Cutting the COX Cable cord.....

[mkjeeves]

I did find the TIVO Premier version 4 works with antenna. It required connecting the antenna, pulling out the cable card and running guided set up. It would not do a channel search to discover the antenna channels without removing the cable card and starting over. Then it asks if you want to set up for antenna only, cable and antenna, or cable only. I went with cable and antenna and at some point it had me reinsert the cable card. I have all the COX channels and 40 or so antenna channels now.

So...like everyone else in this and the other thread, now I'm shopping to find some of the wife's can't miss shows on a streaming service. Five are Discovery, HGTV, TCM, Ion and AMC. Have not found Discovery or Ion, but have found most of the others in various services, just not the same one. I don't think I'm going to get there without staying with COX or maybe Direct TV. I started to sign up for Hulu live TV package last night but there are hundreds of posts on their forum with people having buffering issues with it.

[kswright29]

Anyone tried YouTube TV? If so, what did you think? It seems to have a decent channel lineup with quite a bit of sports.

[BBatesokc]

Anyone tried YouTube TV? If so, what did you think? It seems to have a decent channel lineup with quite a bit of sports.

I found a short free trial promotion. I actually think it's was pretty decent. I like the interface better than PS Vue. It is missing some popular channels though (I'm not a sports person so those channels didn't appeal to me). I had no buffering like I did with Sling.

[shawnw]

I found a short free trial promotion. I actually think it's was pretty decent. I like the interface better than PS Vue. It is missing some popular channels though (I'm not a sports person so those channels didn't appeal to me). I had no buffering like I did with Sling.

I've seen a couple instances of announcements of channels being added (e.g. TNT) recently.

[BBatesokc]

FYI - there is a pretty good promotion going on right now through DIRECTV NOW - Prepay for only 3 months of service ($35/mo = $105) and get a brand new Apple TV 4K for FREE! ($179 value).

Plus, there are some other promotions that can be stacked right now - like a Bank Of America $35 rebate, etc.

Good deal if you are in the market for a Apple streaming device for the best price in town - plus you can check out DIRECTV NOW for 3 months.

[Bunty]

This GE model works well and is also available locally at Walmart ($35).[/URL]

Also available 'open box' on Ebay for only $13.50.

This is a similar model that worked for us just as well and is only $14 new

I've found in Stillwater that the cheapest indoor antenna that Wal-Mart sells works good for bringing in all channels except for 62. It's a rabbit ears with small hoop for only $8.88. No amp included. No reception from low powered ones, like 42. Presumably, by actually being within the OKC Metro, it would bring in channel 62, unless located at the bottom of a valley or in a basement. The only other problem with rabbit ears is some may find them an eyesore. You can try to hiding them behind the set, but that results in breaking up reception at my location.

As for those thin and flat antennas, they were no good for getting channel 5 in addition to 62. Hanging it behind the set messed up more channels. I'd advise against them, if you think you can live with rabbit ears while wanting to save money.

[MagzOK]

For several years after cutting our cable, we had those flat antennas at each TV and my wife finally had enough of that. I invested in one of the Marathon HD antennas and mounted it to the chimney of my house. From there I ran the coax down to the Cox box on the side of the house and tied it into all the Cox cables running from there to all the outlets in my house. It is powerful enough to run all four of our TVs in our house and a fifth on our patio. It picks up every channel available and has excellent strength on each. We love it, and the best thing about it is I don't have to hear my wife complaining about all the cables and antennas everywhere. The Marathon was expensive, but I figured I was saving a ton of money by not paying for cable and it works perfectly.

https://nocable.org/reviews/freesign...utdoor-antenna

[SoonerDave]

Another option for local channels is the HD Homerun Connect, which accepts an external antenna input and provides two tuners service to your network. You can then receive those streamed channels via their app on any compatible device. The two- tuner model is about $70, and a newer four- tuner model, the Quattro, is about $150. I have a Prime device from them that was supposed to replace my cable boxes, but they are struggling to overcome DRM issues Cox imposes.

I'm considering one of these because I want to get local channels and can integrate a device like this into a whole home DVR setup.

