Like many people, I am tired of paying lots for my cable services. After realizing that I only watch football and "The Walking Dead", I decided to take a stand and to see what I could do to "cut the cord" from cable and to hopefully save some bucks.

I am paying $150.00/month for cable and Internet. Here in San Diego, my provider is Cox Cable. I called them and my first words were, "I want to pay less". After 20 minutes of negotiating, they reminded me that I had previously negotiated a lower rate (I forgot about that call months before) as it was supposed to be $180.00/month. Regardless, they saved me another $5.00/month...not very exciting.

I then called ATT regarding an offer they sent me. The offer claimed that their rate was $44.99/month for DirecTV and high-speed Internet. To make a long story short, the high-speed Internet wasn't high-speed at all (roughly 1/20th of the speed Cox gives me now) and there were many hidden charges. However, after determining what channels I wanted (NFL Network and the basic networks), how many TVs I needed boxes for and figuring out my desired Internet speed, I was presented with a monthly statement of $92.99/month. Now we're getting somewhere.

ATT saved me another $10.00/month as I already had my cell phone with them. Chipchipchip at that total. We're now at $82.99/month.

I'll update this post later with "Cut the cord", Part II. TEASER: The next step will be looking at the addition of an antenna for the network channels, adding NFL Network through a streaming device and cutting my cable service to solely high-speed Internet. Stay tuned for details from San Diego's cord cut company, Aire Theater Designs. UPDATE: Here's Part 2. Cable Cutting Part 2

Want to cut the cord from cable, San Diego? Aire Theater Designs proudly serves all of San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, El Cajon, Blossom Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too.

Cut the cord, San Diego, with a rooftop antenna!

You may have read Part One of our "Cut the cord" saga here: Cut the cord from cable, Part 1 It's now time for Phase 2.

We get most of our desired programs from streaming sources via a Roku streaming device and an AppleTV. The remaining portion of cutting the cord from cable entailed adding an off-air antenna to get our desired channels. The total cost for the antenna and installation was about $300.00. The model is a Winegard 7694 which does a good job at our location in picking up channels from 2 of the broadcasting sources (there are three...one in L.A. on Mt. Wilson, one on Mt. Soledad and one in Tijuana). The important channel or us was CBS for Charger games and the antenna pulled this in nicely.

If you have any form of surround sound system, you will need to connect additional cables from your TV to the audio/video receiver to be able to hear your antenna broadcast through your surround sound set-up. Once this was done, it was time to call Cox cable to tell them to "beat it".

I then called Cox and let my representative know approximately 321 times that I wanted to cancel cable and just keep Internet with them. This would save us roughly $85.00/month. After many "Let me put you on hold" periods, they finally came back to us and gave us our Internet AND cable for the same price as just keeping the Internet! We are now saving about $1,000/year and we are still getting all of the programs that we enjoy viewing.

We then added the Sling application through our Roku device. For $20.00/month, this cool app provides ESPN, AMC, TNT and a bunch of other channels. Now we've got all of the channels we want and the movie sources that we use daily. However, we aren't done yet. We may now shop our Internet options to see if we can save more compared to Cox. HOWEVER, we are big fans of Cox's reliability and Internet speeds and we really don't want to go with ATT or other solutions. We'll have a final update letting you know how this story ends.

Want more information about how to cut the cord San Diego? Wondering which streaming solutions are best? Stay tuned for details from San Diego's most helpful cord cuttingl company, Aire Theater Designs.

Cut the cord San Diego with Aire Theater Designs! We proudly serves all of San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, El Cajon, Blossom Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too.

Reasons to treat yourself to some new audio, video and home automation treats. 1) The college football playoffs are coming...did you see last year's games? They were incredible! 2) Because you can. See the latest Sony and Samsung 4K TV sales and universal remote specials. NOTE: Some of these deals are close-outs and when the sets are gone, they are gone.TV pricing is presented by the manufacturer and can change at any time.

We just heard the news that a local audio/video business, Pacific Sales, has closed their home theater division. If you are a client of theirs that needs help with your products or if you have just purchased something from them and you need installation or support, give us a call! We are proud dealers of many of the same lines they carried including:

TVs: Sony, Samsung

Audio/video receivers: Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer Elite

Speakers: Monitor Audio, Martin Logan, Definitive Technology

We can also provide solutions that they didn't carry such as universal remotes, lighting control for your home, surveillance cameras for your home or business and much more. Interested? Give us a call and find out why Aire Theater Designs is San Diego's home theater installation and audio visual company.

San Diego Home Theater Installers Aire Theater Designs proudly serves all of San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, El Cajon, Blossom Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too.

One URC MX780i remote replaced all of these - San Diego home automation 

One remote, two remotes, three remotes…

Where does it all end? How many remotes do you have? Let’s start with one for the TV. Two for the cable or satellite box. Three for the Blu-ray player. Four for Apple TV or Roku or whatever streaming device you choose. Five for a gaming console such as Xbox1 or Sony PS4. Six for your receiver to turn on surround sound. The list goes on and on.  Now let’s try to watch TV and see what’s involved for this seemingly easy task.

1) Turn the TV on.

2) Change the TV to the correct input.

3) Turn the cable box on.

4) Turn the audio/video receiver on.

5) Turn the audio/video receiver to the correct source.

6) Sixth, turn the receiver to desired sound setting.

After three remotes, six buttons and lots of frustration you’re probably ready to throw the remotes out the window. Why not let us at Aire Theater Designs simplify your life? We can program 1 remote with 1 button push to do ALL the above. A couple of our favorite remotes are the URC MX-780 or the step-up URC MX-980. We think you'll love them as much as we do. These are just one of MANY options we offer to make your life easier through technology and home automation.

Interested? Give us a call and find out why Aire Theater Designs is San Diego's home automation and universal remote expert.

San Diego Home Theater Installers Aire Theater Designs proudly serves all of San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, El Cajon, Blossom Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too.

Ahhh...the day of recovery from overconsumption, chasing kids throughout the house (if Thanksgiving was at your home) and nursing soreness from the annual football game. Here's an installment of some of the Black Friday TV specials. NOTE: Most of these deals go through December 6th! This means you can skip the crowds today and still get fantastic deals.