Upfront costs... . get out of AT&T contract...$75 another firestick...$25 on sale Antenna in garage attic tied into splitter going to all TVs...$25 . Monthly charges... internet only...$50 for 100 mps Netflix...$14 (top one so everyone can watch what they want, when they want) . So in in my estimation,we are saving $100+ (when you include all taxes). In 1.5 months, the upfront costs will be paid for, and the savings will kick in. In our situation, it makes sense. $1200 a year in savings adds up pretty quickly, especially when you actually start looking at what you are watching. So far, everything we have had on the tube is commercial free. How about that...pay a 1/3 of the price and don’t have to watch commercials. .
Anybody else here finally have enough of high cost for BS?
Lots of tutorials on the internet on how to do it.
To each there own but I won’t watch the cams on Kodi. When a movie comes out there usually the first streams to pop up on it.
The one thing I dislike is the only way to get to YouTube now is threw the browser on the fire stick. They use to have a YouTube app on it.
If you enjoy watching Randy Newberg his videos are on Amazon now so easily accessible with your fire stick.
I would be thrilled to tell my cable provider to go hump a stump. It now costs me $139.00 a month and we MIGHT watch 2 or 3 channels at most. We also have to pay for CNN and stations in frickin' SPANISH!!!
If you have a smart phone you can get a WiFi signal threw your mobile hotspot for the firestick. Only problem is even with unlimited data threw Verizon they will slow your data down once you reach 15GB for the monthly billing cycle.
If you have Kodi installed and do a build like “no limits build” you will almost be endless on what you can watch.
Yes you would need a newer tv if yours doesn’t have an hdmi port.
Not sure what your into watching but the only thing I can think of you won’t get is local news.
.. .. . .
.. .. . .
We had two smart TVs, and had to buy one more to use our Roku sticks.
Funny, we were on Verizon FIOS with a 75/75 internet package. When we called to downgrade to their 50/50 internet package, and end their TV service, they did not even try to aruge with us or sell us an cheaper package.
Since neither I nor the Wife are gamers, we didn't need the 75 Megabytes per second internet speed. The 50/50 was the only other package offered from our nearest Verizon servers, so that saved us a few bucks too by going to the 50 Megabytes offer.
So far we are able to live stream TV and surf the internet without causing any "buffering" problems. The IT guys at work say even a 30 Megabytes per second speed should be able to cover three TVs and someone on a PC without any degradation.
We are indeed enjoying our extra $125 a month.
The Roku stick lets us live stream news and other TV shows via Netflix and Hulu.
The Roku stick was so easy to install. I plugged it in, and followed the "Quick Install" directions that came with it. Basically, when I got to the question, "Do you want to custom install your ROKU, or do you want us to install it after optimizing the settings to your TV", I thought, "Hell yea - you do it", clicked that choice, and the darned thing installed itself.
Very nice, didn't have to call a help desk, didn't have to read a 300 page manual, just clicked "you do it", and away we went.
;^)
Oh yea, I got the choice of not letting them collect and share my info. That seems to be very important now-a-days.
JTV, everything you listed can be watched on a firestick. The nice thing is there are ways to watch a particular channel but you can also watch a particular show.
For example Archer or NCIS threw Kodi you can watch every epidode one after the other from the beginning.
Keith's Link
Roku is my main watching. I have one of those 60 mile antennas, but can only get OTA about a dozen channels. Most are pbs stations. But I can get "MeTV", and I really enjoy that old stuff.
I watch alot of free tubitv and would even drop netflix but my parents like it.
Attached is a link that helps sort through all the different channels for your viewing search's.
Digital, like satellite, signals are affected by atmospheric conditions and the new OTA digital do not travel the distance that analog signals do. Nice thing about streaming (unless one is dependent upon satellite IPS) is that there is never any pixelation or loss of signal like OTA . I live out in the country and live at the end of the DSL connections, so do not get the maximum speed (DSL is dependent upon distance from the service node...further away, greater decrease in speed.) Still, I run multiple devices at home (computers, Internet radio, phones, etc.) and often have two TVs streaming and rarely, if ever, see any buffering.