I'm also considering dropping down to the absolute minimal Cox starter package that offers local channels, which are not DRM'd. I can use my existing Homerun Prime device for those channels and then turn in ALL my set top boxes. I'm also looking at Sling Blue plus DVR for the "prime" channels. That would drop my Cox to $125/mo: $99 for 300 mbps Internet service, plus $25/month for starter service, then $25/mo for Sling. I'd be saving about $50/month over my current $200/mo w/Cox.

[stile99]

The thing with dropping down to even the Cox starter is it's not $25, not even close. I might be off a couple cents, but I believe it is $25 PLUS $7.50 local broadcast fee PLUS $8 sports fee. I don't know if the sports fee is charged on the absolute bottom starter package, but I could see Cox charging it and saying they charge everyone. Plus any cablecard charges and I don't know if there are any SDV channels on the starter package, but neither does anyone at Cox, so you'll also need the tuning adapter.

[BBatesokc]

The thing with dropping down to even the Cox starter is it's not $25, not even close. I might be off a couple cents, but I believe it is $25 PLUS $7.50 local broadcast fee PLUS $8 sports fee. I don't know if the sports fee is charged on the absolute bottom starter package, but I could see Cox charging it and saying they charge everyone. Plus any cablecard charges and I don't know if there are any SDV channels on the starter package, but neither does anyone at Cox, so you'll also need the tuning adapter.

To me, this is exactly why it can make sense for some people considering the most basic COX TV package to instead consider dropping to Internet only and then pick a 3rd party streaming service like DirectTV Now or YouTube TV, Sling, ETC.

See what COX basic plus fees and taxes will be to get your total monthly cost.

We are still using our 3-months pre-paid DirectTV Now (for the free Apple TV 4K) and their $35 plan gives us more channels we actually watch than COX basic did for the same price. I think their current plan is $10/mo for three months to give it a try.

The good thing about these streaming services is you can often take advantage of multiple "come try us" offers when your 1st expires by simply using a different email address (some, but not all, also require a different credit or debit card).

[jn1780]

Another option for local channels is the HD Homerun Connect, which accepts an external antenna input and provides two tuners service to your network. You can then receive those streamed channels via their app on any compatible device. The two- tuner model is about $70, and a newer four- tuner model, the Quattro, is about $150. I have a Prime device from them that was supposed to replace my cable boxes, but they are struggling to overcome DRM issues Cox imposes.

I'm considering one of these because I want to get local channels and can integrate a device like this into a whole home DVR setup.

I'm also considering dropping down to the absolute minimal Cox starter package that offers local channels, which are not DRM'd. I can use my existing Homerun Prime device for those channels and then turn in ALL my set top boxes. I'm also looking at Sling Blue plus DVR for the "prime" channels. That would drop my Cox to $125/mo: $99 for 300 mbps Internet service, plus $25/month for starter service, then $25/mo for Sling. I'd be saving about $50/month over my current $200/mo w/Cox.

If you want to improve your DVR and TV guide experience you can combined HD Homerun Connect with a media server such as Plex or Emby. I'm using Emby and it seems to be working great on the firesticks so far.

The only issue people would have with this is that you have to a computer to act as a media server which most people don't have laying around. My desktop is sitting in my office acting as the media server.

Of course, you could always just use the HD Homerun Connect app and have it store recorded shows onto a Network Attached Storage.

[SoonerDave]

If you want to improve your DVR and TV guide experience you can combined HD Homerun Connect with a media server such as Plex or Emby. I'm using Emby and it seems to be working great on the firesticks so far.

The only issue people would have with this is that you have to a computer to act as a media server which most people don't have laying around. My desktop is sitting in my office acting as the media server.

Of course, you could always just use the HD Homerun Connect app and have it store recorded shows onto a Network Attached Storage.

