Making the Switch to Internet TV

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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Lots of talk about the migration from cable TV to depending solely on the Internet for all things television related, but what exactly will you be sacrificing as opposed to the lower cost? IT World has assembled a guide to help you assess your options and determine if cutting the cord will work for you.

And then there's the almost invisible cost: the subscription for the broadband Internet service itself. You're going to need at least a mid-range broadband option to bring decent streaming into your home. If the cost of better Internet service will be more than the cable company charges, then all of this is for naught.
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Netflix + Hulu Plus are doing us good. Have over the air for things like news and sports.
 
I would have loved to have seen his numbers of what he's saving. He's adding in some costs and things I don't think are needed and doesn't even mention that there's likely an option of OTA using an HD antenna for most major networks.

We cut the cord about 2.5 years ago. Set up two HTPC's and got a good HD antenna. Broke even in 6 months and have saved over $3,000 since then.
 
Honestly, I hardly watch TV. My routine usually is I sit down to watch TV, then I remember there's nothing worth a damn to watch, so I switch it to CNN. After about 10 minutes of drinking my tea and realizing that I've spent the whole time watching either commercials, or something that don't regard as news, I switch over to my HTPC.

From my HTPC I have all the new episodes of Futurama or whatever past or present TV shows I ever wanna watch. If I want news I have websites that give me the news, and not the bullshit CNN parades. If you wanted to know if a desktop PC has a use, then this is the answer.

Step #1 Build or buy a HTPC. You just want the thing to watch videos and surf the web, so you don't need something powerful, but it will need lots of storage. Any built in the last 8 years will do just fine, unless you wanna play games too.

Step #2 Wire that sucker up to other computers, if they exist. Trust me that wireless won't cut it. There will be moments you want a gigabit connection. My personal computer might have a movie that the HTPC might not, and I'm just too impatient to wait.

Step #3 Try Netflix and Hulu and throw that crap away. By no means are these a suitable replacement to cable TV, and nowhere as good as bit torrent. Don't even bother with a TV capture card, unless you gotta have local channels that bad. Download uTorrent and find your favorite torrent site. Just remember to run something like PeerBlock. Any new TV show will show up usually a day later on a popular Torrent site. Same goes for movies.

Step #4 Get a media manager like XBMC or MediaPortal. XBMC will usually be the #1 choice, unless you have a TV capture card, which MediaPortal would be the best choice. Doesn't hurt to get a remote for the PC, mostly cause the family may not know how to use a wireless keyboard and mouse.
 
Netflix + Hulu = WIN

Unless you're a sports fan, which I'm not at all, you can get just about anything you can on cable.
 
I get 22 channels through the antenna. Anything that I want to watch like The Daily Show or other t.v. shows that I don't get, I just pop it up on the kitchen HTPC from the net when I'm cooking or cleaning the kitchen. There are still good free sites like Crackle that have good older movies too.
 
Most of my shows are on premium channels, hbo, cinimax, showtime. And I like watching them when they air not a week later or so. I also watch other shows on amc,, tnt, and fx.
 
Oh yeah, the kitchen HTPC & laptop are wireless & have no problem streaming HD digital television content from the main HTPC. Even Blue-Ray streaming works good.
 
I haven't had cable or satellite TV...ever. You miss some stuff, but streaming works okay. Nothing's really worth watching anyway. I'd rather take a walk or hug my cat.
 
We have 25 Mbps cable broadband and an OTA antenna hooked to a CiliconDust Duo OTA HDTV networked tuner, with an Win7 HTPC with Blu-Ray using Windows Media Center as a PVR. Been this way, with various HW upgrades along the way, for years and have no regrets: the 25Mbps internet service is something I would have anyway. Given that I have zero interest in televised sports, and have Hulu, Netflix, and OTA HDTV: why would I want cable?

BTW the SiliconDust tuner is awesome. Every PC in the house (currently 7, not counting servers, game consoles and mothballed systems) can watch OTA HDTV (two at a time, since that's how many tuners it has) even the wireless laptops.
 
ICOM said:
Death to "television". :mad:
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I like television. Just not it's over the top prices. I mean. what's with making me pay, and making me watch commercials? Not to mention, no control over the content. It's a problem I have with hulu as well. But at least hulu is much better for it.
 
