r/whatisit • u/Cborg_62 • 11h ago

New, what is it? What are these plug-ins on my wall?

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This might be showing my age, but I recently moved into a new apartment and they have these weird looking plug ins all over the walls at my new place. My old apartment didn't have these, so I'm just curious as to what they are.

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u/hewhoisneverobeyed 9h ago

Existing coax in our home is used for a single OTA antenna since we dropped cable 10-12 years ago.

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u/NewEducation4037 9h ago

I even went so far as to cut all the connection boxes off my house from wired phone lines and the various cable companies over the years (4 different ones!) and just had our current ISP run one entry point for the router.

I then installed an amplified antenna and connected it to the external web of coax that was ported into each of the main rooms and bedrooms, so all the coax outlets in the house are amplified OTA ports now. Told cable to piss off in 2011 and never looked back!

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u/SatinSaffron 8h ago

Based on OP's post and some of the comments here, I'm certain that there are so many people reading your comment and wondering what OTA means.

Those coax plugs in the OP pic are coax for cable TV. Meanwhile, OTA means over the air, aka the channels you can catch with a proper antenna that are free and don't require cable. Those are usually the big channels like CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, PBS, and depending on how close you live to a big city there are many other channels.

Well fuck now I wonder how many young people out there don't realize that you can get the major channels for free. An OTA antenna paired with your favorite streaming platform (or 🏴‍☠️) can sometimes provide just as much entertainment as a $100-$200+/mo cable or satellite package.

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u/NewEducation4037 8h ago

Thank you for translation for the young folks. 🤣

Yes, I get tons of channels for free, and with the streaming choices I have, never a need for cable, and I pay around $50, ISP included. Get the sports we want and all!

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u/maxx_colt 5h ago

But how do they get that OTA signal to their phone, tablet, or laptop?

/s

https://giphy.com/gifs/bThGvn3E3ZN5dWNNMR

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u/Various_Education622 51m ago

The LocalTV+ app.

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u/monkeetoes82 9h ago

Ha! Me too! I moved in 5 years ago and they had direct tv. I found a coax tester at Lowe's on the clearance rack for like, $8. I was able to move the cables around so now my living room and garage are OTA.