Cutting the satellite TV cord.

[PZ]

I've been a satellite subscriber for a long time, mostly because my Internet was so slow. While certainly not super fast, I average 12mbps upload and 3 mbps download.

I now subscribe to Internet streaming from Philo, and get almost the same programming as i was with DirecTv. The big difference is is with cost: DirecTv cost me $151/month and Philo costs $20/month.

Sure does save me a bunch of $ and they even have an unlimited DVR system.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Nice, I couldn't wait to get rid of Directv when they finally installed cable in my area.

But what is Philo? And how are you getting internet now?

[PZ]

Phlo is an Internet streaming service that has most of the channels I had with Direct, but only costs $20/month.

I still have the same Internet provider, but they must have upped the speed to remain competitive. 

[Dweller_Benthos]

OK, so what internet service do you have? Must be decent speed to stream TV. I don't think DSL or wireless will do that?

Just be ready for the Directv call back (unless you got it already) where they try to get you to sign back on with them with a "good deal" lol I was like, they can't even begin to offer the internet bandwidth, and their TV package for the basic+ tier (as they call it, basic TV and a couple extra channels thrown in) costs as much as what I get with cable with HBO and Showtime added. Puh-leeze!

[PZ]

My service is an "off-brand" called Cutting Edge which is line of sight wireless.

lol, they went from approximately $150 what I was paying to just over $100, and finally to $56. I'm positive I could have received a brand new system at new subscriber prices as I have done before.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Ah OK, it's a type of radio signal I believe, and you have an antenna to receive it. It gets decent speed if I recall correctly. Interesting, but yeah very limited to where they have the transmitter and if you have a direct clear view of it. Also distance limited too I think. Luckily they have dropped the price for you!

[fragger]

Wow, that's a big saving, PZ

[PZ]

Spot on  D_B  Everything is suddenly better and they didn't even let us know!

So true fragger! Now saving about $1,400 per year and getting much better stuff!

[Art Blade]

whoa, that's quite something

[PZ]

 Indeed; DirecTv was distressed to see me go 

[Art Blade]

 

[PZ]

I've been fine tuning the HDHomeRun network device that allows my NAS to record OTA television programs via the Plex server directly onto the NAS drives. Because the Plex server maintains an up-to-date TV guide and all I need do is click a program in the schedule and a list of options appears:

• Record the current episode or the entire series
• Option to skip or delete advertisements (works quite well)
• Limit to a single channel or any channels
• Option to  record only new episodes or all including repeats

It is working great so far, and I am recording old programs like Twilight Zone, WKRP, and several other series. Best thing is that if I want to keep them I can move the recorded videos to the TV Shows part of the Plex server and enjoy them forever. The added bonus is that I now have the automatic deletion of advertisements working.

[Art Blade]

nice, I hope you'll find the time to actually watch that stuff.. reminds me of a colleague back in the days of VHS: While the rest of us had just a couple of channels he bought a satellite dish which he could turn with a remote and was suddenly able to receive TV stations from all around the globe and he had hundreds of channels available. Then he set up various VHS recorders and essentially spent most of the time programming them, recording programmes, and storing the ever growing amount of VHS cassettes using a fancy archiving system (read: shelves) which he kept sorting and rearranging.

He was too busy doing all of the above to actually watch any of them. He'd typically say, "yeah, I've got that on tape somewhere but I haven't watched it yet."

[PZ]

Very true, and I went through much the same back in the 12-foot satellite dish days. Certainly did not watch everything, but at least I had plenty of choices so I could watch what I wanted.

Mostly I like "sticking it" to DirecTv 

[Art Blade]