cranky old dude

Called the Cable Co., and they're coming tomorrow to disconnect
the Cable TV. Time to go back to the good old Rabbit Ears. We got
tired of paying 60 bucks a month for info-mercials and Garbage.
We will miss the History Cahnnel and HG-TV...but we'll survive.

Next, has anyone here gone all Cellular and dropped their land-line?
How did that go for you? We are seriously considering taking that
next step. We've been trying to imagine some of the problems that
may arise from dropping the land line...can't come up with to many.

John E

I have never had cable TV. A mast with a head amplifier allows my log-periodic antenna to pick up all the stations I need, particularly UCSD-TV and KPBS. Since I use DSL for my Internet, I have no motivation to drop my land line. In an emergency, the land line may work when the cell towers don't, and vice-versa, so I like the redundancy. I cannot afford a cell phone because my wife and sons have them.

slowjoe66

We dropped the landline about 2 years ago and wouldn't go back. We get no telemarketing calls which is a huge bonus. Plus, my work likes to call me in on my day off and I can turn the phone off, and call them back at my convenience and they can't tell where I'm calling from...my caller id on their side just lists my number; so it's easy for me to say "sorry, can't come in, I am at the coast" or something.

I would think it's way harder to drop cable than a landline. Oh, by the way, wife and I got a cell phone each and a good plan for about 60 a month. If you subtract the 20-25 bones you would pay for landline service, you really aren't paying much for two phones and two lines.

Louis

My wife is addicted to the Cooking Channel. Otherwise it would be a no-brainer for me.

oilman_15106

I did this when my kids were teenagers for about 6 years.

shumacher

Yeah, no cable, no tv. I was with friends at dinner last night, and they couldn't understand my shock at a $100/mo cable bill. Honestly, I've never enjoyed anything on television enough to spend that kind of money.

stevesurf

you do not need to do this...
just order cable internet only
you keep the cable modem
give back the cable box
most likely they will not install a trap...even if they do, you simply remove it and you get basic channels up to 79 on your cable ready television. I paid $160/month for so many years of terrible service...

did that years ago...

BluesDawg

I guess I'm not in the clique. I like TV. There is a lot of crap on and I don't watch it. But there is a lot that I do like and I do watch it. I'm kind of a politics junkie, so I watch a lot of news, but rarely on the networks. I especially enjoy the episodic programs on premium channels like HBO and Showtime. The recent PBS documentary, The War, was great. I love my college football and bicycle racing.

Don't have cable. I have DirecTV satellite TV. Cable is not available on my street. So I can't drop the land line or I would lose DSL.

AuntieM

I like tv too, but am happy enough with whatever comes in on rabbit ears.

We dropped our land lines about 2 years ago too. For the most part I am happy with it for the same reasons stated above. But we are in an odd area where local service only covers one small town we never call. To call the town where we shop, doctors, the school, etc. we had to have a metro line at $65 per month, plus all their little fees. And we still couldn't get DSL. With 2 girls in college & one of them at home trying to take tests online, we figured it would be cheaper to go wireless with the internet ($52 per mo), drop the landline & get cell phones with a family plan. The 2 girls and I don't use 500 minutes per month between us. The only time I miss having a land line is when I need to call an 800 # and know I am going to be on hold for a long time. Luckily I have a neighbor who doesn't mind if I use her phone for that.

Oh, & I have had to call 911 & had no problem connecting with the right dept.

guybierhaus

I had cable many, many years ago. Was just $6.75/month then. Wife always complain that we had the service, she must have read something about the devil coming in the house via cable. Anyway it was canceled after 3 months. So I missed out on all the price increases, and now wouldn't think of paying the fees now charged. I actually have an antennae on my roof, rabbit ears won't do it. Recently bought a VCR recorder with digital tuner, so now also receive the digital channels (HDTV) as well as VHF/UHF. I like the sitcoms and police dramas. As a retired Verizon employee I get some discounts on land line phone service, so have kept that with DSL service. The cell phone was canceled shortly after I stopped working part time for Verizon. No discounts there.

Red Rider

We gave up cable in '98 when we moved into a brand-new house. We gave our kids (one HS junior and one 7th grader) the choice between cable and a modem devoted to the Internet. We missed some of the channels but learned to adjust.

