@Mtt I don’t know why more people aren’t using the HDHomeRun. It’s awesome!
@cheesemaker Agreed. Probably the main reasons are that they’ve never heard of it or that it’s more complicated to setup than Cable/Satellite. Or there’s that 1 Channel they don’t want to lose.
@Mtt That sounds awesome! I’ve been wanting to cord cut, but I’m nervous to step off the ledge. You should totally write a blog post about it!!
@EddieHinkle I actually did here. Since that post, I’ve added the premium live channels (ESPN, TNT, and the like).
@EddieHinkle @mtt my current setup is: - HDHomeRun+Channels+OTA Antenna - AppleTV - Hulu Live + HBOGo - CBS App subscription - Netflix
@cheesemaker Mine is similar. OTA Antenna (HDHomerun, Channels), Netflix, CBS All Access, SD Premium.
@cheesemaker That makes sense, but also points out one of the flaws that worry me every time I look down this road. Does it save you money? Or do you just like not being locked in to one provider? My two goals are 1: save money, 2: use Apple TV for everything. In the past it seems like it is a challenge to meet those goals. Apple TV seems MUCH more possible with what I’m seeing, but I don’t know about the saving money part, yet. Whenever I add things up it seems like I end up back where I started. 🤔 I’ll have to look deeper into these options though.
@cheesemaker @mtt Have either of you guys tried Plex Pass vs. Channels? Channels looks great, just curious on the differences if either of you guys have compared them. I think I'll make the plunge and just start by trying HDHomeRun+Channels+Antenna and see how it works. If my wife gets used to it, then I'll into actually cancelling the cable subscription and looking into SD Premium or Hulu Live, etc. (She gets attached to what she's used to, but she's been using Hulu and the TV app a LOT recently so I think there's hope! 🤞)
@EddieHinkle I haven’t tried Plex Pass, but I based my decision on reviews. Particularly around DVR functionality and commercial skipping.
@EddieHinkle @cheesemaker I've found that it doesn't actually save money for us, once you add up Netflix + HBO + Hulu + NBA + whatever else. But the flexibility makes it worth it.
@Mtt Makes sense. That's good to know! I'll try out Channels first then since you all have had a good experience. Commercial Skipping does sound nice!
@manton That makes sense. I’ve always been frustrated by not saving money, but I did just realize we pay for only 1 tv. So being able to use multiple tvs for the same price IS a better deal.
@manton the TV portion of my cable bill jumped up to $90 recently, and I can pay for a lot of streaming options for that price… I liked Sling TV previously, but maybe Apple will announce theirs in Sept. event. It's overdue
@EddieHinkle @mtt I've gone through a lot of options/versions down this road. One thing about retiring to Mexico is that it really helps narrow down your options :) - for example, HDHomeRun shows ZERO options available here. But I've long ago made peace with that lack of options. I'm letting my Amazon Prime expire at the end of the period because there simply aren't enough options available here to justify the cost. Netflix is mostly the same here, and my landlord provides a free account so that would be hard to turn down. Otherwise, I just torrent. When you are limited to an internet connection of 8mb down and 0.5mb up you have to pick your battles...
@EddieHinkle @manton I had Directv and just cut the cord. Got an Apple TV 4K and subscriptions to YouTube TV, Philo and HBO Now. Puts me under $100.
@manton @eddiehinkle we definitely save money because even if we had cable, we would still have Netflix and Hulu for the exclusive content. So we are basically trading the cost of cable (about $100 for what we had) for Hulu Live ($39 more than regular Hulu) + CBS All Access ($6) I’m not including HBOGo in here because HBO wasn’t included in the cable package we had before. That being said, the flexibility is also pretty awesome.
@EddieHinkle @mtt I haven’t heard of Plex Pass before. I will check it out. I do love Channels though. It’s really really well done.
@cheesemaker That makes sense. I think our cable tv bill is about $50 (one tv with DVR, essentially basic cable with some of the simple premium channels, mtv, etc.) So whenever I look to switch it breaks even, but we have two Apple TVs, so switching to HDHomeRun and instantly getting tv for two TVs plus iOS devices is a pretty sweet upgrade I hadn't considered before. Much more flexible, and we would have to pay much more to start adding TVs to our plan.
@cheesemaker @mtt Thanks for the tips, guys! I've purchased HDHomeRun + an OTA Antenna on Amazon. By Monday, I'll begin experimenting with Live TV with Channels 😁
@EddieHinkle Good luck. Hit me up if you run into any issues. The Channels developer is also VERY active and responsive on the support forum.
@jw Are you referring to what device? I have a home office iMac that I use. That’s completely overkill and not in any way necessary. I use it because I already had it.
@Mtt oh sorry -- you mentioned you recently added some premium live stuff; wondered what you use for that!
