Free to Air satellite. Does anyone use this?

[wendymac]

Hi all. We are planning to cancel our Shaw subscription and use FTA satellite instead. I've provided links to some of the information I've found on the channels that are free, including PBS, Retro TV and a few other interesting ones. I was wondering if anyone here has made a similar move and, if so, can you tell me how you like it...what you did, etc.? I'll make sure to post my own experience. Oh...and the first link was particularly valuable to me because it allows people to sort the channels by the language in which they are broadcast.

http://www.ftalist.com/index.php http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/index.html http://www.incrediblefta.com/channels/

[dyalect]

OTA - antennae works pretty good. You get the basic cable channels depending on where you live. FTA is satellite service and is quite pricey, but you do get alot of content. The only issue is the cost and the receiver getting zapped all the time. Do your homework and make sure you get something reliable and is going to last!

[blackstaffer]

I use OTA in Toronto and get like 30 channels. Strangely the US channels have a lot better signal than those broadcast out of Toronto

[jasperandchar]

FTA satellite can be quite expensive the boxes themselves range in price but they do go down very often sometimes more than once in a week. And if you are going to pay someone to do the programming it can really add up quickly. You can program yourself it will take a while to get a hang of it but again FTA can be down for days. I used to do FTA, did it for 2 years then bell changed to smart cards and well game over FTA boxes were no more good and I believe I paid $200 the 1st time to purchase the box with the initial programming and then had to pay $50 a pop to get it programmed, quickly learned how to program myself in the end much cheaper than bell, however, a lot of downtimes just my personal opinion best of luck with your decision.

[kerrylj]

I have an antenna and get the Free to air shows as well as watching shows online.

It is a god option for people close to the US to get a range of channels

[princessjen]

We used to use FTA satellite. It was great when it worked, got tons of movie channels, but when down every couple of days. Sometimes it would be a while before a fix would come along. I do miss it, but I don't miss programming the card every couple of days, that was a pain in the butt.

[anisa]

OTA with a digital antenna might get less channels, but you might also find yourself weaning off of watching TV when fewer channels are available.

You could end up watching less TV and like it. We went OTA over a year ago and I don't miss all the extra channels we had with Rogers.

The antenna was a one time cost of $80, no fussing with anything after it is installed.

[wendymac]

Thanks so much for the feedback. It really helps to have real world experiences rather than sales hype. You guys and gals are the best!

[kerrylj]

Here are links with figures of people who are ditching cable

http://o.canada.com/discussions/cutting-the-cord

and this one is recent

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cord...ines-1.2601373

I have not had cable in 21 years and ditched the landline for a magicjack and a cellphone (as well as better internet with teksavvy) 3 years ago I pay less than $60/ month for all of it

[anisa]

^ Would love your input on Teksavvy. I use MagicJack as well... great minds I tell ya! lol

What have been the pros and cons you have experienced?

I have Rogers for internet, I know, bad on me.

[kerrylj]

If you have a magicJack you have to have a cell phone or some alternative to call for help if the internet has issues. Even an old cell that can be used for emergency calling is adequate.

We ended up upgrading from the lower type of internet to the higher service because the magicjack need more upload to get decent service for calling. we ended up going from the 15/1 to the 25/10 service with teksavvy and it was a world of difference. It does mean a new modem that you basically have to get from them so the fees to make that move was around $200 for the hook-up and new modem.

My kids and can skype, download, stream etc and the speed is great. I am just finishing off my diploma I am taking online and I had no problem doing the video conferencing I needed to do in my program for my courses.

I prefer the teksavvy over the cable because there are not the slowdowns during certain times of day you apparently get with cable. Also I would not have anything to do with Rogers unless they are the last company on the planet and then I would still hesitate. (had issues with them trespassing on my property and damaging my home installing equipment on my house when I was never a customer and not repairing it)

I love the magicjack. My number is unlisted so the telemarketing has stopped. My old number was one different than Tim Hortons....so no more hang-up calls because the person miss-dialed.

At this point we hardly use the antenna for TV because I can get everything I want online.

A website that is great for TV shows is http://watch-series-tv.to/

It has a far better selection that Netflix had. I am sure that they will try and get rid of it but so far they haven't been able to. It is all streaming links so no downloads

One word to the wise. If you plan on downloading movies etc. Make sure you have adequate virus protection. I rarely download because I have had problems with malware and it take so much time fixing when you get some on the computer. I have one computer I use for potentially hazardous download so I can just wipe it if there is a problem. My oldest is in the field of internet security now and some of the stuff freaks me out......

[frugallegemom]

I have cable again, after a 4 year hiatus.

ONLY because it was actually $10 cheaper per month to take the Cable and unlimited Internet than it was to stay on Unlimited Internet alone - after haggling with customer retention. I have been happy with cable actually. It's basic but I really like having the news on TV. That's about all I missed though because we still stream a lot.

If you're techie, and into A LOT of gaming, movies, shows, and music I would consider building a Home Theatre PC. If not, I'd say get an Android Box. We never did but it's because I was torn between building a HTPC and getting the box. But even then - with no Android box we still had lots of options. We streamed Netflix, Shomi, Rogers Anywhere TV and YouTube on the Xbox. Otherwise, we streamed via a HDMI cable plugged from the computer to TV from other streaming sites (or one could download but that's controversial territory here lol).

We did have a 4 Bay antenna and another digital antenna but they each only get about 11 channels from where we live.

[kerrylj]

If anyone wants to know what channels they can get in their area this site has a list of the channels by area and how high the antenna needs to be

http://tvfool.com/

[pointsguy]

Do anyone here use Netflix?

[blackstaffer]

I do pointsguy