10 Steps to Going Cable-Free with Fire TV

Did you know that a cord-hater is someone who dislikes paying for cable TV? That person may then become a cord-shaver, who takes steps to reduce her cable TV bill. Either way, that person can’t ever call herself a cord-never, which refers to those enviable (and probably very young) folks among us who’ve never had a cable TV subscription.

Step 1: Decide if you really want to cut the cord

To help you get to that level of certainty (if you’re not there already, that is; if you are, feel free to skip ahead to the next section), here’s a list of reasons why you may not want to cut cable from your life:

• You may not save as much money as you think. The main reason to get the cable company out of your life is to reduce that highway-robbery-like payment we all seem to fork over every month. However, although there are some free and inexpensive streaming options out there, to get the shows you and your family really want to watch, you usually have to pay for the privilege (particularly for popular services such as HBO and live sports).
• You may not be able to go bundle-free. One of the things that really irks most cable customers is wanting to watch a particular channel, but having to buy a “bundle” of five or six channels to get the one you want. Inevitably, those extra channels go unwatched, so it feels like you’re paying the total price of the bundle just for a single channel. Grr. Alas, I wish I could tell you that such bundles go out of your life when you cut the cord, but many streaming services pull the same stunt by hiding premium channels (such as HBO) with other offerings.

Some streaming services now offer what are known in the trade as skinny bundles, which include just a few channels, making them cheaper than the “fat” bundles offered by cable companies. The cord-cutter’s nirvana is à la carte service, where you get to select (and pay for) just the channels you want. Unfortunately, very few streaming services offer an à la carte option. One à la carte option you can check out is Amazon Prime Video Channels, which offers monthly subscriptions to individual channels such as HBO and Starz.

• You may not be able to go ad-free. Another thing that really sticks in the craw of most cable users is that we pay a queen’s ransom each month and we still have to watch way too many obnoxious ads. You may believe that banishing cable from your life comes with the bonus of an ad-free TV experience. Although it’s true that most streaming services don’t show ads, be warned that some do, especially free services. And just because a service is ad-free now, doesn’t mean it always will be. (Netflix, for example, has tested showing ads between episodes of TV shows.)
• Your TV life will become more complicated, not less. About the only good thing you can say about cable service is that it’s simple: You pay a single (exorbitant) fee each month, and your channels and apps come to you in a single package. That simplicity goes out the window when you cut the cord because now you have to set up separate accounts for each streaming service, pay separate bills, deal with multiple apps, learn a new interface for each app, and somehow remember which service provides which shows. Fire TV helps immensely by bringing everything together under one roof, but cable-free will always be more complicated than cable.

Unfortunately, the complication of going without cable is getting worse, not better. It seems that practically every week some big-time media company announces that it, too, is jumping on the streaming bandwagon with yet another service that wants to drain $5 or $10 (or more) from your bank account each month. It’s madness, but that’s life in the cable-free lane.

• Your Internet usage will skyrocket — and so may your bill. By definition, streaming media services are delivered to you through your Wi-Fi network’s Internet connection. And, also by definition, video streams such as TV shows and (especially) movies send massive amounts of data to your network. This is meaningless if you have an unlimited data usage plan with your Internet service provider (ISP), but if your ISP caps your monthly usage, going over that ceiling because you binge-watched Breaking Bad may cost you big bucks.
• Actually, your Internet bill will probably go up no matter what. If you’re like most people, you get your cable TV as part of a bundle that also includes Internet service. If you cut out the cable TV part so that you’re paying for just Internet service, you lose the bundle discount and your Internet bill goes up.
• The video quality may (not to put too fine a point on it) suck. Streaming video requires a fast Internet connection, although the required speed — measured in megabits per second, or Mbps — depends on the quality of the video stream:

If your Internet connection’s download speed can’t match these speeds, then you either need to try a lower-quality stream or put up with pauses while the content buffers, playback stutters, or poor video quality.

• You may have to wait a while before you can watch “new” TV shows. Not surprisingly, cable companies get first crack at new cable shows. Those shows may eventually get streamed on services such as Netflix, but it could be as much as a year later.
• Or you may never see “new” TV shows. Another aspect of the increasing complexity of the streaming universe is that many services are now spending zillions of dollars to create their own content. Think of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, House of Cards on Netflix, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime Video. It’s possible some of this content may be seen on other services, but the majority of it will stay within the “walled garden” of the original streaming service, meaning that if you don’t have a subscription for that service, then you don’t get to see the show.

Step 2: Make a list of your “must-see” shows (or not)

They didn’t try to clone their cable setup.

