Cutting the (Cable) Cord?

[panerd]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Do any of you cord cutters have a data cap and how close do you come to it? Comcast limits us to 1TB before fees kick in. I feel like I'd be real close if I finally cut the cord. They have a monopoly here so choices don't exist.

Currently Spectrum has no max (or no max that I am aware of). I feel the best freedom I have right now if that I can pick up and leave at any point from any of these services and worse case can even return to a contracted Directv or Dish. (Unlike my crappy Verizon service that I am stuck with for like 18 more months!)

[panerd]

Dola: We knew we couldn't get MTV on Hulu but figured if you watched on your phone or paid even some small stipend you could. (Especially thinking a younger group of people will be their main audience) Apperently from my research outside of having an actual cable subscription Philo Tv at $16 is my best bet (also get AMC). Any non-illegal options I am blatently missing? Tried to sell the wife on catching up on all her shows at once from MTV like I do with Showtime or HBO but the conversation didn't go well.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Do any of you cord cutters have a data cap and how close do you come to it? Comcast limits us to 1TB before fees kick in. I feel like I'd be real close if I finally cut the cord. They have a monopoly here so choices don't exist.

I recently moved and had Comcast at the old place. I believe we were under the cap every month from April/May to December, except July. I don't remember which month the cap went into effect. In July, my son was house sitting for us and using a lot of cap downloading BS on his XBOX and we went over.

The other months we were around 750GB. That was with 3 people streaming all tv viewing and me playing WoW for 4-5 hours pretty much every day.

[spleen1015]

What streaming serves for live tv are folks using? I was a sling customer for a while then switched to Playstation Vue for MLB Network when sling didn't have it.

Vue has been pretty bad lately. There's been quite a bit of buffering. They changed the interface to the Roku app and screwed everything up, eventually reverting some of the changes.

I was thinking about going with Youtube TV since they have all of the channels we want, including local channels.

[ISiddiqui]

I use YouTube TV. I like it. Though I mostly use their sign in for other apps - so ESPN app, using my log in, instead of the YTTV app. Sometimes YTTV can have this strange lag, where it seems to pause and then goes super fast to catch up. Not often though.

[LloydLungs]

I've had a near-flawless experience with Youtube TV. I enjoy having NBA League Pass integrated into it (unfortunately MLB.TV is not) so I don't have to constantly be switching apps. And it fills most of my other sports needs. Buffering has been extremely rare for me.

I've dabbled in the brand-new service Vidgo for 15 bucks a month, as it has the main sports channels YTTV is missing, Pac-12 and NFL Network. But it is very, very much in beta and I'm not sure I will be able to get everything I want and be grandfathered in at $15/mo once it has its official release, so this may be temporary.

[Sublime 2]

YouTube TV has been perfect for us.

[kingfc22]

Looks like Vue is shutting down: Sony to Shut Down PlayStation Vue Live-Streaming Service | Hollywood Reporter

Time for me to look for alternatives.

[Kodos]

That sucks ass.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Looks like Vue is shutting down: Sony to Shut Down PlayStation Vue Live-Streaming Service | Hollywood Reporter

Time for me to look for alternatives.

Wow, didn't expect that. I've had hulu and was happy with it but switched back to PSVue to have redzone. If hulu would pick up RZ I'd be a totally happy camper. It has all my locals included, and in NW Iowa getting all locals in a streaming service is unusual.

[ISiddiqui]

Wow. That's massive news. It looks like live streaming TV just isn't super profitable. It's kind of why Apple and Amazon took a look at the live streaming business and said pass.

[thesloppy]

I feel like now that there are tons of streaming services offering exclusive content, it's only a matter of time before we're all wishing there were some sort of service that bundled all these providers together.

[ISiddiqui]

I wonder who is going to be the first of the sports networks (ESPN, Fox, NBC, even TBS/TNT) that offers a full streaming option divorced from cable subscription. That's really going to turn the tide - because basically that's a big number of those folks signing onto YTTV or PSVue or Hulu Live, I think.

[spleen1015]

I read last week that Sony was trying to sell Vue. That's why I asked about YouTube TV.

Looks like it was the right time to start looking. Just cancelled my sub.

[spleen1015]

The mistake Sony made was tying Vue to the Playstation. You don't have to have a Playstation to run Vue, yet everyone thinks you do.

I was the first person in my group of friends and co-workers that cut the cord. When folks would ask me about doing it themselves and I mentioned Vue as an option the first thing they would say is "But I don't have a Playstation."

Marketing was the problem here. The service itself was alright.

[MizzouRah]

We have had it with Dish Network.


So a month ago we signed up for Hulu Live streaming and absolutely love it. It has everything except for AMC which when The Walking Dead is on, we will subscribe to Philo for $20 a month.


