r/cordcutters

A handful of friends of mine cut the cord last year and switched to antennas. One bought a smaller flat antenna and wedged it behind his TV. He’s getting over 30 channels. They both struggled selling the merits of their antennas and mine, but another friend who lives in quite a larger house, who purchased the same small flat antenna we had and he only received 10 channels. Another friend built a four-bay bowtie antenna from copper wire and a wood frame (that’s a lot of legwork!) and claims it pulls in stations from 60 miles away! He also scored a matching transformer from Alibaba for a couple bucks and the quality is just…fine. They all agree that the direction of the antenna toward the broadcast towers via compass app is essential. They aren't too sure about grounding for lightning protection. Does a metal roof negate reception completely, or should you simply try two antennas and combine them with a splitter/joiner of different directions? Have you had luck with rotators? Do you have some antenna hacks laying around for fringe areas?

I’m trying to figure out the best option for watching the 2026 World Cup, but the streaming situation is a little confusing.

From what I’ve seen, FOX One should have the English coverage, Peacock should have the Spanish/Telemundo coverage, and I’ve also seen DAZN mentioned for some FIFA stuff, so I’m not totally sure what the best route is.

For anyone who watches a lot of live sports, what would you go with? FOX One, Peacock, YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu Live, or something else?

Main things I care about are stream stability, low delay, good picture quality, and being able to watch replays/highlights without too much hassle.

Appreciate any advice from people who’ve used these platforms before.

I began using Plex recently because I'm getting tired of all the price hikes with Netflix etc. and wanted to start building a personal media library to stream. I set it up and have been enjoying how easy it was to set up and stream, and have been considering getting the lifetime pass. $250 seemed a little steep so I was planning on waiting for Black Friday to see if there'd be a discount, but with the recent developments it seems like now or never for the lifetime pass.

To be honest, given how much I like Plex $250 would probably be worth it, assuming they continue honoring/supporting it, but I've been seeing rumblings that this is a sign they're looking to end the lifetime pass, which would obviously be a bummer to spend $250 for a year or two of service. I've seen Jellyfin mentioned as an alternative, but it seems like it's not as simple to just set up and stream to a phone or tv (we use Chromecasts). Emby is another option I've seen mentioned, which seems like it has better streaming support for TVs and apps, and has a lifetime pass that's half of Plex's.

So I'm wondering has anyone used multiple of these services? For ease of use which is the best? And which has the most stable looking future ahead?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I think I’m finally ready to pull the trigger. Once the NBA finals are done, I’m pausing all of my paid streaming subscriptions. This isn’t really about money, though that’s always a bonus. It’s more about being deliberate with how and what I watch.

For context, I currently subscribe to DirecTV Choice (mainly for RSNs), Netflix Premium, Disney+/Hulu bundle (BF no ads deal), HBO Max (BF w/ads deal), Peacock Premium Plus, and Paramount+ Premium.

Over time, I’ve built up a physical media collection of 500+ titles, plus a digital library of 200+ movies and shows that I’ve already paid for and honestly haven’t been tapping into nearly enough. At this point, it doesn’t make much sense to keep paying for rotating streaming services when I already own more content than I can realistically get through.

So my plan for the summer is to work through my Blu-ray/4K collection and digital purchases. If necessary, I’ll lean into FAST services like Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel for movies, older shows, and local/national news highlights. The only service I’ll subscribe to all summer is the Gotham Sports app through Prime Video for Yankees coverage. I may add a Prime Video Channel or two if there are any worthwhile Prime Day discounts in June but only if there’s something specific I actually want to watch. I may also grab a Sling weekly pass for Wimbledon in July. Other than that, the goal is to keep streaming to a minimum.

Has anyone else here has done something similar, especially during the summer when there usually isn’t a ton of major new content dropping. Did you stick with it beyond just a few months? Ideally, I’d like to get to the point where I’m rotating services more intentionally, preferably one or two at a time vs stacking them several months at a time. My only real concern is NFL season. The rights situation across broadcast, cable, and streaming services is honestly ridiculous at this point. But I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.

I cut cable to save money, but now streaming is starting to feel like the same problem in a different form.Every platform has one or two shows that make it feel worth keeping, but not enough that I want to pay for all of them every month.I’m trying to keep one “main” service and rotate the rest only when there’s something specific I want to watch.For people who have been cordcutting for a while, how do you choose?