Yep, that’s it. Would-be cord-cutters often think they need to figure out a way to replicate their cable configuration using streaming services. And, yes, you can absolutely do that, but be forewarned that you’ll almost certainly end up paying just as much per month (and possibly more) as you currently do for cable, with the added inconvenience of juggling multiple services. Forget about it.

Instead, successful and happy cord-cutters travel one or the other of the following paths to post-cable satisfaction:

• Make a list (ideally, a very short one) of the shows or other content (such as live sports) that you can’t live without. Then figure out which streaming services offer those shows.

Getting your sports fix without cable is a tricky and usually very expensive proposition. Watching one or two sports without cable usually isn’t so bad, but sports junkies who want to watch everything are almost always better off sticking with a sports bundle offered by the cable company.

• Pick one or two streaming services that offer lots of content, knowing that, unless you’re extremely fussy about your entertainment, you’re always going to find something interesting or fun to watch. For example, a Netflix subscription combined with Amazon Prime Video (assuming you’re a Prime member) offers more movies and TV shows than you’ll ever be able to watch, all for just a small monthly amount.

Augment these streaming services with over-the-air live TV (see Step 4) for some news, sports, and perhaps a few primetime shows, and you’ve got the makings of a decent cable-free setup.

Step 3: Figure out what equipment you need

If your current modem/router is a cable company rental, then after you go sans cable, you’ll need to replace the device. Here are the main things to look for in a new modem/router:

• Make sure the modem is compatible with your ISP.
• Make sure the modem can support your Internet download speed. For example, a modem that can only support up to 250 Mbps is no good if you’re paying for 500 Mbps downloads.
• The faster the Wi-Fi speed the better, because your media streams have to get to your devices via your Wi-Fi network.
• Get a multi-band (for example, dual-band or tri-band) router, which enables the router to prioritize streaming content over other types of network traffic.

Step 4: Check what’s available over-the-air

What’s the cost? Well, aside from the cost of the antenna itself, OTA signals are absolutely free! What’s the catch? OTA signals can travel only a finite distance, so getting a strong signal depends on several factors:

• The strength of the original broadcast signal: Some stations (especially those associated with big-time networks) emit powerful signals that can travel long distances, but most signals don’t travel very far.
• Your location: If you live in a big city, you likely have quite a few stations broadcasting nearby; if you live in the country, most broadcasters are likely to be quite far away.
• The range of your antenna: Cheap indoor antennas have ranges of just a few miles, while expensive outdoor antennas can pick up signals 60 or 70 miles away.
• Large obstacles in the signal path: If tall buildings, big hills, or other large objects are between your antenna and a signal, the signal will be weaker than it would if no such objects were in the way.
• The direction of your antenna: Generally speaking, your antenna will be more likely to pick up an OTA signal if the antenna is pointed at the station broadcasting the signal.
• The phase of the moon: I jest, of course, but with the often mercurial nature of OTA signals, it sometimes feels like the moon or some other intangible force is messing with your TV-watching pleasure.

1. Select the Address radio button and then enter your location: street address, city, state or province, and zip or postal code. If you don’t want to provide your street address, you can select the Coordinates radio button and then enter your location’s latitude and longitude.

   To get your location’s latitude and longitude, use Google Maps to search for your location. Right-click the pin that appears on your location and then click What’s Here? in the shortcut menu. Google Maps displays a card at the bottom of the screen that includes, in order, your latitude and longitude.

2. Click Find Local Channels. TV Fool returns after a few seconds with the results, which will resemble those shown in the following figure. The radar chart on the left shows the direction for each signal, while the chart on the right shows the signals you can pick up from your location.

A typical broadcast channel report from TV Fool.

The signals are listed in descending order of strength and are color-coded as follows:

• Green: These signals are strong enough that you can probably pick them up using a simple indoor antenna.
• Yellow: These signals are less strong, so you may need a larger attic-mounted antenna to pick them up.
• Red: These signals are relatively weak, so you probably need a roof-mounted antenna to pick them up.
• Gray: These signals are probably too weak to pick up with even the most powerful antenna.

Step 5: Make a streaming budget

You’ve already made a list of your “must-see” shows (see Step 2), so now you need a second list that includes the monthly cost for each streaming service you want to use:

• General streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix
• Premium channel services, such as HBO and Starz
• Sports services, either channels such as ESPN or specific sports services such as MLB.TV and NFL Live

• If your Internet connection is currently bundled with your cable package, your Internet cost will rise without that bundle.
• If you already get Internet access from a provider other than your cable company, you may have to pay more to increase your monthly data usage to allow for your new streaming lifestyle.