I have to purchase a couple Roku sticks for the TV's that can't get the Hulu live app, but that's a one time $30 purchase.


We are going to be saving $79 a month and about $1000 a year.


Next I'm going to review our cell phone costs and just might switch from Verizon to Boost Mobile or Sprint as we pay a ton right now.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

We have had it with Dish Network.


So a month ago we signed up for Hulu Live streaming and absolutely love it. It has everything except for AMC which when The Walking Dead is on, we will subscribe to Philo for $20 a month.


I have to purchase a couple Roku sticks for the TV's that can't get the Hulu live app, but that's a one time $30 purchase.


We are going to be saving $79 a month and about $1000 a year.


Next I'm going to review our cell phone costs and just might switch from Verizon to Boost Mobile or Sprint as we pay a ton right now.

I would never think of Comcast/Xfinity when I think of the word VALUE (especially in a thread about cutting the cable cord), but I've had their mobile service for about the last 4 months, and I pay about $21/month now which includes $10/month for the phone. It is entirely dependant on how much data you use FWIW.

[Kodos]

Does Hulu give you the BTN alternate channels as well as BTN?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I read last week that Sony was trying to sell Vue. That's why I asked about YouTube TV.

Looks like it was the right time to start looking. Just cancelled my sub.

I'd thought of moving on right away too except staying allows me to keep redzone for the rest of the season. Then got a nice surprise when Vue announced users would not be charged for January, free month.

February I'll be switching to youtube tv.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Sweed

I'd thought of moving on right away too except staying allows me to keep redzone for the rest of the season. Then got a nice surprise when Vue announced users would not be charged for January, free month.

February I'll be switching to youtube tv.

Yep. This is where I’m at as well

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I would never think of Comcast/Xfinity when I think of the word VALUE (especially in a thread about cutting the cable cord), but I've had their mobile service for about the last 4 months, and I pay about $21/month now which includes $10/month for the phone. It is entirely dependant on how much data you use FWIW.

Charter has a decent cell phone deal too I'm looking into.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Does Hulu give you the BTN alternate channels as well as BTN?

It has BTN but I'm not sure about the alternates.

It's had all the Mizzou games on SEC channels

[ISiddiqui]

And Hulu Live TV increases it's prices $10 a month (to $55). Seems like streaming live TV is not a profitable gig.

[Kodos]

Yes. Fun to sign up and then 3 days later get a price hike.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

And Hulu Live TV increases it's prices $10 a month (to $55). Seems like streaming live TV is not a profitable gig.

Well shit... you can never get comfortable with TV.. or cell phones for that matter.

That's two price increases this year alone. I haven't pulled the plug yet on Dish, if they would just get FSM back I would be fine with staying with one service.

Wish someone would offer an a la carte service where I could just pick the channels I want and nothing else. Then change them as shows come and go.

I'm about to say F all these greedy services and stick with our free local channels antenna.

[ISiddiqui]

They'll never a la carte as long as service providers own multiple channels. They'll always bundle them. But no one is offering each bundle for sale. Although that may end up higher than the skinny bundles. Makes sense though... Those channels made their money from cable carriage contracts


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

They'll never a la carte as long as service providers own multiple channels. They'll always bundle them. But no one is offering each bundle for sale. Although that may end up higher than the skinny bundles. Makes sense though... Those channels made their money from cable carriage contracts


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No doubt about it. Just seems like watching TV is such a chore anymore. Oh you want to watch this program, now you need Service++.

[MizzouRah]

I had no idea Verizon customers with the unlimited plan get Disney+ free for a year. I just signed up... now I can watch The Mandalorian.

[henry296]

I signed up for the Disney+ bundle, but can't access any of the ESPN+ articles? Anyone else have this issue? I didn't have ESPN+ prior to this.

[ISiddiqui]

So the rise in live TV streaming prices presents a bit of dilemma for me. In that if YouTubeTV raises its prices from $50 a month I may have to seriously think of just saying I'll just watch the sports that come over broadcast and go to a bar for the games I really want to watch that are on cable.

The other alternative is going to back to cable, but I just am not a fan of the constant call every year to threaten to cancel to get the good promo price, hidden fees, junk.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by henry296

I signed up for the Disney+ bundle, but can't access any of the ESPN+ articles? Anyone else have this issue? I didn't have ESPN+ prior to this.

Did you log in using the same credentials that you used on Disney+?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

So the rise in live TV streaming prices presents a bit of dilemma for me. In that if YouTubeTV raises its prices from $50 a month I may have to seriously think of just saying I'll just watch the sports that come over broadcast and go to a bar for the games I really want to watch that are on cable.

The other alternative is going to back to cable, but I just am not a fan of the constant call every year to threaten to cancel to get the good promo price, hidden fees, junk.

