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Bought a "ROKU" streaming player, downgraded my Satellite TV package

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, this is a very useful thread. Thanks for posting all this great information.:clap:
I'll second that! Thanks Bob.

Got a smart TV and Netflix subscription for Christmas.

Just ordered a Roku to connect another TV.

Once up and running, I'll start dropping some cable service.

Can you get "Premium" channels (HBO, Cinemax...) from one of the online services?
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Can you get all the discovery channels, A&E, TCM, TBS, Fox news, CNN, ESPN, and AMC via streaming?
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Heads-up on online services.

I was just looking at my Cable service online statements. Watch your data usage!

We're allotted 300G per month. We still have a week left in this period and we're already over 500G. :eek:

Looking at daily usage, I think a lot is my son downloading XBOX 1 games but watch your settings for viewing movies using places like NetFlix. By default, they're set to the highest quality which is 3G/hour. Drop it down one quality setting and it goes to .7G/hour.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Can you get all the discovery channels, A&E, TCM, TBS, Fox news, CNN, ESPN, and AMC via streaming?
Depends upon the service but generally speaking the answer is NO. You can get SOME, and some have limited shows available.



Heads-up on online services.

I was just looking at my Cable service online statements. Watch your data usage!

We're allotted 300G per month. We still have a week left in this period and we're already over 500G. :eek:

Looking at daily usage, I think a lot is my son downloading XBOX 1 games but watch your settings for viewing movies using places like NetFlix. By default, they're set to the highest quality which is 3G/hour. Drop it down one quality setting and it goes to .7G/hour.
I have ZERO limitations on my service!!! $39.99 a month. But its not super fast. Fast enough for streaming!
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
I'll second that! Thanks Bob.

Got a smart TV and Netflix subscription for Christmas.

Just ordered a Roku to connect another TV.

Once up and running, I'll start dropping some cable service.

Can you get "Premium" channels (HBO, Cinemax...) from one of the online services?

You can get the streaming version of HBO, called HBOGo. However, you already need to be subscribed to HBO via a cable or satellite service. This is changing, but it has not happened yet.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
DirecTV HBO costs are soon going up to 17.xx per month. Crazy. I don't have any of the premium channels and do not miss them.
 

jpr62902

Jeanclaude Spam Banhammer
SUPER Site Supporter
Bimp.

We're finally looking at cutting the cable and trying to decide which streaming service is best for us. We're leaning toward PlayStation VUE with a Roku Ultra box.

Any comments or suggestions?
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bimp.

We're finally looking at cutting the cable and trying to decide which streaming service is best for us. We're leaning toward PlayStation VUE with a Roku Ultra box.

Any comments or suggestions?

I've never looked into the PS VUE packages. Which package are you looking into? How does the monthly cost of that package -vs- monthly cost of a similar cable/satellite package compare?

Will you have to upgrade your internet package so you can do streaming video?
 

jpr62902

Jeanclaude Spam Banhammer
SUPER Site Supporter
So here's what I'm finding out (other than this sh!t is frustrating as all get out to get straight).

All streaming devices and services are not equal and at times, exclusionary.

Samsung smart TV's do not have an app for the Sony streaming service, PlayStation Vue (but they used to).

Charter\Spectrum Cable does not have an app for Amazon's Fire TV, but they do have one for Roku and just about any other streaming device.

You can't watch current episodes of The Walking Dead on Hulu.

Live streaming services like Hulu Live and PS Vue are more pricey ($40\month and up).

I was able to talk Spectrum into changing my internet from 30 mbps to 200 mbps and give me a comparable cable package to the one I had with Time Warner for the same price and got a bunch of extra movie channels thrown in for a year.

My house is 100+ years old and not entirely wired for modern technology, so I'd rather stream stuff via wifi or watch broadcast programming, since my reception's pretty good.

Since Roku is Spectrum compatible, I can use that as another cable box via wifi. That saves me all kinds of headaches.

For now, we're gonna stay with cable, but will be exploring more options over the next 12 months.

We also just bought a UHD smart TV and the voice remote is stupid easy to use\find programming. The picture is awesome, too, but if you're signal is low res, a 55" UHD TV will make that readily apparent!
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
There are really no decent live streaming services out there. That is my conclusion after doing some research. Some offer cloud DVR but there are restrictions such as not being able to zap commercials to a limit on how long recordings can be saved such as 28 days max.

Some do not offer local networks if this is important to some to get local news and weather. Others do, but charge more for the service.

Hard to find one that offers the ability to pause live TV and maintain a buffer. Important feature for some like me whose phone seems to ring off the hook sometimes.

I pay a lot for cable, but I get a landline phone # which is big time important to the one who must be pleased, a 300 Mbps modem, a modem/wifi router with 802.11AC, plus a bundled cell phone service for two phones that uses the Verizon Network for $1.24 for both phones. That is NOT a typo. We pay only $1.24 per month to keep two cell phones running on Xfinity Mobile with unlimited talk and text and free long distance. Data is extra, but we do not use data. When away from home, we have access to millions of Xfinity wifi hot spots with an app that tells us where they are. Works great. Oh, by the way, we got the cell phones from Xfinity Mobile for one dollar each with NO contract. That is my kind of language right there.

Not worth leaving cable even though I piss and moan about it from time to time.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
So here's what I'm finding out (other than this sh!t is frustrating as all get out to get straight).

