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Stuart Sweet
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
· posted in The Solid Signal Blog
Is cutting the cord something you've considered? If so, don't let these six totally untrue cord-cutting myths keep you from enjoying free HDTV.

Before we get into the myths, it's best to define what cord-cutting is. At Solid Signal, cutting the cord is using an over-the-air TV antenna to replace subscription cable TV. The broadcast spectrum is a public trust, which allows TV stations to use it for profit as long as it's done for the public's benefit. What this means is that free over-the-air TV will always be available in every media market. Once you buy a TV antenna, receiver, and other equipment, it could be the last time you'll have to pay for TV. This equipment receives most or all free TV transmissions from your local stations. In these budget-conscious times, cutting the cord is a great way for anyone to save money.

Cord-cutting isn't just streaming


A lot of people use the term "cord cutting" to mean getting rid of the pay-TV company and just going to streaming. Let's be honest. You're just trading one cord for another when you do that. I'm not saying you should get rid of your internet connection. You wouldn't do it anyway. I'm just saying that if you really want to stop paying for TV, get an antenna from Solid Signal. Now, as far as those myths:

Fear of the Unknown…


While cord-cutting is a huge money saver, the idea of "going cordless" can be scary to some people. Since the 1980s, most Americans believe the cable TV monopoly is their only option. Some of these folks grumble about the monthly cost of cable but few do anything to change that. When presented with the option of cutting the cord – which has always been available – the possibility of change scares them. As a result, they sometimes come up with these myths to justify their decision to stick with cable. This is highly regrettable.

Here are six huge myths about cutting the cord, and the reasons why none are true:

1. "I Don't Know What the Best TV Antenna is?"


Your cord-cutting journey begins with getting a TV antenna, and it's natural to want the best. The thing is, there's no such thing as "the best" TV antenna. If there were, it would be the only TV aerial in our online inventory. There's a reason why we carry a huge variety of indoor and outdoor TV antennas. It's so we have the best aerial for each individual installation.

The TV antenna you need depends upon a few factors. The biggest one is how far you live from your local broadcast towers. The signal direction and overall terrain of your immediate area are also important. These details help determine which antenna is best for you. If you're not a TV antenna expert, you can turn to Solid Signal for help. Just call us at 888-233-7563. Our antenna experts will recommend the TV antenna that's right for you.

2. "It's Too Hard to Install a TV Antenna"


This is so untrue that it's not even funny. Many people who buy a TV aerial from Solid Signal ends up installing the device themselves. Sure, some of them turn to us for guidance, but we're happy to help. We have many online tutorials that take you through the installation process. We'll also show you how install wiring through the house and to your receiver.

If you're struggling with one of our guides, you can call us. One of our antenna experts will walk you through the process step by step over the phone. Everyone at Solid Signal wants to make sure that you get to enjoy free HDTV. In worst-case-scenario, we can match you with a professional installer in your area. This person will come to your home and do the job for you.

3. "There Aren't That Many Channels on TV"


This is both a huge myth and a horrible excuse to not cut the cord. No matter where you live, there is plenty of free TV that you can enjoy. The major networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox – all have local affiliates. Each one also has sub-channels that offer additional programming. Stations such as The CW, MeTV, and many more are all TV channels that you can find over the air.

Most areas have over 50 different channels available. Some areas, like Los Angeles and New York, have over 100. You're sure to find something you like.

4. "There's Nothing to Watch on Regular TV"


Frankly, this is a load of you know what! There still are plenty of great shows on network TV. The great thing about these programs is that you get to see them each week. This fall, the networks rolled out many great series, both new and old. I'm a huge Chicago Med fan. Huge. Granted, not everyone's tastes are the same. That said, there surely are more than a handful of shows you might enjoy on CBS, The CW, Fox, and NBC. Take a look to find what's right for you.

5. "If I Cut the Cord, I Can't DVR My Favorite Shows"


There's a reason why we chose the word "myth," and this right here is a great example of it. You can record your favorite live TV shows and watch them whenever you want. All you need is the right OTA TV receiver. A converter box like this one easily connects to your installation. It comes with parental controls, closed captioning, and a remote control. You can connect a hard drive to it and record easily. With this, you can cut the cord and never worry about missing your favorite live TV shows.

6. "I Still Need Internet to Cut the Cord, Right?"


Wrong! You only need Internet access if you're planning to use a streaming box . That isn't exactly cutting the cord, though. Streaming trades your cable TV bill for a monthly bill from the streaming subscription(s) you buy. You don't need Internet at all for the true cord-cutting experience without a monthly bill. A TV antenna, some cable, and a receiver is all you need to enjoy free HDTV in your local media market.

