Posted on 02/12/2018 4:09:48 PM PST by A Cyrenian
I recently terminated my Directv contract after using it for 2 years.
I thought we would give the internet streaming applications a try.
I increased my bandwidth from my ISP to 400mb. I bought a new 1gb cable modem as well as a 1gb wireless router. I wanted to give this an honest chance.
We selected HULU as the streaming application. DON'T!
It's 6:02pm cst and here's Hulu's lineup. 2018 Winter Olympics Live (when carried by NBC the stream is choppy and unwatchable. Unless you like watching cartoons form 1920).
Showtime Free Episodes - they have offered this for a week and all they show is Homeland 701
Colgate at Bucknell
My Lottery Dream Home
Chopped
Bizarre Foods with A Zimmern
Worst Cooks in America
The Kitchen
Man v. Food
Kids Baking Championship
Guy's Grocery Games
The Chew
Food Paradise
American Pickers
Hell's Kitchen
Beat Bobby Flay
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Profit
The Real Housewives of N. J. and
Live PD
Now when we had Directv and cable the Food Channel only showed 1 of those shows at a time.
Hulu is a JOKE!
I would suggest if you are thinking about dropping satellite or cable, give it a few months. You'll be glad you did.
They all suck, but not paying a hundred bucks a month for PC shows on Directv is worth it. My wife likes Netflix and Hulu, but we could get rid of those too if you ask me.
Are you using apps on a smart tv?
I tried out Hulu because I thought they would be airing King of the Hill. Not. So I cancelled it although they did have Lost in Space, the original episodes.
Get a Roku! And an OTA antennae.
I also have a TIVO but don’t care for the annual charge to stream what is mostly a repeat of the Roku apps.
When you “cut the cord”, the best way to get regular channels is to get them over the air. Get an antenna for your TV. If you’re relatively close to broadcast towers (i.e. ~20 miles) a basic one will suffice. The further you are, the better the antenna will have to be.
I rarely watch “live TV” via streaming. I have Showtime via Amazon Prime & their “live” channels work well. I also have Hulu and it’s great for their on demand stuff ... however, I have not tried their live broadcasting features ... and based on what you say, I shouldn’t :-).
DITTO! Get a Roku. Best out there. I have been cable-free and using the Roku for almost 8 years. Couldn’t be happier and wallet is a lot fuller.
We use Directv NOW for streaming - cheapest package is $35/mo and it has everything we watched through Mediacom Cable - plus Netflix and Amazon Prime. Saving over $100 a month and not missing a thing.
Yep I also have Amazon Prime and “share” a Netflix account which we barely use. Since hubby gave up the NFL, cord cutting was a LOT easier!!
We live in a low lying are so we’ll need to put the OTA antennae up higher.
Cut in haste, repent at leisure.
I looked into cord cutting but 90% of the shows I like are oldies and not on any of the cord cutting services.
Get either an Amazon Fire stick or MXQ Pro. Then download either the Kodi app (don’t recommend it because it’s gotten really buggy) or Modbro and Terrarium TV apps.
No monthly fees other than your basic internet...and any show you wanna watch, any time.
Hell, I can’t even get my Amazon Fire to work. I’m not going to screw around with wifi, streaming, etc. I’ve been happy with DirecTV for >10 years and not about to give it up. If I don’t like something I simply don’t watch it.....
Winning. :^)
I use Kodi to screen cast my burned content on my NAS.
Maybe there is a reason to pay for cable TV afterall.
The nbc channels (nbc, cnbc, and nbcsn) are the only channels that are choppy. The rest of the channels display correctly.
Streaming is still in the infancy stage.
Netflix is ahead of the game. Amazon Prime is a close 2nd. HBO GO is pretty good.
CBS Access entered the field about a year ago.
Hulu has been around for a while. Initially, they were free with commercials. Then they dropped the free and just went with streams with commercials. Now they offer a non-[mostly]commercial plan.
I have not used Hulu since the early days. I got tired of video stalling mid-way through, during a commercial break. Try to restart the video and it ran through a dozen commercials and stalled out again. The hassle was not worth the ‘free’. I certainly wasn’t going to pay for the plan that included commercials.
A couple of other ‘free’ services have followed that same model with commercial breaks, and stall-outs.
Mostly I stay with Netflix and APrime. Occasionally, they will buffer, etc., but most times they stream smoothly.
There was a cool “secret” channel on Roku that had ALL the oldies content!! Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Leave it To Beaver, you name it. Then they kept taking it off for “pirated content”
I got to watch up to the 304 episode of Dark Shadows.
bkmrk
I want to cut the expensive cord but am afraid to do so. We can’t get anything off an antenna. Major channels, you can get off the internet but some ask for your cable account number. You might try digging that old number up and trying to get them.
FYI, Netflix isn’t that great but it’s cheap. Too many cartoons, gay shows and 90s reruns.
Thanks. I’ve had DirecTV for many years and am considering doing the same as you. My smart TV has plenty of apps for Netflix, Amazon, and Googleplay. My bill with DTV is over two hundred a month, and since I dumped NFL Sunday Ticket for their subsidizing things I hate, there’s not a lot need for DTV.
You can get the Sling tv app. You have cable plus many more channels. $25 a month. A ota antenna will bring free tv. Check tvguide.com for channels in your area. You do not need 400mb for internet. I was fine with 40mb. The cable company raised it to 70mb at no increase. I pay $42 a month.
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