I just found out that Charter will probably be able to service the place I'm moving into, which is the only "High Speed" option in Hood River available not named Century Link, which for some reason tops out at 5 mb/s. The only thing that was keeping me from cutting the cord, was when I thought I could only get 5 mb/s, so now I find myself 90% sure I will ditch Dish. Any pointers on a good outdoor OTA antenna? Or general things I might be overlooking? Being 60 miles out of Portland leads me to believe I need a pretty decent antenna. etc. Thanks!
You can use the tools here to determine which type of antenna you need. When I cut the cord I also built an HTPC with dual tuners. If you have an old Windows 7 machine, Windows Media Center has built in guide info which works perfectly for this task. There's also other options which don't require a Windows install for PVR like XBMC. If going the computer route for TV is not your thing. There are alternatives made by companies like Tivo and Channel Master. Most of them have monthly subscriptions fees though (which I presume is the reason you cut Dish). Here's a decent article on those alternatives.
Thanks Bob! I had no idea OTA DVR's were a thing. Which is cool! A monthly subscription doesnt bother me much. Its just amounts of Cable. When I started thinking how almost $1500 a year, to watch Sports 3 months out of the year that I couldnt get online, was kinda ridiculous. (I can get Timbers on MLS subscription, and Blazers havent been an option for a while anyway) the new tivo DVR with 4 tuners seems nice, as a lot of the time a show I want to record, and one the Mrs wants to record, are on at the same time.
Glad to help. Let me know if you have any questions as I currently have "whole home" DVR using an antenna, PC and several Xbox 360's. I can pause in one room, finish in another, etc. There's advantages to going the computer right too, like streaming Blazer games to your TV.
sounds like it. But I'm done with Cable TV. Waaaay too much money for 1 out of every 15 channels with anything I would watch. I might look into NBA LP and use a VPN