Serpent said:
I like television. Just not it's over the top prices. I mean. what's with making me pay, and making me watch commercials? Not to mention, no control over the content. It's a problem I have with hulu as well. But at least hulu is much better for it.
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It seems to me that the commericials are the worst if you watch Hulu on the PC. On game consoles and portable devices its like 0:30 to 1:00 of commericals, but I've watched it work on the PC before and you get 1:00 to 2:30 of commercials. Also depends on the network the show is representing as well, Comedy Central seems to be pretty bad.
 
westrock2000 said:
It seems to me that the commericials are the worst if you watch Hulu on the PC. On game consoles and portable devices its like 0:30 to 1:00 of commericals, but I've watched it work on the PC before and you get 1:00 to 2:30 of commercials. Also depends on the network the show is representing as well, Comedy Central seems to be pretty bad.
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This is Hulu Plus (paid) by the way.
 
I like how they say you need to get a high speed line. It helps don't get me wrong, but I live out in the boonies and the best I can get is a 3Mb line. So we have 2 roku boxes, 3 smart phones, and generally 3 active Pc's in the house. For the most part everything works well even with 2 roku's streaming someone can still game. Granted we aren't pushing HD and the largest TV in the house is 26" so quality is not a concern. Of course this is only possible due to the QoS features on the tomato build I'm using. But yes we use only web services like amazon, hulu, netflix and the like, haven't had real TV in 5 years and don't miss it.
 
The only thing that keeps me in traditional cable is football. I can't enjoy replays of the games so I have to have some kind of live connection and the current crop of streaming choices are terrible quality.

When sports are streamed live with adequate quality I'll be done with traditional broadcasts. Actually, ESPN3 and NBC's Sunday night streams are great, just need more coverage.
 
Seems that content bit by bit is getting lockdown or shift over to cable company's versions internet TV.
 
@caffine
How much does a 3mbps package cost over there?
 
Galvin said:
Most of my shows are on premium channels, hbo, cinimax, showtime. And I like watching them when they air not a week later or so. I also watch other shows on amc,, tnt, and fx.
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They are online usually an hour or two after airing. Without commercials. If you can only find them a week later, you really need to change where you get them...
 
I haven't had cable in almost 2 years. I ditched it for my antenna. I don't miss it. I use tehcake for my tv shows and I can watch espn on xbox live. I've been debating on apple tv and hacking it or building a htpc as well. I've never heard of the Crackle.com it looks legit! I tried out Hulu plus and I was very disappointing. They don't have any of the popular networks.
 
rcashier said:
I haven't had cable in almost 2 years. I ditched it for my antenna. I don't miss it. I use tehcake for my tv shows and I can watch espn on xbox live. I've been debating on apple tv and hacking it or building a htpc as well. I've never heard of the Crackle.com it looks legit! I tried out Hulu plus and I was very disappointing. They don't have any of the popular networks.
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xbox had crackle.
 
My transition was;

FIOS DVR
HTPC w/Centon infinitv4 and WMC
Same HTPC w/ XBMC and sickbeard, couchpotato and usenet along with HD antenna

Honestly there is no way I could ever go back to cable, I have a ton if HD space that has been paid for by itself over the last year or so.

It is so easy to setup and everything just works. You don't have to have an expensive HTPC just something that can play 1080p video.

The expensive part is depending on how much HD space you want. The next step for me is setting up a WHS in the basement to run everything while using a smaller streaming box running XBMC in the rooms with TVs.

I also have a roku box and to be honest for the price there really is no reason why anyone should have cable unless your a fan if sports, national news or premium shows.
 
B2BigAl said:
Netflix + Hulu = WIN

Unless you're a sports fan, which I'm not at all, you can get just about anything you can on cable.
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I'm a basketball fan and the NBA League pass is a godsend. $60 for 5 of your favorite teams for the entire season... That+hulu plus+netflix=gg, no cable needed.
 
