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Firestick alternative to Cable?

Rod

Rod

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Staff member
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Messages
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Location
Upland, CA
First Name
Todd
I had TWC which was great, and then they got bought out by Spectrum. Spectrum is clearly in it to make their shareholders' pockets even bigger. They really don't give a shit about their customers. Prices keep increasing, service continues to degrade, etc.

I just bought a fire stick... ;) I looked at DirecTV NOW, Sling, and Sony VUE. Unfortunately they all cap the number of TV's which can stream to either 1 or 2 at most.

Does anyone do the firestick addons for IPTV? Any suggestions? They all seem rather flaky at best. Curious to hear what others are doing. I'm very close to just having internet and cancelling TV. Such a huge waste of money...

With the internet the way it is today, the cable networks should all just go direct with the customer and stream live, and stop feeding the monopoly.
 
I've been using the Firestick and was just thinking the same thing. I rarely watch TV anymore between it and Netflix. I also use the Kodi/Exodus App on the Firestick, and watch a lot of movies. Just waiting for the time when Big Brother shuts it down though. Only thing I'd miss is football if I canceled cable, but I don't have much time for that these days either, and I'm sure there's an answer for that as well.
 
I cut the cable over 2 years ago and I've never looked back. The only thing I'm paying for is a $9 a month Netflix streaming account. I also have Amazon Prime. So I run a Roku box which does Netflix and Amazon and also has a DLNA client. I'm a little geeky, so I also have a small server in my house which runs a DLNA service. Basically what that means is I can download things from torrent and store them on that server then stream them to the Roku box. The latter is what I do for anything I can't get on the other two. One caveat, I'm not into sports so that's not an issue for me, but it might be for some people.
 
I am also thinking about cutting the cable... I am in the same boat as you Rod... I mostly watch Amazon, Hulu and Netflix... I am also thinking about just getting the most basic package with local stations, since I am too far from LA to use an OTA antenna... College football and occasionally pro football would be missed the most...
 
I've cut cable. We have a roku, firestick and 2 apple tv's. Bought the DIRECTV now basic package and Netflix. We will never look back. 2 streams is plenty for us. We also do as Mr. Scott does with a media server. Additionally we have never used more than 650MB in a month so if you have a cap on your internet you might have to be careful. My data cap is 1TB.
 
We Amazon prime - so the Amazon TV was an easy gift for 'the missus'.
We do have Netflix and Sling (with golf add-on).

Still cheaper than cable!

...and I can use them on other devices.
 
OK so how much bandwidth do you have to buy to stream these options? If you add all the different options are you paying the same or more? The going rate in SC is $89.95 for 200 MBps. What happens when you have several devices trying to stream different programing from different sources?
 
May be a bit odd but we have dish, firestick/kodi prime and netflix.
I have 25mbs internet firestick can be a buffer mess at times , if I can ever figure out how to watch live tv without dish I am gonna ditch them but haven't firgured that out yet .
 
We had 300 mbps until Spectrum took over and lowered it to 100. No cap of course. Streaming doesn't take a ton of bandwidth at least it doesn't seem to. I'm considering switching to FIOS, as Spectrum is nothing but a money hungry whore.
 
tone-ny said:
OK so how much bandwidth do you have to buy to stream these options? If you add all the different options are you paying the same or more? The going rate in SC is $89.95 for 200 MBps. What happens when you have several devices trying to stream different programing from different sources?
Click to expand...
When I started this endeavor I had 100MB connection but it had data caps of 400. So I bought an unlimited data package. I never had issues and my daughter is always watching Netflix and my wife and I watching DIRECTV. now I've bumped up my speed to a higher tier that comes with 1 TB data cap my stream quality has not suffered unless my router needs a reboot or something.

ETA: by ditching cable I'm saving about 70 per month. I was paying 190 for internet/cable and Netflix. Now I'm paying 75 for internet 35 for DTV Now and HBO and 10 for Netflix.
 
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Oh - we also have an OTA antenna and watch that mainly.

As for price...remember...you're likely going to have a line in the house even if you only have 1 computer.
That cost has a base price....say $49.
Anything above that is what I'd put into the 'streaming usage/tv' expense.
So at $89...my TV is only $40 a month.
Basically - you get an al a carte package when getting the other services "netflix' 'hulu' sling' - etc. So price to YOUR needs.

I could be easily half of what my cable/internet bill was.
With that said - I know people who called up or switch cable/sat. and got a cheaper initial package (for a year to two).

Now bandwidth....it's your DOWNLOAD speed. Most adverts say 200 or 400 etc...those are UPLOAD. What the heck are you uploading!
Make sure the download is sufficient.
Also - you can watch Standard Def or High Def - you'll likely go HD - so that's at least 2-3 x the bandwidth.

Btw - you only need a few MB (not GB) of bandwidth to steam. But then you have more than 1 device connected between pc's and cellphones and tablets.
So...with that said....the more important thing folks neglect - their home network infrastructure. Wi-Fi is slower than a direct connect(network cabled) device.
Get a good wi-fi router - and direct connect any stationary devices!!!

Here are some numbers on bandwidth.
https://www.lifewire.com/internet-speed-requirements-for-movie-viewing-1847401

In regard to caps on plans...get one and adjust as you find out your usage.
Just start in the middle. Unless of course you you have a bunch of kids using the lines...then go high! :)
 
Great info JB and Gary. We currently have FIOS in NJ, and although their signal and service is awesome. Their pricing on the other hand sucks and the price creep is terrible. Hopefully we can balance it out once we go south, as we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I guess if we add Hulu and Directv now we should have everything covered.
 
Add those only if you think you'll use them.

I will say I got sling before DTVnow....and would seriously consider that over sling.
Again - it all depends on what you watch.
 
Firestick has been great. I am thinking on the Marathon Antenna, it will pull in from 100 miles in all directions. You can log on the FCC site and enter you password for all the towers around you. Anyone know of something better than the Marathon?
 
I have had streaming and OTA only for several years. My Uverse bandwidth is maxed out at 12Mbps with a 1TB data cap. I can't even get Uverse TV. More importantly my latency typically runs at just over 30ms (i.e. ping). We regularly run 2 streams with no issues and have had 3 running occasionally. My roomie streams day and night. We have come close to the cap a few times.

You don't really need huge bandwidth but you do need good latency. You will have issues if it's approaching 100ms.

ETA: We have had Sling. They pretty much have the bugs worked out. Now we have DTV Now, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. DTV Now has improved a lot but still hangs occasionally, the others don't.
 
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I don't really watch too much TV during the week. It's not uncommon for my own television to not turn on at all from M-F. However, on the weekends I need college football, Formula 1, and IndyCar racing. I also skim around other racing series' as I find them and sometimes NFL on Sundays, but for my own needs, I have to be able to watch those live: usually NBCSN and FS1 -- sometimes on network for racing, and then network and then some for football.

I have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but I honestly don't watch a whole lot. My kids are constantly on Netflix and YouTube, though. What would my options be for that?
 
The only reason I haven't already canceled my Verizon FIOS is because I've never seen any good alternatives to watch football. When I came home tonight I noticed the Redskins and Dallas game being advertised on Amazon Prime. :cool:

Looks like lots of other games coming up to choose from and all a part of being an Amazon Prime member.

I'm going to give this two weeks to make sure it's what I think it is and then I'm definitely cutting my bundle package for a $200 a month savings.

I'm hoping the likes of Verizon and Comcast are begging us Tom come back in two years for the prices they should have been charging all along.
 
He had to because its an account he knows the password to and can post with it.
 
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