've gotten rid of all of my other streaming apps aside from Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime TV, which I don't pay extra for. (If I did, I'd drop that too)

Well, those are my major milestones. I have a feeling that I'll never to quite done.

9 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

2

u/roberttele 7d ago

This detailed breakdown is fascinating for what it doesn't say. What are you paying now? How can you watch a movie? What stations do you get?

2

u/Dapper1975 7d ago

Aside from Apple TV+, I'm not paying for any monthly subscriptions any more.

As I mentioned, I paid for the lifetime Plex Pass, which gives me access to their programming. There are other benefits, such as integration with HD Homerun. I think that there is still a monthly option for $6.99/mo if you want to check it out for a while before committing to it.

If you take a look at https://www.samsung.com/us/tvs/smart-tv/samsung-tv-plus/ and http://plex.tv you should be able to get a feel for Samsung & Plex "live TV" programming.

I'm not going to comment on the subject of uploading content to Plex. That's a whole different subject that wouldn't be appropriate to discuss here.

1

u/roberttele 7d ago

Thanks, well done, good luck

2

u/threadkiller05851 6d ago

A small roof top antenna would most likely get rid of your OTA dropouts-if you put a rotor on it you might even increase the number of channels.
There are a number of internet sites that tell you what your OTA signal is like at your address.I ,unfotunatly need a 225 foot tower to get the networks with the exception of PBS.

1

u/Dapper1975 6d ago

Yeah, I'm sure that will do the job. One of the benefits of the HDHomerun, is that I can terminate the antenna cable anywhere that I have an ethernet drop, rather than connecting to the TV. I have run ethernet throughout my house, so I have plenty of location options.

I have made zero effort so far to relocate the indoor antenna, so it is still possible that it may do the job.

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u/LukeSkywalker4 7d ago

Thank you for posting that I’m paying for Comcast now and I’m supposed to be getting 2400 Mb per second and on a one gigabyte computer. I’m only getting 30 Mb per second. I hired a guy from Comcast to come out and check all my coax cables. They are all good. I deployed one modem then he brought out another modem and deployed. It still getting the same speed they’re throttling they’re taking my band with and they’re selling it to other people and charging me. I’m paying 258 a month for TV and Cable and the cable TV is terrible. There’s not a single thing on the Internet is 30 so I’m looking for ways to get a better Internet and TV right now I’m looking at fios although I hear people say fios is bad and it’s it falls apart all the time.

1

u/Dapper1975 6d ago

Ugh, I'm having flashbacks to my years with Comcast. I have had FIOS for at least 10 years, and it has been rock solid for me <knocking on wood>.
If you get internet service sorted out, there's an opportunity for you to save a lot of money every month, and in my opinion, have access to more/better content. Good luck.

1

u/LukeSkywalker4 6d ago

Thank you so much I’m looking for what I can do and it’s not the people at Comcast fault you know because they’re just customer service people. They don’t even have people you can call on the phone. They text you from Nicaragua and Guatemala and they don’t have number one they’re not technical and they don’t have the Rights to do any work to make your Internet faster. You gotta go into the router and dedicate speed right now there throttling speed. I’m thinking of getting fios from Verizon.

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u/Formal_Wrongdoer_593 6d ago

I'll shorten your setup: PLEX + IPTV, or just IPTV by itself.

1

u/dasanman69 6d ago

YTTV is an IPTV service

1

u/Formal_Wrongdoer_593 6d ago

"Technically", but does YTTV give you 30,000 movies, 6,000 tv shows, 8,000 live channels, and every NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL game, ...and PPV? That is what's called IPTV.

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u/dasanman69 6d ago

I went an entirely different route for VOD.

1

u/K_ThomasWhite 5d ago

8,000 live channels

Ooooooh! I'll bet they are chocked full of quality content, aren't they? Probably nothing illegal going on there either.