Streaming Services Chat

[Dkoellerwx]

EDIT: This thread is split from the Marcelo thread to try and keep it from going too far off the rails! 

20 hours ago, gusherb said:

Funny because I haven't found a thing to watch on Netflix in months and everything I wanna watch has been on Hulu. 

Off track here... but I thought Stranger Things was great!

I'll probably use the Hulu deal too, waiting for the Marvel series to come out.

[nexgencpu]

Very happy with Slingtv/Hulu/Netflix combo. Still cheaper than having a cable package that's even near comprable. 

[MarshieZ]

3 hours ago, nexgencpu said:

Very happy with Slingtv/Hulu/Netflix combo. Still cheaper than having a cable package that's even near comprable. 

Not to off track more, but how is Sling TV... it's been out for a while now and it's very tempting with ESPN, NFL Network, Fox Sports, etc. Has it been reliable? 

[nexgencpu]

47 minutes ago, MarshieZ said:

Not to off track more, but how is Sling TV... it's been out for a while now and it's very tempting with ESPN, NFL Network, Fox Sports, etc. Has it been reliable? 

Slingtv, in my opinion still Trump's all live streaming services. With a great selection of cable networks. Supports most, if not all major devices, more simultaneous streams per account (5 people in my family use it and it supports upto 4 streams at the same time with blue+orange package) and they have most of my local stations as well. Plus the price is excellent compared to the competition.

Also as a bonus, they have a ton of on demand for network and cable TV stations. Missed a show previous day, just do a search of that specific show, and more often than not you will find that they have it on demand posted next day.

If Slingtv has any minuses it's streaming quality. Generally lower resolution/bitrate than it's competitors. (and it compromises bitrate/resolution for higher fps) where as Hulu tv and Youtubetv tend to have a slightly higher resolution, but they are so far behind in the content department it's a moot point. Also, none of it's live streaming support anything other than stereo audio.

Try the free trial, def worth a look, especially if they have the networks your looking for.

[Dkoellerwx]

 

7 hours ago, MarshieZ said:

Not to off track more, but how is Sling TV... it's been out for a while now and it's very tempting with ESPN, NFL Network, Fox Sports, etc. Has it been reliable? 

 

6 hours ago, nexgencpu said:

Slingtv, in my opinion still Trump's all live streaming services. With a great selection of cable networks. Supports most, if not all major devices, more simultaneous streams per account (5 people in my family use it and it supports upto 4 streams at the same time with blue+orange package) and they have most of my local stations as well. ...

I've heard very good things about Sling. I'm looking forward to the YouTube service. It's not live yet in my market, but offers the same channels as the Sling Blue+Orange for less, plus 6 accounts and unlimited cloud DVR.

Sent from my LG G6

[Grabber5.0]

 
I've heard very good things about Sling. I'm looking forward to the YouTube service. It's not live yet in my market, but offers the same channels as the Sling Blue+Orange for less, plus 6 accounts and unlimited cloud DVR.
Sent from my LG G6

I've been thinking of trying out youtube TV since I heard about it a while back. My worry is Google's reputation of killing off products at the drop of a hat. I'm a Google Fiber TV customer (which frankly I had reservations about for that exact reason), and while I love the package and DVR, they just raised the price, and the restrictions on playing back DVR content are maddening. It's ridiculous that they will allow YouTube TV DVR content to be streamed to your mobile devices but not your fiber TV DVR content. Their answer is "install an app for each network you want to stream" is a complete BS answer. That is NOT acceptable.

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[Dkoellerwx]

5 hours ago, Grabber5.0 said:

I've been thinking of trying out youtube TV since I heard about it a while back. My worry is Google's reputation of killing off products at the drop of a hat. I'm a Google Fiber TV customer (which frankly I had reservations about for that exact reason), and while I love the package and DVR, they just raised the price, and the restrictions on playing back DVR content are maddening. It's ridiculous that they will allow YouTube TV DVR content to be streamed to your mobile devices but not your fiber TV DVR content. Their answer is "install an app for each network you want to stream" is a complete BS answer. That is NOT acceptable.

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The DVR restriction on Fiber TV is pretty common for cable companies. It's much easier to stream something that is stored on the cloud than it is to stream something that is stored in your living room. Charter, Mediacom, and AT&T (when I had them last) want you to use each channels individual app as well.

I feel like Google is pretty committed to this streaming service. They went all out on advertising during the World Series. We just got the YouTube TV back-end services installed here to get our local channel running, so hopefully this market will be online soon.

A couple of my co-workers use Sling and have been decently happy. Their biggest complaint is you have to have the joint plan, or switch back and forth if you're a sports fan, since FOX is on one, and ESPN is on the other plan. YouTube has both in their base plan, though it is a bit more.

[Grabber5.0]

I hope they really are committed to it.. I can see it being easier and probably cheaper to manage than having a bunch of fiber and equipment in customers' houses.