I'd really like to go this route. I can put together a small decent PC with parts I already have. My questions are on the implementation piece. Do I need a TV tuner card? What software do I use to record OTA shows? I have a 4 year old who likes her Disney junior shows, I'm pretty sure PBS is OTA which gives her Sesame Street. I can live without my FX shows and can watch them online with Netflix or Hulu Plus (still researching that)
 
Wish I could drop cable, but the wife & kid have a few shows they like to watch, and my over the air reception is to limited.

However, I don't have cable boxes or the cable company DVR, instead I have a HTPC running Windows 7 & a 2TB drive.
 
WAF > Internet "TV" services. I've been the whole SABNZBS/Supernews/Sickbeard route... and in the end, the desires of the wife trump all. Got a Tivo Premiere and cable, haven't heard complaints since.

Don't get me wrong.. I'd love to save $80 a month, but a happy wife is a happy life, if you get my meaning.
 
Ruoh said:
WAF > Internet "TV" services. I've been the whole SABNZBS/Supernews/Sickbeard route... and in the end, the desires of the wife trump all. Got a Tivo Premiere and cable, haven't heard complaints since.

Don't get me wrong.. I'd love to save $80 a month, but a happy wife is a happy life, if you get my meaning.
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Same situation here, 2 Tivo premiere boxes, one for the living room and one for the basement. I'd love to save the cash too but the wife has to be able to use some kind of remote and interface that won't blow her mind.
 
Yep internet television all the way! Netflix, Hulu and Redtube for me!

Err, I mean Youtube..
 
Sux for me as a sports fan. All I watch on TV is news and sports but if I drop Fios then how do I watch SNY, MSG, and YES networks??

If somebody has a solution I would drop it in a second.
 
Corporal79 said:
Same situation here, 2 Tivo premiere boxes, one for the living room and one for the basement. I'd love to save the cash too but the wife has to be able to use some kind of remote and interface that won't blow her mind.
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XBMC couldnt possibly be any easier to navigate with a standard WMC so i dont see how this can be possible. My wife loves it.
 
I just cut cable TV 5 months ago when i moved to a new house. Now I only have Comcast Internet

Calculating costs is difficult because of the crazy math involved with bundles, and promotions, and plan type. For example, I'm on a 6 month promotion for performance internet at $29.99. After 6 months the price jumps to $65 i think.
TV alone i think is another $60-70 but if I bundle TV and Internet and HBO i can usually get a deal for something less than $100. That's 12-month promotion, regular price ~$130.

Now most deals are for new customers only. So if for some wild reason they refuse to renew the promotion even when you threaten to cancel service, you can go ahead and cancel, and sign up again as new a customer and get another deal.

That's pretty much the point with cable TV/Internet. You got to get the deals! Which means every 6-12 months you got to be on the phone with their retentions department threatening to cancel service because you can't afford it. It's highly annoying but that's the way they've set up this game. Fortunately there's no contracts for anything.
 
next-Jin said:
XBMC couldnt possibly be any easier to navigate with a standard WMC so i dont see how this can be possible. My wife loves it.
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It's possible that the Apple TV 2 I was using wasn't... "snappy" enough, and the misc. issues that cropped up from time to time caused her displeasure. When I get some more play money together, I'd love to try and setup another MythTV box with a Ceton setup.
 
I've been on HD antenna, hulu and netflix streaming (on and off) for about 4 years. I miss discovery channel. Tried to supplement with crappy streaming sites and usenet but it's too much work.

I'm looking forward to "having" to get cable after the wedding in a couple months.
 
I dropped cable back in March. Hulu has been almost worthless for me, as I can't seem to ever find what I want. I don't have Netflix. I can't get ESPN3 because my cable internet provider (Bright House) won't let me sign up/register for ESPN3 without a TV package assigned to my account.

The ONE thing that has saved me the most: XBMC Free Cable Video Add-On. It is a online video aggregator that lets us watch most anything we were before.

The second thing that has saved me is a HD HomeRun. Despite not having a cable TV package, I still receive the local channels over my cable internet connection. Works for me for recording/watching the local channels.
 
Have to say hulu and netflix piss me off. Seems easier to just torrent tv shows. I hate commercials but i know they will eventually find their way into shows as product placement. Really though. I watched a bit of regular tv and was like what am i watching? I walked into the room sat down and was talking go my wife for 5 minutes and Fucking commercials had been playing the whole time.
 
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