How to ‘Cut the Cord’ Using a TV Antenna and Broadband Internet Service

For the past three years I have not subscribed to cable TV yet still have been able to watch almost all the shows I like the day after they air. I've saved a bunch of money too with some simple one time investments and changes in habits.

'Cutting the cord' is the name for the trend of ditching cable TV and streaming all your shows over the internet. It's a cost saver because you typically pay for only the shows you want to watch rather than pay for 30 channels just to get that one channel you love. Plus, they're available whenever you want to watch without worries of filling up your DVR or missing a recording.

If you want to cut the cord, first there are some things you'll need to make sure you have to make the experience the same, if not better, than watching cable TV.

Broadband Internet

So you won't totally be ditching cable, just the TV side of things. You'll need broadband internet which, for most people, comes from the cable company. You probably already have broadband so you just need to make sure you have a fast enough connection.  For HD quality viewing over the internet you'll want a 5 megabits per second connection (5Mpbs) or better. Check with your provider to be sure that your level of service provides it.

Streaming Device to Connect to Your TV

You can stream TV shows to computers, tablets and smartphones without any additional hardware. However, to get your shows on that new HDTV you just bought, you'll need to buy another device to hook up to your TV.

If you're already well invested into Apple with MacBooks and iPhones, I would recommend an AppleTV. If you already have an XBox or Playstation gaming console, those will stream as well. Some HDTV's are 'smart TVs' that have video streaming services built in.

What I use that I absolutely love is Google's Chromecast. It's a $35 device that looks like a big USB thumbdrive, but you plug it into the HDMI port on your TV. Then you can control it using your smartphone as a remote.

Roku is another popular plug-n-play device as well as the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.

Any of these will do the trick. Streaming services vary from device to device, so just pick the one that works best for your needs.

Streaming Services

There are two services that I would label as 'must haves' for streaming the majority of television shows - Netflix and Hulu Plus.

For $7.99 a month, Netflix will give you a LOT of movies and television shows. The only drawback is they don't get the latest movies and you usually have to wait until a new season of a show starts to air before the previous season is available. AMC shows like The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels are picked up by Netflix just before the new season airs.

Netflix has some amazing original programming you won't get anywhere else too. I highly recommend House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Daredevil.

If you want to watch shows the day after they air, Hulu Plus takes care of most of them for you. You can get basic Hulu for free, but only the past few shows that have aired. Hulu Plus gives you more selection and more episodes. NBC, ABC, Fox and The CW shows are available on Hulu. CBS is the only major holdout. They want you to subscribe to their own service to get their shows, so if you watch a lot on CBS you'll want to look into CBS All-Access for $5.99 a month. Hulu Plus also goes for $7.99 a month. You still have to put up with commercials with Hulu Plus, but there are less of them than on broadcast TV.

If the show you want to watch still isn't available the next day and you don't want to wait until it shows up on Netflix, you can buy the current season of a show to watch it the next day as it airs. I do this for The Walking Dead on AMC and Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD. A season of a show on Amazon, Google Play or iTunes will usually run you between $20 and $30 but if it's a must watch show you're still saving in the long run.

What About Local Channels?

You can stream shows on the networks easily, but what if you want local news or Judge Judy and Family Feud? You can still get a lot of local channels over the air in HD with a cheap digital antenna.

I have a flat panel antenna that sits next to my TV and I can easily pick up WCSH 6, WMTW 8, WGME 13, WPXT 51, and WPME 35. Fox 23 I can't pull in, but might be able to if I had an outdoor mounted antenna.

Antenna's Direct is a great website that helps you select and will sell you the antenna that will work best for where you live. Just plug in your address and it will walk you through the steps you need to find the antenna you need to get the stations you want.

If you want to watch the local news, there's another option for that without cable or an antenna as well. WCSH 6, WMTW 8 and WGME 13 all stream their newscasts live on their websites. You can't watch it on your TV as easily and the quality isn't quite on par with the big services, but if you don't want the hassle of an antenna and just want to see the local news, the option is there.

How Do I Watch Sports?

Sports is still the big sticking point for some people cutting the cord. Want to watch the Red Sox? Nope. Even with a service like MLBTV, the Red Sox aren't available because of blackout restrictions. NESN owns the rights to broadcast the Sox and that's the only place you can watch them for now. The same goes for the Patriots, Celtics and Bruins. You can watch out of market teams on sports league streaming networks, but that's it.

ESPN is another network people wish they could get online, and you can. But you have to have a television subscription to make that happen.

Sorry sports fans. You'll need to keep the cord for now.

More Recommended Streaming Networks

HBO started a sort of cord cutting revolution of their own this year by releasing HBO Now. It's an HBO subscription for streaming only without needing a cable TV subscription. Everything on HBO made available on demand for $14.99 a month.

It's twice the cost of Hulu or Netflix, but it gives you some of the best shows and movies available. All episodes of Game of Thrones are available and other big HBO shows and more recent movies then you'll get on Netflix. You get your first month for free so I signed up and I'm loving it so far.

Here's a list of all the streaming services for my TV that I use regularly and what they cost.

• Netflix - Movies and TV - $7.99/month
• Hulu Plus - Movies and TV - $7.99/month
• HBO Now - Movies and TV - $14.99/month with first month free
• YouTube - Free
• Crackle - Movies and TV - Free with commercials
• Twitch - Video Games Live Streams - Free
• Google Play - Movies and TV - Rental or purchase with most TV shows the next day

There are competing services to some of these such as Amazon Prime which competes with both Netflix and Google Play. Again, do some research and find the service that's best for you, but I would still recommend beginning with Netflix and Hulu Plus as it will cover most of your TV watching needs.

Have you cut the cord? What do services and equipment do you use and what do you watch? Let us know in the comments below of on Facebook and Twitter @Q979.