Cutting Cable

[Lord_Byron]

I've started my test to see if cutting cable and going to internet streaming of TV is a viable alternative.

Yesterday, I disconnected cable from our main TV and added a Roku 3. We now have Sling TV, Netflix and Hulu Plus in addition to the broadcast channels.

Much too early to tell if this will work yet or not. My initial observations are:

1. It's more difficult to 'surf' to the channel one wants, given that Sling is connected through the Roku. It requires more "appointment" viewing.

2. Hulu plus seems to eliminate need for DVR for many shows. Lady Byron is happy with the selection of what she wants to watch.

3. I have a Philips stand-alone DVR, so I can still record network shows if I'm so inclined, but most are available on line.

4. Princess Byron was pretty much a streaming viewer anyway. Watched very few shows live, so this will probably affect her the least.

Bottom line, the three services are costing my about $37/month once the free trials are over. Cable with all fees and equipment is about $100.

The true test will be to see how much viewing is done on the TV still connected to cable. If over the course of the next two or three weeks, it's minimal, bye bye TWC.

I'll post updates/reviews as we live this.

[transfer2BGSU]

3. I have a Philips stand-alone DVR, so I can still record network shows if I'm so inclined, but most are available on line.

How much can you DVR on this model?

[Lord_Byron]

It's got a hard-drive. I can get about 60 hours or so at regular definition. The capacity has never been a problem, and it's got a DVD burner, so if there is something that I want to keep, I just burn to disc.

I've had it for a few years, not sure if they make it anymore.

[Flipper]

I'm in the process of cutting cable down to locals only....it's $20 per month for 4 TVS and I don't have to dick around with buying antennas that may or may not work .

love my Roku 3. if I truly do miss ESPN....I'll probably throw Sling on there. My favorite channel is hockeystreams. $100 or so a year up front gets you every NHL, AHL, OHL, QMJHL and WHL game. Is it legal? what do I look like, a cop?

[Lord_Byron]

I'm in the process of cutting cable down to locals only....it's $20 per month for 4 TVS and I don't have to dick around with buying antennas that may or may not work .

love my Roku 3. if I truly do miss ESPN....I'll probably throw Sling on there. My favorite channel is hockeystreams. $100 or so a year up front gets you every NHL, AHL, OHL, QMJHL and WHL game. Is it legal? what do I look like, a cop?

In addition to ESPN, Sling also has TBS and TNT, so I'm OK with baseball and NBA, so I think I'm pretty good.

After three days, there were a couple of glitches in my plan. When I set up on Wednesday, all my local stations scanned in perfectly and all was fine. On Thursday, PBS and CBS had disappeared. No signal. This is odd, since I only live 5 miles from the transmitters which are at one of the highest points in the county. I live NW of them nearer to Lake Ontario. I used this site: http://www.antennaweb.org/" target="_blank to determine that I really only should need an interior antenna.

It turns out that those two channels modulate their signal to the NW due to not interfering with signals from Canada. So, I added additional co-ax to my antenna and moved it to the other side of the room nearer to windows, and the problem was solved. Now in addition to re-establishing PBS and CBS, I've picked up religious and shopping channels also.

Jury is still out on Sling TV. I watched the Cavs game live on Thursday, and there were temporary <1 sec freezes every so often. Annoying, but not yet annoying enough when weighed against cable fees. I've linked the Roku and TV to the internet through ethernet cables, rather than wireless so I don't have to worry about router speed.

[Falcon137]

I have mixed reviews of sling. On my phone and PC, I rarely have any issues.

However, on my xbox, it's almost unwatchable with constant buffering or completely cutting out. When the free trial runs out I will probably give it a few months and then try again. Summer is an easy time to cut TV. Other than baseball there's not much in the way of sports and every TV show is a rerun.

Antenna ($25 one time) and Netflix $10 gets me through. If Sling gets it's act together, I will probably add it again for football season.

[Lord_Byron]

After over two weeks, I can say that I'm not sure that Sling is ready for prime time. They seem to be working to correct the defects, but it freezes and buffers.

However, last night, I watched a show on H2 for about an hour and got maybe 3 short buffers. The Princess watched a Disney show on-demand and it sailed through that.

The big plus is that "Watch ESPN" counts SlingTV as a TV provider. So, I'm able to get all the Watch ESPN networks and there are no buffering problems.

As far as any of the other TV viewing, the antenna is working fine with full HD reception -- no problem. Hulu Plus and access to the Web on the Smart TV are completely acceptable substitutes for the DVR.

We're waiting until the end of the month to call the question on cable. Right now, I'm not certain on which way to go, but I'm more positive than I was the first few days of doing this.

