We've cut the cable

[Osaurus 8,943]

6 minutes ago, Socrates11 said:

So what's everyone got? 

Hardware - every tv has a firestick. Family room tv also has a Nvidia Shield. Have an Amazon Recast hooked into RCA antenna https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 attached to an old DirecTV satellite mount. Get's me every available local channel crystal clear, much better than the flat antenna I had stuck to a window previously

*Netflix 

*Amazon Prime (don't view this as an additional fee, we've had Prime for years for shipping so the TV is an added bonus)

*Hulu - basic with commercials (free with Sprint)

*Area 51 IPTV

*Titanium (have tried Cinema, Morpheus, etc. Titanium works the easiest for us)

 

NVIDIA Shield in 2 rooms.  Firestick in another room (I never use it).  2 hard drives on network router with music and video.  Two digital antennas and Frontier 100/100 innerwebs for $68.99.  I use Kodi to access all my content on both Shields and Firestick. Other misc apps used with IPVanish.  That’s it for me.

[Nathan R. Jessep 5,687]

Mobrdo down for anyone else this AM?

[bleachercreacher 247]

We’ve considered going with a streaming service for a while now.  Comcast made me mad this weekend so I started a PlayStation Vue free trial.  On my local channels, the sound is slightly off from the video and it drives me crazy.  Is this always a problem, or will it get better?

[TakiToki 419]

How well do the DVRs perform with in-progress events and fast-forwarding through them? I like to start watching a game at halftime or so, and fast-forward through dead action and commercials. If that's not possible or even clunky (imprecise fast-forwarding or something of that nature), I'll stay with DTV/Big Cable, but this is probably the only thing still holding me back.

Edited March 5, 2019 by TakiToki

[Ned 10,553]

14 minutes ago, TakiToki said:

How well do the DVRs perform with in-progress events and fast-forwarding through them? I like to start watching a game at halftime or so, and fast-forward through dead action and commercials. If that's not possible or even clunky (imprecise fast-forwarding or something of that nature), I'll stay with DTV/Big Cable, but this is probably the only thing still holding me back.

With DTVN, as long as you set it to record it works just like big cable if you start watching the recording while the show/event is still going on.  Otherwise, there's no rewinding live TV.  If you pause live TV, it will only hold for a short amount of time before it jumps forward a bit.

[ghostguy123 3,804]

Anyone have the spectrum app?  If so what is your total bill (with internet) and how do you like it?

[tonydead 7,539]

13 hours ago, culdeus said:

I had no idea people still used DVR.  

Feel like last time that tech had value to me was in the mid 2000s

I owned two different ones during that time period plus one of the original sling boxes. Never used any of them. lol

Edited March 5, 2019 by tonydead

[tonydead 7,539]

12 hours ago, Socrates11 said:

So what's everyone got? 

Hardware - every tv has a firestick. Family room tv also has a Nvidia Shield. Have an Amazon Recast hooked into RCA antenna https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 attached to an old DirecTV satellite mount. Get's me every available local channel crystal clear, much better than the flat antenna I had stuck to a window previously

*Netflix 

*Amazon Prime (don't view this as an additional fee, we've had Prime for years for shipping so the TV is an added bonus)

*Hulu - basic with commercials (free with Sprint)

*Area 51 IPTV

*Titanium (have tried Cinema, Morpheus, etc. Titanium works the easiest for us)

 

HTPC for the entertainment center that runs all the time for the security cameras too. Low power, very quiet. 

Fire Tvs for all the other tv's.  

Winegard HD8200U Platiunum OTA antenna for all the live locals. 

Cinema for all previously aired tv shows and movies. 

Reddit for NFL and MAA. 

Prime because it's free with Prime. Wife uses it. She also has a Roku that she likes better than fire for prime and YouTube.  

[[icon] 9,558]

Been disconnected from DirecTV for a year now... have only missed it once or twice. 

Firestick

Titanium TV + Real Debrid ($3/mo) for all previously aired movies/shows 

Kodi Solutions IPTV ($5/mo) for live TV - every channel including PPV and sports packages

 

Need a VPN... 

i have PIA VPN but it’s not working anymore... what VPNs are affordable, fast, and work well for Firestick? 

 

 

[Ned 10,553]

3 hours ago, [icon] said:

Been disconnected from DirecTV for a year now... have only missed it once or twice. 

Firestick

Titanium TV + Real Debrid ($3/mo) for all previously aired movies/shows 

Kodi Solutions IPTV ($5/mo) for live TV - every channel including PPV and sports packages

 

Need a VPN... 

i have PIA VPN but it’s not working anymore... what VPNs are affordable, fast, and work well for Firestick? 

