Should you use the internet or antenna to watch TV for free?

Stop paying for TV. I’m not just talking about cables. You can also watch TV for free by dropping Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney +. Sure, you can’t keep up with the golden age of streaming, but thanks to both antennas and internet TV, you can enjoy free entertainment 24/7 in your living room. If you are really thinking of cutting the code and committing to one of these options, you will want to know not only why they are special, but also why they are different from each other.

How does Antenna TV work?

Free wireless TV is still alive. Even in the era of cord-cutting, streaming, and overall expensive television, free shows every minute are flying overhead. However, it cannot be accessed only on the TV. Nor can you rely on “rabbit ears”. To take advantage of that content, you need an antenna.

There are a wide variety of antennas, each serving a different purpose. If you live in an open and uncrowded space, a cheap and flat antenna will suffice. These usually run for about $ 20, This will reduce your investment by one. However, as the quality of the antenna increases, the price begins to rise. Some antennas can receive 4K signals and can receive more channels than the bargain option.

That said, cheap antennas are perfect for you, even in a crowded city apartment. However, finding the right place for your device can require serious trial and error. In reality, you may find that the ideal location for an antenna is somewhere strange or confined, unlike an ad that shows that the antenna is on the back wall of the TV.

Windows are a great place to start if you have access to the outside of the glass, especially if you are on a balcony, emergency staircase, or on the ground floor. If installed on the wall of a house, you should be prepared to test every square inch of available space with antennas in almost every possible configuration. If the antenna is upright on one wall of the room, the signal will not reach, but if you shift 90 °, the channel will come in. Please don’t ask why.

The number of channels to pick up depends on the antenna and area. The bigger and better the antenna, the more options you have to connect.With some antennas Claim a range of 60 to 70 miles.. Again, from the perspective of both the home and the surrounding land, living in an open area with no obstacles can result in stronger signals than living in a highly interfering area. I have.

With some patience (and a little elbow grease), you will definitely find a place in your home to pick up a decent amount of channels with a stable connection.

What is Internet TV?

A faster and more convenient option is to use a free internet TV service. There are many options, from PlutoTV to TubiTV (for a complete list, Check out my guide here). With these services, you can watch live TV streams completely free of charge, as if the antenna were connected. If you have a smart TV or streaming device such as Roku or Fire TV sticks, you may have access to apps for these services that are built into your system or at least available for free download.

In my opinion, there are two main advantages of Internet TV and antennas. The first is total convenience. You won’t waste an afternoon testing everywhere in your home for your antenna (tilting the antenna 90 ° on this 1 square inch wall will result in 20 channels, but by the balcony If you turn the right side of the window up, you’ll be me45), because all you have to do is open the app and start clicking.Of course, the lack of an antenna means that a free TV For real Free: It doesn’t cost to launch the Pluto TV app, but the antenna is an investment (albeit small).

The second advantage is amount Of the channel you find. These free channels seem to be endlessly sourced, but there are plenty of shows you really want to watch. My favorite channel is a single show-only channel, like the Portlandia channel. Who doesn’t want non-stop, unlimited access to Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein?

Of course, all of these channels are supported by advertising. No one likes advertising, but whether you choose antenna TV or internet TV, you’re dealing with advertising. However, in the case of Internet TV, the advertisement will be worse. Antenna TVs serve ads at standard predictable timing, while Internet TVs may randomly throw ad breaks in the content. Suddenly, when a dramatic scene is interrupted by Dr. Squatch, you end up watching a movie on one channel. But hey, it’s free: it’s hard to complain about advertising when you’re not paying for TV. Hell, you see a million ads when you’re watching cable TV, and you pay a lot for it.

Worth having both an internet TV and an antenna

However, Internet TV clearly seems to be the winner. number Butt pain setup? Why does someone care about the antenna? Well, as you might have gathered Me I’m still using the antenna, partly because of the local channel. Internet TV is definitely great, but it’s the same everywhere. It offers many channels that you might pick up on the antenna, but there are no local stations out there that serve only your area. Antennas are a way to take advantage of these options, keep local news up to date, and check out great shows from public broadcasters.

I like having both options, and I recommend it to anyone looking to have a complete package.