 

I have seen a number of posts about Time Warner and AT&T allowing you to stream to your mobile devices - not sure if that's only on your home WiFi or anywhere, but the thing is, with Google Fiber, you can't stream DVR content anywhere - even on your home WiFi from their network box! That's what's got Fiber TV customers unhappy. Other than that and the price, I love it! So I guess since YouTube TV is available here, I should give it a try. It seems more than competitive with Sling, and would cost far less than Fiber TV, which is over $70 on top of my fiber Internet fee with three tv boxes.

 

I just noticed this was moved out of the Marcello thread. Good idea. [emoji3]

 

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[Dkoellerwx]

1 minute ago, Grabber5.0 said:

I hope they really are committed to it.. I can see it being easier and probably cheaper to manage than having a bunch of fiber and equipment in customers' houses.

I have seen a number of posts about Time Warner and AT&T allowing you to stream to your mobile devices - not sure if that's only on your home WiFi or anywhere, but the thing is, with Google Fiber, you can't stream DVR content anywhere - even on your home WiFi from their network box! That's what's got Fiber TV customers unhappy. Other than that and the price, I love it! So I guess since YouTube TV is available here, I should give it a try. It seems more than competitive with Sling.

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When I had AT&T, you could stream while on their provided WiFi service. When I added my own router because their's sucked, it didn't work. That could be different now. I didn't realize Google Fiber didn't let you stream it even in your own home. That is a little frustrating. 

[Grabber5.0]

When I had AT&T, you could stream while on their provided WiFi service. When I added my own router because their's sucked, it didn't work. That could be different now. I didn't realize Google Fiber didn't let you stream it even in your own home. That is a little frustrating. 

Yep. You can stream most* TV channels live while on WiFi, but can't stream recordings from those channels from the DVR.

*I think it's mainly some of the premium sports channels that are restricted. I don't have any premium movie channels, so those could be restricted also.

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[radem]

I switched to DirecTV Now streaming a year ago along with Netflix and Hulu.  DirecTV Now was unreliable for the first 6 months but it has been quite good since then.  It has a very good channel selection and I get a discount with my wife's AT&T mobile unlimited plan.  At the moment it is still limited to two streams at a time but early next year they are planning to offer DVR functionality and additional streams that may be premium add-ons for additional money each month.  Two streams at a time is not really a problem for my family because many of the network apps work with it such as HBO Go.  The streams on the network apps do not count as one of your active streams.

The picture quality is excellent but it eats a lot of data to get high picture quality on a television.  They recommend a minimum 12 mbps download speed to watch the highest quality as the app streams the video in bursts greater than 6 mbps.  If you have a slower connection and you are using your connection for anything else at the same time, the picture can buffer and switch you to a lower quality.

[NightShift]

7 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

The DVR restriction on Fiber TV is pretty common for cable companies. It's much easier to stream something that is stored on the cloud than it is to stream something that is stored in your living room. Charter, Mediacom, and AT&T (when I had them last) want you to use each channels individual app as well.

Same thing with Cox

[travismheim]

11 hours ago, NightShift said:

Same thing with Cox

The only TV provider I know of that lets you stream 100% of your live channels (including locals) and DVR content in home or away from home is Dish and it only works if you have the Hopper 2 or Hopper 3. It works very well, I wish other providers would provide the same functionality. 

[red_dog007]

On 11/16/2017 at 11:19 AM, Grabber5.0 said:

I've been thinking of trying out youtube TV since I heard about it a while back. My worry is Google's reputation of killing off products at the drop of a hat. I'm a Google Fiber TV customer (which frankly I had reservations about for that exact reason), and while I love the package and DVR, they just raised the price, and the restrictions on playing back DVR content are maddening. It's ridiculous that they will allow YouTube TV DVR content to be streamed to your mobile devices but not your fiber TV DVR content. Their answer is "install an app for each network you want to stream" is a complete BS answer. That is NOT acceptable.

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Beings that it is Youtube, and it is a separate subdivision, I doubt it'll go away unless the current areas it is in it just fails.

As far as cable prices, Google can't help that.  Prices constantly and will continuously be raised on cable TV no matter who sells it.  It isn't very profitable and I am happy to here that their new market (San Antonio?) will not have cable service's deployed.  This needs to be a trend.

As far as DVR restrictions, even on DirecTV it was annoying. Streaming was unreliable, couldn't do it not from home, wouldn't record entire shows/movies.  They let that bug go for almost a year.

[red_dog007]

I got Sling when it first came out, it was pretty nice for a brand new product.

But I have a mix of OTA, Youtube Red, Netflix, Amazon Prime and now Hulu. I pay for Youtube Red Family ($15/mo), Amazon Prime if I just used video would be $8.33/mo. OTA, Netflix, Hulu is free.

