10 awesome (and not-so-awesome) things I learned while becoming a cord-cutter

After years of studying, analysis, and actually shut calls, I lastly made the plunge. I canceled my Comcast Triple Play bundle, disconnected the coaxial cables working throughout my home, and returned the containers I’ve been renting for the final two years. That’s proper, I’m formally a card-carrying cord-cutter.

I’m solely within the first few days of my new cord-free world, however I can already inform the highway forward can be equal elements shiny and bumpy. While I anticipated some separation nervousness after years of cable TV payments, I naively didn’t notice simply how totally different it will be with out Comcast or Cox or FiOS supplying the channels. I ended up selecting DirecTV Now for my streaming wants, however I researched and examined a few them earlier than deciding on it. Here are 10 issues I’ve realized to date:

Choosing a streaming TV service is actually arduous

Signing up for cable is comparatively simple. There are typically one or two suppliers with distinct pricing packages to select from, and choosing one merely relies on value and channels. That’s not the case with reside TV streaming packages. Channel choices are all over, and also you’ll must make an inventory of those you may and may’t reside with out.

For me and my household, the must-haves included Food Network, AMC, Nickelodeon, Disney, and FX, and it wasn’t simple to search out one which had all of them. At the time, DirecTV Now match the invoice, however that’s not the case anymore, so fortunately I’m grandfathered into the package deal I picked. But it’s greater than seemingly that you just’ll must sacrifice a favourite channel or two if you decide on a streaming TV package deal.

Your invoice actually will go down

Our resident OG cord-cutter Jared Newman usually rails in opposition to the argument that streaming is dearer than cable as a result of proliferation of paid providers, and he’s proper.

Yes, when you subscribe to each service, your streaming invoice can be greater than your cable one, however the fantastic thing about wire slicing is that you just solely pay for what you want every month. I used to be already subscribing to Netflix, HBO, and Hulu below my Comcast plan, so even with upgrading my web service from 250Mbps to 1Gbps and including DirecTV Now, I minimize my invoice by round $50 a month.

Prices, channels will change with out warning

Less than 24 hours after I signed up for DirecTV Now, the worth modified. By so much. My package deal elevated by 25 %, from $40 a month to $50 a month, and the add-on HBO choice rose from $5 to $15. All mentioned, my month-to-month invoice elevated by $20 in simply 24 hours. Thankfully I’m in a position to hold the channels in my package deal, but when I had signed up only a day later, I wouldn’t have gotten any of the channels I needed; specifically, AMC, Nickelodeon, and Food Network. I’m used to cable altering packages and upping costs, but it surely’s surprising that AT&T raised it a lot and took away so many very important channels directly.

The information is actually good

I believed the toughest factor for me to surrender once I dumped my cable containers could be  the programming information. I typically spend quite a lot of time shopping channels to search out one thing to look at, and I feared the streaming TV service’s person interface and expertise could be lower than nice, leaving me to rely by myself gadgets. I used to be incorrect. The streaming providers I attempted out all had wonderful guides with giant previews, channel icons, and nice navigation. I missed such options as the flexibility to mechanically tune to a channel when one thing begins, which I had with the Comcast person interface, and I form of choose the previous UI, however general, I take pleasure in shopping now simply as a lot as I did with cable.