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Cord Cutting |OT| Now With 50% More Cable

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breadtruck

Member
Only on TWC's "standard" internet, but likely will bump it up a tier or two, using Sling, and have an antenna for local.

Pretty happy with the outcome. It was a hard choice between Sling and Vue, but Sling gives you a free Roku2 for 3 months prepaid service. Threw it on a third TV and Im good to go.
 
What a huge fucking bummer. This isn't that much better that cable viewing, IMO. I don't always have the luxury to keep up with new shows.

And the season pass on Amazon is basically just outright buying a season, right? Disappointing.
So just watch them on DVD from Netflix.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
This sounds great.

So what can I do to get full access to shows on the networks of which I'm subscribed? The current streaming options available to me only show the last 5 or so episodes of the latest respective season, which is bullshit.

For instance, there are a few SyFy shows that I'd like to watch from the beginning but can't. How can I legally watch these shows in their entirety?

Which shows are you trying to watch on Syfy? You can use your Vue credentials to sign into the SyFy site and look at all episodes of most of their series. Same with all of the networks that Vue has. If not, look to see if Hulu or Netflix has the episodes. Goto www.justwatch.com to see what is on Hulu and Netflix.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
So I finally cut the cord. I went from;

160$ a month to 60$ a month for just Internet, 25mbps

I just called Comcast, told them I wanted to get rid of tv, they transferred me a couple of times, offered me some stuff, no thanks, then dude says that 25mbps isn't enough for Netflix lol.

I said Gaf said it was enough, no response, kinda awkward, but anyways, I did it lol.

That kind of misinformation should be illegal.
 

soundpross

Neo Member
Ive been interested in cutting the cord for sometime only thing holding us back which isnt such a good reason is watching the ny knicks lol (I love my basketball). Only thing i need is some news channels, espn, hbo, amc, usa, and msg but i know nba league pass does block out games that arent on national tv. I know i could cover the news,espn,usa,amc with Vue or Sling and HBO now for hbo, What are some options i could do for local knicks games?
 
Which shows are you trying to watch on Syfy? You can use your Vue credentials to sign into the SyFy site and look at all episodes of most of their series. Same with all of the networks that Vue has. If not, look to see if Hulu or Netflix has the episodes. Goto www.justwatch.com to see what is on Hulu and Netflix.

You know what, you're right. After checking again, it looks like most of the SyFy shows are fine.

However, I'd at least like to watch:

Quantico
Blindspot
Wayward Pines

And I currently have no legal option to stream these shows in their entirety. That's just bullshit.
 

Brandwin

Member
Got OTA antenna and I feel like the picture with the antenna looks better than what DISH gave me, I do have a problem though. I can't find CBS anywhere when my TV searches channels if doesn't even come up and NBC isbt 6-1, it's 5-1. The rest of the channels seem right. So weird. Any idea what's wrong or how to get CBS?
 

effzee

Member
First off, Drop AT&T because their pricing for their cell plans is not at all aggressive compared to what you get with Verizon and Sprint. Sprint has gotten much better and if you stop at a Best Buy you can get 25gb of data for $50. Insane value. If you really need good coverage you'd be better off switching to Verizon and I believe they have BOGO going on right now.

Side note: We just got rid of Vue. It wasn't bad. The quality was fantastic. But the interface is so fucking bad. Sony really needs to hire a UI team because all of their products suck at it.

Well att is offering unlimited data at $60. Isn't that better than Sprint's plan?

Vue Core package plus basic high speed internet will take care of your sports and local channel needs (at least it would in my area) so you have to see if the cost of Vue+Internet+phone bill is less or equal to the cost of Directv+Internet service.

Oh I see you have already said it's a wash. How many Tvs do you have?

2 TVs and with the new house which will have a basement set up, possibly 3.
 

mephesta

Member
Is there a legit way to watch NFL Redzone on my amazon fire tv 4k with my cable credentials? Even through Kodi?

I know football season is coming up, so there probably isn't a great way to test things right now, but I figured I would ask.
 
Got OTA antenna and I feel like the picture with the antenna looks better than what DISH gave me, I do have a problem though. I can't find CBS anywhere when my TV searches channels if doesn't even come up and NBC isbt 6-1, it's 5-1. The rest of the channels seem right. So weird. Any idea what's wrong or how to get CBS?
It's likely that you're out of the range of the CBS antenna. Try looking up what the digital channel of your CBS affiliate is and tuning into that. If you can get it, you might need a more powerful antenna, sorry to say.
 

