ot: one more time - streaming TV service

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by commonguy001

Hulu - I'm new to the Hulu streaming but I like it so far. Picture is great (they all seem to be now) and the interface is good once you get used to it. I like the recent channel feature which is almost like a back button. Saying that, I'll probably cancel it as soon as it gets warm out as I have a lot going on this year and will likely not use it.
I think my favorite overall was Sony but Hulu and then DirecTV Now are close.

Hulu has a "Suspend" feature that allows you so suspend service for up to 12 weeks. Not sure if its any better or worse than cancelling, but its there.
Might be better to cancel, as when you return there may be some on-line returning customer coupons available

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by paredown

Absolutely--we pay a flat $49/mo for internet only (plus taxes and fees of course). No modem/router rental, since I set up my own. No set top boxes either. Throw in the monthly rental for Netflix (<$20); Prime we would get anyways for the shipping.

A lot of services are getting "cute" with their fees. For example, Frontier added a $4 mo. Internet Infrastructure Surcharge (which they bury in "Detail of State Taxes and Other Charges" so the user thinks its a state charge — its not)

[commonguy001]

Originally Posted by Tony T

Hulu has a "Suspend" feature that allows you so suspend service for up to 12 weeks. Not sure if its any better or worse than cancelling, but its there.
Might be better to cancel, as when you return there may be some on-line returning customer coupons available

Interesting, good to have another option!

[eddief]

My bill was $200 a month for the triple play and modem rental and two tvs with one dvr and 400mb internet. Modem rental was $11 per month. Don't need landline anymore.

I bought a separate modem, a separate router, and two Roku boxes and subscribed to Youtube TV. Modem + router purchase = $130. 2 Rokus = $50. Youtube TV = $40 per month. Reduced internet speed to 60mb = $67 per month.

So monthly now will be $110 instead of $200.

Youtube TV is a different approach but it works pretty damn good. No PBS yet, but otherwise nearly all my preferred stuff is available. You can record and playback, fast forward and reverse with no commercials. Things are a bit more clunky than the really good Comcast interface, but I will get used to 110 vs $200. New owned hardware paid for in 2.5 months then hopefully gravy after that.

[sfo1]

As a newly converted Youtube TV user, the one thing that bugs is when you watch a recorded show, some let you fast forward through commercials; other recording do not. I am finding more recordings force you to watch their commercials.

[eddief]

time will tell.

From Oct 2018:

https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2018/10/...corded-content

Originally Posted by sfo1

As a newly converted Youtube TV user, the one thing that bugs is when you watch a recorded show, some let you fast forward through commercials; other recording do not. I am finding more recordings force you to watch their commercials.

[RobJ]

I have been researching options to finally cut the cord too. Anyone have anything new to add or recent experiences?

[huck*this]

Originally Posted by RobJ

I have been researching options to finally cut the cord too. Anyone have anything new to add or recent experiences?

Check out Philo Rob and see if that fits. Fantastic service and can't beat the price. We have had them since day 1. I have tried them all.

[ariw]

If you want free OTA TV and DVR capabilities, consider this:

https://www.tablotv.com/products/tablo-quad-ota-dvr/

I am integrating it with a Mohu antenna:

http://www.gomohu.com/

This, plus a Roku with a few subscriptions is taking the place of DirectTV at our house

-Ari

[Ralph]

I had 4 TV's on cable until recently. Bought a ROKU TV to replace one old TV, and bought 3 ROKU media devices for the other 3...Basically made them smart TV's. Replaced my 60 MBPS Internet service with 100 MBPS service, bought a Net Gear extender to help with the signal thru out house...and we are happy campers. So simple to install.....wish we had done this years ago. Have a dual band router (5G and 2.4), but signal penetrates walls better with 2.4. And we like ROKU. Can go anywhere to about any APP. Wife has Amazon Prime membership. So like Prime Video. Still using Spectrum TV App, but switching soon to You Tube TV App (30 day free trial) for most regular channels...local, PBS, Sports, etc. Now back with 5 TV's working again....put a ROKU device on a small garage TV. (I watch CNBC all day) 100 MB service won't support all at one time (no problem to me...family can't watch all at one time).....neighbor has 400 MB service.

[kppolich]

Here is what I see happening all the time.

You start by cutting the cable cord. Great!

Then you subscribe to 3 or 4 streaming services plus pay for Internet service and most likely bump up your Internet provider to handle the increased traffic.

Are you still saving money?

[Ralph]

Originally Posted by kppolich

Here is what I see happening all the time.

You start by cutting the cable cord. Great!

Then you subscribe to 3 or 4 streaming services plus pay for Internet service and most likely bump up your Internet provider to handle the increased traffic.

Are you still saving money?

For us....maybe save 20% of former bill. Got rid of all the rental boxes. Get to learn and use newer tech, and deal less with our Internet provider. But you make a good point. Have to be careful about adding on the services. I find being able to record not as important as in past...because many places allow you to access back programs.

[2LeftCleats]

I think it has saved us money. I quit cable 2 mos. ago which more than halved my bill. We have not watched network TV in a long time so don't miss it. I have Roku and pay for Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, but we were paying for those anyway. The biggest money drain has been the newer movies where there's often a $5.99 charge. Used to save that for movies we missed at the theatre, but now there are so many choices, you can kind of get sucked into movies you might not have bothered with in the past. After a VISA bill that had nearly $100 of movie charges, we've been more conscientious about our choices.

[commonguy001]

When I factor in current internet costs and what I used to pay for streaming (Netflix) and Direct TV dish I was at around 2700 a year. When I use what I do now and add in current internet costs I pay about 1115 per year.
We travel a bunch so the only streaming service we keep year round is Netflix which I keep for others (I am indifferent). If we did keep our other streaming year round it'd bump the total cost up to 1500 so I'd still be up 1200 and that is at 2011-2012 Direct TV dish rates.

[jbf]

Locast.org

I recently discovered this service. It’s a non-profit version of Aerio, which was shut down a few years ago. I’m just beginning to play around with it, but it might be a good source of local programming for some of you cord cutters.


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