My Story: Cable TV Costs Too Much
I was a loyal cable TV customer all of my adult life, paying just $34/month in 2009 for cable TV. That sounds ridiculously low now, but that’s how much cable TV cost back then, and it seemed reasonable to me.
In 2010, I moved to Providence, RI, where the cost was $52/month for basic cable. I paid it and figured, “well, that’s just the cost of getting TV”. More and more, however, I realized that I wasn’t getting good TV. I was surfing through the channels over and over looking for good TV.
Then, my 6-month “introductory cable rate” went up to $57/month. Sure, it was only a few dollars more, but it ticked me off; it was almost a 10% increase in six months! After a few months of putting up with the higher cost and lack of good shows, I decided to “Disable My Cable”!
Of course, now, $57/month seems cheap; many people pay over $100/month for cable or even $200/month – crazy!!
My Rabbit-Ear Antenna
The first thing I did was try an old rabbit-ear antenna that I had from the pre-digital TV days. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to get about sixteen channels, many of which were HD, with picture quality better than cable TV! At that point, I was sold. I canceled cable that weekend. It felt great!!
Next, I played with the antenna position. It turns out that the original place where I had put the antenna was the optimal position. That’s great, except for one thing: it was right in front of my TV screen. In other words, it was the one place in my living room that blocked my view of the TV!!
I played with the location some more and tried some homemade wire antennas with varying results. The best spot was still right in front of my TV. So, I ended up putting it there and just bending the antennas out of the way of the screen
After my antenna tweaking, I was able to bring in one more channel for a grand total of 19 unique channels! I was happy with this. Here is a list of the channels I got using this cheap rabbit-ear antenna:
Providence, RI is a city of fewer than 200,000 people, to give you an idea. Using the FCC’s Station Finder, I determined which channels were available in my area. The stations labeled “strong” came in pretty much wherever I put my antenna. The ones labeled “weak” required very specific tweaking… sometimes inches mattered.
Now that I have lived without cable for a while, do I miss cable? Absolutely not! In the modern era of streaming channels, you can get plenty of free content, along with a lot of low-cost paid content for much less than the cost of cable TV.
And, I find that I’m channel surfing less since there are fewer channels to surf. It takes me less time to find out when there’s nothing good on TV. I am also watching a lot less trash TV – stuff with no redeeming value – like mindless reality shows. I have banished these forever and feel better!! I now spend more time going out and meeting with friends and family. And I’m saving a ton of money by spending ZERO dollars for TV most months.
I’ll continue to post my findings and research on DisableMyCable. I hope it is helpful to you. – Brian
My Antenna Experiments and the Mohu Leaf
My old rabbit-ear antenna got a good number of channels, but there were more that were flaky or that didn’t come in at all. So, I went out and purchased a big metal antenna, the Antennas Direct DB-4 from Solid Signal.
This got me more channels, but I still wasn’t satisfied. Around that time, there was a lot of hoopla about a new flat antenna, the Mohu Leaf. So, I ordered one.
When I tested it, I was totally blown away that this small flat antenna could get better TV reception than a bulky more expensive metal antenna!
My Setup Today
Since then, I’ve moved back to Santa Monica and continued testing antennas. But, the Mohu Leaf has remained the best indoor antenna I’ve tested.
I have all of the major streaming boxes, but I use Roku most often, especially now that it has AirPlay, allowing me to stream from my iPhone or iPad to my TV. For recording broadcast TV, I use the Tablo.
I spend little to nothing on streaming TV services. I watch over-the-air broadcast TV, free video services like YouTube, and some pay services on a temporary basis to binge-watch certain shows, then I cancel them.
Read more about my current antenna setup in my blog.
Expanding to Cover Internet and Cellular Services
As people have shifted away from traditional cable TV, the cost of Internet access has gone up. So, I’m now covering ways to lower the cost of Internet access (as well as cell phone service).
I personally switched from cable Internet to Verizon 5G Home Internet, saving $30 per month! Interestingly, the phrase “Disable My Cable” fits in this context as well!
For my mobile phone service, I switched to Mint Mobile, saving $40 per month!
About Me
I love tinkering with technology and sharing tips on how to spend less money on TV content, Internet access, and cellular plans!
I have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. I worked as an electrical engineer for over twenty years designing industrial and consumer products. Now, I’m a freelance web developer and blogger. I currently live in Santa Monica, CA.