 

 

Explain these to me like I'm @El Floppo

[Peak 1,288]

17 hours ago, Ned said:

With DTVN, as long as you set it to record it works just like big cable if you start watching the recording while the show/event is still going on.  Otherwise, there's no rewinding live TV.  If you pause live TV, it will only hold for a short amount of time before it jumps forward a bit.

I had an issue with the DTVN DVR and sporting events.  I'd record a game and then when I came back to watch it, if I stopped the recording to run out, DTVN would start it back from the beginning when I came back.  It was very annoying.  I could watch 2 or 3 qtrs of a game, leave to run to the store.  When I got back and pulled the game up, I had to start from the beginning.  Then when I hit FF to get back to where I was, I had to guess the time marker as the image never appeared on the screen until I hit play.  Very annoying and I stopped using the DTVN DVR afterwards.

[Peak 1,288]

9 hours ago, [icon] said:

Need a VPN... 

i have PIA VPN but it’s not working anymore... what VPNs are affordable, fast, and work well for Firestick? 

I had PIA, but let it lapse.  We use the Firestick remote on our phones, and when VPN is on, our phones no longer work.  We found the Firestick remotes ate batteries like crazy - we were replacing them every 3-4 days.  With 2 Firesticks, this became a little too much for us.

With that said, we haven't been using a VPN for about 6 months.  No issues on our end (knock on wood).  But I rarely use my IPTV.  I use it mainly for PPV and Sporting Events (baseball, football).

Have you had issues without a VPN?  Do you have any other remote recommendations for the Firestick that we could use with VPN?

[Moe. 1,988]

18 hours ago, TakiToki said:

How well do the DVRs perform with in-progress events and fast-forwarding through them? I like to start watching a game at halftime or so, and fast-forward through dead action and commercials. If that's not possible or even clunky (imprecise fast-forwarding or something of that nature), I'll stay with DTV/Big Cable, but this is probably the only thing still holding me back.

 

18 hours ago, Ned said:

With DTVN, as long as you set it to record it works just like big cable if you start watching the recording while the show/event is still going on.  Otherwise, there's no rewinding live TV.  If you pause live TV, it will only hold for a short amount of time before it jumps forward a bit.

 

10 minutes ago, Peak said:

I had an issue with the DTVN DVR and sporting events.  I'd record a game and then when I came back to watch it, if I stopped the recording to run out, DTVN would start it back from the beginning when I came back.  It was very annoying.  I could watch 2 or 3 qtrs of a game, leave to run to the store.  When I got back and pulled the game up, I had to start from the beginning.  Then when I hit FF to get back to where I was, I had to guess the time marker as the image never appeared on the screen until I hit play.  Very annoying and I stopped using the DTVN DVR afterwards.

It's clunky at best in my experience. Not nearly as clean as cable.

[matttyl 2,689]

On 3/2/2019 at 3:12 PM, drunken slob said:

Anyone got recommendations for a non-cable/satellite DVR? Looked at a few on amazon, just want to see if some of you have one. 

If you like tinkering and are tech savvy, you can go with an HDHomerun type tuner, and a windows 7 based computer with media center.  Can record either 2 or 3 things at once (either OTA or cable via cablecard) and your storage limit is however much hard drive space you have.  Assuming 5GB per hour of HD video (a very high assumption) means that you can store 1,600 hours of HD video on an 8TB drive that costs under $200.

[acarey50 597]

Any better deals on HBO? It seems it rarely goes on sale through cord cutting options - I see that Hulu had a deal last year around April where you could get it for $5/month for 6 months then it went back to $15/month, which seems to be the standard.

I've got Amazon Prime and Hulu, just curious if anyone had found a cheaper way to get it than the $15/month as an add-on to those services.

[stbugs 2,980]

3 hours ago, acarey50 said:

Any better deals on HBO? It seems it rarely goes on sale through cord cutting options - I see that Hulu had a deal last year around April where you could get it for $5/month for 6 months then it went back to $15/month, which seems to be the standard.

I've got Amazon Prime and Hulu, just curious if anyone had found a cheaper way to get it than the $15/month as an add-on to those services.

I got AT&T wireless unlimited and I got HBO Go for free with it. I don’t think they offer that. I’m pissed I didn’t take advantage of the $15 off per month on DirecTVNow but they didn’t have a DVR option yet so I didn’t cut (about to just figuring out which one). I think DirecTVNow is the cheapest HBO add on. $5 per month.

