what this service is. I understand that you can use it for a DVR. But I am confused about needing cable, or antenna with a streaming device. I have been trying to cut the cord for a couple of years without luck. The DVR's I have are costly. Do I keep cable and just use this for a DVR? That alone would save quite a bit money as Cox is charging for the box and service now. Any help would be great. Thanks.
you have a couple options here. if you want to get rid of cable completely and "Cut the cord", you can buy a HDHomeRun device, plug it into the network and into an antenna. then using an app on a AppleTV, Amazon Fire Stick or Andriod TV device, watch Local TV by connecting to the HDHomeRun device instead of a set top box. you can also install a DVR application on a windows or Mac computer or on a NAS, and be able to record the shows as welll. the benefit of this over just plugging an antenna into each TV and switching inputs, is that you now have broadcast TV in the same interface as all your other streaming apps, no input switching + recording. you also only need an antenna on one device, but can watch tv on all the devices. with this DVR, you can also watch local TV when your away from home. you can get devices that are 2 or 4 tuners, so you can watch/record multiple shows at the same time on multiple TVs.
if you want to keep cable, but lower your costs, you can buy a different HDHomerun device, and connect it to your cable and your home network and again, watch almost all your cable TV channels on all these devices, as well as record by installing the DVR software. again with TV on your tablets as well as phones, and also remote. since you wont need set top boxes from the cable company, you can turn them in and get a special Card from them that you insert into the HDHomeRun that makes it act like a set top box. these devices are currently 3-Tuner, and so you can watch/record 3 shows simultaneously.
you can combine these, add additional HDHomeRun devices so that you can stream and record more shows at the same time.
an example is that I have the non-Cable version of the HDHomeRun(4 tuners) and the DVR installed on a windows PC. I set it to record all my shows from NBC/ABC/FOX/CW/PBS and then watch them on the app on my 2 AppleTVs I also watch on my ipad in the office when im working, or the family is hogging the TVs. I also subscribe to Netflix so i watch shows there on my appleTV as well. since i dont watch most shows live, this DVR also lets me do commercial skipping and watching TV when and where i want.
hopefully this helps. I suggest you go back to the main site and re-read the page on how this works and maybe it will make more sense now.
come back here if you have more questions! 
once you have a HDHomeRun Device, you can sign up for the DVR, install it and then download the viewer app on your streaming devices and check it out. if its not for you, you can cancel within 30 days and not be billed. (You would also want to send the HDHomeRun back to amazon or wherever you buy it.)
there are alot of people on these forums that do keep cable, but save a bunch of money by not having to have set-top boxes and DVR equipment from the cable company.
2 Likes
Unless your cable company copy protects everything, but locals like mine does. (Spectrum).
Thank heavens for TVE beta, but other then that awesome write up on what channels is.
2 Likes
Most cord-cutters, though, are only looking for locals + online content. If op live in/near a city where there are broadcast towers, best way to cut the cord is to get an antenna and stop paying for cable service entirely. Otherwise, there is still a cord.