Cord Cutting Options

CPP said:
Check

I have two Roku Ultra's living room and master bedroom. Ease of use, the cool little headphone connection in the remote is kinda neat. So far pretty darn happy.
Click to expand...



NOT SO FAST. This buffering crap is the pits. I have 200 Mbps service, getting 173Mpbs at the router. MY ROKU Ultra is hard wired cat6 3 feet from the router and the Roku is 2 feet from the TV and using Hulu Live. I was at my sisters in Ocala, and a totally different ISP, , she has Apple TV and 200 Mbps using in one room and Roku in another and she gets Buffering as well. Checked with a couple of friends, one using YouTube TV, a 1GB ISP using Amazon Cube, Buffering as well. And we all have top of the line routers that can handle 1GB service if needed.

So is this it for streaming TV, buffering is just part of what you get. Never got this from my cable company. ODD but searching the net, it appears its all streaming providers.
 
I don't use my (old) Roku boxes often (since I initially got them years back I've upgraded the TVs I use more often and they have Apps already built in and the TVs are also hardwired via ethernet) and I've never had a buffering issue. Mine have always been connected via ethernet (initially with less than 100 Mbps) and currently the service is stated at 200Mbps (just tested it at my main PC at 235.9). For the most part I use either Netflix or Amazon Prime.
 
Phil A said:
I don't use my (old) Roku boxes often (since I initially got them years back I've upgraded the TVs I use more often and they have Apps already built in and the TVs are also hardwired via ethernet) and I've never had a buffering issue. Mine have always been connected via ethernet (initially with less than 100 Mbps) and currently the service is stated at 200Mbps (just tested it at my main PC at 235.9). For the most part I use either Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Click to expand...

Thanks Phil.
 
We just ditched DirecTV for YouTube TV. Gives us local channels and most everything else we want. Just have a few extra subscription apps (Prime Video, Netflix, HBO Max, etc), but still much cheaper than we were paying. Have everything on two Roku Ultras feeding our entire house via Control4 HDMI matrix switch.

I got amused when I called DirecTV to cancel and the rep immediately said "I am authorized to give you $60 a month off your subscription if you stay with us". Thanks, but no thanks.
 
Never got the Direct TV thing. A couple of restaurants I go to have it and it goes out when it rains (and I call it Indirect TV). I don't really watch much TV (even though I have plenty of TVs). If I watch, it is usually a movie, sports, news or a news magazine. Probably most of the time over the course of the year a TV is on, it is Netflix (via a Fire Stick with an ethernet adapter) on my bedroom projector (the 92 inch screen folds into the ceiling) and a large portion of what I watch is either documentaries or movies. So other than internet from the cable company, I don't really have much interest in their products. I have an antenna (had it pre-wired to the garage attic) and get local stations that way. When more stuff is broadcasted in 4k, I'll probably get at least one outboard 4k tuner. Last I looked, the Zapperbox ATSC 3.0 (and 1.0) tuner is scheduled for launch around September. So I probably won't be getting one of those until later this year or early next.
 
Phil A said:
Never got the Direct TV thing. A couple of restaurants I go to have it and it goes out when it rains (and I call it Indirect TV). I don't really watch much TV (even though I have plenty of TVs). If I watch, it is usually a movie, sports, news or a news magazine. Probably most of the time over the course of the year a TV is on, it is Netflix (via a Fire Stick with an ethernet adapter) on my bedroom projector (the 92 inch screen folds into the ceiling) and a large portion of what I watch is either documentaries or movies. So other than internet from the cable company, I don't really have much interest in their products. I have an antenna (had it pre-wired to the garage attic) and get local stations that way. When more stuff is broadcasted in 4k, I'll probably get at least one outboard 4k tuner. Last I looked, the Zapperbox ATSC 3.0 (and 1.0) tuner is scheduled for launch around September. So I probably won't be getting one of those until later this year or early next.
Click to expand...

If you are into sports including out of town sports and the NFL then DirecTV is #1. Otherwise, there are better options.
 
CPP said:
NOT SO FAST. This buffering crap is the pits. I have 200 Mbps service, getting 173Mpbs at the router. MY ROKU Ultra is hard wired cat6 3 feet from the router and the Roku is 2 feet from the TV and using Hulu Live. I was at my sisters in Ocala, and a totally different ISP, , she has Apple TV and 200 Mbps using in one room and Roku in another and she gets Buffering as well. Checked with a couple of friends, one using YouTube TV, a 1GB ISP using Amazon Cube, Buffering as well. And we all have top of the line routers that can handle 1GB service if needed.

So is this it for streaming TV, buffering is just part of what you get. Never got this from my cable company. ODD but searching the net, it appears its all streaming providers.
Click to expand...
Did you check your internet speed at the time of buffering?

My 75MB Cox routinely slows down to sub 20 and i get buffering on 4 k netflix thru Amazon Fire cube. Otherwise it's fine.

I've noticed it much more with my neighbors all being home office based in the last year so i suspect it's an ISP issue.
 
Direct TV uses old technology and is too slow. And then you have to deal with bad reception due to interferences, bad weather, etc. It is no wonder that people are dropping DTV in droves.

If you have access, I highly recommend optical (fiber) internet.