Brandwin

Member
It's likely that you're out of the range of the CBS antenna. Try looking up what the digital channel of your CBS affiliate is and tuning into that. If you can get it, you might need a more powerful antenna, sorry to say.

So weird, I am pretty sure the CBS tower is closer than ABC, NBC and Fox tower. All the websites said I should get CBS fine. I even typed in the channel and nothing, maybe I am doing something wrong? If I can't get CBS, it will put a damper on my plans.

and no idea why NBC is channel 5-1 for me on my tv, it should be 6-1.


EDIT: I also don't mind spending a bit more. I could get the 50 mile radius antenna from the same company and see if that does the trick.

This is what TV FOOL says -
ABC - 20.6 miles
CBS - 21.7 miles
FOX - 22.3 miles
NBC - 25.2 miles
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
You know what, you're right. After checking again, it looks like most of the SyFy shows are fine.

However, I'd at least like to watch:

Quantico
Blindspot
Wayward Pines

And I currently have no legal option to stream these shows in their entirety. That's just bullshit.

All of those shows stream on Hulu. Just do a search on google in this format - "showname streaming". It will bring up all of the options to stream a show legally. There is a legal way to stream pretty much every single piece of TV content out there. Usually just doing a simple google search can find the appropriate platform.



Is there a legit way to watch NFL Redzone on my amazon fire tv 4k with my cable credentials? Even through Kodi?

I know football season is coming up, so there probably isn't a great way to test things right now, but I figured I would ask.

Vue is getting redzone. Depending on your cable company, you may be able to stream it to another device. I would assume you can do it with DirecTV. Best to contact your cable provider about that.
 

Applesauce

Boom! Bitch-slapped!
Vue is the shit, just needs an AppleTV app. But the PS4 app is pretty good, despite the DS4s shitty battery life.

I also didn't know you could use Vue as a cable provider when logging in to each individual channel's apps, I would have never known had I not seen it mentioned here. A really great feature.
 
All of those shows stream on Hulu. Just do a search on google in this format - "showname streaming". It will bring up all of the options to stream a show legally. There is a legal way to stream pretty much every single piece of TV content out there. Usually just doing a simple google search can find the appropriate platform.

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I need a Hulu subscription!
 

mephesta

Member
Vue is getting redzone. Depending on your cable company, you may be able to stream it to another device. I would assume you can do it with DirecTV. Best to contact your cable provider about that.

Good tip on the cable provider. I'll check with them today and report back (Charter Cable). The last few years I have been able to log into the NFL Network website on Chrome and just connect my laptop to my TV. If I have to do that again, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I will also try sideloading Chrome onto the FireTV and see if I can just log in that way.

I'm excited to see how the Vue Redzone thing will work though. I've been really curious about Vue and think it could be a good option for me in the future.
 

effzee

Member
So I was transferring and setting up utilities for our new house. The energy company, pse&g, offered a preferential deal through them for Verizon fios.

We told them we don't want a land line just Internet and possibly TV so they offered a $111.00 per month deal with fios speed of 100mbps and some 260 channels.

How much does fios internet by itself go by if I only get Internet?
 

Ron Mexico

Member
So I was transferring and setting up utilities for our new house. The energy company, pse&g, offered a preferential deal through them for Verizon fios.

We told them we don't want a land line just Internet and possibly TV so they offered a $111.00 per month deal with fios speed of 100mbps and some 260 channels.

How much does fios internet by itself go by if I only get Internet?

Paying $59.99 for 100mbps through Fios. Also in pse&g territory and didn't get any offers when I bought my house. $111.00 I would bet still doesn't include equipment.
 

effzee

Member
Paying $59.99 for 100mbps through Fios. Also in pse&g territory and didn't get any offers when I bought my house. $111.00 I would bet still doesn't include equipment.


I just looked at Verizon's site they have a bundle advertised for 100mbps + HD TV package for $75 before taxes and rental feels.

The pse&g deal doesn't seem like a deal at all.

I need to make a spreadsheet with all the different options.
 

Ron Mexico

Member
I just looked at Verizon's site they have a bundle advertised for 100mbps + HD TV package for $75 before taxes and rental feels.

