- Get household approval. Everywhere you look on the internet will suggest this as the first step, and it's an important one. My wife was completely on board so this was a simple step for me.
- Decide on equiptment & services you plan to use. This is probably the step that requires the most pre-planning. There are a wide variety of devices designed to get content into your house.
- When it comes to services, there is free and paid content. The two services I pay for are Netflix and Hulu+ (link for 2 free weeks). Between these two we have tons of television and movie content available instantly.
- I decided on using a Roku XDS for our bedroom tv. I liked the Roku device because of it's simplicity. It is probably one of the easiest electronic devices to use that I own. The XDS is the most expensive of their models, but the only one with an SD card slot for playback. In addition to Netflix and Hulu+ the Roku has a great deal of built in free content. Crackle, Revision3, CNetTV, AlJazeera, HGTV, Food Network Nighttime, NHL, UFC, and Pandora are just a few of the available channels.
- The Xbox 360 could be one of the best media center boxes available for cord cutters. With the recent addition of Hulu+, you also have access to Netflix, and it's one of the only devices that supports ESPN3. I have my Xbox on my living room tv along with a media pc.
- Speaking of ESPN3, TWC does not allow non-cable subscribers to use ESPN3. Nor do they even allow subscribers to use ESPN3 on the 360. Therefore I also got rid of TWC High Speed and moved over to Windstream DSL. It is not as fast but is actually cheaper and we have had no trouble with using the Xbox and Roku at the same time. I get about 6.5mbps with Windstream vs 12mbps I had with TWC. FiOS is not available where I live and Comporium hasn't made it to my side of town yet either.
- Research & set up an antenna for over the air channels. This for me was the most difficult part of this process. I was able to get some great help over at TvFool. Their site is very helpful for seeing what channels are available for your location and the site Forums are extremely helpful.
- My setup includes a 12ft antenna that was left by the previous owners of this house. Instead of placing it on the roof of the house, I have put it in the attic. The cable running from the antenna actually goes directly to the TWC box ouside of the house where it splits off to all of the TVs in the house. This amp is need in order to pick up everything throughout the house. Some basic cable management was also very helpful. The 4 diffrent cable splitters used by TWC were replaced by a single 8-way splitter. I also picked up some F-Terminators to put on any unused outlets.
- I now pick up about 17 digital channels. 15 of those are in HD. NBC, CBS, FOX, ETV, ABC, MyNetworkTV, & CW included.
The one thing many people have concern with is sports programming. ESPN3 is a must. Also think about the sports you watch and how many are available free anyways via OTA network channels. When it comes to watching sports for me, I mostly watch soccer. So the adjustment for me is not hard at all. Football season will be interesting, but if nothing else it will give me a reason to find a decent sports bar to watch the games in. I don't think I will miss much during that season either though.
Overall, the initial setup process ran me somewhere between $200 and $300. My monthly savings is around $85. The process does have an additional added benifit as well. We don't find ourselves watching as much crap television. We watch what we want to watch and don't find ourselves watching junk just because it's on.
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