If you liked this site, another one of my sites you might enjoy is TheFrugalNoodle.com. I write about money-saving tips, how-to topics, and career advice there. If you ever visit Los Angeles, check out LADateIdeas.com!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment so everyone can benefit from the answer.
I hope this site has been helpful to you! – Brian
My Product Review Policy
I don’t accept payment for writing product reviews. All of my reviews express my personal opinion after evaluating and/or researching the product or service myself.
If You’d Like to Help
I’ve had some awesome readers email me wondering if they can donate to the DisableMyCable cause. I really appreciate the offers, but I want this site to be totally FREE to you, my readers, so I do not accept donations.
However, there are many ways you can help without spending a dime! If you’ve enjoyed this site, please consider doing one or more of the following:
- Tell your friends and family about this site.
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- The next time you want to buy anything from Amazon, click on one of the product links on this site to get to Amazon. I’ll get a small percentage of the cost of what you purchase, but it won’t cost any more for you.
Thank you!
Press
DisableMyCable.com has been featured in many news publications and websites including these:
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If you liked this article, please sign up for email updates. I’ll send you a note when I publish a new article, no more than once every few months. Unsubscribe any time. – Brian
Hi Brian,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion for us cord-cutters. Like many others, I was a faithful user of the Channel Master CM-7600 for years. CM’s discontinuance of the device and the guide service going away made recording of content impossible (with the exception of the 24 hour window) and setting up ongoing series recording was also no longer possible.
I bought a Tablo 4k device and connected it to a Roku stick. The Roku functions via wi-fi and the Tablo is hard wired to my router via ethernet. As mentioned in your review, Roku and Tablo are a very buggy solution and i noted your suggestion of buying an ONN device. This presents 2 questions. First, which one? Second, Roku displays Tablo as an available “streaming service” or app in the home menu. Does ONN also have a Tablo icon and integration like Roku?
If they ever get the bugs worked out, Tablo will be the market leader. I’ll buy whatever streaming device to hook into my AV system (Emotiva) via HDMI that works with Tablo. Experience would highly recommend staying away from Roku for integration of Tablo into an AV system though. It’s been extremely frustrating – if it even works at all. Thanks again for all you do.
Hi Terry,
This is the ONN device that I recommend and personally tested with Tablo Gen 4:
https://www.disablemycable.com/onn-google-tv-4k-streaming-device/
They have higher-end models that should work great as well.
Yes, the Tablo Gen 4 app is available on the ONN.
Alternatively the Google TV Streamer (from Google) will also work well, but that is more expensive and not worth it unless you need its other features.
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian,
I bought one of the new ONN Google TV 4K pro Streaming Devices and worked to integrate it into my home system. I use the Logitech Harmony Ultimate One and Hub to control all of my activities on the A/V system, mostly Emotiva components. Unfortunately, Logitech Support informed my this device is not supported and the remote is not capable of sending a signal to the Hub in order to learn commands. Support intimated they don’t plan on supporting it, either.
Not sure if the remote uses IR or RF or some other way to communicate, but it could also be that the ONN device is capable of voice commands via Google Voice (hey Google).
So now we’re back to the drawing board. I’m going to see if Logitech Harmony has an accessible database to look up streaming sticks/devices they support and then research Tablo compatibility.
If only Channel Master would have kept the CM7600 active and not dropped it…
Thanks.
Hi Terry,
Ah, thanks for sharing. Sorry the remote didn’t work with the ONN. Folks have said the Tablo also works with the Fire TV Stick well, but I haven’t tried that particular combination yet.
Best,
Brian
I have had several Mohu Leaf antennas and they work great. I need to buy an antenna for a new TV and discovered that they no longer have a cable that can be disconnected. (I usually upgrade to a stronger cable). Any advice to offer about this?
Hi Rosane,
Yeah, I was bummed to see they started permanently attaching their cables to the antennas. You can still find the amplified Mohu Leaf + with detachable cable though. Or, if you can live with a 10′ cable length, you can go with the Mohu Leaf 30. It’s still a good antenna.
Best,
Brian
Hi Rosane,
I went ahead and purchased the newest Mohu Leaf (non-amplified version) and tested it against my older Leaf with detachable cable. The new Leaf was just as good or better than my old Leaf (in terms of number of channels found), even when the old Leaf had an upgraded RG6 cable attached!
