Internet TV and Phone for less than $60 a month

There are 6 ways to significantly reduce your cable bill (in order of easiest/greatest benefit first);

1. Competition - In many areas cable companies enjoy a monopoly and you will pay significantly higher prices. If you are lucky to have a choice, I would recommend being willing to live with the hassle of changing providers rather than simply making false threats. I have switched providers to pay ~$60 a month. When the provider I had raised the price after a year and wouldn’t come back down, I switched providers.
2. Landline - A traditional landline telephone can add $20-$40 a month. I switched to a free provider Google Voice. Basically you buy a $30 device and plug it in to your internet connection and you homes landline. The Obitalk device is discussed here here and is working free. 911 service is an additional $3 a month. Takes about an hour to setup and the quality is reasonable but not as good as a copper phone line.
3. Reduce / Change Content subscriptions - I get the minimum cable TV package but do use other services like Netflix. I am also willing to buy shows ($3 ea. or $20 for a season pass) rather than have a regular cost. Don’t spend $50 a month on a bigger package just to get 2 shows that would cost you $40 a year.
4. Rental fees - Modem/Router - Rental fees for cable boxes, cable modems, and DVRs quickly add up. I recommend purchasing the cable modem ($40-$60) rather than paying $5 a month. This is especially good if you switch providers as often a visit from a technician isn’t required.
5. Rental fees - Cable TV Boxes - You can purchase an Apple TV ($150) for each TV rather than a cable box. But this alone does not give you access to over-the-cable live TV. You also need a way of getting live TV on your home network. The solution has been out for many years called HDHomeRun Prime ($150). It requires a CableCard from your cable company which in my case I do have to rent for $5 a month. Finally, you need an Apple TV app called Channels ($25). They sell a separate app for phone/iPad if you will to watch live TV on those devices.
6. Rental fees - DVRs. I have written about this in the past but I am thrilled that there is a very good solution as of January 2017. Channels DVR is a separate piece of software that runs on any Unix variant (Mac, Linux, NAS like QNAP) that will independently record to the NAS/server. All controlled through the Apple TV although they do have a Web interface.

Cost Breakdown

$76 - Monthly $53 Cable TV & 50MB internet $10 Netflix streaming (2 devices simultaneously) $5 Rental of cable card (solution #5) $8 DVR Program guide (solution #6) ~$50 to $500 One-time costs (depends on the number of solutions) $50 OBiTALK VOIP adapter (solution #2) $50 Modem for internet (varies by company) (solution #4) $150 HDHomeRun Prime (solution #5) $150 per TV Apple TV (solution #5) $25 Channels TV app from Apple Online Store (solution #5) $0-$300 - network attached storage (NAS), old computer or server (solution #6) If $500 sounds like a lot, my cable company charged $20/month for a single DVR which is $240 annual. The more TV’s you have, the quicker the return on investment. ## Support

One downside to this arrangement is you can’t just call the cable company if something goes wrong. You need a mid-level technical understanding to install and maintain this arrangement. If you have the confidence to setup the system, you will be rewarded with fewer frustrating calls to the cable company. ## FAQ

Can I do this with a Roku or Amazon Firestick rather than an Apple TV? Maybe. The critical thing is having an app like Channels. There are some solutions of varying quality but I wouldn’t commit to them without good reviews.