[Flipper]

ShoutTV channel on Roku has every episode of Route 66....I'm set for content. Tuesday Weld in the episode "Love is a Skinny Kid" and Robert Duvall in "Birdcage on my Foot". Must see....

Really liking Netflix' take on the Daredevil

[Lord_Byron]

Well, I completed the deal a couple of weeks ago, and cancelled my TWC cable TV. I'm now over-the-air and streaming only.

Can't say that I've missed it. Here are the highlights:

-- The antenna is working great, but I live only 5 miles from the towers, so I would expect that. There is full 1080 HD without any compression like one gets through cable. Only glitch is that on our CBS channel, when planes fly over, I get a brief interruption.

-- HuluPlus and Netflix are filling the gap for scripted entertainment well. For many shows, they appear on HuluPlus a short time after airing. ABC and FoxTv shows come on the next day, and Comedy Central shows about three weeks after airing. It's no big deal.

-- SlingTV is still working out their bugs, but it works pretty well most of the time. I've found that if I get a problem with freezing, I can adjust the bandwidth of the feed and sail through. Not sure I need to see Andrew Zimern in full HD, so that's really not a problem. I had some freezing during the Cavs/Hawks series on TNT, but when I reminded myself of how much less it costs, I was OK.

The phone call to actually cancel my cable was interesting. They kept trying to offer me deals, and I kept saying "Wasn't I clear? I want to cancel my TV and keep my internet." It bothers me that their business model is to offer discounts to people who threaten to leave, but don't do anything to keep customers who are with them.

[footballguy51]

I also hate that they only offer discounts to the customers that want to leave. I'd like to stay with them, but my rates keep going up. What kind of rates did they offer you? I may call them and tell them to give me something close to what they were offering or else I'm leaving their service.

[transfer2BGSU]

Went in to Verizon to speak to them about that $80 talk/text/10GB data deal they have. They said since I am under contract, that I also have a $40 line charge bringing my total to $120. If I had not been under contract, the line charge would only be $15.

HUH? Charge a contract customer more than a non-contract customer? I've been with Verizon since January 2000.

[hammb]

Unfortunately that is 100% policy in that stupid industry. I agree it royally pisses me off, but it's the nature of the beast for some shitty reason. I don't apologize for them in the slightest, just pointing out that it is par for the course across the board.

I hear people bitching about <insert provider here> at work or on facebook all the time, and my answer is always the same: they all do that.

I have just gotten used to the yearly phone call to DirecTV to tell them I need to cancel because my bill has gotten too high. Haggle a few times, end up with the customer retention department, end up getting 20-30/month off your bill plus usually some free HBO or something. It's a pain in the ass, and really stupid that you have to do it, but you pretty much do. Same goes for Time Warner for my internet. Shitty industry.

[pdt1081]

Unfortunately that is 100% policy in that stupid industry. I agree it royally pisses me off, but it's the nature of the beast for some shitty reason. I don't apologize for them in the slightest, just pointing out that it is par for the course across the board.

I hear people bitching about <insert provider here> at work or on facebook all the time, and my answer is always the same: they all do that.

I have just gotten used to the yearly phone call to DirecTV to tell them I need to cancel because my bill has gotten too high. Haggle a few times, end up with the customer retention department, end up getting 20-30/month off your bill plus usually some free HBO or something. It's a pain in the ass, and really stupid that you have to do it, but you pretty much do. Same goes for Time Warner for my internet. Shitty industry.

It's not just tech service providers either. My dad works for a propane company and they are the same way. Cut a deal for new customers and gouge the long time loyal customers. Many people switch companies every year because the new customer prices are always better than what a current can get.

[Lord_Byron]

I also hate that they only offer discounts to the customers that want to leave. I'd like to stay with them, but my rates keep going up. What kind of rates did they offer you? I may call them and tell them to give me something close to what they were offering or else I'm leaving their service.

They offered my $100/month for my current TV package (standard) and Turbo Internet. Was paying $160.

[footballguy51]

I also hate that they only offer discounts to the customers that want to leave. I'd like to stay with them, but my rates keep going up. What kind of rates did they offer you? I may call them and tell them to give me something close to what they were offering or else I'm leaving their service.

They offered my $100/month for my current TV package (standard) and Turbo Internet. Was paying $160.

That's not much of a break for me. Damn! I have the HD extended TV package, internet (not turbo, just under), and phone, and I'm paying, with taxes and fees, about $124. I think without all of the fees, I'm around $100. My guess is I'm not going to get much of a break from them off of that.