Over the air TV?

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mimico_polak

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Hey guys, so Rogers decided to up my price this year and I've had it with them. Just cancelled the tv package, and now am reading the other thread on selecting and internet provider.

Anyone try these antennas for over the air? I live in a small building near the water facing the CN tower. Any recommendations?
 
Do you have cable internet? I read somewhere recently one guy plugged the coax cable internet cord into the back of his TV and got 25 or so channels, some in HD. If that works I don't know if a splitter would give both internet and TV signals. I had an OTA antenna for a little bit but couldn't pick anything meaningful up where I live (Kingston) but I have heard that you might be able to get reception help from signals off the CN tower.
 
Whenever Rogers raises my bills after the discount periods expire (every year). I call them to complain and they always put me back on a billing rate close to what I was paying. Otherwise you can try an HD antenna Ajaxantenna.com
 
I cut the cable two years ago (Cogeco) and switched to OTA antenna. Could not be happier and am still 100% satisfied with the decision.

I have one antenna in my attic facing the US (Buffalo area). With that, I receive...

- NBC
* Antenna TV (Kinda like DejaView)
- CBS
- CBC
- ABC
- CTV
- CHCH
- PBS
- TVO
- The CW
- SRC
- FOX
* The Country Network (Country music station)
- CTV Two
- CTS
- OMNI.2
- Global
- OMNI.1
- MyTV
- CityTV

All in uncompressed HD and DD5.1 (except the * stations). OTA paired with Netflix has been perfect (Netflix has really improved their Canadian library recently). I watch MotoGP using BBC iPlayer online with a UK proxy.

The only people who might not like OTA are those who watch a lot of sports, since you can't get specialty channels like TSN, Sportsnet, etc. So you're stuck with whatever games the local stations get.

If you want to see what your reception will be like, go here and fill in your address: http://tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29 It will output a chart and list of channels you'll be able to receive.
 
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Let me know if you want to drop by on the weekend, I'll show you how good the OTA is. 4-bay antenna in the window and you'll probably be set with a whole lot of channels.
 
Sweet thanks for the quick responses guys!

ICE - tried that and they offered to lower my bill, but then it was still higher than before.
Viper - PM sent

I'm sure they'll end up calling eventually but in the end I found I spent too much time watching BS TV anyway so it's for the best. Hell I got back into reading again and love it so can do that more now that the weather's gone to hell.
 
I ditched cable TV well over a decade ago. Life much improved. I have easy online access to all the shows I want to watch in HD and watch less TV overall. No more wasting hours away channel surfing aimlessly, no more commercials and no cable TV bill. The only downside is that I watch less news and I'm slower to be informed of what's going on in pop culture. I wouldn't really call this a "downside" though.
 
I may be going off-line myself as the new house I built is below a big wooded hill which is right where the satellite dish (no cable out my way) would have to point. I'd need to cut out a swath of trees to get a signal. I only got satellite a few years ago when the kids wanted more TV options. I didn't miss it before, but I would probably feel a loss after having it for the last 5 years or so. Also, an antenna would probably need to be mounted up on the hill to receive anything, so I may be fooked for OTA as well.
 
AF4iK said:
I ditched cable TV well over a decade ago. Life much improved. I have easy online access to all the shows I want to watch in HD and watch less TV overall. No more wasting hours away channel surfing aimlessly, no more commercials and no cable TV bill. The only downside is that I watch less news and I'm slower to be informed of what's going on in pop culture. I wouldn't really call this a "downside" though.
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How do you watch tv in HD now ? or gain access to any show you want ?
 
infernobuster said:
How do you watch tv in HD now ? or gain access to any show you want ?
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TV in HD? Whatever is available in HD on OTA is much better quality than Rogers and Bell, because Rogers/Bell signal is highly compressed and OTA is almost uncompressed. Any show you want - old ones are on Netflix, many new ones are on their channels' websites, and if you're desperate, on torrents.
 
imnothng said:
Why say that? Download them and watch them WHENEVER you want. They won't stay on Netflix forever.
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Why say that? Maybe because it's illegal. The fact that 'everyone does it' does not make it any more 'right' than 'wrong'.
 
ViperZ said:
Why say that? Maybe because it's illegal. The fact that 'everyone does it' does not make it any more 'right' than 'wrong'.
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It's illegal to download TV shows? Interesting..... I have yet to see one of those FBI warning things before Breaking Bad.
 
imnothng said:
It's illegal to download TV shows? Interesting..... I have yet to see one of those FBI warning things before Breaking Bad.
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I guess you haven't been paying attention then

7wFQU.jpg
 
infernobuster said:
How do you watch tv in HD now ? or gain access to any show you want ?
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kellen said:
torrents...
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ViperZ said:
TV in HD? Whatever is available in HD on OTA is much better quality than Rogers and Bell, because Rogers/Bell signal is highly compressed and OTA is almost uncompressed. Any show you want - old ones are on Netflix, many new ones are on their channels' websites, and if you're desperate, on torrents.
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^ All of the above. Many streaming sites also have HD content. ICE Films used to be good for this until Megaupload was taken down.

ViperZ said:
Why say that? Maybe because it's illegal. The fact that 'everyone does it' does not make it any more 'right' than 'wrong'.
Click to expand...

Not that I care but, if you're worried about legality then limit your downloading to shows that are available OTA.
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