Cord Cutters Thread

[HRSchenker 2,341]

1 full week of using YouTube TV with chromecast and we're convinced. Tonight we call AT&T and cancel our cable package. Gonna miss watching UT baseball and reruns of Augie's cooking show but I can't justify spending $400 extra a year for 4 months of content. Thank god for reddit cfb I can get streaming links for the LHN-only football games.

[Your Mom 4,978]

Vue ended just in time for me, end of football season.  It's the only sport I care about watching on TV. National news gets read online rather than watched, local channels come over the HD antenna, and so now I'm down to Netflix and Prime which will get me through until next football season just fine.  

[Lurch 5,950]

What Lurch said. I just lowered my speed with Comcast from 1G to 300 MB and I have not noticed any decrease in quality.

You won’t. I have a nice app that lets me watch my router activity by connected device. I can see in real-time what the current bandwidth utilization is by each device. With both kids watching their own TVs (2-3 Mbps each) and doing whatever
-the-fuck on their phones (1-2 Mbps each), wife on her laptop (barely ever blips above 3 Mbps), me watching the main TV (6-8 Mbps) and gaming/surfing on iPad (3-4 Mbps), we barely touch 25 Mbps. The only time I see it exceed 50 Mbps is when laptops are downloading updates.

I’ve come to believe the bandwidth race is one of the greatest. scams the cable companies have come up with since renting hardware.

[zork 629]

On 1/20/2020 at 9:39 PM, tokamak said:

Sling Orange + Sports Extra + Lifestyle Extra gets you LHN and Hallmark (plus a bunch of other shit, of course) for $45/month.

Vidgo also looks like it might do the trick for $40/mo.

signed up with vidgo but canceled when their web based player via chrome browser, for instance, was/is not available currently.  Gonna try sling orange and sports extra.

[rage-a-holic 4,736]

I have a couple of uverse subs available for $10/month, might help out some of you that can't get LHN after PSVue died. PM me if you want one.

[MoJames 8,258]

Been without cable for a week now, since PSVue death and I haven't missed it. The main metric, my wife, hasn't missed it either. The kids just Netflix.

I'm thinking I won't need it until potentially football season. Thanks Shaka.

[MissingInAction 25,559]

I read the thread title as "Cod Cutters thread".

[markstanco 12,793]

Question for those of you with vzw phones.

I have YT TV, if I stream it on my phone, is it "covered" under my unlimited data plan?

[markstanco 12,793]

I have a couple of uverse subs available for $10/month, might help out some of you that can't get LHN after PSVue died. PM me if you want one.

May hit you up during baseball and again in the Fall.

[Stunns38 3,805]

My future B-I-L swears by this below. Said you can find almost any channel you need and it’s about 90% reliable(lol). You’ll need very high speed internet apparently. Heard it’s a godsend for international channels.

http://www.vancouver-electronics.com/shop/mag3221yr

Any opinions or info on this?

[markstanco 12,793]

Amazon reviews hates it.

[Walte464 450]

5 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

My future B-I-L swears by this below. Said you can find almost any channel you need and it’s about 90% reliable(lol). You’ll need very high speed internet apparently. Heard it’s a godsend for international channels.

http://www.vancouver-electronics.com/shop/mag3221yr

Any opinions or info on this?

I use iptv (same as in that box) as my main use for tv. It’s $20 bucks a month and my guy gave me the instructions to put it on my phone, Apple TV, and fire stick. It’s really consistent, gets all movie stations, sports, and pay per views.

[Redneck Mutha 8,179]

11 hours ago, markstanco said:

Question for those of you with vzw phones.

I have YT TV, if I stream it on my phone, is it "covered" under my unlimited data plan?

I don't see why it wouldn't.

And that reminds me, we just switched over to unlimited data with them, which I believe gives us access to free Disney+ for a year?

[markstanco 12,793]

Not sure.  Mine is a business plan so they of course charge more and you get less. 