The pse&g deal doesn't seem like a deal at all.

I need to make a spreadsheet with all the different options.

I was up to an additional $32/mo for 1 HD Box, router, regional sports network fee, etc.

I would have needed 2 more boxes on top of that so $56 a month extra just in equipment.

Still beat the $200+ I was paying Comcast before I bought the new house but I just can't fathom paying that much anymore.
 

Brandwin

Member
Someone on Reddit told me the Leaf is really bad at VHF channels and that is what my local CBS is. He gave me alternate HDTV antennas, two being Winegard models for about the same price I paid for Leaf. I dunno too much!

EDIT: or I guess Hi-V
 

ParityBit

Member
I just looked at Verizon's site they have a bundle advertised for 100mbps + HD TV package for $75 before taxes and rental feels.

The pse&g deal doesn't seem like a deal at all.

I need to make a spreadsheet with all the different options.

I bought a TiVO and 3 Mini's. I only rent a Cable card from them. My bill is a slick $124.99 a month including HBO. (100/100 which pings at 120/120)

No rental, no service fee and no Quantum fee. Just an option. I love it.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Someone on Reddit told me the Leaf is really bad at VHF channels and that is what my local CBS is. He gave me alternate HDTV antennas, two being Winegard models for about the same price I paid for Leaf. I dunno too much!

EDIT: or I guess Hi-V

Don't know much about antennas unfortunately. I remember back in the day VHF and UHF were on the same antenna. I guess things have changed. I do need to put one on my roof though in place of the DirecTV dish. Just in case my internet goes down one day, I will have something to watch.
 

ascii42

Member
Don't know much about antennas unfortunately. I remember back in the day VHF and UHF were on the same antenna. I guess things have changed. I do need to put one on my roof though in place of the DirecTV dish. Just in case my internet goes down one day, I will have something to watch.
On this style of antenna, the loop is for UHF, and the "rabbit ears" are for VHF.
7eae34ea-a910-4982-8989-f77482ab0c94_1.66c8bb3383b9ef9a845ad4d76787693b.jpeg


The lack of the rabbit ears is why a lot of the flat ones don't do VHF well. Though at least Clearstream has a VHF add-on you can get, not sure about any others.
 

Brandwin

Member
Plugged in the Leaf today and got it set and I get like 20 channels and all the locals came in. Tried the Winegard as well and got the same channels, picture looked clearer with the Leaf though. Not sure what was different today compared to the other day, but all is well now.
 

Brandwin

Member
Suggestions on ROKU Stick vs ROKU 2? A lot of people have told me just to go with the newer stick model in both bedrooms and the living room.
 

effzee

Member
I bought a TiVO and 3 Mini's. I only rent a Cable card from them. My bill is a slick $124.99 a month including HBO. (100/100 which pings at 120/120)

No rental, no service fee and no Quantum fee. Just an option. I love it.

No rental fees but you rent a cable card?

Also what channels does that include? You get ESPN 1 and 2? NFL Network? TNT and TBS?

I'll look into it but that's only tv right? Ideally I'd like to find a deal where I pay less than 100 a month for both high speed internet and some sort of TV set up that provides HD quality live TV for the channels I listed above.
 

Lyn

Banned
Has anyone done the deal for a free Roku 2 through Sling if you pay for 3 months in advance? I am mostly curious how well it worked out, in terms of length of time to receive it and was it decent quality or refurbished?

Our household cut the cord a little while ago and we have mostly been surviving on an Amazon FireTV Stick that we got a good deal on and Hulu. With football season coming up though, we are thinking about getting Sling so that we will have ESPN again for Monday Night Football. I would like to use Vue again, but being on a tight budget, Sling gets us what we need for now. Since our FireTV Stick has been getting a little fussy though, I was considering the Roku 2 deal through Sling and just wanted to see if anyone here had feedback on that particular offer.
 

Brandwin

Member
Roku stick was painfully slow for me and could hardly stream beyond SD quality.

Werid. You had the newer model that is supposed to be 8x faster than the old one?

Everyone on Reddit told me the total opposite, but I can't find any concrete info on if new model stick is faster than newer model Roku 2.

I have both, but the stick is in my daughters room and I haven't messed with much. The quality looked fine when setting it up and in there while it streamed. I guess I can just switch the stick to the other tv and try it for a few days to decide.
 