Step 6: Subscribe to streaming services

Some services offer a discount if you pay for a longer-term subscription upfront. For example, a service that’s $9.99 per month may offer a 12-month subscription for $99. That’s like getting two months free, which is fine if you’re certain you’ll use the service for the next year. Because you’re just starting out, you really don’t have any way of knowing whether you’ll stick with any new streaming service for the long haul, so at least at first you’re better off signing up for month-to-month subscriptions. Then down the road, if you really like what a service has to offer, you can extend your subscription to get the discount.

If a streaming service has just one show you really want to watch, it doesn’t make economic sense to pay even a small monthly fee for years on end just to watch a single show. Instead, wait until the service offers the full season of the show. Then sign up for a subscription (ideally a free trial), binge-watch the entire season, and then cancel the subscription. Worst-case scenario: You see your show’s entire season for the cost of a month’s service.

Step 7: Set up Fire TV recast

Or, I should say, you can’t record anything unless you add Amazon’s Fire TV Recast to your entertainment system. Fire TV Recast is a DVR that enables you to watch and record over-the-air shows picked up by an HDTV antenna. It’s just the ticket if you hate having to watch live TV when it’s actually live.

Step 8: Put it all together with Fire TV

One of the main themes of this book is that you can greatly reduce the complexity of today’s media-streaming environment by bringing all your streaming services under the big tent of Fire TV. Sure, Fire TV is optimized for Amazon Prime Video (no surprise there), but having the likes of Netflix and YouTube (among many others) right there in the Fire TV interface is very convenient.

Step 9: Do a trial run

Sure, technically, you don’t have to physically unplug your cable connection. You can leave the cable where it is and just keep your television tuned to the Fire TV input source (switching as needed to the antenna input source, if you’re using an HDTV antenna for live TV and you don’t have a Fire TV Edition Smart TV). However, I think it’s better to yank that cable away from your TV because otherwise it’s just too easy and too tempting to switch over to the cable input source to catch the game or some other content that’s missing from the cable-free side of things.

During your trial run, feel free to sign up for tons of streaming services. In an ideal world, you’d only sign up for services that offer the first month (or whatever) free so that you’re not “double-dipping” by paying for both cable and non-cable services at the same time.

One hazard with trying out lots of streaming services is that you may lose track of one or two and end up paying for services you don’t want when the trial periods expire. To prevent such unwanted charges, for each service you sign up for, immediately cancel your account. Almost all streaming services will still give you full access until the end of the month, so you can continue your trial with no worries. If you decide you want to keep the service, you can reinstate your account.

Step 10: Say goodbye to your cable company

At long last, the day has come to (if I may paraphrase a famous line from the movie Apocalypse Now) terminate your cable account with extreme prejudice. You may hope at this point that a simple phone call will suffice, but is anything ever simple when it comes to the cable company? Don’t be silly.

• Before calling, check your contract to see if the cable company has the right to charge you a cancellation fee. Note that you may be able to get the cable company to reduce or waive that fee if you tell the representative that you’ll be staying with the company for Internet access.
• Before calling, sign in to your account and check your Internet data usage history. If you find that you’re consistently near the current usage cap, know that you’ll have to increase that ceiling if you plan on staying with the cable company for Internet access.
• Remind yourself that “conversations” with cable company employees are always frustrating, at best, and downright rage-inducing, at worst. This phone call will be no different, believe me.

Actually, this phone call will almost certainly be worse than usual because you’ll have to deal with a cable company denizen called the retention agent. As the name implies, that employee’s job is to retain you as a customer, and the lengths most retention agents usually go to keep you as a customer can be quite frustrating. My only advice is stick to your guns and don’t back down.

• Have all your account information (particularly your account number) handy.
• Have a pen and paper within reach to take notes during the phone call.
• Learn (and write down) the name of the rep who answers your call.
• Be prepared for a very long wait on hold. This is a tactic — the cable company hopes you’ll eventually hang up. Have a coffee and/or crossword puzzle handy to keep you occupied.
• If you plan on sticking with the cable company for Internet access, make sure you find out what an Internet-only account will cost you each month. Don’t be afraid to ask if the company currently has any deals for Internet access.
• Before hanging up, get the agent to confirm that your cable service is cancelled and that there will be no hidden or extra fees charged to you.
• If you have equipment to return (such as a set-top box and/or a modem), be sure to take it (or send it) back as soon as possible. Don’t give the cable company any excuse to ding you with “late fees” or other extra charges.