[tonydead 7,539]

17 hours ago, [icon] said:

Been disconnected from DirecTV for a year now... have only missed it once or twice. 

Firestick

Titanium TV + Real Debrid ($3/mo) for all previously aired movies/shows 

Kodi Solutions IPTV ($5/mo) for live TV - every channel including PPV and sports packages

 

Need a VPN... 

i have PIA VPN but it’s not working anymore... what VPNs are affordable, fast, and work well for Firestick? 

 

 

PIA still works fine for me. 

8 hours ago, Peak said:

I had PIA, but let it lapse.  We use the Firestick remote on our phones, and when VPN is on, our phones no longer work.  We found the Firestick remotes ate batteries like crazy - we were replacing them every 3-4 days.  With 2 Firesticks, this became a little too much for us.

With that said, we haven't been using a VPN for about 6 months.  No issues on our end (knock on wood).  But I rarely use my IPTV.  I use it mainly for PPV and Sporting Events (baseball, football).

Have you had issues without a VPN?  Do you have any other remote recommendations for the Firestick that we could use with VPN?

You must have alexa turned on so the remote is constantly listening to you or something. I rarely ever have to change batteries. 

I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for watching a stream, ever, it's just cheap peace of mind. Downloading is a different story. 

[Payne 547]

3 hours ago, stbugs said:

I got AT&T wireless unlimited and I got HBO Go for free with it. I don’t think they offer that. I’m pissed I didn’t take advantage of the $15 off per month on DirecTVNow but they didn’t have a DVR option yet so I didn’t cut (about to just figuring out which one). I think DirecTVNow is the cheapest HBO add on. $5 per month.

After reading this thread earlier, I signed up for free HBO though AT&T/DirectTV today. I'm upset I've missed out on this for so long.

[ChiefD 18,517]

How are you guys getting ESPN?

Does the ESPN+ app carry the same games as ESPN? For example, I can watch an ESPN game now through my ipad through the regular ESPN app, but I have to have a cable subscription to just access a normal game.

Does the ESPN+ app fix that issue? Or do they limit what games you can watch?

Edited March 6, 2019 by ChiefD

[Moe. 1,988]

Just now, ChiefD said:

How are you guys getting ESPN?

Does the ESPN+ app carry the same games as ESPN? For example, I can watch an ESPN game now through my ipad through the regular ESPN app, but I have to have a cable subscription to just access a normal game.

Does the ESPN+ app fix that issue? Or do they limit what games you can watch?

No, ESPN+ is separate from what they air on their networks. You do not get access to that stuff with an ESPN+ membership. You would still need a cable or streaming service subscription to watch non-ESPN+ content on the ESPN app. 

[Moe. 1,988]

I think ESPN+ is great for people who want to be able to watch sports, or have sports on in the background, but they don't necessarily care what sport or which teams they are watching. You get access to some pretty decent stuff through ESPN+, but it won't be enough on its own for the vast majority of sports fans. 

[Gustavo Fring 461]

Just cut the cord and went with the following: 

• Sling TV (orange and blue subscription)
  • The Sports Extras package also has NFL Redzone, which is a must for me, so I'll add that closer to NFL season. 
  • Offers Showtime/Starz but not HBO. 
• Amazon Prime - will be subscribing to HBO through this when GoT starts back up. 
• Netflix

Did the 7 day free trial with SlingTv and we loved it, so sticking with that for now.   I like being able to still watch live television when I want to catch a sporting event, but they also provide a good amount of OnDemand content.  

[Payne 547]

11 minutes ago, Gustavo Fring said:

Just cut the cord and went with the following: 

• Sling TV (orange and blue subscription)
  • The Sports Extras package also has NFL Redzone, which is a must for me, so I'll add that closer to NFL season. 
  • Offers Showtime/Starz but not HBO. 
• Amazon Prime - will be subscribing to HBO through this when GoT starts back up. 
• Netflix

Did the 7 day free trial with SlingTv and we loved it, so sticking with that for now.   I like being able to still watch live television when I want to catch a sporting event, but they also provide a good amount of OnDemand content.  

Looking at the same setup except still toying with Hulu instead of Sling.

The HBO free through AT&T was a nice find on this thread. 

Would really like to follow up on how this setup is working for you. 

[ChiefD 18,517]

So you guys doing HULU - I'm guessing I can stream this through the XBOX one? Yes?

[ChiefD 18,517]

Another HULU question: can you just chromecast it though an ipad or smartphone to your TV?