I currently have a flat antenna mounted with stickers on the window of my sliding glass door to my lanai/balcony.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an antenna that I can mount inside my lanai (not outside... damn HOA!) that is strong enough for ~ 70mile range?

----EDIT----

Silicon Dust Posted below with some great information that sheds light on the issue I am having with the Extend. It likely is just a bad power adapter that died after years of use. They have offered to repair my Connect 4k at no cost. I didn't know repair was even an option. Im seeing why people have good things to say about Silicon dusts customer service. I'm wishing that I had called them, though rather than doing email support.

-----

Have HD Homerun devices been reliable for you? I'm 2 for 2 with them failing under optimal conditions. What are some good alternatives?

I have owned two HD Home Run devices. HD Home Run Extend, and Connect 4k. They both failed. Connected to different antennas in different houses, both on double online conversion UPSs, providing consistent, clean power isolated from the grid, along with my server. Both in cool clean, dry environments.

I bought the Connect 4K on Kickstarter. When I received it, I was super busy with work and family, and I installed it after the 2-year warranty was up. It failed in less than a month, can't tune into any channels.

I'm seeing that ALL CONNECT 4K AND FLEX 4K UNITS HAVE A DESIGN FLAW AND WILL FAIL NOT IF BUT WHEN.

In this situation, when the product is known to be faulty, why doesn't Silicon Dust extend the warranty?

Come aplificare segnale tv

Buonasera a tutti, avrei bisogno di consigli, come aplificare il segnale della TV, ho un problema con alcuni canali che non si vedono e altri non li trova proprio, mi è stato già detto dagli altri condomini che è un problema di antenna troppo vecchia, di comprare un antenna da interno, in commercio ho visto che vendono anche un aplificatore che si chiama metronic, quale è meglio comprare ? Grazie a chi mi risponderà

https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2688649

Hello, I am currently trying to search for a good antenna for my situation. Currently I have this antenna. It picks up some stations fine (NBC, KTLA) but struggles to get some other stations (especially ABC, FOX, sometimes CBS) and often I have to fiddle with its wires a lot to get any signal from those channels at all, which often is only temporary. I also tried a rabbit ears antenna, the RCA ANT121E, which had significantly worse signal. I tried using this amplifier with it, but it didn't do much. I'm hoping to find an antenna that would work good for the currently unstable channels that's also as cheap as possible, ideally under 30 or 40 dollars. An outdoor antenna is not possible. Thank you!

Anyone in Olathe / south Johnson County seeing weaker OTA reception on FOX 4 lately?

My setup hasn’t changed, but WDAF used to come in around 30 dB SNR and now it’s more like 24 dB or less. CBS/KCTV, ABC and NBC are all still 33-35 dB on the same antenna/setup.

Wondering if FOX changed something transmission-wise or if this is just a seasonal/multipath issue on RF 34. It’s mostly watchable but does have some occasional pixelation.

I realize that there is a split between tbs, abc, hbo. But will any service have all remaining playoff games?

Here's my rabbitears report. https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2687593

Just got my grandparents a hisense tv w/ built-in firetv to replace their old cable setup. The TV’s great, but they’re still not super used to how it works lol.

They’re slowly figuring out Netflix, YouTube, and pluto TV, but I’m curious, for those of you who switched older relatives to streaming, do you still keep cable around? Or is going fully streaming fine?

https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2686607

Older parents want to save on cable and ended up buying a newer model TV (the kind running on Roku) as an upgrade since their current one is fully incompatible with the types of antennae and internet connections needed for this kind of setup. Been trying various antennae and scanning options which gives us channels but nothing local (I.e. we’re not getting our state/county’s news channels, our region’s ABC broadcast, etc.). Very difficult trying to explain to my father that these services we’re using so far are still live channels, just not the ones directly in our area or region’s network.

Are there any services that show local stations? Roku’s LiveTV service only delivers what I mentioned above and I don’t know which (if any) streaming subscriptions offer this feature. Any specific antenna recommendations also work as well, thank you.

Edit: I can’t respond to all the comments but thank you all for your input, greatly appreciated. I think my folks got a new router and have a friend coming in to help install everything with a new antenna and some instructions. I’ll keep everything yall are saying in mind; again thank you for your help!