[orange dream 1,295]

9 hours ago, Walte464 said:

I use iptv (same as in that box) as my main use for tv. It’s $20 bucks a month and my guy gave me the instructions to put it on my phone, Apple TV, and fire stick. It’s really consistent, gets all movie stations, sports, and pay per views.

So you just pay $20/ month and it is some magic key that gets any programming with no additional fee?  Sounds like I'm missing something.

[NoName 17,153]

1 hour ago, orange dream said:

So you just pay $20/ month and it is some magic key that gets any programming with no additional fee?  Sounds like I'm missing something.

Edited February 7, 2020 by NoName

[Lurch 5,950]

Yeah I remember how awesome those DirecTV card programmers were... right up until I got the letter from their lawyer.

[gsoda3 3,362]

18 hours ago, Stunns38 said:

My future B-I-L swears by this below. Said you can find almost any channel you need and it’s about 90% reliable(lol). You’ll need very high speed internet apparently. Heard it’s a godsend for international channels.

http://www.vancouver-electronics.com/shop/mag3221yr

Any opinions or info on this?

 

12 hours ago, Walte464 said:

I use iptv (same as in that box) as my main use for tv. It’s $20 bucks a month and my guy gave me the instructions to put it on my phone, Apple TV, and fire stick. It’s really consistent, gets all movie stations, sports, and pay per views.

 

2 hours ago, orange dream said:

So you just pay $20/ month and it is some magic key that gets any programming with no additional fee?  Sounds like I'm missing something.

yeah you'll be fine until whoever runs the server (illegally) has to cut and run.  then you're stuck with a paperweight. 

[HouTex 1,943]

You’ll be fine until they come after you under 47 USC Section 553.

[UTCzech III 2,957]

On 2/3/2020 at 10:04 AM, pearlandhorn said:

I'd like to cut the cord.  Tired of having shit internet (Uverse) and not watching but 3 channels.  Only catch is, I need access to nickelodeon for Paw Patrol for my 3 year old.

I'm pretty well versed in Roku, Netflix, etc.  I do currently use my mom's Netflix account.  I have 3 TVs.  Youtube TV doesn't have nickelodeon from what I can see.  I'm going to be upgrading internet to around $50/month and my current bill for Uverse is $130/month.  Any advice on streaming service?

HALP.

Philo TV has all the Nick channels, $20 bucks a month.  Just ditched it because Spectrum has a "TV Essentials" package with the same channels for $15, but when we had it I liked it.  One drawback, you can only move the programming guide about 2 hrs forward, so hard to search for upcoming shows, also whenever you switch between channels or go back to the guide, current channel you are watching shuts off, doesn't keep running in the background like YTTV and others.  One plus, you can set it to automatically start at the beginning of a show (as opposed to joining in live), so even if a show only has 5 minutes left, you can click on it on the guide and it will start from the top.  Oh, major drawback, lots of their shows, even ones you have dvr'd, have hard ad breaks where you can't fast forward.  That sucked.  But, if you gotta have Nick, not a bad choice.

[rage-a-holic 4,736]

1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:

 

 

yeah you'll be fine until whoever runs the server (illegally) has to cut and run.  then you're stuck with a paperweight. 

nah, you just switch over to another IPTV provider. There are dozens of them up and running at any given time.

IPTV is a nice cord cutting opportunity for most people, but it does take some knowledge and persistence. You can't just buy an Android box pre-loaded with an IPTV apk and expect to get 24/7 rock solid HD programming. There will be hiccups and a learning curve, but it still beats forking over $50+ per month to Sling/Youtube/Hulu/etc.

[Walte464 450]

8 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

nah, you just switch over to another IPTV provider. There are dozens of them up and running at any given time.

IPTV is a nice cord cutting opportunity for most people, but it does take some knowledge and persistence. You can't just buy an Android box pre-loaded with an IPTV apk and expect to get 24/7 rock solid HD programming. There will be hiccups and a learning curve, but it still beats forking over $50+ per month to Sling/Youtube/Hulu/etc.