[Moe. 1,988]

@ChiefD yes to both 

[ChiefD 18,517]

5 minutes ago, Moe. said:

@ChiefD yes to both 

Awesome, thanks. Been looking to cut the cable for years, and it looks like HULU Live might give me all I need. Should be able to save about $75 a month. 

[JoeSteeler 3,407]

On 3/5/2019 at 4:22 PM, acarey50 said:

Any better deals on HBO? It seems it rarely goes on sale through cord cutting options - I see that Hulu had a deal last year around April where you could get it for $5/month for 6 months then it went back to $15/month, which seems to be the standard.

I've got Amazon Prime and Hulu, just curious if anyone had found a cheaper way to get it than the $15/month as an add-on to those services.

Split hbo now with a family member?

the only way I know how to get it under $15 is through DIRECTV now. $5/mo to add it to any DIRECTV now package

[ConstruxBoy 1,138]

On 3/4/2019 at 6:58 PM, bleachercreacher said:

We’ve considered going with a streaming service for a while now.  Comcast made me mad this weekend so I started a PlayStation Vue free trial.  On my local channels, the sound is slightly off from the video and it drives me crazy.  Is this always a problem, or will it get better?

Have not noticed this in a year of Vue. Just that the locals are at a lower volume level than the other channels so you need to crank it when you switch to them. 

[Peak 1,288]

The latest DTVNow update screwed up my firestick yesterday.  The app wouldn't load on my phone or firestick.  It kept asking me to get the "update", but there was no update to download.  Saw online it was impacting many people the same way.  It was back on as of this morning, but what a crappy customer service experience.  Still no word from ATT on the issue - what caused it, or if there will be any lingering impacts.  

[culdeus 7,270]

On 3/5/2019 at 3:22 PM, acarey50 said:

Any better deals on HBO? It seems it rarely goes on sale through cord cutting options - I see that Hulu had a deal last year around April where you could get it for $5/month for 6 months then it went back to $15/month, which seems to be the standard.

I've got Amazon Prime and Hulu, just curious if anyone had found a cheaper way to get it than the $15/month as an add-on to those services.

Use the service and when the show you want finishes then cancel.   I mean got is 6 episodes.  Worst case 30 bucks. 

[Andy Dufresne 11,682]

Picked up a Tablo today for use with my protector (through a Fire TV stick).

Color me impressed.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Andy Dufresne

[schlesinj 39]

On 3/6/2019 at 2:28 PM, ChiefD said:

So you guys doing HULU - I'm guessing I can stream this through the XBOX one? Yes?

Yes

[schlesinj 39]

On 3/7/2019 at 8:07 AM, culdeus said:

Use the service and when the show you want finishes then cancel.   I mean got is 6 episodes.  Worst case 30 bucks. 

I opened Prime yesterday and saw some type of $10 deal for HBO.  Not sure what it was, but may want to check it out.

[Craig_MiamiFL 2,484]

20 minutes ago, dorno said:

New lineup and it doesn't look good. Pay more and get less in return. Gonna have to take a look at Hulu live tv and YouTube tv now.

Easy cancel for me. Imagine it's gonna hurt them bigtime ridding of Viacom (Nick/MTV/Comedy Central). Lots of demos impacted. 

The whole 'grandfathered in + $10' is misleading. You're not "keeping the same package"....you're losing channels.

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Craig_MiamiFL

[shadyridr 14,320]

Hulu (5.99 package) now free with Spotify Premium subscription.

[stbugs 2,980]

8 minutes ago, dorno said:

After the confirmation about directvnow going up in price I think I figured out what I'm gonna go to. Looking at philo and possibly the spectrum streaming bundle for locals and the on demand library. Total cost should be less than what I was paying to at&t.

Why pay for locals? Plenty of options/antennas. I’m going to get that Fire Recast box once it drops again. $50-$70 off is likely on prime day. Plus, no real internet use if you have lots of streaming (I have 3 boys, 11 and up).

[stbugs 2,980]

9 minutes ago, shadyridr said:

Hulu (5.99 package) now free with Spotify Premium subscription.

Hmm, I need to coordinate that. I haven’t quite cut the cord but will soon. I was thinking about DirecTV Now, but not likely anymore. 

[eoMMan 5,663]

7 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Why pay for locals? Plenty of options/antennas. I’m going to get that Fire Recast box once it drops again. $50-$70 off is likely on prime day. Plus, no real internet use if you have lots of streaming (I have 3 boys, 11 and up).

Lot of antenna options suck.  Even some of the best ones are very irritating.  The fact that DirecTV Now has local channels was a huge plus for me and why I ditched Sling for them.

