Interesting info and may have been useful but I'm moving to a place that doesn't have a quality high speed internet provider , I have to stay with dtv
OT: Cable cutter update
- Thread starter St.PatterSoN-54-
- Start date
Sling TV has always been iffy performance for me. I really like PlaystationVUE, it's a little more expensive than SlingTV but has a lot more channels and good DVR capability. It has apps for Roku and other devices not a Playstation and you can watch a several devices at once. PSVue combined with Kodi I can't imagine you'd ever miss out on anything on TV or movies.
You can get Firesticks and couple other devices pre-installed with Kodi, for anywhere from $20 to over $100, some people don't want to or know how to jailbreak their own so for most it's worth just buying one already done for you.
The main thing for cord cutters, is your internet. Everything comes over that, other than over the air antennas. As referenced above, DO NOT use any modem or router provided by your ISP. Always buy your own, it will save you money and you will get much better performance. Most ISP's will have a list of what modems you can use and what model you need to support the internet you have. Also, make sure the ones you do buy are quality and up to par for the level of streaming you want to do. I'd bet 90% of people I've helped with their home networking, mainly for streaming, it's their wireless just not cutting it. It's the first thing to look at if your streaming service of choice is freezing or losing connection. You want to make sure your router, as well as your devices like Roku, Chromecast, Xbox or whatever device you stream to can support the bandwidth of streaming video. If you have a $20 router from Walmart only capable of Wireless a/b you're going to have a bad time. You want ideally Wireless G, N, or AC to have the bandwidth and signal strength to cover your home through walls and things. You want your wireless to be at least 300Mbps, Obviously hard wired is the best, but that's not feasible for most wanting to get to multiple rooms.
Several of those number are a little high, but that will future proof you a little. The higher resolutions and better audio of TV these days increases the bit rate you need to be able to stream. Codecs and compression are getting better also to help balance it out but that's an entirely different discussion.
You'll want at least 30mbps internet, most streaming doesn't require that, but it's unlikely you'll actually get your full bandwidth because of others in your house using internet for things or lets face it, ISP's are largely total dumpster fires regarding quality of service and consistency. Luckily, in Lexington, TWC now Spectrum has been great for me the last couple years.
Most people cut the cord for cost savings obviously. Saying all this, I still have Dish, and love it. As long as you call and harass the poor call center monkeys every 6 months you can keep getting deals and it's not too bad. I do also stream a lot of movies and TV from channels I don't have or older shows you can't get on Netflix or on Demand. For the nerds like me, a good Seedbox and a Plex server is the best.
You can get Firesticks and couple other devices pre-installed with Kodi, for anywhere from $20 to over $100, some people don't want to or know how to jailbreak their own so for most it's worth just buying one already done for you.
The main thing for cord cutters, is your internet. Everything comes over that, other than over the air antennas. As referenced above, DO NOT use any modem or router provided by your ISP. Always buy your own, it will save you money and you will get much better performance. Most ISP's will have a list of what modems you can use and what model you need to support the internet you have. Also, make sure the ones you do buy are quality and up to par for the level of streaming you want to do. I'd bet 90% of people I've helped with their home networking, mainly for streaming, it's their wireless just not cutting it. It's the first thing to look at if your streaming service of choice is freezing or losing connection. You want to make sure your router, as well as your devices like Roku, Chromecast, Xbox or whatever device you stream to can support the bandwidth of streaming video. If you have a $20 router from Walmart only capable of Wireless a/b you're going to have a bad time. You want ideally Wireless G, N, or AC to have the bandwidth and signal strength to cover your home through walls and things. You want your wireless to be at least 300Mbps, Obviously hard wired is the best, but that's not feasible for most wanting to get to multiple rooms.
Several of those number are a little high, but that will future proof you a little. The higher resolutions and better audio of TV these days increases the bit rate you need to be able to stream. Codecs and compression are getting better also to help balance it out but that's an entirely different discussion.
You'll want at least 30mbps internet, most streaming doesn't require that, but it's unlikely you'll actually get your full bandwidth because of others in your house using internet for things or lets face it, ISP's are largely total dumpster fires regarding quality of service and consistency. Luckily, in Lexington, TWC now Spectrum has been great for me the last couple years.