ParityBit

Member
No rental fees but you rent a cable card?

Also what channels does that include? You get ESPN 1 and 2? NFL Network? TNT and TBS?

I'll look into it but that's only tv right? Ideally I'd like to find a deal where I pay less than 100 a month for both high speed internet and some sort of TV set up that provides HD quality live TV for the channels I listed above.

I rent a cable card and that is all. I have 4 TV's hooked up through that one card. I also do not pay for the "Quantum" services, because I have my own boxes. Better menu, service and DVR by far.

I have 100/100 net and Preferred HD. My cost was $104.99 before taxes/fees and my $4.99 cable card rental (Total: $124.68).

The Preferred HD package includes all the ESPN/TNT/TBS/NFL/Local channels. Plus all the stuff I need for my son, Disney's, Nicks, etc. Pretty much everything. You can also get the RedZone for $12 when the time rolls around which I do. That is basically on par, but it has a bunch of other sports channels included so it is $2 more than normal.

HBO (your choice) was tossed in for free. So that saves me $15 a month since I am not paying for it through HBO NOW any more. I do use HBO GO in it's place (On my TiVo's).
 

Lomax

Member
Suggestions on ROKU Stick vs ROKU 2? A lot of people have told me just to go with the newer stick model in both bedrooms and the living room.

I've been very happy with my Roku stick for the few days I've had it and from everything I read if you're going to be on wifi the stick is the same as the 2. I've had no trouble getting HD streams from everything. I do have my stick plugged in via adapter, not powered through the usb. That said, if you have the means to use an ethernet direct connection, that's almost certainly going to be more reliable and consistent.
 
I got an Amazon Fire TV and PS Vue. It's really great so far, I get all the same channels I watched anyway on cable for about $80 less a month.

The Fire itself is a great device, super responsive and easy to use.
 

mcrommert

Banned
Got OTA antenna and I feel like the picture with the antenna looks better than what DISH gave me, I do have a problem though. I can't find CBS anywhere when my TV searches channels if doesn't even come up and NBC isbt 6-1, it's 5-1. The rest of the channels seem right. So weird. Any idea what's wrong or how to get CBS?

Cable needs to further compress those streams...it is probably better quality
 

Bgamer90

Banned
So I finally cut the cord. I went from;

160$ a month to 60$ a month for just Internet, 25mbps

I just called Comcast, told them I wanted to get rid of tv, they transferred me a couple of times, offered me some stuff, no thanks, then dude says that 25mbps isn't enough for Netflix lol.

I said Gaf said it was enough, no response, kinda awkward, but anyways, I did it lol.

Nice. And yeah, 25 Mbps for Netflix is more than enough (well unless it's 4K content).

I recently moved and had to switch my internet service since Verizon FiOS isn't available where I'm at. The only options for Internet were Time Warner Cable or Verizon DSL so I obviously chose the former. I'm only subscribing to their internet service (50 Mbps). A week after I signed up, I got a call from a rep and she was really pushing me to sign up to their phone and TV service. I have a cell phone so I don't need a home phone service, and I don't need TV since I have PS Vue + Netflix + Antenna. "But sir, you can get more channels!" Yeah, channels that I don't watch! "But sir, what if your phone service goes out? What will you do?" I live in a downtown area so I doubt that will ever happen but if it does, I can simply walk to my job or any of the various local restaurants or stores to make a call.

She then kept pushing various plans at me -- many of which were more than $150 a month. She didn't ask "would you like to have this package?" -- she just always stated "...It's a good deal so let's sign you up to this okay?"; One of the oldest tricks in the book. So annoying.

Anyway, I would have to pay $145/month for TV and 50 Mbps internet with Time Warner. I'm currently paying $105/month for PS Vue + Netflix + Antenna + Time Warner 50 Mbps Internet. Saving $40/month... Close to $500/year. These (frankly, disgusting) companies really hate millennials and are getting desperate.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
I got an Amazon Fire TV and PS Vue. It's really great so far, I get all the same channels I watched anyway on cable for about $80 less a month.

The Fire itself is a great device, super responsive and easy to use.

Preach! I have been telling all my friends who are trying to save money about it to varying levels of success. Some just can't give up cable though it is the exact same content.


