A little help with cord cutting (Canada)

[Blind Owl]

Welcome to a cable free world! It's absolutely amazing. We cut the cable a couple years ago and never looked back. Streaming sites offer such a massively better service at much less cost. To be honest, I just dont think cable tv has a place in this world anymore. It's an archaic service that refuses to change with the times.

For our equipment though, it's pretty basic. We have a media pc that pipes hdmi to various TV's around the house (via ethernet adaptors). We also use a logitech k400 for the "tv remote". So the media pc can be controlled from anywhere.

The biggest hurdle for us was popups. They're freaking everywhere. Sites have even started blocking IPs that use add blockers. Its ridiculous. We solved that issue with the installation of a "pi hole". Its a raspberry pi based DNS server. It has a constantly updated blacklist of add sites. It's basically a hardware level add blocker that simply doesn't allow a connection for the ads. As such, the add block detection doesn't detect it.

Also, since it works as a DNS server, all local traffic through our router runs through it. So any wireless devices are passively covered by this ad blocking. So even a friend that hooks into our guest network wont see any ads. It will just register as an incomplete connection in the little add windows on sites.

The rest is just finding which sites to use. Netflix and hulu are a must (hulu just dumped crunchyroll in favor of a funimation partnership btw). Most tv shows also offer streaming episodes from their network site. There are also about 10,000 free streaming sites that rotate in and out of relevance (actually only a half dozen are worth your time, look to reddit for the most recent and relevant).

The end result, once you get the hang of it, is that you can stream anything you want whenever you want. Feeling nostalgic for some Top Gun? It's just a few clicks away. Want to go back and marathon Firefly? Look it up on your favorite site and less than a minute later you're streaming episode one.

The world is a magical place for nerds right now.

EDIT: My media pc is nothing special. It's just an old i3 workstation that I bought from a local office sale for $50. I added a $50 graphics card, a 50gb ssd and loaded up an old copy of win7. Since I only stream (and never store media on my drive) it is more than enough for my purposes.

Sweet. So if I setup these streaming services on my PC, say in the basement, do I have to hardwire it via HDMI to my tv? You mentioned Ethernet adaptors? Not sure I know what those are. (Yes, I could Google, lol)
And for these streaming services, can they all be Accessed through, say Plex? If so, no need for hardwiring to my tv.

I'm wondering if I run a VPN on my PC, install and subscribe to Hulu (such isn't available in Canada), will I be able to access that content remotely from my tv upstairs, or will I be running up and down the stairs to change shows on the PC, etc.

Sorry for all the questions, lol. The learning curve seems huge here.

Not sure if it works in Canada, but Hulu is pretty cool. I mainly use it so I can watch sporting events on my phone. It's subscription tho so who knows how it compares to the cost of cable.

It's not, but I want it, haha

that's what vpns are for!
also it is definitely cheaper than cable
cable is expensive

I'll be looking into this.

 

[Graptor]

I cut the cable just 2 months ago. Netflix and Prime only now. And OTA with one of them digital converter things.

A few months ago I installed Kodi on an old Windows box that was sitting around. I had to fiddle with it a bit to get it running, never did get the caching quite right for my slow internet speed (Out in the rural area of Colorado, have to use a microwave dish for internet, I only get 20 mbs). Regardless it was kind of fun to mess with. Now that I have no cable I've heard I can make it available through my XBox to stream to the TV. Haven't had the energy to work on it yet though.

I don't miss cable one bit. I wonder why I paid for it for so long. From about $100/month down to $17/month.

 

[ShakyWater]

You might want to consider actually cutting the cord. Trading cable for netflix and hulu is akin to trading oxycodon for heroin. As my wife says, "It's all one dog's puppies."

Instead of cutting your cashflow from one corporate media empire just so you can divert that revenue stream to another and pretending you're carrying out some great coup, consider for a moment that what might serve you better would be to recognize that it isn't the source from which you receive hundreds of hours of flashy colors each week which is of the most importance.

