

If you’ve been on the fence when it comes to your cable, the following are some things to know before you cut the cord for good.

Will Your Internet Provide What you Need?

You will need high-speed internet to support your entertainment needs if you get rid of cable. It’s recommended that people who use the internet to stream entertainment have at least a 5Mbps download connection, but you may need faster service, particularly if you will have several devices streaming content at the same time, or if you have a gamer in the family.

Something else to consider is the fact that if you eliminate cable altogether, you may be forced to get a new internet provider. A lot of people in recent years purchased their internet service as a bundle with their cable, so if you’re one of them, you might find that eliminating the cable aspect of that could make your internet costs too high with your current company.

What Shows Do You Watch?

When you do cut the cord, you need to think about the shows and also the movies and general content you want to continue having access to. To purchase the apps and platforms that will allow you to stream content usually costs money, so if you have ten apps you can’t live without, you might actually find that you’re spending more each month than you would on the cost of your cable bill.

Try to narrow it down to just a few apps that you use, for example, Sling and Netflix can be great options. Sling provides you with access to a lot of the shows you would usually watch through your cable package from network providers, while Netflix gives you access to original content, as well as some outside series and plenty of movies.

Do You Have the Right Technology?

If you don’t have a Smart TV, you will need some help with your cord cutting plan. You can choose something like the Amazon Fire, or the Chromecast. These are streaming devices that will allow you to get your favorite entertainment options directly to your TV. Even if you do have a smart TV, you might want to use one of these options because they tend to organize all of your content in an easy-to-use intuitive way, and there are also a lot of free options that often come with them.

Cutting the cord can save you money, if you’re strategic and make sure you don’t end up spending more on various apps and entertainment each month.