Took 5 min to learn the ins and outs but it’s consistent. I get all the new movies in theaters, PPV, and networks for 20 bucks. If they knock out 1 iptv, everything is switched to the next. There isn’t a worry of the big bad government coming after you. Anyone scared about the big bad ghost hasn’t done their research and is still stuck under the spectrum wall.

[El Diablo 4,232]

So, uh, I guess this thread will do to ask the dumb question... Why's my YTTV all of a sudden only showing like 15 channels as being "live". Normally have 50+ channels being carried.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22,305]

Did you touch yourself last night?

[NeverMarryAStripper 22,305]

Did you touch yourself last night?

[pearlandhorn 3,343]

Bought the roku last night.  We're going to try a free trial of Philo before jumping ship.  Calling comcast to get internet set up because Fuck AT&T.

[Lurch 5,950]

If you’re in for the long haul, buy your own cable modem/WiFi router. It should pay for itself quickly. Fuck those equipment rental charges.

Also, you don’t need more than 50 Mbps, despite how hard they’ll try to up sell you

[dcbc 14,644]

On 2/8/2020 at 12:02 AM, Walte464 said:

There isn’t a worry of the big bad government coming after you. Anyone scared about the big bad ghost hasn’t done their research and is still stuck under the spectrum wall.

Good luck.  You'll probably need it at some point. 

[Dbeasy 15,597]

If you’re in for the long haul, buy your own cable modem/WiFi router. It should pay for itself quickly. Fuck those equipment rental charges.

Also, you don’t need more than 50 Mbps, despite how hard they’ll try to up sell you

How do you figure out all of the settings

[Lurch 5,950]

How do you figure out all of the settings

Virtually plug and play now. Very little setup required

[Brew 3,049]

On 2/8/2020 at 12:02 AM, Walte464 said:

Took 5 min to learn the ins and outs but it’s consistent. I get all the new movies in theaters, PPV, and networks for 20 bucks. If they knock out 1 iptv, everything is switched to the next. There isn’t a worry of the big bad government coming after you. Anyone scared about the big bad ghost hasn’t done their research and is still stuck under the spectrum wall.

Or we have pretty clear understanding of legal and not legal.

We’re finishing up the two weeks free on YTTV so we could easily get the Super Bowl. Probably going to cancel it, no one is watching it more than sporadically at this point. Also, going to cancel ESPN+. Outside of college basketball and soccer, I don’t see the point in having it.

[Skipper 6,411]

On 2/8/2020 at 12:02 AM, Walte464 said:

 Anyone scared about the big bad ghost hasn’t done their research and is still stuck under the spectrum wall.

Yeah bro, if you aren't down with fraud you're just stuck in the past!

[Lurch 5,950]

Like I said earlier, the DirecTV hack was also super awesome right up until the lawsuit threat hit my mailbox.

[Buzzrock 15,136]

That's for fiber, but I don't think its for gigabit unless you're getting the best deal in the country. 

Turns out they were accidentally double discounting me. They “fixed the glitch”.

[Buzzrock 15,136]

I’m getting the feeling that Lurch doesn’t think that 1GB Internet is worth it.

There is one caveat to that: for AT&T at least, the lower tiers have bandwidth caps. 1GB does not. And the speed is nice to have when downloading big files for work or new Xbox games.

If the cap doesn’t matter to you then a lower tier is probably fine. We blow through our cap every month (and our Rokus get power from the TV, so when the power shuts off it shuts off and stops streaming).

[Lurch 5,950]

I do have a 1024 GB cap. We blew through it in the first month, but I then learned how to throttle the kids fire sticks and phones. Holding them back to 3 Mbps (which is ample) that’s no longer a problem.

 

I’m paying $60/month for 100Mbps, fwiw. I think xfinity GB is $140/month here. I can’t imagine finding $80 in addl value with it.

