What's Your Favorite Way to Get Your TV Signal?

[MrJohnRoss]

Hey y'all, we decided to cut our Dish Network when we moved to our new pad. Since we don't watch a lot of TV, we decided to just go with an antenna that we bought at Costco for less than $40. Now we get free brodcast local TV. The downside, of course, is that we don't get ESPN, HGTV, etc., that we used to get.

I realize that the way TV programs are being broadcast is changing rapidly. Anyone here want to share their preferences for getting their favorite stations on the cheap? Amazon stick, Google Chromecast, etc.? Costs, pluses and minuses?

TIA,

JR

[jpcavin]

Hey y'all, we decided to cut our Dish Network when we moved to our new pad. Since we don't watch a lot of TV, we decided to just go with an antenna that we bought at Costco for less than $40. Now we get free brodcast local TV. The downside, of course, is that we don't get ESPN, HGTV, etc., that we used to get.

I realize that the way TV programs are being broadcast is changing rapidly. Anyone here want to share their preferences for getting their favorite stations on the cheap? Amazon stick, Google Chromecast, etc.? Costs, pluses and minuses?

TIA,

JR

Hulu and Netflix. Under $10 each Get a ROKU if you don't have a Smart TV or Cable Internet....not sure if there are other ways. That' all I know. I never even heard the other things you mention (Amazon Stick, Chromecast? :blink:)

[blueroadster]

I'd suggest getting a good antenna for your location. The DB4 or DB8 antennas are good for most places. If the broadcast towers are far from your location, you'd want to look at a Yagi based antenna. You can also have multiple antenna's pointed in different directions to broadcast towers and then combine the signals into a single coax feed. Antennaweb (http://www.antennaweb.org/address.aspx) is a good site where you enter your address and it generates a map to tell you where the broadcast towers are located around your location and offers suggestions on the type of antenna recommended to receive each broadcast.

Once you have a good antenna, I'd recommend getting a Tivo Roamio DVR along with a lifetime subscription service. The base Roamio supports OTA and has 4-tuners. Buying a lifetime subscription will set you back several hundred dollars but the benefit is you don't have to pay a monthly subscription fee and associated taxes. The Roamio also has a 500GB drive that can easily be swapped out and replaced with a 2TB drive.

I've been using a DB4 antenna on my roof having the signal combined with a trailer park size antenna in my attic for several years. About a year ago, I bought a Tivo Roamio with lifetime subscription, swapped out to a 2TB drive and have been very happy ever since. Even though I don't receive premium channels, the DVR allows for recording whatever you want to watch whenever you want. Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Vudu and other applications are also preloaded so you can easily connect to streaming providers.

[jpcavin]

I'd suggest getting a good antenna for your location. The DB4 or DB8 antennas are good for most places. If the broadcast towers are far from your location, you'd want to look at a Yagi based antenna. You can also have multiple antenna's pointed in different directions to broadcast towers and then combine the signals into a single coax feed. Antennaweb (http://www.antennaweb.org/address.aspx) is a good site where you enter your address and it generates a map to tell you where the broadcast towers are located around your location and offers suggestions on the type of antenna recommended to receive each broadcast.

Once you have a good antenna, I'd recommend getting a Tivo Roamio DVR along with a lifetime subscription service. The base Roamio supports OTA and has 4-tuners. Buying a lifetime subscription will set you back several hundred dollars but the benefit is you don't have to pay a monthly subscription fee and associated taxes. The Roamio also has a 500GB drive that can easily be swapped out and replaced with a 2TB drive.

I've been using a DB4 antenna on my roof having the signal combined with a trailer park size antenna in my attic for several years. About a year ago, I bought a Tivo Roamio with lifetime subscription, swapped out to a 2TB drive and have been very happy ever since. Even though I don't receive premium channels, the DVR allows for recording whatever you want to watch whenever you want. Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Vudu and other applications are also preloaded so you can easily connect to streaming providers.

Something else I never heard of. You're making me feel like I live in a cave. Oh, wait...I'm in Pensacola, may as well. We're like 20 years behind the rest of civilization. :laugh:

[Cactus]

Since the only TV we occasionally watch is available locally (PBS & oldies shows), I just use an attic antenna from Walmart to pick up local stations over the air. All our stations are in the same direction, so we didn't need a fancy multidirectional antenna, just one rated to pick up a signal 40 miles out.

I don't really have time to watch much, so I just record stuff to an HDD recorder (Magnavox MDR535H/F7) and watch it when we have time and nothing else to do. That isn't often so the HDD tends to fill up no matter how big the HDD is. Still it's how we watch TV and skip commercials. :)

P.S. our TV is an old 27" JVC tube set, so we watch it in SD (Standard Definition).