We're still watching 4 channels on the tv my in-laws gave us for our wedding, 26 years ago. Rabbit ears work just fine, and it's becoming easier to turn off the network junk because we graduated to DSL, and nearly everything is on the Internet.

We haven't abandoned our landline because we need the DSL. We've cut back on the services now, though, since all of us have cell phones with decent plans.

Sometimes less technology = more happiness.

stonecrd

Would not work for me, I need my sports fix on Sat and Sunday, plus I watch all of the cycling on VS and a few pretty good network shows. I would say 90% of the cable channels never get used but I switch between ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and CBS all day on Sat watching College football. Switching on to HD made a difference for me, the shows on HDNET and Discovery Theater and PBS are great in HD. As for the phone I also like having redundancy, in a hurricane the cell towers take a hit but my DSL and land line worked great.

Neil_B

Yes, I'm totally cellular. It was wonderful to dump the land line. Cellular service is much better here in the country than land-line service.

DnvrFox

Does anyone know much about the wide area type of internet service in the place of DSL or cable service?

We have considered dropping the land line, but we have and use a fax at home, along with DSL.

I see these ads where you can get a free card for your pc, and you can get that wide area anywhere wifi type service, but they never say how much it costs or how available it is.

We are not allowed TV antennas, and rabbit ears would not work well. I would not want to give up TV entirely.

What are you going to do in 2009 when they stop broadcasting on VHF, and everyone needs a special TV or adapter?

stevesurf

It's called WiMax, it is coming and is an excellent replacement for ADSL. It will come in speed under cable, but will be truly wide area. Sprint will first be the primary promoter of this exciting service.

DnvrFox

I just caught an ad on TV for

"QWest Mobile Broadband" at $59.99 per month. If you could combine VOIP with that, it might be a reasonable deal, depending on the area of coverage.

jppe

Have been trying to talk the wife into removing the land line but just can't get through that one. Seems like a luxury I just don't need anymore.......Re TV: Similiar to BluesD, I enjoy sports, "old sports programs", the history channel, PBS and I also need my weekly fix of Boston Legal-those folks just crack me up for whatever reason.

I looked at going with the digital phone via cable but my phones are older and I would have needed to spend money to buy new phones-then the landline company dropped their rates and came up with a package that was equal to the cable phone offering so we went that route......It does pay to check around occassionally-things are constantly changing!!

ctyler

Do it. I've been totally cellular for 3 1/2 years. I have a Cingular(now ATT) plan that includes rollover. It's been just great. No problems.

As for TV, gave that up entirely 31/2 years ago for the same reasons you gave up cable. There's nothing on. Also gave up the high speed cable modem connection at home and now am getting free Wifi in town at several places and can also connect at home with one of three available ni the neighborhood.

jppe

And I thought cable was EVERYWHERE in the US now-especially in the Southeast!! Has the US Mail found your house yet???? Just kidding, I suspect you relish the environment you're in........I'm heading to a similar situation in a few years after College Tuition #2 is over. We're fed up with the growth around here!!!

jppe

I live in a Subdivision with houses not too far apart and can pick up the neighbor's WiFi. Anyone here sponging off their neighbors???

Chaco

Not ready to give up cable yet (though we only pay for basic) but we did give up the land lines 2 years ago. I think this is happening quite a bit now.

John E

Another option for some of us is to "piggyback" onto our neighbors' home wireless links.

Big Paulie

Which plan is that, if I might ask?

SaiKaiTai

There's plenty of good stuff on TV these days, you just have to work harder to find it.
Yeah, cable's not cheap but that's one of the perks of still working: we can afford this stuff.
What would I do without my Speed?

stonecrd

The change in 2009 is to digital rather than dropping UHF or VHF. Today most carriers are using UHF for digital but there are a few that still use VHF. What will need to happen is that everyone getting their signal Over The Air (OTA) will need a digital ATSC tuner. All new Tvs have these now but you will need to get one for older TVs.

This will also eventually affect Cable as the carriers will drop analog and go completely digital. Like OTA you will need to get a set top box or a Tv that supports QAM (different than OTA ATSC) tuning or use/purchase a small converter the cable companies will be providing for older Tvs