Books are cheap. That alone is a statement of such historical significance, when viewed from a wide enough perspective, that further discussion shouldn't be necessary. Gardens are cheap. Wood working tools, cheap. An open field where the kids can play kickball... there's probably one nearby that you can use for free.

When that voice you heard was speaking to you, the one that told you you were wasting money on cable, it wasn't trying to tell you to replace cable with cable by another name. That was one hundred thousand years of hominid experience telling you to get up and walk away from that screen. Just my two cents.

 

[Bambooza]

You might want to consider actually cutting the cord. Trading cable for netflix and hulu is akin to trading oxycodon for heroin. As my wife says, "It's all one dog's puppies."

Instead of cutting your cashflow from one corporate media empire just so you can divert that revenue stream to another and pretending you're carrying out some great coup, consider for a moment that what might serve you better would be to recognize that it isn't the source from which you receive hundreds of hours of flashy colors each week which is of the most importance.

Books are cheap. That alone is a statement of such historical significance, when viewed from a wide enough perspective, that further discussion shouldn't be necessary. Gardens are cheap. Wood working tools, cheap. An open field where the kids can play kickball... there's probably one nearby that you can use for free.

When that voice you heard was speaking to you, the one that told you you were wasting money on cable, it wasn't trying to tell you to replace cable with cable by another name. That was one hundred thousand years of hominid experience telling you to get up and walk away from that screen. Just my two cents.

Even better divert the cash to buying shiny jpegs.

 

[Xist]

You might want to consider actually cutting the cord. Trading cable for netflix and hulu is akin to trading oxycodon for heroin. As my wife says, "It's all one dog's puppies."

Instead of cutting your cashflow from one corporate media empire just so you can divert that revenue stream to another and pretending you're carrying out some great coup, consider for a moment that what might serve you better would be to recognize that it isn't the source from which you receive hundreds of hours of flashy colors each week which is of the most importance.

Books are cheap. That alone is a statement of such historical significance, when viewed from a wide enough perspective, that further discussion shouldn't be necessary. Gardens are cheap. Wood working tools, cheap. An open field where the kids can play kickball... there's probably one nearby that you can use for free.

When that voice you heard was speaking to you, the one that told you you were wasting money on cable, it wasn't trying to tell you to replace cable with cable by another name. That was one hundred thousand years of hominid experience telling you to get up and walk away from that screen. Just my two cents.

Books are great but I could never seriously consider doing away with video. Both are compelling sources of entertainment.

Thus to me the term "cord cutting" means specifically doing away with the cable providers as the source of that video, not doing away with the video itself.

And by that definition, reducing monthly expense from $100+ to $20 and additionally getting the ability to take my video wherever I am is well worth it!

 

[Blind Owl]

You might want to consider actually cutting the cord. Trading cable for netflix and hulu is akin to trading oxycodon for heroin. As my wife says, "It's all one dog's puppies."

Instead of cutting your cashflow from one corporate media empire just so you can divert that revenue stream to another and pretending you're carrying out some great coup, consider for a moment that what might serve you better would be to recognize that it isn't the source from which you receive hundreds of hours of flashy colors each week which is of the most importance.

Books are cheap. That alone is a statement of such historical significance, when viewed from a wide enough perspective, that further discussion shouldn't be necessary. Gardens are cheap. Wood working tools, cheap. An open field where the kids can play kickball... there's probably one nearby that you can use for free.

When that voice you heard was speaking to you, the one that told you you were wasting money on cable, it wasn't trying to tell you to replace cable with cable by another name. That was one hundred thousand years of hominid experience telling you to get up and walk away from that screen. Just my two cents.

While I do respect your point of view, immensely actually, we won't be going quite that far right now. We do spend a huge amount of time reading as a family. My 3 year old loves it. And we play. We have a huge yard, plenty of trails, parks, woodland, and lakes around us. And we take full advantage of it. Winter and summer.

For us, cutting the cord is about reducing costs while still retaining some small amount of entertainment value.

Books are great but I could never seriously consider doing away with video. Both are compelling sources of entertainment.