All streaming devices and services are not equal and at times, exclusionary.

Samsung smart TV's do not have an app for the Sony streaming service, PlayStation Vue (but they used to).

CharterSpectrum Cable does not have an app for Amazon's Fire TV, but they do have one for Roku and just about any other streaming device.

You can't watch current episodes of The Walking Dead on Hulu.

Live streaming services like Hulu Live and PS Vue are more pricey ($40month and up).

I was able to talk Spectrum into changing my internet from 30 mbps to 200 mbps and give me a comparable cable package to the one I had with Time Warner for the same price and got a bunch of extra movie channels thrown in for a year.

My house is 100+ years old and not entirely wired for modern technology, so I'd rather stream stuff via wifi or watch broadcast programming, since my reception's pretty good.

Since Roku is Spectrum compatible, I can use that as another cable box via wifi. That saves me all kinds of headaches.

For now, we're gonna stay with cable, but will be exploring more options over the next 12 months.

We also just bought a UHD smart TV and the voice remote is stupid easy to usefind programming. The picture is awesome, too, but if you're signal is low res, a 55" UHD TV will make that readily apparent!

True on all points.

The streaming services are not perfect. Far from it if you are hooked on any specific new series.

I keep a 'basic' satellite package + local channels. I am, due to some mistake by DISH Network, getting all the HBO & Cinemax for $5/month. The moment that mistake is noticed I will cancel all those channels as I see no reason to pay $25/month for those channels.

  • We also only have 2 of our TV sets on Satellite.
  • Both of the above sets also are connected to ROKU ... 1 is a "Smart TV" but we prefer the ROKU interface and have never bothered to use the "Smart TV" features.
  • 3 sets, which basically go un-used, are connected to ROKU boxes.
  • We upgraded a 15 year old 720/HDTV to a 58" 4G/UHDTV and there is a massive WOW factor in the picture quality.

If you "know a guy" you may be able to buy an Amazon FIRE Stick, have it "hacked" and get KODI installed. KODI is a worldwide network of computer geeks (not meant as an insult) who modify, search, find, and make "channels" for live content. You can theoretically get ANYTHING broadcast over satellite though a KODI device. The interface is not always clean. It is sometimes user friendly. Sometimes not. It has to be updated periodically so your "guy" will become someone you visit for updates from time to time. I know a few "guys" who hack the Firesticks for $75 and they also install 'skins' to make the user interface a bit easier. I have no desire to have to re-learn how to use my TV every 6 to 12 months. I can live without some of the content they get. FWIW, owning and using a 'hacked' device is apparently legal.​
 

jwstewar

Active member
We tried to cut the cord last year - and actually did for about 2 weeks. :)

We had DirecTV satellite and it just kept getting pricier and pricier. So found DirecTV Now. They were giving 30 days free trial and if you prepaid for a month a free Amazon Firestick. And because DirecTV Now was so new, they were offering you a special, their top of the line package for $35 for life. No local channels, it wasn't recognized by the networks to be able to use their apps, and no DVR. The app was buggy, but we figured it would get better since it had only been out for about 6 weeks at that point. Between then and I Internet speed it was jerky. So when we received the boxes to send our DirecTV equipment back they made me a deal. We lost a few channels, nothing major, got all new equipment, for $50 per month for 2 years. So we went back to DirecTV.

I did install Kodi and some skins on the Firestick. It is clumsy at best to use (and this is using the skins and stuff folks recommend) and most of the stuff is low quality and barely watchable on a large TV. We do have Amazon Prime and stream some stuff from them, but find for the most part still watching normal satellite TV.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
...
I did install Kodi and some skins on the Firestick. It is clumsy at best to use (and this is using the skins and stuff folks recommend) and most of the stuff is low quality and barely watchable on a large TV. We do have Amazon Prime and stream some stuff from them, but find for the most part still watching normal satellite TV.

And this is why I have stuck with ROKU.

Perhaps another streaming box is good? I don't know.

My daughter has NETFLIX and we piggyback off her account. I have AmazonPRIME and she piggybacks off my account. Add to that all the free stuff on ROKU and I could be busy watching forever.

But again, still have a very basic Satellite package too. Mostly for the local channels and AMC so I can get new episodes of THE WALKING DEAD.
 

jwstewar

Active member
Let me clarify, the Kodi interface is clumsy at best. The Firestick's interface is OK and works fine.
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
And this is why I have stuck with ROKU.

Perhaps another streaming box is good? I don't know.

My daughter has NETFLIX and we piggyback off her account. I have AmazonPRIME and she piggybacks off my account. Add to that all the free stuff on ROKU and I could be busy watching forever.

But again, still have a very basic Satellite package too. Mostly for the local channels and AMC so I can get new episodes of THE WALKING DEAD.

Check out the new show coming on AMC March 26, 2018 called the Terror. If you are into Negan & Rick you should like this show. The book this show is based on was outstanding by Dan Simmons.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Check out the new show coming on AMC March 26, 2018 called the Terror. If you are into Negan & Rick you should like this show. The book this show is based on was outstanding by Dan Simmons.

Already planning to give it a watch.



Let me clarify, the Kodi interface is clumsy at best. The Firestick's interface is OK and works fine.

Yes, that is how I thought you meant it and that is how I've interpreted it. Others have told me the same thing.
 
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