Alternatives to cable

Ready to drop your cable service and save some money? We’ve put together a guide to assess your options.

First You’ll Need Some Hardware

HD Antenna – For Broadcast Stations

This process is how you get local broadcast stations and, as such, is ideal for news and sports. You can get a good HD antenna for less than $40, and like with a regular antenna, there are no subscription fees. However, your channel selection depends a lot on where you live, as well as your line of sight to the broadcast location.

Best Indoor HDTV Antennas

Streaming Devices

If you want to take advantage of streaming services — Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and so forth — you’ll need a way to display them on your TV. If you have a recent TV from a major manufacturer, you may not need to get anything at all. Smart TVs usually have these apps built in, and almost every high-end TV sold within the last two years or so has smart capabilities.

If not, setting up your TV for streaming can still be a simple and inexpensive process. The market is positively glutted with set-top boxes, streaming sticks, game consoles and other devices. Below is a list of the best devices to fit various budgets and streaming preferences.

The Roku 4 is a great pick in this category, as it offers thousands of channels, 4K resolution and an inventive interface.

Amazon also produces a 4K player (the 2015 Fire TV)

Google’s Chromecast is the cheapest device around, but requires a mobile device or a computer to function.

Apple TV is a good choice for consumers who already own a lot of Apple devices

PS4 or an Xbox One is the way to go for gamers. These devices range in price from $35 to $400.

Laptop – you can simply plug your computer into your TV via HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA or DVI cable (depending on which ports you possess). Grab a wireless mouse and keyboard, and voilà: You have access to almost every streaming music and video service on Earth.

Once you’ve picked up the appropriate device, all that’s left is to pick the services that provide the shows you want to watch.