The streaming world provides a wide range of entertainment and educational programming. While not very familiar with the Chromecast stick and other streaming devices, the Roku system provides an extremely wide range of channels...many free, some paid and some subscribed. YouTube, old movies, classics...about anything one can imagine. Even the OTA broadcast networks have realized that streaming is an important venue and most are offering streaming by subscription...meaning that what cable/satellite packaging missed with a la carte options are now available. I used to pay a little over $100 per month for DISH, but today I pay less than $30 and have more viewing than I ever had with satellite. The Rokus that I picked up has paid for themselves many times over.
Roku provides a weekly newsletter of all the new channels added every week. A wide range is available from sci fi to various churches. Recently, Roku added its own channel which has both movies and TV programs.
Another benefit of most of the streaming devices is that one can mirror between many wireless connected devices and a TV connected to ones wireless network (example, Kodi while not natively working with Roku can connect by mirroring between a computer and the TV).
One last thought: subscribing to Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc. allows one to use these subscriptions remotely on smart phones, tablets and computers while not at home. All that is needed is a wifi connection. Several years ago, we suffered extended power outages and spent much time at Mickey D's and were able to watch some programs and movies.
Annony Mouse's Link
See link...Amazon has some deals on them today. Thinking I might get one to become more familiar with it...have several open USB ports on my office TV.
I do have Prime and download shows at work to watch later at home
One thing you might investigate is cell phone service (if you can get a signal on your phone...my cell coverage is marginal, at best.) as there are plans with unlimited data. I really cannot comment on any specific plans other than what I have seen with advertising. I have my cell service through Ting (Ting has CDMA via Sprint and GMS by T-Mobile) and they have a number of data plans. I have recently seen advertising for a competitor which advertises with good cheap data...Wing.
Finally: for you cable subscribers...
You'll be Paying for AT&T's Purchase of Time Warner Through Your Cable Bill
The Department of Justice unleashed its harshest condemnation yet of the proposed purchase of Time Warner by AT&T when the agency revealed Wednesday that the $85 billion merger would cost consumers more than half a billion dollars per year in additional cable costs.
As part of the ongoing antitrust case filed by the government in attempts to stop the merger and placate Donald Trump’s vendetta against Time Warner property CNN, lawyers from the DOJ called on University of California at Berkeley economics professor Carl Shapiro to provide his analysis of the deal, The Washington Post reported. Shapiro found that by 2021, consumers could be paying an extra $571 million in TV fees. “I’ve concluded the merger will harm consumers,” Shapiro told the court. “The harm is significant.”
When approached for comment on Shapiro’s figures, AT&T referred to its 76-page pretrial brief filed last month. Time Warner did not respond to request for comment.
At the heart of Shapiro’s math is the fact that the merger will give AT&T control over a number of popular cable networks owned by Time Warner, including CNN, HBO, TBS, and TNT. That would give AT&T a significant advantage, as the company could raise the rates for competing cable companies to carry the channels. Those increased costs would trickle down to consumers.
“Why will they have more leverage? What’s new is that AT&T and DirecTV will benefit if Charter doesn’t have Turner’s content,” Shapiro said. “Charter is going to be a weaker competitor.”
John Simpson, the Privacy and Technology Project Director at Consumer Watchdog, told Gizmodo in a phone interview that he hadn’t done the economic analysis to confirm the DOJ’s findings but said, “it sounds like the Department of Justice has and it sounds like a serious concern.”
Simpson noted that AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner would represent the “merging of both the pipes [that deliver content] and content provider.” He called such a merger “a huge problem” that “presents real harm to consumers.”
The same problems that arise for cable and satellite providers could also apply to streaming services, which exist as the primary alternative to expensive TV packages. AT&T has a foothold in that industry too with DirecTV Now. Variety reported earlier this week that AT&T executive Devin Merrill told the court the service has more than one million subscribers. A 2016 email from Merrill, obtained by the DOJ, revealed that he wanted to make the streaming service “as strong as possible without killing the golden goose” of premium cable and satellite subscribers.
While the DOJ may be pursuing its antitrust case because of a Trump grudge, at this point the reason matters less than the result. If the merger is allowed to go through, you’ll be paying for it one way or another.
(Lesson for world renowned economist Paul Zeidan...business prosper when they sell what the customer wants, NOT what the business wants to force upon them.)
Cord-Cutting Victory: No ESPN. No CNN. 37 Channels. $16 a Month.