[Al Czervik 280]

On 3/10/2019 at 12:20 PM, Craig_MiamiFL said:

Easy cancel for me. Imagine it's gonna hurt them bigtime ridding of Viacom (Nick/MTV/Comedy Central). Lots of demos impacted. 

The whole 'grandfathered in + $10' is misleading. You're not "keeping the same package"....you're losing channels.

 

Yep.  Was just going to sign up, but losing the Nicks as well as HGTV and Food Network kill the deal.  And their new packaging is horrible.  Back to the drawing board.  Might be PS VUE now instead.

[The Flying Turtle 552]

On 3/6/2019 at 1:44 PM, Gustavo Fring said:

Just cut the cord and went with the following: 

• Sling TV (orange and blue subscription)
  • The Sports Extras package also has NFL Redzone, which is a must for me, so I'll add that closer to NFL season. 
  • Offers Showtime/Starz but not HBO. 
• Amazon Prime - will be subscribing to HBO through this when GoT starts back up. 
• Netflix

Did the 7 day free trial with SlingTv and we loved it, so sticking with that for now.   I like being able to still watch live television when I want to catch a sporting event, but they also provide a good amount of OnDemand content.  

I know I posted this before, but I think it is worth repeating since new people are looking at options.

With Sling TV Orange you can only watch on one device at a time.  I think it is misleading to say getting Orange and Blue allows you to view on 4 devices.  You can still only view Orange on one device and Blue on the other three.

[stbugs 2,980]

2 hours ago, eoMMan said:

Lot of antenna options suck.  Even some of the best ones are very irritating.  The fact that DirecTV Now has local channels was a huge plus for me and why I ditched Sling for them.

I agree and I like the locals but I like the idea of being able to watch and record locals not using any of the streams available and Internet bandwidth m. 5 people in the family so it’s key to me to make sure we don’t have an issue. We likely won’t but it’s nicer if I don’t have to pay more per month for extra feeds. I’ve used antennas before, heck I was one of those people who had an antenna for HDTV when Dish didn’t provide them yet and the HD box had an antenna input.

The pure HD feed from the antenna (back then) was way better with no compression at all. Not sure if that is still the case since I have used an antenna in a while. 

[SofaKings 118]

Hulu is free with Sprint apparently.

[matttyl 2,689]

2 hours ago, dorno said:

After the confirmation about directvnow going up in price I think I figured out what I'm gonna go to. Looking at philo and possibly the spectrum streaming bundle for locals and the on demand library. Total cost should be less than what I was paying to at&t.

They did raise prices, but they are adding in HBO, right?

[bcat01 276]

2 hours ago, Al Czervik said:

Yep.  Was just going to sign up, but losing the Nicks as well as HGTV and Food Network kill the deal.  And their new packaging is horrible.  Back to the drawing board.  Might be PS VUE now instead.

I was considering it, but with no HGTV and Food it's a no.

[JoeSteeler 3,407]

3 hours ago, dorno said:

After the confirmation about directvnow going up in price I think I figured out what I'm gonna go to. Looking at philo and possibly the spectrum streaming bundle for locals and the on demand library. Total cost should be less than what I was paying to at&t.

does philo have locals?

 

[rustycolts 1,735]

Hulu plus has locals but if they go up again I will be dropping them and just going with my antenna for locals.  To many options out there for streaming services to let companies hold us hostage like the cable companies use to.

[Craig_MiamiFL 2,484]

1 hour ago, matttyl said:

They did raise prices, but they are adding in HBO, right?

I believe you're correct. They're removing a whole lot of channels and adding HBO.

[Socrates11 381]

4 hours ago, eoMMan said:

Lot of antenna options suck.  Even some of the best ones are very irritating.  The fact that DirecTV Now has local channels was a huge plus for me and why I ditched Sling for them.

Guess it depends where you are in relation to your local broadcast towers. I live about 30-40ish miles away from my local towers, picked up a decent RCA metal antenna for $50, and get 30+ local channels crystal clear. That frees me from having to depend on a streaming package for them.

[eoMMan 5,663]

13 minutes ago, Socrates11 said:

Guess it depends where you are in relation to your local broadcast towers. I live about 30-40ish miles away from my local towers, picked up a decent RCA metal antenna for $50, and get 30+ local channels crystal clear. That frees me from having to depend on a streaming package for them.

I had my antenna look for channels the other day and it found 40+.  I usually get the main ones (CBS, ABC, and NBC) but they are never consistent.  I could have NBC on and it works great for 5 minutes but then it starts flaking out.  It's just a PIA for me personally.

But I agree.  It's definitely a YMMV situation with it depending on where you are located.