[blueroadster]

Another thought...For streaming providers, it's also hard to beat an Amazon Prime membership. The cost is $99 per year and you get free two-day shipping on most purchases, a free kindle book to borrow each month (many new releases are included), and access to Amazon Instant video. If we want to watch a recent video release, we just hit up the local Redbox for a buck and change rather than purchace or pay for a subscription for another streaming service.

[nnuut]

I have Dish Network and 4 HD TVs, I don't use it to stream movies I can get movies cheaper at the store on the corner. I use Cox for Internet they are the fastest around here.

[maui21ice]

We have a DirecTV/Verizon Internet package right now which runs us above $100 a month and that's during a promotional offer. I think once we hit our year, it goes up $30 a month. :/

I have a feeling I may be talking to my wife when our 2-year plan is up, to switch to a Netflix subscription and save some $$ that way and maybe change our internet to a different provider.

[Cactus]

maui21ice, you have a choice of internet service provider? You are lucky. I guess I should be happy to have at least one, but we sure could use some competition so I don't have to pay $45+ for 1.5mbps.

[Frixxxx]

maui21ice, you have a choice of internet service provider? You are lucky. I guess I should be happy to have at least one, but we sure could use some competition so I don't have to pay $45+ for 1.5mbps.

Wow, I guess I have a deal with 6 MBps for $52.

[nasa1974]

I have a few choices. Time Warner, AT&T U-verse, WOW, DirecTV & Dish Network. Currently I have AT&T but looking to see if I can get DirecTV (I have a lot of trees around me). It could save me about $80 a month. AT&T internet is $57/month for 10MBps.

[Cactus]

Hmmm - WOW in Ohio? That must be a different ISP than Way Out West internet I looked into in Nevada years ago.

I also have lots of trees around me which kills the wireless options. Neighbors already warned me that some of them are willing to sign you up this time of year, but come spring when the leaves come out you can't get a signal through. That leaves me with DSL as my best option.

[jpcavin]

I get Cox Preferred Internet for $64.00 (new subscribers get it @ $49.99 for 12 months) which includes 50Mbps and 50GB cloud drive storage. You need a DOCSIS 3 modem for consistent optimal speeds. I like the Motorola Surfboard SB6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem.

[Cactus]

Ah, jpcavin, just the person I need to talk to then. Last weekend a friend of mine picked-up that very modem to replace the one she had been renting from Comcast (they want $10/month now). Replacing the modem and hooking up her desktop works perfectly after giving Comcast the MAC number. The problem is in trying to hook up an external router. Do you by chance use a separate router with that modem? Her problem appears to be that the SB6121 is a little more than a modem. It also has a DHCP server that conflicts with the one on the router. I'm looking for a way to turn that off on the modem. Comcast is no help. They claim they don't understand what I'm talking about. Of course it's not their modem and they have a vested interest in not getting it to work.

[jpcavin]

Ah, jpcavin, just the person I need to talk to then. Last weekend a friend of mine picked-up that very modem to replace the one she had been renting from Comcast (they want $10/month now). Replacing the modem and hooking up her desktop works perfectly after giving Comcast the MAC number. The problem is in trying to hook up an external router. Do you by chance use a separate router with that modem? Her problem appears to be that the SB6121 is a little more than a modem. It also has a DHCP server that conflicts with the one on the router. I'm looking for a way to turn that off on the modem. Comcast is no help. They claim they don't understand what I'm talking about. Of course it's not their modem and they have a vested interest in not getting it to work.
I use a router. I believe it's D-Link Wireless N+300 Mbps Extreme-N Gigabit Router (DIR-655) but I have to check when I get home.
What she has is a router hooked up to a router and that creates problems. What you need to do is go to ip address 192.168.100.1 to access settings for your modem and shut off the internal router. Let me know if this works or not.

[Cactus]

Ah, so it does have a web interface. Thank you! That should do it. I'm so used to everything being 192.168.0.1 that when that didn't work I figured it was just a modem. I'll let her know.

[john49]

In the menu is there an option to change from DHCP setting to Static? The DHCP changes the IP address often. Static keeps the same IP address. I believe. To get my CTV Camera system online that's what I had to do also a port thru setting.


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[Cactus]

What device are you talking about exactly? If you are talking about the Motorola Surfboard SB6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem, it is a modem and not a router. You usually get your local (192.168.*.*) addresses from the DHCP server on your router. If you are talking about the public IP address, the modem is going to get that from your cable service provider. Those are usually dynamic unless you paid for a static address.

P.S. The modem does appear to have a small DHCP server that can't be turned off, but that should only be active when you aren't getting an IP address from your provider.