From the silhouette of the antenna inside the new Leaf, I could see the antenna design had changed, which might be why it’s performing better.
So, bottom line, go ahead and purchase the new Leaf! I’ll be updating my articles.
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian, I have a Silicon Dust Homerun that I have been using for some time. I do get a lot of buffering on several channels that make the watch-ability difficult at times. I have a decent indoor amplified antenna and live about 20 miles from the broadcast towers? Any thoughts on what I can do to stop the buffering? Thanks Scott
Hi Scott,
I’d say, experiment with an outdoor antenna. Just get a long cable and put your indoor antenna outside pointing to your broadcast towers. Usually the improvement in reception is night and day. If that works, then you can think about moving to a real outdoor antenna at some point.
Best,
Brian
Thanks Brian,
Scott
Dear Brian, I was saddened to hear that there is no more TiVo edge for antenna since the cable company here doesn’t support TiVo anymore and I can no longer use a TiVo stream box with my roamio. I though about Tablo (4 tuner) and wondered if that would let me stream recorded shows while I am away or let me schedule recordings also while away?
Hi David,
No, with the Table Gen 4, you can’t view or control your recordings when you’re away from home. The old Tablo could do it though. Air TV can as well, but it has other issues.
https://www.disablemycable.com/blog/airtv2/
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian, I really appreciate your articles. I currently live in a fairly rural area of Washington state (no cable or fiber internet available) and pay $80/month for broadband (25mb.) Verizon just started showing as 5G on my phone at home and I was also informed that the 5G home internet was now available. It would be locked at $45 for five years (saving ~$2000 over that term.) I have 2 concerns on which I’d love to have your opinion before trying Verizon home: 1. Has the geo location problem been solved for things like YouTubeTV? and 2. I want to use my own router and wired repeater since our shop is 30yards out in the back of the house (buried cable from the router to the shop router/repeater.) Has this been a problem?
Thanks,
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for writing. Yes, you can definitely use your own router or wired repeater. Here’s more info on that:
https://www.disablemycable.com/blog/wifi-router-verizon-5g-home-internet-gateway/
I haven’t heard any big news on a fix for the location problem. More info and workarounds here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/verizonisp/comments/zrc1c2/verizons_new_5g_network_configuration_is_an/
Best,
Brian
Thanks… so you’d recommend giving it a try?
Yes, but keep your old service while you test Verizon. Don’t cancel it until you’re sure Verizon works for you.
Thanks… just ordered and it will be here Monday!
Let me know how it goes!
Ok… seems great so far. I originally set it up using the built in wifi. The numbers on my laptop were screaming in the same room (300+). On the other side of the house (modest 2100sqft) the signal was weak but still checked in at about 50. I then turned off the built in wifi and connected to my router which includes an extender and the long wire to the repeater in the shop. It just now returned a 90 in the living room and impressively, a 90 out in the shop. It does appear to be slower through my router but the speeds on my old broadband were 22 in the living room and 11 out in the shop. This is only night one, but it appears I have cut my bill nearly in half and increased my speeds five to tenfold. Thanks Brian
Hi Kevin,
Awesome to hear that, thanks for sharing! Keep monitoring for a bit, then cancel your old provider.
Best,
Brian
You recommend the homeworx digital converter box as a dvr capable device that doesn’t require internet access. I have a question about recordings. If I schedule a recording but want to start watching it before the end of the scheduled recording end time. Is it possible?
Hi Edward,
From my recollection, I don’t think that is possible on this unit. But, I’ll double check and post again here and update the article.
Best,
Brian
I went ahead an purchased a HW250STB to test this out. Looks like if the recording starts, it will be showing the live show when you change your TVs source to the converter box (becuase its a single tunner box). If I hit the play button it starts the show from the beginning.
Hi Edward,
Oh, many thanks for checking that and getting back to me! I hadn’t had a chance to test myself yet.I’ll add it to the article so others can benefit.
Thanks,
Brian
You recommend using the Mohu Leaf 30. If I buy the Tablo with their antenna is it the same or one like it?
Hi Garry,
I have not tested the Tablo Gen 4 antenna yet. But, I like that it has a detachable coax cable that looks pretty beefy. If you have strong TV signals in your area, it will probably work fine.
