Tell me how to stream

[Bugsinrugs]

I’m finally going to pull the plug on my Xfinity service. I’ll keep the internet service which is currently 250 mps. My question is, which service should I subscribe to? I watch mostly the news and would like to watch college and pro basketball. I’ve read about Roku, You tube and Apple TV but I’m so confused. Help please.

[wilnj]

DirectTVNow is the one we use. The speed of the app on our Roku devices leaves something to be desired but the availability of the channels matched our needs (including Velocity)

We tried Sling before that but the channel availability wasn’t great.

What I find most frustrating with all of the apps is the difficulty of surfing channels. With traditional cable, you can enter channel numbers to jump from show to show. With streaming apps, you need to open the guide, scroll to your desired channel and then wait for the channel to load.


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[PorscheGAL]

I have Roku. Once you buy the Roku, you pay nothing to them. On the roku you download apps that allow you to watch from different stations. For instance I have the Netflix app, Amazon Prime and Youtube. You will pay for the monthly charges to Netflix or Amazon or Sling if you use their app. There are free apps as well. You can get a look at the selection by going on Roku's website.

[Bugsinrugs]

Thanks Stephanie, the Roku looks good. I’m technically chaiienged and all my kids live around the country. They are a necessity for ant High Tech problems I run into.I will get there eventually but in the mean time I can’t wait to dump Xfinity/Comcast.

[PorscheGAL]

My 80 year old MIL can use it and she is not technically savvy either. The remote is very straight forward with just power, arrows, play, stop and pause. You should do fine.

[stomachmonkey]

Pretty much all of the streaming options will have anywhere from a one to two week free trial.

Currently a I use SLING, hated HULU but you may like it.

None of them are perfect yet, occasional buffering and such but certainly acceptable.

[red-beard]

Be careful. Xfinity is not allowing the top tier internet service without at least one other service.

[Bugsinrugs]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Be careful. Xfinity is not allowing the top tier internet service without at least one other service.

That sounds typical of Xfinity. I’ve been a long time customer and am now out of contract. They raised my bill $30 a month. I told them I’m moving in 6 months and they don’t provide service in that area. Without a two year commitment they would only lower my bill by $2. What a joke.

[LakeCleElum]

I asked this question here 3 years ago and got some great advise:

School Me - Stream Movies/TV

In the end: Roku stick, Amazon Prime and Kodi

[flatbutt]

Are there any apps that would get me F1 online real time like MotoGP does?

[rfuerst911sc]

We use Sling and Hulu as the primary " channel providers " feeding through Roku devices . Been doing this for about 2 years now with minimal issues . My wife and I find that Sling and Hulu are very user friendly as we are not all that tech savy . We also do Netflix .

[PorscheGAL]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Are there any apps that would get me F1 online real time like MotoGP does?

Sling would have it if it is on NBCSports. Rumor has it that F1 is working on a deal to live stream through Amazon.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/report-formula-one-racing-coming-to-amazon-prime-channels/

[malmos911]

Any of these streaming options offer the Tennis vhannel?

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Sling would have it if it is on NBCSports. Rumor has it that F1 is working on a deal to live stream through Amazon.

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/report-formula-one-racing-coming-to-amazon-prime-channels/

that would be sweet

[Baz]

The holy grail of threads.......enjoy!

CUTTING THE CORD - MASTER THREAD - transitioning away from cable TV & various options

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

That sounds typical of Xfinity. I’ve been a long time customer and am now out of contract. They raised my bill $30 a month. I told them I’m moving in 6 months and they don’t provide service in that area. Without a two year commitment they would only lower my bill by $2. What a joke.

Comcast/Xfinity raised my rate when my contract expired. It went to over $300/mth! I called in basically to cancel and they "found" a better deal. $175 for everything. Higher level of internet and every channel. I did sign a 1 year contract. I was considering going back to Dish and just using Comcast for internet. The internet max service was going to be slower, Dish package smaller and the total cost about the same.

At one point, I turned on Sling TV with the highest service for $45/mth. The live TV was not so good. It was mostly a streaming service. Also, I would lose DVR on the local channels. I considered a DVR for the local channels, but again, everything lost the integration.

There is a company that sells a box to integrate all streaming services, DVR for local channels, etc. It was not cheap, something like $200-300 and an ongoing subscription just for the box.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by red-beard

There is a company that sells a box to integrate all streaming services, DVR for local channels, etc. It was not cheap, something like $200-300 and an ongoing subscription just for the box.

Tivo. I have the Roamio https://www.tivo.com/shop/ota-detail
It's now $300, with no subscription. Records over the air TV, collects all of your streaming locations together, searches across all of the platforms, lets you create "seasons" of a show across platforms, etc.

The Tivo Bolt does the same, but also includes cable. $300 plus $15 a month.

Not cheap, but when you're saving $150 a month of cable, it makes it worth it.

[Arthropraxis]

I have used playstation vue for the last two years on a fire TV in the main room, firesticks on the other TVs. I get local live channels all the sports channels except for BEIN so no MotoGP or WSBK races. Very satisfied with the service for under $50/month plus $70/month for internet.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Be careful. Xfinity is not allowing the top tier internet service without at least one other service.

Yeh, read the TOS, always. If multiple people in your household are streaming, you can also bump up against Xfinity's 250GB/month data cap.

My current provider discounts high-speed internet almost $100 per month, so long as you bundle at least one other service. Which makes no sense at all, but whatever...

I'm about to switch phone-I-dont-use for TV-I-dont-use; then you get an ID for the channel-specific apps to stream their content.

One thing that strikes me as nice about the FireStick; it "knows" what apps you have installed - and what content they have - and will integrate/show content from all of them. Works well if you subscribe to premium services like HBO, Showtime etc. directly (rather than as a bolt-on "inside" another app).

List of content I'd "like to watch" keeps getting longer - because it simply exceeds the time I want to spend watching it. At a fraction of what I paid for cable to feed my 2T Tivo 10 years ago...

Recently installed a free TV app (Popcornflix, Pluto, Crackle? One of those - had some good old movies not available anywhere else), and it wants to show me adverts; pretty novel as I haven't watched an ad in a very looong time...