OT: Any experience with Sling TV?

[Gsinill]

In reference to the "Cutting the Cord experiences" thread, I've stopped watching TV in 1999 with the exception of the football (soccer) World and Euro Cups.

Now, with the upcoming Uefa Euro 2016, I am thinking to get Sling TV.
I checked their website and like the concept: no hardware, no contract.
This all sounds good but what about picture and streaming quality, especially for sporting events with a lot of motion?
I have high-speed cable, so this should not be a limiting factor.
Just wondering about the service on their end.

Thanks in advance!
GS

[wallymann]

SlingTV works great, you just need a solid broad-band pipe -- they should have the minimum spec on the sling website. as with any streaming service, the picture starts out a little fuzzy until it buffers.

using the SlingTV app on my roku stick, i've been watching golden-league athletic meets and giro coverage this spring and it's been great -- the picture is razor sharp! i think it's 1080p resolution.

i also watch SlingTV on my laptop when that's a more convenient option.

[Onno]

Wait. What channel on Sling covered the Giro? My browsing of the Sling website made me think they actually didn't have a lot to offer for the money.

[druptight]

Wait. What channel on Sling covered the Giro? My browsing of the Sling website made me think they actually didn't have a lot to offer for the money.

BeIn Sports

[Gsinill]

SlingTV works great, you just need a solid broad-band pipe -- they should have the minimum spec on the sling website. as with any streaming service, the picture starts out a little fuzzy until it buffers.

using the SlingTV app on my roku stick, i've been watching golden-league athletic meets and giro coverage this spring and it's been great -- the picture is razor sharp! i think it's 1080p resolution.

i also watch SlingTV on my laptop when that's a more convenient option.

Great, that's all I need to know! :)
Like I said, speed and bandwidth on my end have never been an issue, so I should be good.

Thanks!

[tjg]

I cut the cord over a year ago, and have never looked back. I have a Roku 3 with Hulu and Netflix. Sling is great because there is no contract. I turned on Sling + ESPN for last college football season, turned off Sling in January. I'll turn it on again in September. I do miss some live sports, but it is very "freeing" both financially and timewise. I ride more.
Livin on the Edge! tjg

[Gsinill]

I cut the cord over a year ago, and have never looked back.

Yup, it's actually an addiction that is really easy to overcome.
I travel a lot and even in my hotel room I never feel the urge to turn on TV.
Quite the opposite actually, the overload of friggin' TV screens everywhere (e.g. bars, restaurants, airports etc.) is annoying.

[Hindmost]

I don't have the Sling service but I do have the Sling device attached to my Dish Network DVR. May not be the most economical route but the technology is a trip. My tablet becomes a controller/TV around the house. I have viewed my recorded programs while staying at a motel recently.

[Ken C]

i have sling tv, a good internet connection, and a roku and it works and looks great. cant tell any difference in picture quality compared to when i had cable.

[commonguy001]

I had issues with sling on a roku 4. Really poor picture quality and lots of freezing up on a 50 megabit connection.
They have probably updated the software since i gave up but it was bad.
Had much better luck with vue and you get cloud DVR in the package.

[ojingoh]

They have a free 7 day trial, try it.

I didn't continue because it's *only* live -- no Video on Demand, just whatever is playing at the time. In 2016, it felt kind of limiting.

However, if you have a SlingTV login, you now also have an ESPN login, which means you can watch ESPN.com streaming, which is pretty great. I don't know if that's true of the other services, I didn't GAS about anything else.

[wallymann]

I didn't continue because it's *only* live -- no Video on Demand, just whatever is playing at the time.

this is not 100% accurate. SlingTV offers VOD replays for the most recent 1-2 weeks of content.

[ojingoh]

this is not 100% accurate. SlingTV offers VOD replays for the most recent 1-2 weeks of content.

Cool, that would go a way to fix what was almost a retro experience.

[jlwdm]

Wait. What channel on Sling covered the Giro? My browsing of the Sling website made me think they actually didn't have a lot to offer for the money.

+100

I watch too much tv and would like to cut back. I took a look at Sling TV and did not see any channels I cared about.

Jeff

[ultraman6970]

Quick question... for example sling carries HBO, you have all the HBO channels or just one?? what about the history channel? same situation just 1 or all the history channel / nat geo channels?

Just found out. HBO is just 1 channel... etc etc...

Price is not bad but you dont get the gazillion channels you get with the other regular cable company options. Need to check the numbers.

Can you multiple log in this thing??

[Clancy]

I cut the cord last fall. I'm now looking for a way to watch the Tour.

How is the Tour going to be televised this year? All on NBC Sports?

And is there a service similar to Sling that has coverage of most cycling events? I was able to catch some of the Spring Classics on Steephill but it was hit and miss and fairly lousy quality.

[ojingoh]

ASO has a contract with NBC Comcast, so it will be on NBC Sports. There is no Over the Top for NBC Sports, so you have to fork over $30 for Tour tracker.