My original plan, which I started about two years ago (?), was to do exactly that. I bought Prime 3-tuner box, and got the Cablecard and TA to get ALL the channels I'm paying for. I'd already built a VM to serve as a MythTV backend and EPG frontend for whole-home DVR and scheduled recordings, with all the recordings plopped on a nice, big hard drive and shared out via Myth as DLNA. Everything was great - my basic tests were working *exactly* as I wanted - until I started playing with the "premiums" - and then I noticed that every channel other than the locals were slapped with DRM. So I had this great solution working, but it only worked for local channels. And it was obvious Cox was slapping DRM on all the non-locals to make sure you had to rent their converter boxes. Cox told me this absurd lie that they "had" to put DRM on all their channels by their content providers - and it was a lie because Cox had numerous non-DRM cities where Homeruns (like mine) were working happily. It happened to be a matter of where Cox wanted to apply it, or where they didn't. I had already built two Raspberry PI boxes with OSMC to serve as my front-ends, and an old PS3 media player worked in one room to playback even DRM channels. So I had everything....until...DRM.

So, right now, my Homerun Prime sits primarily as a doorstop. The "Green" HD app worked beautifully on Android until a later Android release broke it, and some legal/internal issues prevented SiliconDust from ever actually "fixing" it. RIght now, their only solution for DRM viewing is Windows 10, and getting the certs/keys to "validate" you have a technology offering a DRM-required "protected path" is a process that costs *thousands*, effectively locking out everyone - but the cable guys. Geez, what an evil, bloodsucking, incestuous, self-perpetuating setup.

Keep this keenly in mind: DRM is the devil. It is a completely superfluous "technology layer" that adds absolutely *nothing* to the legitimate consumer except hassle, expense, and needless aggravation. I would have had a completely workable whole-home cable TV DVR solution without one drop of Cox hardware other than the CC/TA tandem were it not for DRM.

As I just become old and cranky about the notion of sending Cox any more of my money than necessary, I start looking at the minimalist package of local channels only that I already know I can tune with my Prime device. And I can rebuild a DVR setup for things on those local channels - that amounts to building a new VM. And the Sling option gives me the other channels with a "cloud" DVR that isn't what I wanted, but is better than giving Cox more $. But I'll have to see just how "cheap" my bill can get with only the starter layer and none of their equipment (again, other than my TA and CC).

Sorry for going on so long; I relize for most this will be TL/DR, but I've been trying to fight this situation for a while now. We'll see how it goes.

[SoonerDave]

A bit more info: stile99 is right-on: The Cox "starter" package, advertised at $25, is another lie: You get zapped (minimally) with a $7.50 "broadcast fee surcharge," and an additional $2-8 sports broadcasting fee (depending on region). And you'll have to have one minibox converter per TV, at $3/month. So the total gouge factor means the $25 package is actually $39. I suspect you could rent a CableCard and use a third-party tuner, but even that is $3/month, so that's a wash.

[BBatesokc]

FYI - We are only subscribing to COX's Internet at this time. From time-to-time I walk into the COX storefront in Edmond and ask them if there are any promotions going on (they are easier to talk to, more friendly and more open with information). The lady told me about a current promotion; Ultimate Internet (300MB) for the same price as the 100MB plan I am currently on. So, right there she upgraded me to the faster service for the same price I'm paying now ($82/mo)

So, if you have a less than 300MB Internet plan now, you might give this a try. It's a typical 12 month promotion and then you either pay the normal rate, drop back down to your old plan or call (walk in) and ask them to extend the promotion.

I tested it when I got home. Getting 401MB downloading and 32MB uploading.

[Richard at Remax]

did you have to get a new modem? I am using an Arris SB 6190 right now for my 100MB plan.

[BBatesokc]

I have whatever one Sam's is selling. Bought it some time ago for about $59 on sale. Clocks in very fast speeds with no issues.

[SoonerDave]

Okay - okay - PLEASE let me beg forgiveness for being That Guy to do an IT nitpick on something here. Please. But I can't help it. It comes with the territory as an IT guy.

The term "MB", with the "B" capitalized, refers to megabytes. A byte is eight bits.. Cox's Internet service is 300 mbps, not MBps. Believe me; if they were truly pushing 300MB downstream they'd be selling it as 2.4Gbps as sure as I like MASH reruns.

I know, I know, I'm being Anal IT guy. I realize it. Mea culpa in advance. It's an IT adjunct to also being Anal Grammar Nazi Guy, which I have totally suppressed in most social media

[ctchandler]

Okay - okay - PLEASE let me beg forgiveness for being That Guy to do an IT nitpick on something here. Please. But I can't help it. It comes with the territory as an IT guy.

The term "MB", with the "B" capitalized, refers to megabytes. A byte is eight bits.. Cox's Internet service is 300 mbps, not MBps. Believe me; if they were truly pushing 300MB downstream they'd be selling it as 2.4Gbps as sure as I like MASH reruns.

I know, I know, I'm being Anal IT guy. I realize it. Mea culpa in advance. It's an IT adjunct to also being Anal Grammar Nazi Guy, which I have totally suppressed in most social media

SoonerDave,
As a retired IT man (I started in data processing in 1962, retired in 2004) I have known for a long time that the transfer rate is bits per second, but I didn't realize there was a difference based on capitalization. But it really is immaterial since as far as I know that bits per second is all that is sold and the fact is, most folks don't know the difference. What they know is that when streaming (or gaming) it is fast or slow and they make a decision to buy more speed. We used to call speed "baud rate" and I don't know where that came from. I think it's an old communications term but when I first started dialing into my systems at work it was a 300 baud modem, or 300 bits per second. Thanks for the information.
C. T.

[SoonerDave]

SoonerDave,
As a retired IT man (I started in data processing in 1962, retired in 2004) I have known for a long time that the transfer rate is bits per second, but I didn't realize there was a difference based on capitalization. But it really is immaterial since as far as I know that bits per second is all that is sold and the fact is, most folks don't know the difference. What they know is that when streaming (or gaming) it is fast or slow and they make a decision to buy more speed. We used to call speed "baud rate" and I don't know where that came from. I think it's an old communications term but when I first started dialing into my systems at work it was a 300 baud modem, or 300 bits per second. Thanks for the information.
C. T.

Thanks CT. The term "Baud Rate" originated from the French telecom engineer Emile Baudot back in the late 19th century. He invented one of the first digital communication codes, called Baudot codes. The early acoustic couplers and, later, true modems adopted the code and the transfer rate reference. As speeds and transfer modes increased/ changed, the reference more or less outgrew itself...

I dialed into an old 300-baud, 5-line (I think) rotating phone bank into the OU Engineering Computer Network back in the 80's. It fed into a PDP 11/70, and as a commuter student I sure learned to appreciate not having to wait in the basement of Felgar Hall for terminal time. I manually dialed in, over and over (no autodial) to get a line, do my homework, and sometimes even send remote card images to the IBM in the Nuclear lab.... good times lol. I was and am thankful to have learned in what i think is already a bygone golden era in the computing industry. I still envoy writing software, but its surely not the undiscovered country it once was.

[Martin]

i think I caught the very tail end of that era in the mid 90's at ou... we had windows nt workstations in the felgar labs (room 300) and would telnet into dec alpha servers to do our homework in vi and then compile from the command line. good times. i think some of the dec terminals still survived in a dusty corner of a lab in the basement of carson or maybe sarkey's. somebody must have been ex-military as all of the servers were named after aircraft carriers and the huge epson line printers were each named after missile systems. there was still a lab in the felgar basement but it was dedicated to multimedia work with access to a flatbed scanner and a color laser printer... both common now but pretty fancy at the time.

edit: oh... and in the earlier 90's before actually going to ou, i remember accessing their bbs on my parent's blazing fast 2400 baud modem. i still remember the very first file i ever downloaded... a vga game called 'scorched earth' that weighed in at a whopping 640kb. it took all of 45 minutes to download and i had to figure out what to do with an ".arj" file. again, good times.

[stile99]

Waking this thread back up as it seems more appropriate than starting a new one.

So, long story short, earlier this year Dish had some issues, Cox was firm on raising the cable only bill and talked me into a bundle. So I left Dish for Cox, and the nickel and dime fees (they add 40 freaking percent!) are reminding me why I left them (on top of the bad customer service). So it seems my options are Dish (customer service is a joke), Cox (customer service is a joke) or AT&T (customer service is a joke). I'm quite well-versed on the streaming options, my question at this point is if anyone can recommend someone to install a rooftop antenna? I have had very bad luck with the little indoor ones, with the signal for 5 being iffy and it taking a miracle to get 13, with random pixelation on the other channels. I'd really like to get a winegard or a clearstream and get it professionally installed. If I can get it patched into Cox's system to get signal throughout the house, that would be great. I'm really looking to get it on the roof rather than the attic for maximum signal, but if it's a good installer and the attic works, fine. Honestly access to the roof is going to be easier.

So, there's the question. Can anyone recommend a GOOD professional installer? (If the response is "just do it yourself", you just volunteered, I ain't getting on the roof). If I can't find a good person to do it, it seems the Amazon installers get good reviews, but that's nationwide. I've no idea who their local people are or if they are any good, and the problem there is the quoted price is to connect to the tv or set top box. I don't want some joker padding the install a hundred bucks just to patch it into the existing wiring from Cox, which would be easier anyway.

[PhiAlpha]

Waking this thread back up as it seems more appropriate than starting a new one.

So, long story short, earlier this year Dish had some issues, Cox was firm on raising the cable only bill and talked me into a bundle. So I left Dish for Cox, and the nickel and dime fees (they add 40 freaking percent!) are reminding me why I left them (on top of the bad customer service). So it seems my options are Dish (customer service is a joke), Cox (customer service is a joke) or AT&T (customer service is a joke). I'm quite well-versed on the streaming options, my question at this point is if anyone can recommend someone to install a rooftop antenna? I have had very bad luck with the little indoor ones, with the signal for 5 being iffy and it taking a miracle to get 13, with random pixelation on the other channels. I'd really like to get a winegard or a clearstream and get it professionally installed. If I can get it patched into Cox's system to get signal throughout the house, that would be great. I'm really looking to get it on the roof rather than the attic for maximum signal, but if it's a good installer and the attic works, fine. Honestly access to the roof is going to be easier.

So, there's the question. Can anyone recommend a GOOD professional installer? (If the response is "just do it yourself", you just volunteered, I ain't getting on the roof). If I can't find a good person to do it, it seems the Amazon installers get good reviews, but that's nationwide. I've no idea who their local people are or if they are any good, and the problem there is the quoted price is to connect to the tv or set top box. I don't want some joker padding the install a hundred bucks just to patch it into the existing wiring from Cox, which would be easier anyway.

I had an old satellite dish that I removed, installed an outdoor antenna I bought off amazon on the dish mount, and used the cable running to the dish to patch the antenna into the Cox’s cable splitter and boom, antenna to all my TVs. The only issue I’ve had is with signal strength at times. Im downtown so I’m very close to most of the broadcast antennas and my antenna came with a small amplifier but it seems that splitting to 5 TVs causes some signal loss even with the amp. I’m thinking about replacing the cox splitter with an amplified one or replacing the old cable from the dish with a newer one that may be less susceptible to signal loss (my coax cable is probably 20 years old). That being said, KFOR and KWTV modifies their broadcast signals a few weeks ago and I’ve had almost zero signal issues since rescanning my TVs after that.

All of that to say, if you have a sattellite dish that isn’t too high up the roof and easy access to the cable splitter (might have to call cox to have them unlock it for you, I did), you might just try ordering an outdoor antenna, replacing the dish with it, run the cable to your cable splitter and see what kind of results you get. I have a basement so rerouting the cabling was pretty easy so it just depends on how your system is wired. If your dish is at the peak of your roof and you can’t easily access it....disregard haha.

[stile99]

Hmmm. That might be an option, the old dish is at the edge of the roof, could probably get there with just a ladder, not even have to get on the roof. I made Dish install their own lines (although in a couple rooms they did re-use the existing Cox outlet, just rewired it for their stuff) so it's already got a network built in. Thanks!

[Dob Hooligan]

I was fortunate enough to find out that Synergy Datacom (around 4th and Classen/Western) carries high quality signal boosters and other support items for Over The Air television. I wound up with about 8 drops and 300 ft of cable running all over the shop through the years, and signal strength became a major problem.

I recall reading somewhere that the channel 5 signal is always a challenge, due to it's place in the spectrum, or somesuch.

[Bunty]

I think channel 5 has a directional signal to protect some other station. I've found the more expensive of the two indoor amplified bar antennas from Wal-Mart gets channel 5 good.