Best,
Brian
Brian,
I am so glad to discover your blog on the disableMyCable.com. I have been a loyal user of the Channel Master CM-7600 DVR. Have you ever used/tested it prior to now. I loved the convenience of it. Since It integrates with the Google Chromecast, I used it to watch Youtube and other streaming services as well. Unfortunately, the EPG from Google discontinued its service providing the free EPG service just recently (4 weeks). The CM-7600 become a dead weight unable to record the ABC World News that I have recorded consistently (to skip the commercials) for over 10 years now. I was trying to identify a CM-7600 replacement and I came across your blog. I have read thru’ your review and I’ll likely purchase one of your recommended model (via your link of course). However, have you come across any OTA DVR work like the CM-7600 and have the built-in Chromecast as well?
Hi Tony,
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, the CM-7600 was not supported long enough! It was a good unit.
I haven’t found a DVR with built-in Chromecast, however some have some on-board streaming channels (Air TV, Tablo Gen 4). Tablo Gen 4 even lets you record them.
If you don’t need to watch your recordings away from home, I’d recommend the Tablo Gen 4.
Best,
Brian
Brian,
Thanks for your prompt guidance. It appears that you have used the Channel Master CM-7600 before. It was a great unit when it worked. I have gone back-and-fort with the customer support of Channel Mater trying to resort the past glory of the CM-7600. CM indicated that the problem rested on Google single-handedly discontinued their service providing the free EPG. Knowing Google is into all kinds of community services such as Android, Google Map, etc. Do you have any insight why Google has decided to discontinue the EPG. Also, where do all the OTA DVR such as the Tablo, Air TV getting their EPG from? Is it possible that their EPG will be disabled somedays in the future? I just want to understand some basics about the EPG and why would CM get themselves into this bad situation. Again, many thanks for you sharing your insights.
Hi Tony,
Perhaps Google shut down its EPG because it discontinued its own Recast DVR and seems to have lost interest in broadcast TV. I can’t say for sure though.
I was unable to find what EPGS the DVRs are using. However, I have the most confidence that the Tablo products will be supported for the longest period of time in general. Although they were recently purchased, they seem to have the most focus – the company is a one-product-line company and seems to put the most effort in supporting their products.
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian,
As always, many thanks for your guidance sharing your invaluable experience and insights. I guess that much for the CM-7600. It is sad that CM has given up in the OTA DVR space by just selling the open-box TiVo as the new business model. The TiVo is expensive (lusted at $399) and I am skeptical on the longevity of it.
I have ordered the Tablo Gen4 as your “best choice”. Apparently, there is a backlog of over 3-4 weeks before I can get the unit. That said, I have watched your setup guide in preparation for its arrival. I have installed the Tablo apps on iPhone. However, I am confused if I need to install the Tablo on my old Samsung smart TV model UN55ES6100FXZA? I did not see the availability of the Tablo apps on my old smart TV?
If my old Samsung smart TV (with WiFi connection) proves to be too old for Tablo, what option do i have to use the Tablo Gen4 as the OTA DVR? Many thanks for your clarification.
Regards,
Tony Wong
Dallas, TX.
Hi Tony,
Yeah, the Tablo Gen 4 app is not available for a lot of devices or even the browser yet. Their website says Samsung support is “coming soon”.
https://www.tablotv.com/product/
In the meantime, you could get a Roku or Fire TV. Just avoid the low-end Roku Express models as I’ve heard they might not work as well with the Tablo app.
And note, there are two tablo apps, the old and the Gen 4.
Best,
Brian
Hi Brian,
After my further research, I noticed that I could download and install the Tablo TV apps on my CM-760 and I have done it. I am still waiting for my Tablo Gen4 (with ETA of Jan 13) from Amazon. After that, I could verify if I am able to use my non-functional CM-760 as the streaming box as the front end to stream my recorded OTA TV program from the Tablo Gen4 and watch it on my Samsung smart TV.
It is sad that the mighty CM-760 which was a fantastic OTA DVR at a point becomes the front end of yet another DVR because their lack of commitment to resolve the Google Live TV EPG issue.
There has been a few discussions on Reddit trying to solve this issue.
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/channel-master-dvr-guide-is-gone.3284205/
Perhaps, using the CM-760 as the front end for the Tablo Gen4 is the best use of this once mighty OTA DVR by Channel Master? I’ll report my user experience once I receive my Tablo Gen4 box in a few weeks. Until then, cheers.
Hi Tony,
Haha, very clever! Great way to use the old CM-760 until Tablo supports Samsung!
Best,
Brian