Is SlingTV not a viable option for sports for you?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Is SlingTV not a viable option for sports for you?

Not since they don't have the RSNs anymore.

I'm far more interested in watching Atlanta United or the Atlanta Hawks than I am in watching the ESPN and/or FS1 game of the week.

[henry296]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Did you log in using the same credentials that you used on Disney+?

Yes, I used the same e-mail address. I do have a specific user name on ESPN as well that I've had for years before they started using e-mails as user names. When I log in, I see all of the programming to watch, just not the articles.

[markprior22]

I had to contact ESPN so they could "resync" my account. Not sure what that was about but it solved the problem.

[NobodyHere]

Fuck hackers

Disney+ fans without answers after thousands hacked - BBC News

[MizzouRah]

The Mandalorian is fantastic so far!

Spoiler

Baby Yoda!

[spleen1015]

Err.... spoilers?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Err.... spoilers?

Sorry... thought I put spoiler tag in there.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Fuck hackers

Disney+ fans without answers after thousands hacked - BBC News

Disney, for some reason, didn't offer 2FA for it's app. A massive oversight!

And no option to log everyone off with a click and do a reset for some reason.

[henry296]

Since my TVs are older they don't have some of the built apps for the streaming services, primarily Disney+ / ESPN+. Netflix is not an issue since it is built into our channel guide with FIOS.

Is there a preference among the group between Firestick, Roku or Chromecast as I'll be in the market Black Friday.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by henry296

Is there a preference among the group between Firestick, Roku or Chromecast as I'll be in the market Black Friday.

It depends. Chromecast uses your phone as the remote - so you'll have to be comfortable with that. Firestick is deeply plugged into the Amazon ecosystem so the home screen is very Amazon. Roku is pretty agnostic in terms of services, but it has some (IMO, nonintrusive) ads on the side of the home screen.

You mention older TVs.. do they at least have HDMI connections?

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by henry296

Since my TVs are older they don't have some of the built apps for the streaming services, primarily Disney+ / ESPN+. Netflix is not an issue since it is built into our channel guide with FIOS.

Is there a preference among the group between Firestick, Roku or Chromecast as I'll be in the market Black Friday.

I like my Roku, have two that I use. Works much better than my much older Firestick or Chromecast.

[PilotMan]

I've had about 10 Roku's since version 1.0. I love them, and their stock. Go Roku!

[henry296]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

It depends. Chromecast uses your phone as the remote - so you'll have to be comfortable with that. Firestick is deeply plugged into the Amazon ecosystem so the home screen is very Amazon. Roku is pretty agnostic in terms of services, but it has some (IMO, nonintrusive) ads on the side of the home screen.

You mention older TVs.. do they at least have HDMI connections?

Thanks. Probably rules out Chromecast, because I would want kids/wife to use it.

Not that old; all have HDMI. They are all Samsung. Oldest two are about 8-9 years old. Newest was 4 years ago. I think all are 1080p although one might be 720p.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by henry296

Thanks. Probably rules out Chromecast, because I would want kids/wife to use it.

Not that old; all have HDMI. They are all Samsung. Oldest two are about 8-9 years old. Newest was 4 years ago. I think all are 1080p although one might be 720p.

Roku or Fire would be best. Just depends on how much you in Amazon's system (I think the Fire OS looks better, but it tries to steer you to Amazon a lot).

(I realize that I have, or have used, almost every major brand - Roku 3, Amazon Fire Stick & the 4k Stick, Chromecast & Chromecast Ultra, and Apple TV 4k - the only one I haven't used is Shield TV)

[Arles]

Originally Posted by henry296

Since my TVs are older they don't have some of the built apps for the streaming services, primarily Disney+ / ESPN+. Netflix is not an issue since it is built into our channel guide with FIOS.

Is there a preference among the group between Firestick, Roku or Chromecast as I'll be in the market Black Friday.

Amazon is currently running a $10 off sale on the Ruku Premier (down to $29.99) if you are interested:

Amazon.com: Roku Premiere | HD/4K/HDR Streaming Media Player, Simple Remote and Premium HDMI Cable: Electronics

[spleen1015]

I've had the same 2 Roku players since I cut the cord in 2015. I have never had any issues with them.

[henry296]

Originally Posted by Arles

Amazon is currently running a $10 off sale on the Ruku Premier (down to $29.99) if you are interested:

Amazon.com: Roku Premiere | HD/4K/HDR Streaming Media Player, Simple Remote and Premium HDMI Cable: Electronics

I think that is what prompted the question as I was searching amazon for firesticks.

[Scoobz0202]

I prefer firestick because I use it for some black market/illegal streaming shit, but as a pure streaming device I think the Roku is better due to it in general being a lot more agnostic than Amazon's Firestick.