Cutting the cord

[Higgs Boson]

de antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is w hen I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.

I am having a very hard time following the technical discussion on these th reads about splitting and connectors, etc.

Is anyone addressing the basic question which I THOUGHT this thread was abo ut:

CAN I GET CABLE WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT?

Earlier in this thread, someone noted succinctly that one could get away wi th it for maybe a week until the cable company noticed.

Am I misunderstanding? If so, what IS this about?

HB

[Bob_Villa]

Who on God's Green Earth would want anything that didn't have an HD tuner in it?

[gfretwell]

When I lived in Clinton Md, south of DC an attic antenna got me all of the DC stations (from northwest DC) and a fairly good picture from Baltimore. I went up on a 15' mast on the roof with a rotor so I could swing around south and I could get Richmond fairly well (enough to see a blacked out Redskin game), 100 miles away. DC and Baltimore were crystal clear.

If you just wanted DC stations you could run a wire to the center screw of an outlet plate.

[micky]

Your collider friends should be able to explain it to you.

That's not what the thread was about.

I'm not going to tell you. You should pay for your cable like everyone else.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

*Some* of those are available online with something like a ChromeCast dongle or a Roku box to feed them to the TV (both are HDMI only).

We may give DirecTV another month while we make sure the Roku 3 lives up to expectations*, but after that, I hope it will be: "We've just figured out how much we've paid you in the last ten years, and it's going to stop."

For the amount we'll save, SWMBO is even willing to give up her cooking and home-improvement shows.

*So far we haven't been able to get the MHz Networks "channel" working properly, but it seems that MHz is in the process of making some changes, which we hope will solve the problem.

Perce

[Ralph Mowery]

YOu have it wrong. The origional question is much differant.

The person has cable , he wants to stop the cable TV but keep the internet by cable.

When he does this, he wants to know if he puts up an outside antenna, can he just connect it to the same cable that is already there while using that cable for the internet.

The answer is NO, he must run a cable from the outside antenna to each TV.

[Bob_Villa]

I have Cable TV/Phone/Internet...I have one TV with a cablebox and 2 on splitters that gives you the basic channels (no HD). I would think if you are paying for internet they wouldn't say anything if you hook-up a TV and get basic stuff! My.02

[HerHusband]

Ed,

If you're willing to wait, most of the Discovery shows eventually end up on Netflix. I think Hulu carries some of the others. You have to subscribe to these two services, but they're usually cheaper than cable TV subscriptions.

We live way out in the country, but with a good outdoor antenna I get a decent signal for the local stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS). Thankfully, all of my local stations are in the same general direction.

Anthony Watson

[gfretwell]

Why wouldn't he hook the antenna to the "cable" and run another coax from the cable Dmark to the cable modem which could be right where it comes in the house. Then WiFi or CAT5 to all of your PCs.

[HerHusband]

Last I checked, Comcast charged $12 for the basic local TV channels, or I had to pay a $10 fee if all I wanted was internet. So, getting the local TV stations was a no-brainer.

A few months ago Comcast switched to encrypted digital TV. I never watch live TV, I record everything using TV tuners in my computer. Their new encryption scheme was incompatible with my TV tuners, so I dropped the TV service and switched to an antenna. Even with the No-TV fee, my bill went down about $5/month.

The only thing I lost in the switch was Discovery channel. I just wait till the shows come to Netflix (which I subscribe to already), or watch a show on the Discovery web site if it's urgent.

Anthony Watson

[Ralph Mowery]

I just gave the simple answer. Others gave the more complicated technical version.

I know what I would do if I wanted to run a cable modem and an outside antenna. Just did not want to add to the confusion.,but would do something like you said.

I mostly do that every time my cable TV goes out and I want to watch some TV. No internet, but if it does come on I know it and have internet and then connect the regular cable back up. I am about 40 miles from each of 2 big cities. Get about 30 channels on the outside antenna.

[micky]

I'm not saying that a tower or mast isn't a good thing, but the previous poster went far beyond saying that a tower was better than the attic. He said regarding an antenna: "Indoor; even in the attic; is a waste of money", and that's not true. " Just go for a proper tower unless you live in a city." so I think he was recommending a self-standing tower, wasn't even satisfied with a mast.

Sounds good. Do I need more parts, or just a wire from there to the center hole of the co-ax connector?

[micky]

People who own one or more already and don't have as much money as you do.

And people who have as much money but have large uninsured medical expenses for someone they love or are responsible for.

[jimmyDahGeek]

Thanks everyone. I think I will run a cable just to my internet modem. Th en hook up my outside antenna to the cable that feeds the rest of the house . That way we can get OTA TV in every room. With a 20' pole and antenna ( Grounded) I will be able to get about 20 channels OTA where I am located. I will then use my Chromecast to stream video to my television. The Chromec ast works great and I can't see paying xtra for a bunch of cable channels t hat I only watch a few of.

THANKS, Jim

[clare]

With the new digital cable (for TV and Internet) they run 100% sheild, which you cannot crimp a standard "F" connector to. You need the Radial Quad Sheild Co-Ax connectors, which isntall with a compression tool (Look up Zenith ZDS5061 for the tool) Also known as "waterproof connectors"

[clare]

The original question was about dropping Cable TV but keeping cable internet, and adding an antenna to the mix for OTA TV.

[clare]

The other "elephant in the room" is your bandwidth limit. If you do not have "unlimitted internet" you may very well excede your internet bandwidth limit and get hit with significant overage fees......

[clare]

Like I said before, he CAN.

[Bob_Villa]

To quote Jesus, "We will always have the poor..." Sometimes you have to blow it! I paid $170 for a new 32" and $20 for a used at Goodwill!

[Pthirus Pubis]

If you combine an antenna feed with a cable TV feed, you will create signal problems that will be detected by the cable company. The cable companies remedy may be to cut the offending subscriber off.