 

[Brew 3,049]

I pay $59 for the GB service, so a lot of it depends on where you live. For me, I’ll pay that all day every day. With 2 kids and 2 adults, I bet we easily can have 15 devices going at some points not counting when someone comes over.

[Okie State 3,889]

15 devices at once for 4 people?

[Brew 3,049]

4 phones, 4 computers, a TV or two and an iPad somewhere. My kids can be studying and have their computers up working, an iPad on Netflix, and be texting on their phones, etc. I didn’t even count that the security/HVAC systems run off the WiFi and phone apps.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Brew

[Lurch 5,950]

Who/where is selling GB for $59?

[Lurch 5,950]

Unless the devices are streaming video, they don’t even matter in the discussion. Their usage is infinitesimal compared to streaming video.

In my house w two teens, at our peak we may have 4 TVs and 2 phones streaming video. That would consume about 20 Mbps max (because I’ve throttled them w virtually zero impact on perceivable quality)

I’m telling you, look into your routers real time usage display. It was stunning to me, and I’ve been in tech my entire career. I’d guess 50 Mbps is overkill for 99% of households.

[Brew 3,049]

10 minutes ago, Lurch said:

Who/where is selling GB for $59?

Nowhere near most people on here, West TN. Public utilities control the market through parts of the TVA system so their broadband packages are generally cheap.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,733]

On 2/11/2020 at 11:50 AM, Lurch said:

If you’re in for the long haul, buy your own cable modem/WiFi router. It should pay for itself quickly. Fuck those equipment rental charges.

Not too mention that when you buy those devices yourself, the quality is much higher.  The one thing no one should be frugal with in today’s world is a crappy WiFi router. 

and attempt to hard wire as many TVs (or roku/fire/Apple TV) as possible.  No reason to share the WiFi band with them. Perhaps this will continue to get less important with 5G and other improvements but I don’t think we’re fully there yet. If someone disagrees, Please correct me.

[Lurch 5,950]

Your WiFi almost certainly has more bandwidth than your internet connection. Most are over 1GB. Wiring your devices may help where signal is bad, but sharing WiFi bandwidth is likely not a concern.

[rage-a-holic 4,736]

FYI, for those of you in areas that offer Google Fiber and Spectrum, Spectrum is offering 400/20 for $30/month, no contract or modem charge, price locked for 3 years.

[NoName 17,153]

On 2/12/2020 at 8:05 PM, Okie State said:

15 devices at once for 4 people?

IoT stuff I assume

[Buzzrock 15,136]

Who/where is selling GB for $59?

I’m paying $70 for GB AT&T in ATL

[Lurch 5,950]

This is what they show for JAX. Pretty shitty that they don’t give much discount for 100 Mbps. Are you also paying another $10 for equipment and getting a bundle discount? How much are the cost recovery fees? I’ll consider them next year but can’t commit to 12 months until my lease expires

[DaysOff 8,211]

Weird LHN backdoor that's worked on my phone for four straight days.

When we moved to the hill country we had GVTC for internet and cable (LHN). Moved to DTv then PSVUE then YouTube tv (no LHN obviously) all the while we kept GVTC for internet. When the ESPN app asks for my cable provider, I enter my credentials for GVTC, since that login has never changed it accepts it and I can cast from my phone to the tv. Hopefully lasts to football season.

[HornOnTheBayou 9,064]

Just got this e-mail from YouTubeTV. Does this mean no more Mavs and Spurs games? And no Rangers when baseball season starts?

 

Our goal with YouTube TV is to offer you the content you love, delivered the way you want.

To make this happen, we need to enter into deals with our partners. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement with Sinclair to continue to carry the FOX Regional Sports Networks and YES Network.

Starting February 29, 2020, you will no longer be able to watch live, on demand, or recorded content from your local FOX Regional Sports Network or YES Network.

Please know that we do not take this decision lightly. We value your membership and will continue to strive to build the best streaming experience possible.