Internet Tv options

Ok, here's my initial thoughts after a few days with WOW cable, Sling TV and Roku Ultra box...

WOW "base" internet at $40/mo is plenty, speed test over wireless shows 65M+ down and about 11M up.
Between sling and roku, there is a shitload of content. Dozens of other apps with free and paid content. Roku remote is small and has very few buttons (seems cheezy but simple is good compared to many remotes).

Downsides- (a couple big ones)
a lot of programming has ads that can't be skipped. The ones that do have FF capability are let down by the fact that the FF button doesn't skip 30 seconds with each click, it does the 2x,4x,8x etc. forward and you can only see how far you've slipped ahead in a small window. It's nearly impossible to land where you want.
A lot of local/network programming isn't included and can't be integrated using an OTA antenna. It's looking like I'll need to buy a $100 AirTV box which will integrate the OTA channels with the Sling menu. Even then, stuff recorded from OTA won't be on the Sling cloud DVR, you have to attach a hard drive to the AirTV box to record, and Sling content won't record on the hard drive. Also sounds like ads will be there on at least some OTA programs.
Not a problem for me, but if you have kids- I could see getting burned badly by the minefield of pay services that could be clicked on. Everything from a 99 cent screensaver to a $5 movie rental to endless service upgrades. You HAVE to give billing info Roku separately even though the box is included in the package from Sling. be SURE to set it up so that authentication will be required for anything billable.

Conclusion: it's not all it's cracked up to be, but the savings are worth the downsides for me. Prepaid 3 months to get a deal on the roku box, will probably try a different service after that (maybe Youtube TV)

 

I recently switched from cable to streaming DirectvNow. Rokus for all TVs. 100Mb up/10Mb down Internet 62.95/month. DTVN package $65/month. Cable bill plus Internet was $205/month. So far streaming has been really good.

 

We've been extremely happy with Hulu Live. The only downside we've found is the guide being a bit difficult but thats about to change to a more standard EPG. Perhaps you're just on the wrong services.

Hulu has so much content its almost difficult to find something to watch. Add in PlutoTV and other random Roku Channels and its easy to just browse for an hour w/o actually watching a whole show lol! The Eyecandy channel on Pluto is always a nice place to stop though

We're at $54.95 for 150/15 internet and $40 for Hulu (about to be $45) and couldnt be happier after ditching DirecTV (ATT).

 

A couple of observations on your issues:

The Roku remote is actually pretty nice. It has a jack for a headphone so you can listen from the remote control when you don't want to disturb others. It is wifi, not infrared, so can operate without having to point it at the device. That said, I use a Logitech Harmony remote so I can control multiple devices with one remote. It has some definite downsides (I could literally write a book on that), but the only game in town anymore as far as I know.

On your skip ahead. If you use the left and right navigation "arrows" instead of the FF button, you will get 30 secs forward and 10 secs back (in Sling). In dealing a little more with the DVR/commercial skipping, I noticed that if you watch a network show within a day or two, you still have the skipping. Wait a week, and it switches to the "on demand" version (if there is one) and you lose the skipping. At least that appears to be the pattern.

No experience with OTA stuff, as I'm not that interested, but if I was, I could probably live with an antenna and switch inputs on the TV. No DVR, but I personally could live with that.

I agree it is still lacks a bit, but if a service comes along tomorrow that has all that, in 15 minutes, you can be using that one instead. I had no such choices with cable (not to mention that I'm saving about $85 a month for something I got about 15% utilization of). The lack of skipping on the DVR is pretty much on it's way with the cable and satellite physical DVRs as well (my Dad's DirectTV added that "feature").

I don't have the billing issue, but I know you can setup a PIN on the Roku and limit payments and what channels are available.

 

Awesome, thanks! The other way is super annoying. I did notice the non-directional remote, also nice. Now I just need to figure out how to get BEIN without paying for the $10/month sports package...

 

I don’t miss my cable / satellite at all.

 

One word... wife
I could do without the OTA stuff altogether. I have to spend all day getting peoples phones and internet to work, I'd rather not have to play "IT Guy" when I get home. Getting everything on the same menu and looking as close to the cable crap she's used to will ease the burden.