Your Online Cord-Cutting Resource


There are plenty of myths about cutting the cord. It's easy to debunk these with cord-cutting knowledge and some common sense. The content in this piece helps clear things up for you. Solid Signal is the No. 1 source for cord-cutters across the country. We're happy to provide this information so you can make an informed decision. If you have questions, or need an antenna recommendation or installation advice, call us at 888-233-7563. You deserve to enjoy all the free HDTV that comes with cutting the cord!


The post Stop Believing These Six Cord-Cutting Myths! appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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0 Replies · 321 views
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68655 Replies · 2680128 views
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gms49ers
Jet City Woman - Queensryche
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FTA4PA
Detroit Rock City - Kiss
  • Love
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sdfntx
I Care About Detroit - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
dishstaller
I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
Bobby
98.6 - Keith
R
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
Lately my eight year old Dell laptop has been shutting off even when I have a full battery. I have had to keep it plugged up all the time to keep this from happening. Any idea what is causing this? I replaced the battery about three years ago.
2 Replies · 34 views
arlo
A recalibration might be needed. Even if it shows full, the individual cells may have become unbalaced. And the BMS chip in the battery reports false information to the pc.
Try this. Start it up in the bios/uefi and leave it there until the battery dies and it shuts off.
It might just keep running longer than in Windows. Or run for a short while and shut off.
If it's the first case. Probably just needs a balancing. If the latter, the pack might just be dead.
Not throwing stones but perhaps just a cheaply constructed battery with substandard cells. Could be.

Patience. Keep restarting it in bios/uefi until it won't fire up anymore.
Then plug the charger in and let it complete a full charge. And see what happens. If it's better.
Do the same thing one more time. Run it until it dies dead-dead. Then just let it charge, pc shut off.
When charged, it might be better. It might not be.

There are bench jigs that read the actual BMS and override it to let a tech manually monitor and charge the separate packs. They can also reset any "time bombs" in it that cause an otherwise good pack to show bad.
Maybe Santa will be good to me some year.

You might just need a new battery. Maybe the PC power management chip is going. A Dell common thing.
Leaving a laptop plugged in with a full battery is known to reduce the life. Asus for one recommends that you don't leave the charger plugged in all of the time even when shut down. And setting Windows to charge the battery to 85% instead of 100% increases life.
That's all I got.
dishstaller
That's all I got.
That was quite enough....I definitely learned something from your post. Thanks
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
5 Replies · 273 views
b4pjoe
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
If you can't get into the router to reserve an IP address just don't use DHCP on the device that needs connected and assign it to a specific IP address in the network settings.
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HipKat
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
They are not. Your best bet is to set up a third-party router, attached to the Starlink for your server, that you can get into, like a Linksys, etc
  • Like
Reactions: Foxbat
Foxbat
…it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
The Starlink V5 Install Kit I just got comes with the Mini Router. It is pretty limited in what it can do. For example, it can provide only one IP subnet at a time, no Guest Network, but it does support the pass-thru to a third-party Router. You can also split the Wi-Fi into separate 5 GHz & 2.4 GHz SSIDs to help some IoT devices that don't support 5 GHz bands to work.

The larger Starlink Router that still comes with the V4 Kit does support a Guest Network with separate IPv4 Subnet, but it's $120 from Starlink. And it still won't do DHCP Reservations.
harshness
If you can restrict the DHCP address space to assign addresses to one end of the subnet (i.e. x.x.x.50+), you can manually assign the IP address on pretty much any operating system. This is a default behavior on several popular routers. As the Router Mini only supports 235 devices, I expect that's already done.

Another option is to use a router that supports PoE to power the antenna. This article discusses that option (under PoE Power heading):

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Foxbat
Now that I've had the v5 kit with the Mini Router, it's not as bad as I first thought. Yes, no DHCP reservations, but you can set up multiple SSIDs that have separate IPv4 subnets, and like the big brother, you can select from 192.168.x.0/24 or 10.x.0.0/16 (where "x" is 1-4).

You can also split a subnet and have different SSIDs for the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz channels to handle some IoT devices. I haven't discovered what subnet the 2nd NIC on the router assigns, I'm guessing it's the first subnet.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
2 Replies · 43 views
dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

2 Replies · 47 views
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Jimbo
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

They will have to look at the switching sections to determine WHY 2 trains were on the same track ... at the same time.
dishstaller
Thought this article might be of interest to some of you who might travel via train.