Streaming TV vs. Cable

[mattl]

I'm always on the verge of dropping Directv.  If/when I do Sling might be my service of choice at $35. 

I do have a very good antenna setup and my HD Homerun 4k box shows well over 100 channels available from 2 markets.  95% is content I have zero interest in, but all the major networks are available. This unit has 4 tuners, 2 of which can receive the new ATSC 3.0 standard slowly being rolled out, only advantage is for techies like me that want the best image quality on a high end 4K display.  I couple this with  Channels DVR with is just like having a cable box, same grid layout and recording capability.  Channels also has the capability to utilize TV anywhere which allows you to view and record cable only channels if you have access to a cable or sat login info (yours, or a trusted friend ;-) ) Works great with a firestick, computer, phone or tablet but no roku support will be available. Costs $80/y or $8/m.  Hd Homerun can be had for $100 or less for non 4k model.  Channels DVR does require a computer to act as a server be connected and on 24/7 could be setup on a Raspberry pi or an nVidea system if you like.

 

Sound complicated, it is just a bit, but once set up the end user interface is great for anyone of any age. And  could work well even w/o an antenna feed with tv anywhere......

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Streaming easily replaced and is replacing cable, just as from the time you got that cable installed no longer needed that rabbit-eared reception-getting TV…

Things are so compact now, you can get, watch and do (& order off of Discogs, MusicStack and eBay via payment through PayPal for my hard copy medium which is still ever massive) to the point where you one day never again will see all those radio and TV towers nor even need that satellite dish on your house you tried for television on, though my wife maintains Sirius for her car radio, though I ditched FM playing the same ol’ sane ol’ for a good AM that plays better in her car than mine but cannot tune in on my stereo at home…

So change with the times, I say…

— Dave

 

[DADoES]

 
The cable service guy visited on 12/29, replaced the coax drop from pole to house.  He was astonished that it had apparently never been changed in all the years.  Much better.  I get 229 Mbps via WiFi there on my phone.  The computer is still slower (112 to 119 Mbps) but that apparently is because the ethernet port on it is the older 100 Mbps standard, which is not a significant problem because mom never any longer uses the computer, only I do when there.

I decided to go first with a Roku for mom.  I tried my Roku 2 XD that I haven't used in years.  It didn't work very well even after the coax problem was fixed.  It's presumably too old and underpowered.  I bought a new one for her which works much better.  She said that the picture quality is better in comparison to HD cable over coax. 

Now to figure out over the following weeks/months after cable service ends on 1/16 which streaming subscription service(s) will best fit her needs.

An irritating aspect is that the previous internet service was canceled on 12/29 but the provider (local telephone company) billed for the full month of January (auto-pay so it can't be stopped), presumably because they couldn't adjust the billing in time.  The cable service is also billing (auto-pay again) for a full month of January service, which should be only a half-month.  That should all be fixed on the next bill but it's still irritating.

 

[vacerator]

Buffering

can be an issue with streaming. Even with hiogh internet speeds. If os, just hardwire the streaming device (ex. Apple TV nuuk box) to your wifi router.

 

[sudsmaster]

Last night a little after midnight I was watching SNL via broadcast. Suddenly the signal went out. All the other broadcast channels were fine, though, my assumption is that KNTV stopped broadcasting its signal. I did some googling and discovered that KNTV's broadcast license expired sometime in December 2022. I don't know if this is related, but it seems logical that it might be.

 

All the other TV signals from Sutro Tower in SF are fine, as far as I can tell.

 

Anybody else in the SF Bay Area lose the KNTV/NBC broadcast signal lately?

 

[this post was last edited: 1/8/2023-18:16]

 

[sudsmaster]

KNTV update:

 

Just checked, the KNTV Channel 11 NBC station is back!

 

Yay!

 

(only took 12+ hours)

 

Update: Just the two broadcast KNTV channels are back, 11. 1 and 11.2... 11.3 and 11.4 still out. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what hppens with those. Not that I watch those two channels that much anyway.