Your Guide to Cutting the cord with Cable TV
With all of the streaming services that are available and various websites that offer television shows and movies to view, you might not want to spend a lot of money each month on cable television services. If you’re thinking about ditching the cable, there are a few details to keep in mind to make the process a bit easier. There are usually a few apps that are already a part of your smart TV aside from those that are streaming. Common streaming services include Hulu, Netflix, Dish Network, and Disney Plus. with all of the options that are available, you can usually find something for every member of your family to watch without paying the high price of cable television each month.
Television Options
If you can’t tear yourself away from the news or live TV, you’ll be pleased to know that there are streaming services that offer these options as well. YouTube TV and Sling are popular services so that you don’t miss your local weather channels or your favorite weekly television show that you need to stay updated on without paying for cable. There are no contracts that you have to sign by using the streaming services, which means that you can cancel any subscription that you have whenever you want without being penalized or paying additional fees. There are several free options available as well if you don’t want to pay anything, such as Pluto. However, some of the free services might not have all of the latest movies and television shows.
Your Internet Plan
Cutting your ties to cable television often means that you’re going to need an internet plan that offers unlimited data. As you begin watching movies and shows, you’re going to use quite a bit of data at one time, and if you’re limited each month, then you might find that you’ll reach your cap within a few days. If you have television and internet bundled together, you can usually ask the provider to remove the television option. If the provider won’t do this without cutting the entire bill, then you can contact other internet providers so that you only have this one service in your home. Most of the time, the internet runs around $60 a month without television.
If you’re in a contract with a provider and you want to cut your service, then you might need to wait until the contract expires or renews before you can opt out of cable. Some providers will allow you to pay a cancellation fee if you don’t want to wait. Think about the speed of the connection that you’ll need. A faster connection will likely be needed due to more people being online at one time and doing more activities that involve the internet.
Services to Consider
Before subscribing to every streaming service that’s available, you want to think about the shows that you watch during the week, the movies that you like, and the types of news programs that you watch. Netflix and Hulu have several movies available. Hulu also has quite a few television shows and many shows that are put on the streaming service a few days after they air on television. A live streaming service is usually the best option if you want to cut the cable so that you have a variety of shows and movies to watch. You can usually add movie channels just as you would with cables, such as HBO or Showtime.