On another note, using my Vue credentials on the NBCSports app for the Olympics is money. There are so many events going on, it is cool to be able to skip around to find what I want to watch, not what NBCTV wants me to watch.
 

Applesauce

Boom! Bitch-slapped!
My only real complaint about Vue is that some channels aren't available for viewing on mobile devices. MSNBC, SyFy, and USA are the most popular channels that aren't available but there are a few more. Kind of a bummer since I like watching MSNBC during election years up at work when we're not busy. But I can still watch CNN and everything else.

Also, I love how Vue implemented their TV guide. I like it much better than cable DVR guides.
 

Bgamer90

Banned
My only real complaint about Vue is that some channels aren't available for viewing on mobile devices. MSNBC, SyFy, and USA are the most popular channels that aren't available but there are a few more. Kind of a bummer since I like watching MSNBC during election years up at work when we're not busy. But I can still watch CNN and everything else.

Also, I love how Vue implemented their TV guide. I like it much better than cable DVR guides.

Check out the mobile apps for some of those channels. I know Vue name/password can work as a login for some of them.
 

Lomax

Member
My only real complaint about Vue is that some channels aren't available for viewing on mobile devices. MSNBC, SyFy, and USA are the most popular channels that aren't available but there are a few more. Kind of a bummer since I like watching MSNBC during election years up at work when we're not busy. But I can still watch CNN and everything else.

Also, I love how Vue implemented their TV guide. I like it much better than cable DVR guides.

And see, my biggest complaint about Vue is the TV guide, it just doesn't give very much information. I wish it had a "traditional view" option in addition to what it has. If I'm browsing TV it's nice to know what is about to come on in a few minutes in addition to what is currently on. Especially since switching channels is much slower.
 

Applesauce

Boom! Bitch-slapped!
Check out the mobile apps for some of those channels. I know Vue name/password can work as a login for some of them.

Thanks, I'll try that.

And see, my biggest complaint about Vue is the TV guide, it just doesn't give very much information. I wish it had a "traditional view" option in addition to what it has. If I'm browsing TV it's nice to know what is about to come on in a few minutes in addition to what is currently on. Especially since switching channels is much slower.

What device are you watching on? On the PS4 and iOS apps it displays all of that.

QI34eGQ.jpg
 
Does Vue still have the big advantage over Sling with access to the 'TV anywhere app' ? I know sling has a few but I understood that vue has many more
 

Lomax

Member
Thanks, I'll try that.



What device are you watching on? On the PS4 and iOS apps it displays all of that.

QI34eGQ.jpg

I'm using a Roku stick and it looks nothing like that, it just has an image for each channel with the current show. A listing like that is exactly what I would want. Maybe I'm missing a setting somewhere.

Edit: From googling it sounds like the Roku PS Vue app is fairly new and still has no guide. Hopefully they'll add the functionality eventually, right now I love the service otherwise.
 

Tanolen

Member
Well I've been fighting with antennas for months now. No matter how expensive the antenna I was constantly getting drops, even with full signal it would work and every 20 seconds or so drop.

It turns out that chromecast will interfere with the signal, as long as the thing is unplugged my OTA signal is perfect.
 

RBH

Member
Someone on Reddit told me the Leaf is really bad at VHF channels and that is what my local CBS is. He gave me alternate HDTV antennas, two being Winegard models for about the same price I paid for Leaf. I dunno too much!

EDIT: or I guess Hi-V

Do you have any links for those alternate antennas?

I'm having the same issue in the Chicago area, as the local CBS station is VHF.
 

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Can I use Vue without a Playstation? I heard it's better than Sling and I'm very interested.

You can, but you need a Playstation, Amazon Fire TV, or a Roku to activate the service.


I'm using a Roku stick and it looks nothing like that, it just has an image for each channel with the current show. A listing like that is exactly what I would want. Maybe I'm missing a setting somewhere.

Edit: From googling it sounds like the Roku PS Vue app is fairly new and still has no guide. Hopefully they'll add the functionality eventually, right now I love the service otherwise.

Currently Roku does not have the guide, but I saw on the official Vue forums that there are plans to add the guide to the Roku interface. When that will happen, we have no idea.
 

Schlep

Member
NFL Network has been added to Sling Blue. Some on Orange are reporting getting it as well, but it's not listed on the Sling website so that may be in error.

NFL RedZone is available under the $5 Sports Extra add-on.
 
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