A few tips:
- You should check your internet speed regularly and if you see drops in speed reset your router.
- If speed fluctuate too much, complain to your provider. (They can often bump the speed up remotely.)
- Also check your HDMI cables. If you still have old HDMI cables, replace all HDMI cables with certified premium cables that can pass 4K (even if you don’t have 4K yet). You can buy premium HDMI cables from Monoprice cheaply; no need to spend big bucks because they either work or don’t work.
 
nicoff said:
Direct TV uses old technology and is too slow. And then you have to deal with bad reception due to interferences, bad weather, etc. It is no wonder that people are dropping DTV in droves.
Click to expand...

What do you mean about it being too slow? I have no problems changing channels on either my Genie or mini.

It has 4k programming so I am not sure what technology is old.

In an average year I have 3-4 temporary outages. When I had Comcast cable I had periodic outages as well, albeit not normally weather related.

As I said before, if you want to subscribe to NFL Sunday ticket they are the only game in town. In addition, they have more regional sports channels than any other provider. If you don’t watch sports then there is no reason to have DirecTV.
 
DTV is being dropped because of AT&T .... period ..!

Anyway wasn't aware the NFL was still in business ..


Ha ..! :popcorn: :popcorn:
 
I have not kept up with all the streaming channel offerings but the one downside is the ability to record programs and keep them for as long as you want. Many movies and shows are available on demand but some are not. Being able to time shift sports is a nice feature to have with traditional cable and satellite systems.
 
dminches said:
What do you mean about it being too slow? I have no problems changing channels on either my Genie or mini.

It has 4k programming so I am not sure what technology is old.

In an average year I have 3-4 temporary outages. When I had Comcast cable I had periodic outages as well, albeit not normally weather related.

As I said before, if you want to subscribe to NFL Sunday ticket they are the only game in town. In addition, they have more regional sports channels than any other provider. If you don’t watch sports then there is no reason to have DirecTV.
Click to expand...

Early on DTV had a technical advantage and were able to offer 1080p when cable providers were offering 480i. But then cable providers started using fiber and leapfrogged DTV by offering 4K when DTV remained stuck with 1080p for years (I ditched DTV 10 years ago). Good that DTV is offering HDR now. But they were certainly laggards in adopting it. DTV is bleeding subscribers and IMO is dying. I personally would not recommend it at this stage.
 
mallen123 said:
Did you check your internet speed at the time of buffering?

My 75MB Cox routinely slows down to sub 20 and i get buffering on 4 k netflix thru Amazon Fire cube. Otherwise it's fine.

I've noticed it much more with my neighbors all being home office based in the last year so i suspect it's an ISP issue.
Click to expand...

I'll have to check that. Thanks for the suggestion. Are you saying use something like SpeedTest, via an app to test the download speed ?
 
Fast.com specifically uses the content server that Netflix thinks you would use while watching something, which may be an OCA within your ISP, an upstream ISP, or at an IX. So it's a good measure of what your experience should be watching Netflix, assuming nothing along the path starts throttling after some amount of sustained traffic.

I believe many other streaming services use edge CDNs like Akamai that, while not as optimized as Netflix's OCA, are also designed to deliver content as quickly and reliably as possible at minimal cost to the network (financial or technical). General speed test services should be a decent approximation of edge CDN performance.

But ISPs may throttle after a set time, or in some cases throttle based on what you are downloading from where. Speed tests won't show that, and in some cases speed tests may be artificially prioritized by your ISP.
 
I have finally had enough of our TV service provider and going to move to just streaming. We will use a combination of Roku ultra boxes or TVs that have programing installed.

All we will get from Frontier is a 500mbs on fiber service. I am purchasing our own router to limit them as far as I can. Getting a $350 bill each month is absurd.

I decided to run new conduit from the router location to the ONT and my listening room and change my means of receiving service to all locations.

Now the question is which streaming to we go with? Looking at all of the platforms available they are quite similar. The question becomes which one is the most reliable and doesn't hit you with ridiculous charges.
Out of the 100 +- channels most offer we will use a a couple local and maybe 6 - 9 others. I have used an antenna successfully for local in the past but don't want to go back to that.

I am curious what services any of you are currently using and are you happy with it.

I have looked at many of the write-ups on the internet and it is all over the place as far as which one is the best. Kind of like audio equipment or any other product.
 
brad225 said:
I have finally had enough of our TV service provider and going to move to just streaming. We will use a combination of Roku ultra boxes or TVs that have programing installed.

All we will get from Frontier is a 500mbs on fiber service. I am purchasing our own router to limit them as far as I can. Getting a $350 bill each month is absurd.

I decided to run new conduit from the router location to the ONT and my listening room and change my means of receiving service to all locations.

Now the question is which streaming to we go with? Looking at all of the platforms available they are quite similar. The question becomes which one is the most reliable and doesn't hit you with ridiculous charges.
Out of the 100 +- channels most offer we will use a a couple local and maybe 6 - 9 others. I have used an antenna successfully for local in the past but don't want to go back to that.

I am curious what services any of you are currently using and are you happy with it.

I have looked at many of the write-ups on the internet and it is all over the place as far as which one is the best. Kind of like audio equipment or any other product.
Click to expand...

Streaming services are like grocery stores-you can never get everything you want from just one name brand store. I currently use Hulu and Sling so I can get the programming I want to see. I have 1GB internet service via fiber to my house and I have no issues with speed.
 
Thanks mep. From the services I have looked at Hulu is the main system I was thinking about. Have you tried the commercial free service? it's $12 a month but I hate the number of adds that you need to sit through. If most programing is really add free $3 a week is well worth it to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top