Thus to me the term "cord cutting" means specifically doing away with the cable providers as the source of that video, not doing away with the video itself.

And by that definition, reducing monthly expense from $100+ to $20 and additionally getting the ability to take my video wherever I am is well worth it!

Exactly this.

 

[Blind Owl]

I cut the cable just 2 months ago. Netflix and Prime only now. And OTA with one of them digital converter things.

A few months ago I installed Kodi on an old Windows box that was sitting around. I had to fiddle with it a bit to get it running, never did get the caching quite right for my slow internet speed (Out in the rural area of Colorado, have to use a microwave dish for internet, I only get 20 mbs). Regardless it was kind of fun to mess with. Now that I have no cable I've heard I can make it available through my XBox to stream to the TV. Haven't had the energy to work on it yet though.

I don't miss cable one bit. I wonder why I paid for it for so long. From about $100/month down to $17/month.

I actually keep meaning to start playing with the Android box, but so far we pretty content with the content we have. We really don't watch that much, lol.

 

[Bruttle]

Sweet. So if I setup these streaming services on my PC, say in the basement, do I have to hardwire it via HDMI to my tv? You mentioned Ethernet adaptors? Not sure I know what those are. (Yes, I could Google, lol)
And for these streaming services, can they all be Accessed through, say Plex? If so, no need for hardwiring to my tv.

I'm wondering if I run a VPN on my PC, install and subscribe to Hulu (such isn't available in Canada), will I be able to access that content remotely from my tv upstairs, or will I be running up and down the stairs to change shows on the PC, etc.

Sorry for all the questions, lol. The learning curve seems huge here.

It's not, but I want it, haha

I'll be looking into this.

It's not as bad as it sounds. I am basically using a TV as a monitor, via the hdmi out on my graphics card. I then use a HDMI splitter to run that signal to my other tvs. I chose to use the HDMI/ethernet adapter because it's much easier to run cat6 (300' range, 125' range with cat5e) than it is to try to run that fatty hdmi connector through my house. You really have to drill a sizeable hole to get hdmi through. I have the benefit of some experience (and the tools) to work with networking cable. So it was a natural decision for me. The adapter I used is THIS ONE on Amazon.

To be honest though, it sounds like you can accomplish your needs much easier via an Amazon fire stick like THIS ONE. They're also sold in pretty much any store. I have a few set up at work and you can easily stream netflix/hulu/etc with it. It is basically a mini android pc and can run any app on the amazon app store, including streaming services. It would be far cheaper and easier to set up. My setup is needlessly complicated to provide what my wife, daughter, and I wanted it to be.

You might want to consider actually cutting the cord. Trading cable for netflix and hulu is akin to trading oxycodon for heroin. As my wife says, "It's all one dog's puppies."

Instead of cutting your cashflow from one corporate media empire just so you can divert that revenue stream to another and pretending you're carrying out some great coup, consider for a moment that what might serve you better would be to recognize that it isn't the source from which you receive hundreds of hours of flashy colors each week which is of the most importance.

Books are cheap. That alone is a statement of such historical significance, when viewed from a wide enough perspective, that further discussion shouldn't be necessary. Gardens are cheap. Wood working tools, cheap. An open field where the kids can play kickball... there's probably one nearby that you can use for free.

When that voice you heard was speaking to you, the one that told you you were wasting money on cable, it wasn't trying to tell you to replace cable with cable by another name. That was one hundred thousand years of hominid experience telling you to get up and walk away from that screen. Just my two cents.

For me and my girls, it's not a matter of one or another. It's more like all of them, all the time. We all have rampant ADD and our version of being entertained rarely involves just one thing. If we tried to be entertained by only a video game, we would be bored. Just a movie? Bored again. Books? Boring... However, combine two of them and that's where we find entertainment. The end result is that we simultaneously watch quite a bit of tv, read a ton of books, and play alot of video games every month.

 

[Blind Owl]

Thanks a million @Bruttle . Your information is a huge help. I'm actually looking forward to having some time to sit down and play with all this now.

Cheers mate.