$23.33/mo + tax is way better than the $160 was paying for DirecTV. Never watched it cause either nothing was ever on, or I'd sit down to eat+watch TV and I would finish my food by the time the commercials finished. :P. Noticed towards the end of shows commercials would be ~5 minutes in length.

[Paynefanbro]

I cut the cord today and got Sling. The retentions department of my cable provider seemed pretty mad. The person that I was speaking to kinda had an attitude the entire time.

In total I am saving about $60 while also getting all of the channels that I love. I also have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and YouTube Red. All I need to get is an indoor HDTV antenna to get a few missing channels and then I am all set.

[digit]

1 hour ago, Paynefanbro said:

I cut the cord today and got Sling. The retentions department of my cable provider seemed pretty mad. The person that I was speaking to kinda had an attitude the entire time.

In total I am saving about $60 while also getting all of the channels that I love. I also have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and YouTube Red. All I need to get is an indoor HDTV antenna to get a few missing channels and then I am all set.

Same here. I got rid of Spectrum about 6 months ago and moved to Sling. Never looked back!! I initially started with the fire stick but then got an AIrTV from Sling. it has the OTA Antenna, tuner and integrated TV guide. Plus the standard Android TV apps. never been happier to pay 39.99 monthly bill for my Fios 50/50 internet.

[Dkoellerwx]

1 hour ago, Paynefanbro said:

I cut the cord today and got Sling. The retentions department of my cable provider seemed pretty mad. The person that I was speaking to kinda had an attitude the entire time.

In total I am saving about $60 while also getting all of the channels that I love. I also have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and YouTube Red. All I need to get is an indoor HDTV antenna to get a few missing channels and then I am all set.

Which Sling package did you get? Since I discovered that the YouTube TV package doesn't include Turner (CNN, TBS, TNT etc..) I have had to rule it out for now. Trying to decide between Hulu TV or Sling now. 

[Paynefanbro]

I got the Blue+Orange for $40 and then added packages for other channels that I like.

[Galaxyguy]

I've been using PS Vue for about a year and a half. It has gotten progressively better and it has almost all the channels I want. I wish they would add A&E and History, but other than that, everything is working well. The DVR is fantastic. ABC is the last local that I'm waiting on, but that should get added soon. I read they signed the contract a couple weeks ago, but it takes time to get added. Cost varies but I have their top package with no premium channels and pay $55 per month. I was paying around $150 per month for Dish before I canceled.

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[TheCUJuan]

On 11/23/2017 at 6:54 AM, Galaxyguy said:

I've been using PS Vue for about a year and a half. It has gotten progressively better and it has almost all the channels I want. I wish they would add A&E and History, but other than that, everything is working well. The DVR is fantastic. ABC is the last local that I'm waiting on, but that should get added soon. I read they signed the contract a couple weeks ago, but it takes time to get added. Cost varies but I have their top package with no premium channels and pay $55 per month. I was paying around $150 per month for Dish before I canceled.

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I think ps vue is the best of the services... and I’ve had them all. That said, I’ve had dtvn for a year bc I locked in the intro deal they gave out for those who got the service when it launched. We pay $35/month for a TON of channels and had hbo for free for a year. 

[red_dog007]

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YoutubeTV.  Youtube TV is still in beta mode for us.  Not sure if it is worth $40/mo after taxes, but the local channels are great.  I live behind a ridge so no local channels. Still < $50/mo for these services.  Was paying like $150 for DirecTV before.

I think come 2018, there will be another big wave / continuation of cord cutting.  Prices are going up again on TV across the board for everyone landline based.  The TV providers need to put their foot down.  The broadcasters don't care what they charge cause they get money from the customers whether they pay for "cable" or pay for a streaming service. The companies that provide just the service can have a lot smaller revenue because they don't have the infrastructure they don't have to invest in.  So cable companies that provide their own services don't have the advantage of not having infrastructure.

[Dkoellerwx]

1 hour ago, red_dog007 said:

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YoutubeTV.  Youtube TV is still in beta mode for us.  Not sure if it is worth $40/mo after taxes, but the local channels are great.  I live behind a ridge so no local channels. Still < $50/mo for these services.  Was paying like $150 for DirecTV before.

If YouTube would include Viacom and Turner channels, it would beat Sling on value at $35. My station got the streaming equipment installed a couple of weeks ago, launched this past weekend for our market. 

[centermedic]

We cut the cord about a year ago. We now have Playstation Vue, Amazon Prime and Netflix. We could not be happier.

[PythonFanPA]

On 11/17/2017 at 10:30 AM, travismheim said:

The only TV provider I know of that lets you stream 100% of your live channels (including locals) and DVR content in home or away from home is Dish and it only works if you have the Hopper 2 or Hopper 3. It works very well, I wish other providers would provide the same functionality. 

Yep, I've been with Dish a long time and have enjoyed the streaming abilities of Dish Anywhere for a years now.