Apparently, the scam to try and fool us cord-cutters into paying for the same cable TV scam through a streaming service is failing. A company called Philo is now offering 37 live streaming channels for only $16 a month. The best news is that you are not subsidizing CNN or ESPN.
Why is this news? Let us count the ways…
To begin with, for $16 a month, the networks you can stream live include A&E, AMC, CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery, HGTV, Investigative Discovery, TLC, History, MTV, Nick, and OWN. Basically, by using Philo, your Roku player (or any other similar streaming device) replaces your cable box. You can also enjoy the equivalent of a DVR by saving any show for 30 days.
The $16 price point is huge, other than Sling, which is $20 a month for 25 channels (including CNN, ESPN, and a lot of junk), Philo is less than half of the current alternatives. DirecTV Now costs $35 a month; YouTubeTV, PlayStation Vue, and Hulu Live cost $40. In my opinion, these packages are nothing less than the cable scam moved to streaming.
How does Philo offer 37 channels for just $16? Well, here is the most interesting part…
Philo does not offer news or sports. No CNN, no MSNBC, no ESPN, or ESPN 2. Hallelujah! Except for BBC World News, this is a package strictly made up of entertainment channels.
Also missing are the countless sub-networks, the expensive filler, the junk channels that no one watches but you still pay for simply because greedy entertainment companies force them into your package.
Also of note is that biggest dog of all blinked. Rather than strong-arm Philo to accept ESPN (which would have turned a $16 package into a $22 package), Disney agreed to unbundle A&E and History as standalones. Disney does not own those networks outright but probably could have queered the deal.
This might even be unprecedented. For decades, in order for your subscription TV provider to offer a popular network like A&E or History, they were forced by the Disneys of the world to also provide expensive networks like ESPN and all kinds of junk sub-networks like MTV 9, ESPN 11, Discovery 17 (I’m making those up but you know what I mean). This is why you are forced to pay for 500 channels when you only watch six.
Viacom also provides a number of networks to Philo, including MTV, BET, CMT, VHI, the Paramount Network, and Comedy Central. Except for MTV2, though, there are none of Viacom’s junk networks clogging up the package.
Discovery Inc. (Discovery Channel, Investigative Discovery, HGTV, Animal Planet), A+E Networks (A&E, History), and AMC Networks (AMC, Sundance, BBC America) make up the bulk of the package. Like Viacom, all three of those corporations could have tried to muscle a number of junk networks into the bundle to sweeten their own deal, but didn’t.
Also notable is that this package decided to move forward without a number of the Mighty Entertainment Multinationals, including anything from Time-Warner and Comcast.
This might also be the first streaming TV package that does not force you to subsidize the far-left CNN. The anti-Trump network’s ratings are so anemic, CNN could never survive without the cable subsidy you are forced to pay, even if you never watch the channel. So, at long last, here is a way to enjoy some of your favorite networks without subsidizing CNN’s fake news and bigoted hate. Same with ESPN.
The bad news with Philo is that you are still paying for the privilege of watching 20 minutes of commercials per hour — something I have found unbearable for 20 years,
The overall story here is that the big, fat cable bundle is beginning to break apart into more reasonable bite-sized pieces.
As smart people cut the expensive cable cord and move to cheaper than cheap streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, which offer more commercial-free programming than any human being could consumer for a fraction of the price, this is putting massive pressure on these left-wing entertainment companies to actually treat us like valued customers again.
Imagine that.
Philo arrives on Apple TV and Amazon Fire sometime this summer. It is already available through Roku.
.. . ..
I have no clue on what the other streaming "sticks" provide.
Edit: Here's just one Will...........https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=SKY38323&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=sky38323&gclid=CjwKCAjw2dvWBRBvEiwADllhn1dAKfLFm-S8NtYQViWVcckaLfK_ne83Ifw2xZcCaDVYWjNaiJC-0xoCqd8QAvD_BwE
Nomad's Link
Not only are we beyond pleased we got rid of AT&T Uverse package, as of 15 May (1and 1/2 months after we made the switch) we started seeing a return from the initial investment ($100 real dollars a month saved from that point on), and to top it all off, I retrieved the mail yesterday and there was a refund check from AT&T for $20.95 that we totally weren’t expecting.
The best thing I have done in a while was to cut the cord and go with an antenna for local channels and a fire stick for streaming everything else we watch, which really isn’t much (Netflix and YouTube).