Most people cut the cord for cost savings obviously. Saying all this, I still have Dish, and love it. As long as you call and harass the poor call center monkeys every 6 months you can keep getting deals and it's not too bad. I do also stream a lot of movies and TV from channels I don't have or older shows you can't get on Netflix or on Demand. For the nerds like me, a good Seedbox and a Plex server is the best.
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I cut the cord with DirectTV in Jan (still have a internet bill via Spectrum).
I went the Firestick + Crome stick. I use the Firestick + Kodi and subscribed to USTVNow Plus addon. This gave me 28 cable channels on livestream on Kodi. I added the CBS all access app to the Firestick (free 30 days) just for NCAA.
Costs so far...
Firestick - $40 one time
Chromecast stick $35 one time
Amazon Prime (for Firestick) $9.99 mo
Kodi - Free
USTVNow Plus $19.99 for 3 months (then $29.99 after)
I'll probably drop USTVnow after 3 months...I was initially going through cable news withdraws but it's easing.
I bought a 4k 55 inch. Plugged in with Xbox one, Fire and Chrome stick. I watch UK games delayed via the chrome + UK full replays (cast to TV). I haven't missed a game I wanted to watch through the NCAA tourney although a couple of times the feed was crappy.
I'm saving about $100 a month and I don't really miss having 300 channels since I only watched about 12-15 of them.
Fed up with bundled services and paying for & supporting stuff with my money I don't want or use.
I went the Firestick + Crome stick. I use the Firestick + Kodi and subscribed to USTVNow Plus addon. This gave me 28 cable channels on livestream on Kodi. I added the CBS all access app to the Firestick (free 30 days) just for NCAA.
Costs so far...
Firestick - $40 one time
Chromecast stick $35 one time
Amazon Prime (for Firestick) $9.99 mo
Kodi - Free
USTVNow Plus $19.99 for 3 months (then $29.99 after)
I'll probably drop USTVnow after 3 months...I was initially going through cable news withdraws but it's easing.
I bought a 4k 55 inch. Plugged in with Xbox one, Fire and Chrome stick. I watch UK games delayed via the chrome + UK full replays (cast to TV). I haven't missed a game I wanted to watch through the NCAA tourney although a couple of times the feed was crappy.
I'm saving about $100 a month and I don't really miss having 300 channels since I only watched about 12-15 of them.
Fed up with bundled services and paying for & supporting stuff with my money I don't want or use.
I was also shocked...it was super easy...ditto adding sources.
Exodus is the best IMHO...but I have about 12 different addons
Live in a fairly rural area, only have a 7mbps connection. Is that fast enough to support something like Sling TV? Really looking for alternatives to DirectTV
Your bill must be huge from streaming games JT.
Still a huge fan of PlayStation Vue. Having five sets on in the household and accessing it on mobile for $34.99 (includes all ESPN channels, including SEC Network) makes it better than Sling. It's really gotten valuable since they have an app on Roku/Apple TV/Chromecast (and PlayStations).
Direct TV is now doing a streaming service. You can get 60 channels for $35 or around 100 channels for $50 with no equipment needed except any device that can get the direct tv app such as a fire stick, PC, Ipad, Xbox, etc.
I currently have sling but am not a fan of it. It seems to use more bandwith and have more issues than Netflix or Hulu either one. I may cancel and go with the Direct TV streaming.
No more than 2 at a time which is fine at my house. My kids are usually watching Hulu or Netflix anyway. That was the reason I cancelled Dish Network and my $160 per month bill.
I hate to even say it but heres what my bill consists of
- i only have tv and internet
- my internet speed is 30 down and 5 up
- have HBO and Showtime plus the Sports Package of anything extra. I don't order any pay per views movies, Pro Sports packages or any events that would make my bill as high as it is right now.
- $240 + is what im paying now.
I feel like I'm being overcharged just from very little I'm subscribed to. I called them and ask them if I were to drop my movie channels how high would my cable bill be. I could only get it lowered to about $191. I still feel like that's way too much money. So if it wasn't for me streaming games for you guys and other people across the Big Blue Nation I would probably drop cable altogether. And just keep internet
- i only have tv and internet
- my internet speed is 30 down and 5 up
- have HBO and Showtime plus the Sports Package of anything extra. I don't order any pay per views movies, Pro Sports packages or any events that would make my bill as high as it is right now.
- $240 + is what im paying now.