 

My wife would want the same thing. We are still on Direct TV, it has the shows she likes and I like, and I haven't been able to convince her to cut the cord.

 

W.A.F. definitely has an impact on what you can deploy. I had to put in the work on the backend to get something the wife would accept on the front end to get rid of DTV. I am about to have to do the work again as EPG data in Media center is becoming a recurring pain in the ass. I need to sit down and put a Plex system together to see if I can get to the same ease of use and single Wi-Fi remote that makes the current setup easy to use.

 

I dropped DISH about 4-5 months ago. I held onto the set-top boxes for a few months 'just in case' the OTA/internet tv thing didn't work out, well, I sent them back last month. I have an HD roof mounted antenna which pulls in about a dozen decent channels and another dozen or two of useless programming. I have a Firestick for some free movies/tv stuff via (Tubi & IMDB) and recently got PHILO for the handful of cable channels I knew we'd miss, like AMC, History, Food Network and HGTV, it' only costs $17.xx plus the ATT broadband at $7o (300+mb/s) I'm at roughly $87/month VS the $200+/month I had grown accustomed to.... So a big win for me so far!

I just purchased the Roku Ultra, only to return it yesterday. I've been using Firestick for so long I'm just used to their simpler UI, also prefer their app UI over the one Roku had too.

 

Why not Kodi with the stick??

 

That all sounds good, but by the time I buy their box for $250 and pay the $70/year service fees on top of the $30/mo. Sling service, I'm dangerously close to what I can just get cable for. I can see it making sense for those who already have Prime (which I'm not interested in). The way this crap is evolving I'd also rather not be tied to any expensive equipment or service.

 

im so confused, i pay almost $260 a month with hard phone line, internet service, box rentals and cable service. I watch a bunch of shows, my wife enjoys certain channels, im just not sure the best way to save some money and or not lose the level of service we have. And i can switch from Verizon to another every two years for cheaper service, its just a pain lol

 

I'll report back when I figure it out... That sounds like a ridiculous price, I hope you have really fast internet and all the premium channels. Right now I've got plenty of internet speed and more TV than I could watch for under $70/month

 

Don’t use plex, try emby. Much better and they actually respect your privacy. Plex is going to on demand services with ads, and the new UI is a horrible mess.

 

Good to know. I haven't looked at either in quite a while. Either will have to play nice with my DVBLink backend. It's a nice way to combine the OTA and IP feeds.

 

That’s a crazy price to pay. I pay less than that for internet, Hulu live, and 4 lines on T-Mobile. My ‘land line’ is a google voice line that’s free using an obihai device. It uses a normal cordless phone and bridges it to voip.

Hulu Live has lots of live local channels, and also hgtv, bravo, espn, etc. check it out man. Might have all the channels you watch, and it has a cloud dvr.

 

You have to

You have to take it a piece at a time and target getting what you need at the best price each step along the way. Trying to find one solution is exactly how the cable companies suck you in with "bundling". This is now what Plex, Netflix, Amazon, et al are trying to do as well. There isn't really a silver bullet, because everybody's situation is different.

In my case:

Only one high-speed internet provider available.
Land line phone with a number I'd like to keep and an alarm system that uses it.
A company-provided "dumb" phone for a cell phone/work phone for me.
Wife has pay-as-you-go cell phone
Cable company is mediocre with old end-user equipment (DVR/modem/etc) unless you "upgrade" ($$)
Technically capable end users already using streaming services/devices, home servers, etc.

Bills for this stuff were getting up to about $250 a month or so. Not utilizing what I had that well either.

Over time I have slowly changed each item (alarm system move to wireless, start trialing streaming services while keeping the cable for a backup, comprehensive cell phone upgrades, etc.). I now have two smart phones, my land line moved to google voice (with a VOIP box that allows it to ring the old wireless phone system), three-times faster internet, full accessibility to everything from every TV in the house AND my bill dropped $100 a month. This has freed up budget to get things like an F1 TV Pro subscription.

But, I did it over time, one piece at a time, and kept the old stuff going until I was happy with the "new" stuff. There is nothing that is not better than what I had, not to mention new stuff I never had, and cheaper too!

Make a list of what you need and go after it a bit at a time.