Leaving cable for Netflex??

[pampam]

I see on other boards that others have done this, but I'm not sure what the Canadian experience would be. On other boards they mention Hulu, etc. We like things to be simple. With cable, I turn on the tv and channel up or down with the remote. Is it that simple with Netflix? Would I regret cancelling the cable? I sure would like to get rid of the monthly $60.00 bill.

 

[Northstar]

Would you regret cancelling the cable? Depends on what you like to watch.

If you want sports, Netflix won't cut it.

If you want to watch current season episodes of your favourite shows, Netflix won't have them. However, if you can get Internet on your TV screen, you can often go to the network's web site and watch episodes a few days after they aired. (I know "get Internet on your TV screen" is a dumb way to say this, but my DH is my tech wizard and he was the one who configured the Wii and Playstation to... well, get Internet on our TV screen).

My family got Netflix last year and that's all we watch these days. The selection of movies is good (not great, but good). The selection of old season TV shows is TOO good... my DH and DD are driving me nuts watching whole seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Community, and Breaking Bad in marathon TV viewing sessions.

Why not activate the free trial month of Netflix and try to use only that for a month? If you're happy with what they have, then cancel your cable.

 

[gilsan]

We have been debating about cancelling cable too. I think we will be doing that it is rare we watch anything on live tv anymore. We do use a service that is a DNS proxy, http://www.unblock-us.com/, which makes our IP look like we are in the US. US netflix is much better than Canadian. We also subscribe to HULU for $4.99 a month.

 

[coastgirl]

We have both, Netflix is pretty cheap. Depends on what you watch, as others have said. We watch a lot of PBS, Food network, Discovery--Netflix isn't filling the tv niche for us, though ds is in the middle of, like, 40 episodes of "Ironman". Annoying that so many movies on the US version aren't available to us. I have been meaning to try one of those thingies that change your IP, not sure if it would be easy to make it work through the wii. For $8 a month or whatever it is, it's a supplement.

Xbox charges you an extra $10 a month or something like that for "xbox live" to access netflix. We dragged the wii up from the family room so we didn't have to pay the extra.

 

[Canooknic]

We wouldn't be able to just watch NetFlix. If they eventually provide the same service as US then I might consider it but not right now. There aren't enough 'new' things added regularly yet

 

[iwasthatguy]

you can use un-blockus. they show you how set it up for x box wii or ps3 and its very easy.plus they have a 7 day free trial

 

[coastgirl]

you can use un-blockus. they show you how set it up for x box wii or ps3 and its very easy.plus they have a 7 day free trial

Thanks for that! I will check it out...

 

[mamaCta]

All of the networks have most of their shows online. We went for two years netflix and streaming. We recently added back a $25 package with Shaw Cable just to give us some filler channels.

There are also a lot of grey market options available for other shows. (Private message me if you want some help in this area)

 

[mkmommy]

We like things to be simple. With cable, I turn on the tv and channel up or down with the remote. Is it that simple with Netflix? Would I regret cancelling the cable? I sure would like to get rid of the monthly $60.00 bill.

No, it is not that simple, my husband is in IT so he has it set up some mysterious way that never works for me, and it drives me nuts trying to get the PC to start up and Netflix to work.

My husband and kids don't seem to mind, but it does annoy me, so I just don't watch TV.

 

[RainbowsMist]

We dropped ours back in January... NO regrets at all. We use the unblock on the Xbox and PC's...but most times we just download shows/movies and watch via HDMI on our TV. Come NFL time we'll have to figure out something though but an extra $80 in my pocket is better than theirs for now!


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[stefanospops]

Another vote here for unblock-us. The service basically tricks websites into thinking you are in the US even though you are in Canada. This is useful for us because it lets us get the US Netflix that has far more content. You can also get Hulu, a service that provides a lot of TV content too.

Not sure where you are located, but next time you are in the US consider getting a Roku. They have them in Canada too, but if you buy it here then you will only get Canadian content even with Unblock-us. Buying it in the US lets you get the US content. A Roku is a device that lets you easily access netflix and hulu without the need to turn on a PC. Just plug it into your network and your tv and it is as simple as using a remote control.

We upgraded our internet service through Bell to have unlimited bandwidth so we don't care how much we stream. There are also other companies out there like teksavvy, distributel, primus and others that also offer unlimited internet. Good luck!

 

[bdoyledimou]

keep in mind that unless you have unlimited internet -- this is NOT going to be cheap --- your internet over charges will be huge.. we use about 25 GB per day with Netflix and Hulu -- rogers and bell generally top out at 125 GB per month.

Check out Teksavvy or Start.ca

 

[KNovacovschi]

I work for a cable company and would not suggest dropping cable for Netflix, if anything maybe just downgrade to basic. That way if you don't like Netflix no fees to restart your cable service. Also yes Netflix has some good stuff but not as great as the states & no current seasons. It also does use your Internet usage really quickly so if you choose to do that I would perhaps look into what Internet packages your provider has available, don't forget if you watch videos online such as YouTube & torrent sites they use your bandwidth as well so it will all add up really quickly.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[coastgirl]

Stephanopops, does the roku work with unblock us or does it replace the need for it?

 

[minnie56]

Netflix sure wouldn't be enough at my house!
We have satellite-Netflix and Apple TV. Jump between them all..

IMO Netflix in Canada at least has the least to offer.

 

[Terapin]

We cancelled cable about 3 months ago and will likely never go back.

We have 3 kids who are tv addicted and it was a lifestyle change. However, they still watch tv and have no complaints, which I wasn't expecting.

We have netflix and use unblockus for access to the better US netflix. Very easy - except my Apple tv had to be reset with US settings too, as did my apple account in order to buy things from itunes on the tv. But once that was done it has been easy. We splurge on the occasional purchased rental.

We had satellite tv and have saved about $90/month. I hated that we were spending about $1000/year for stupid tv.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Stephanopops, does the roku work with unblock us or does it replace the need for it?

roku works with it -- but you need to configure your router, as the roku does not have the option to modify dns.

 

[brighteyes]

I tried to use the unblock us site for a week and never had any success accessing the US netflix. I have a smart tv and it is already configured with netflix and it's own netflix button on my remote. Although I changed the IP address on my router, the canadian netflix still came up through my tv.

DOes anyone know how to change this. I also cannot seem to get my wii working with my smart tv. It seems my new smart tv is too smart for me

Can anyone help?? I would really love to drop cable.

 

[OntFamily]

Hi


When switching from Canadian Netflix to US Netflix ( via Unblock) you have to log off Canadian Netflix, activate Unblock, and then relog into Netflix. This works for me.

 

[Malakaiii]

We also use Netflix with the Unblock-us on our router. My husband is in IT so he set it up with no hassle whatsoever. We didn't have cable prior to that, though. TV is awful now anyway! I can't believe what it costs to watch reruns and terrible new shows. We mostly watch movies (documentaries mostly) and the few good shows you can't get with regular cable anyway (like Mad Men)

Hulu is great for watching shows that are on TV right now, and if you use Unblock-us on your router, that will work for you too.

My husband watches the occasional hockey game, streaming online. It works great!

I could see all this tv-via-internet being a problem if you don't have unlimited internet. But with all the money you'll save on cable TV, an upgrade to your internet is worth it!