I feel like I'm being overcharged just from very little I'm subscribed to. I called them and ask them if I were to drop my movie channels how high would my cable bill be. I could only get it lowered to about $191. I still feel like that's way too much money. So if it wasn't for me streaming games for you guys and other people across the Big Blue Nation I would probably drop cable altogether. And just keep internet
I have ~7 mbps through ATT and I have no issues streaming with Vue. Both Sling and Vue give you a free trial so it wouldn't hurt to try it out.
One thing I did have to do was get a 5ghz router because the ATT equipment only does 2.4ghz. It works but there was a lot of buffering.
- YIKES. If he charged you 100 for a hacked firestick, he's not your friend. Just sayin. It takes like 10 minutes and minimal effort. Plus most people are only charging around 75 bucks for them, to people they don't even know.
I cut the cord in 2014 and couldn't be happier.
I pay $70 a month for the highest speed my ISP offers and $10 a month for Netflix, everything else is free. As a bonus, I use a Roku I won at a work event on an old school tube TV in my bedroom that was just gonna be junk after I cut the cable.
My main setup is an Amazon FireTV stick (one time cost of $40) and I "jailbroke" it myself after watching a couple youtube videos. KODI is a game changer. During football season I essentially have Sunday Ticket and Red Zone for free. The only drawbacks are sometimes the streams will quit and need to be restarted and sometimes the picture quality will drop down for a while if the service lags. The TV options on KODI are amazing. Literally, everything to ever air in the last 30 years - including current episodes - can be found if you look hard enough. I also have a wireless HDMI connection that allows me to stream the web from my laptop to the TV as a backup. I haven't missed a single sporting event doing it this way, which was the reason I held on to cable as long as I did.
$80 a month to watch what I want, when I want to beats the hell out paying Comcast $225 a month for 300 channels, 290 of them I had no use for.
I pay $70 a month for the highest speed my ISP offers and $10 a month for Netflix, everything else is free. As a bonus, I use a Roku I won at a work event on an old school tube TV in my bedroom that was just gonna be junk after I cut the cable.
My main setup is an Amazon FireTV stick (one time cost of $40) and I "jailbroke" it myself after watching a couple youtube videos. KODI is a game changer. During football season I essentially have Sunday Ticket and Red Zone for free. The only drawbacks are sometimes the streams will quit and need to be restarted and sometimes the picture quality will drop down for a while if the service lags. The TV options on KODI are amazing. Literally, everything to ever air in the last 30 years - including current episodes - can be found if you look hard enough. I also have a wireless HDMI connection that allows me to stream the web from my laptop to the TV as a backup. I haven't missed a single sporting event doing it this way, which was the reason I held on to cable as long as I did.
$80 a month to watch what I want, when I want to beats the hell out paying Comcast $225 a month for 300 channels, 290 of them I had no use for.
This April it will be 2 years since I cut cable. I shaved $100 a month off my internet/cable bill and now only go with streaming and an HD antenna. Haven't missed cable in the least and with the Sports Devil / Pro Sports app, I get all the NFL/NBA/MLB I can handle in addition to college football & basketball. I honestly don't know why everyone doesn't do this.
LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER... (or maybe your Grandpa who is stuck on Cable till death do us part)
I'm an old codger but was able to do it, and I'm dumb as a box of rocks to boot. Cutting cable is so easy even a hillbilly like me can do it.
Excellent post and thread for those of us who are considering options to cut TWC/Spectrum. Thanks for sharing, and please keep us updated. Some morons completely miss the point--having been in public service my entire life, I know completely that brain distribution among members of society is not always done the same--some have more brain power, some less. Disregard any dissenting commentary on this thread--you are being a great help to fellow Cat fans.
It' s great in my world d1uck head. You shut up, no You shut up. Never amazes me how brave people get hiding behind a computer.
Dude You're Always Wrong. I don't have the time to waste trying to tell you how wrong you are. You are soooo wrong and wrong is wrong.
I deserve that. My apology for a poor choice of words.
I'll bet Direct TV thanks you monthly for your unnecessary contribution. [thumb2]
If anybody is interested in trying DirecTV Now they have an offer where you get a free Amazon Firestick if you prepay for one month of service which is $35. There is a cashback website called BeFrugal.com that will give you $32 back if you go through them to do the deal. They also have a $10 new member incentive.