@Mtt @cheesemaker @manton in adventures in Cord Cutting: my antenna is not strong enough for anything but NBC. So the next question is return that one and try a more powerful antenna or just subscribe to Hulu Live? It has all the major networks, so I’m wondering if I would really be missing anything by just using the Hulu Cloud DVR vs HDHomeRun and the Channels DVR. Any thoughts about just not bothering with cable OR OTA?
@EddieHinkle Couple of things:
Use the zip code search thing at the bottom of this site to see what channels you could possibly receive with an OTA antenna. If NBC is the only option, I wouldn’t do antenna. If it expects the others, maybe get another longer range antenna. I use a 50 or 60 mile Mohu Leaf, I believe. They also make outdoor/attic/roof antennas. I can imagine they’d be a headache to setup though.
If you have to go with another service like Hulu or YouTubeTV, make sure they have your local channels. They don’t have them in every market. Some times they only offer on demand versions of OTA channels. That’s a problem we have in our area.
@EddieHinkle I have an antenna mounted on my house. Cord cutting made sense for me because I live in a major TV market near a big city with lots of channels (at one time I had 7 or 8 PBS OTA channels). I don't regret the roof antenna, I don't have to constantly pay a service for it. Other things in the mix: Amazon Prime, Roku or Amazon Fire box. I would be less likely to go with an antenna in a minor TV market area.
@EddieHinkle @mtt @manton that definitely is one option. I’ve considered it in the past but since the HDHomeRun+Channels+Antennae is a one time cost and not a subscription it was an easy purchase for me. I think with regards to local channels, you will find some holes with HuluLive but maybe they are acceptable depending on where you live. What kind of antenna did you get? I found I had to get a powered, directional one to get all the channels I was expecting.
@cheesemaker That makes sense! Even having Hulu Live, it's a good fallback if you cancel Hulu and already have the equipment. I bought an Antenna and one came with the HDHomeRun I ordered. There is some confusion over the one I bought (It's Omnidirectional and one place says 30 miles another says 50 miles), the one that came with the HDHomeRun is Multidirectional and 40 miles. So I tried the 40 Miles one. However today I think I realized the 30/50 miles one has an amplifier to I'm gonna try that later today 🤞
@bradenslen That makes sense. I live in the Washington D.C. Metro area, BUT it seems I'm in a strange bubble where every tower is 30 miles away in each direction! 😆
@Mtt So it does say I should have between 12-36 depending on which Antenna I have. I got two in the mail, I used the one I thought would be stronger, but now I'm not so sure. The other one seems to have a built in Amplifier so I'm gonna play around with that one. Hulu does seem to be missing a couple local channels (like ABC) but has some others (like NBC). I'll try some more experimenting and let you all know 🙂 I seem to be in a bubble where every Antenna is 30 miles away in different directions, so it might just take some playing around with things.
@EddieHinkle I’d try the one with the amplifier. Try it as high as you can and close to windows (or on a window) if possible.
@Mtt @eddiehinkle I live just outside a major metro (DFW). That website turned out to be overoptimistic about what I could receive with a given antenna type. This was aggravated by the different types of signals and transmission locations in this area. Roof antennas aren’t allowed in our HOA. I determined I need a large in-attic antenna to be able to receive the major network channels OTA. I didn’t pursue this because the main network channels aren’t important to us.
I ended up replacing our DirecTV setup with Playstation Vue (I’m a sports addict) and a stripped down cable package to cover some shows my wife wanted. We’re saving a bit of money. One of the main things I wanted and got out of this is being able to watch any show on any device seamlessly. I can pause a show from PS Vue on the TV and immediately pick it up where I left off on my iPad (or iPhone, or another TV, ...). So I’m not chained to a couch to watch something. I’m a bit ADHD so have trouble sitting through shows. PS Vue has an unlimited DVR which is very helpful if you like long sporting events - it can record any and everything. The PS Vue also allows 5 simultaneous streams which is good because we are a family of 5.
@Mtt @cheesemaker hmmm yeah I must be in one of those bad zones for OTA. Used the one with the a amplifier, box says 50 miles and I did it on our second (top floor) on the window and it got NBC clearly and ABC/FOX fuzzily. So doesn’t seem reliable enough in our location to get approval from my wife 😆 I’m gonna return the antenna and HDHomeRun and try out Hulu Live, it seems like a decent option based on my zip code. 🤞 I’ll let you guys know how my cord cutting adventures go. Thanks for all the brainstorming and help 😁
@ronguest Interesting! Yeah seems like OTA isn’t gonna work in my area either. My wife is used to Hulu, so my next experiment is upgrading our Hulu to their “with Live Tv/DVR” plan. I think that should cover all the channels we care about and provide the portability angle you discussed that PlayStation Vue provides.