[Tony T]

Quick question... for example sling carries HBO, you have all the HBO channels or just one?? what about the history channel? same situation just 1 or all the history channel / nat geo channels?

Just found out. HBO is just 1 channel... etc etc...




No need for SlingTV to get HBO if using a Roku (and others like Amazon Fire), just use the HBO NOW app ($15/mo, same as SlingTV)

HBO NOW (https://order.hbonow.com) is an App, so it's just one channel, but you can access a lot of content with that one channel. HBO has all current and most old content (i.e. Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, etc)

[wallymann]

slingTV carries HBO-Now which is NOT the entire HBO book of content.

IIRC slingTV allows only 1 *active* connection per account.

Quick question... for example sling carries HBO, you have all the HBO channels or just one?? what about the history channel? same situation just 1 or all the history channel / nat geo channels?

Just found out. HBO is just 1 channel... etc etc...

Price is not bad but you dont get the gazillion channels you get with the other regular cable company options. Need to check the numbers.

Can you multiple log in this thing??

[bpiecuch]

I've been using SlingTV on a Roku 1 box, Android app, iOS app, and Laptop. The Roku 1 box is the worst of the 4 and buffers/lags fairly often, especially with live sporting events. Most live sports on ESPN are unwatchable for me (on the Roku only.) The phone apps and laptop work fairly well. Though, as mentioned, you can only have one stream at a time. My wife and I fight over the stream when we're both at the gym...

But, in general, it is a great alternative to Cable TV, and I'm happy enough to be sticking with it. The BeIN sports network is part of a $5 add-on "Sports Extra", and not included in the $20 basic package.

[Tony T]

Need at least a 2 or 3 on the Roku. (I have a 2 with only a 3.5Mg connection (w/e home) and I have no buffering)
(SlingTV has deals (https://www.sling.com/devices/roku) on the Roku)

[Gsinill]

Watching France - Romania right now.
Excellent!

[Tony T]

slingTV carries HBO-Now which is NOT the entire HBO book of content.

I have HBO via cable sub and when away from home I access via HBO GO (which is identical to HBO NOW. I don't see anything on HBO via cable that is not on HBO GO, and have access to more older content on HBO GO than on HBO ON Demand.

HBO says that HBO NOW has "ALL OF HBO PROGRAMMING Series, movies, documentaries, sports, specials and more."

What's on HBO that I'm not getting on HBO GO?

[ultraman6970]

HBO to me are like 6 channels with tv shows and stuff... looks like sling has just one channel.

[Tony T]

That's because on cable, it's all live, so more that one channel is needed.

HBO GO/NOW is on demand, only one channel is needed and has the same content as all channels on HBO.

[wallymann]

HBO GO/NOW ... has the same content as all channels on HBO.

not entirely accurate. go = yes, now = no.

What's on HBO that I'm not getting on HBO GO?

a fair bit!

HBO-Go is streaming for people that have legacy HBO via cable/satellite. this gives you access to *everything* they have.

HBO-Now is new-age stand-alone streaming. this gives you access to all HBO-produced content and a good % of the other stuff produced by everyone else.

eventually the Go/Now content will be the same...it'll just take time for everyone to get comfy with the licensing and revenue sharing for HBO-Now.

[Tony T]

I have HBO GO, not NOW so I can't give a first hand account, however, according to HBO (https://order.hbonow.com/nowvsgo), NOW and GO have the same content and have the same programing schedule (HBO.com/schedule/hbonow-hbogo) for both GO and NOW.

If you follow the link (HBO.com/schedule/hbonow-hbogo), you'll see that GO and NOW have the same content. You can also compare what's on cable to GO/NOW and see that you get the same on GO/NOW as on TV. (You really get more on GO/NOW when you compare it to ON DEMAND)

[wallymann]

well, shazam! that's sweet and definitely different than what i understood to be the case. sorry for the confusion, or maybe it was a recent change compared to 2-3 months ago?

fwiw...i just looked at my HBO-Now listings and they have crap for movies. we havent had "normal" HBO in like +20 years and my recollection was they had WAY MORE movie offerings than the list i see before me.

I have HBO GO, not NOW so I can't give a first hand account, however, according to HBO (https://order.hbonow.com/nowvsgo), NOW and GO have the same content and have the same programing schedule (HBO.com/schedule/hbonow-hbogo) for both GO and NOW.

If you follow the link (HBO.com/schedule/hbonow-hbogo), you'll see that GO and NOW have the same content. You can also compare what's on cable to GO/NOW and see that you get the same on GO/NOW as on TV. (You really get more on GO/NOW when you compare it to ON DEMAND)

[Rpoole8537]

Is Tour Tracker the best option for viewing the Tour without cable/NBC Sports?

[Tommasini53]

i've had very good experience with sling-tv. a couple months ago they "updated" the app and it was an improvement. give the free trial a shot, the hook up in almost instantaneous. AND you NEVER have to speak to a cable rep on the phone. :banana: