Cutting the cord

paliknight · 01-16-2018, 09:00 PM

For those looking to cut the cord, right now you can get 4 months of directv now and a 4K Apple TV for 140 bucks total.

Directv now will then only be 35 a month after the 4 months. Apple TV alone is 180 bucks.

kscarrol · 01-16-2018, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paimon.soror

FYI testing out PSVue now. Channel lineup is fantastic.. has everything the wife wants albiet at the 54.99 pricepoint

Willing to give it a go for a week

So PSVue is new to me... Basically a similar offering to DTV Now as I understand. Am I missing something?

Offerings seem similar, basically a streaming service offering these channels...

paliknight · 01-16-2018, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Seriously leaning towards Direct TV Now as well. Checks most of the boxes except local channels. Hopefully a good HD antenna will cover that.

I started the early thread about cutting the cord because until recently we were stuck with Cox for high speed internet. 100GB internet plus cable is $200 a month plus taxes. AT&T recently added fiber and I can get 1000GB for $80 a month. Add in the Direct TV Now for $60 a month and I'm saving $40 a month. The only real question mark for me is the reliability of AT&T's fiber. Internet through Cox sucks, wildly varying speeds and frequent loss of signal.... Anybody have experience with AT&T fiber?

Att fiber is 2nd only to Verizon fios. I've tried a bunch of different companies (Comcast, Cox, time warner, Verizon fios, etc) and only fios was more reliable than att fiber. I have to admit att has done very well in this department in comparison to the competition. The price is also unbeatable with their 80 dollar gigabit connection.

Edit: their gigabit connection is supposed to be unlimited as far as I know so I would ask about that too.

paimon.soror · 01-16-2018, 09:04 PM

yup offerings seem very close. The package we would want is 5 dollars less with PSVue. PSVue also has a DVR.

paimon.soror · 01-16-2018, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paliknight

Att fiber is 2nd only to Verizon fios. I've tried a bunch of different companies (Comcast, Cox, time warner, Verizon fios, etc) and only fios was more reliable than att fiber. I have to admit att has done very well in this department in comparison to the competition. The price is also unbeatable with their 80 dollar gigabit connection.

We used to have ATT in my area, then they sold their assets to Frontier... it wsa the worst thing to ever happen.

That service sucked so bad

paimon.soror · 01-16-2018, 09:28 PM

So within the first hour we have noticed some interesting things with PSVue.

Many channels are 'darker' than 'normal'. Its rather strange. Almost like the contrast is a few notches too low. For example TBS, Food Network, and USA. And some channels have 'meh' quality. Anyone else experience that?

amgraham · 01-16-2018, 09:35 PM

Yeah, my wife is warming up to the PS Vue. It has all the channels we *need*. There's one or two we might like that aren't offered (yet) but nothing critical. I'm not a huge sports guy except for racing and both PS Vue and Hulu have them covered and as I'd mentioned before, I think both offer FS2 which I don't currently have with Comcast. It was a little trial and error, trying to find what she wanted but she's figuring it out. The kids, no problem.

Like I said before as well... If you do the expanded DVR with Hulu, you're right at that $55 price point, same as Vue. The Vue DVR is "unlimited" in space but your recordings "expire" automatically after a 28 days, or a month...

I'm going to try Hulu myself as well as I think we could live with the "basic" DVR limitation and save more money. It might come down to the interface and usability.

I like outboarding the "smart" aspect of the TVs as well. I think the frequency of updates, fixes and additional features can be more reasonably expected from Fire, Roku, etc. than the embedded smart components of the TV. Furthermore, a couple years down the road, it's easier to throw a $30 new ,upgraded, "box" at it than it is to replace the TV.

For us too, which I had mentioned earlier... It takes us to a single "source". No switching inputs and the savings "increase" as I can add boxes in two, maybe three locations, that I don't not have connected to cable now, without a $10/month per box fee. Specifically I'd add one to the TV in the gaming/VR "studio" we set up in the basement, and the guest room. Possibly the exercise room and garage later.

It isn't just about the $30/$40 a month I'd save now, even after unbundling the internet. I mean... I'd rather have the $30 or $40 in my pocket but in the grand scheme of things, it's marginal and not worth grief if that's where it gets me.

But... like some of you, giving it a whirl although I think if Vue or Hulu don't work... based on what I've read here and elsewhere, I won't waste my time with the others.

I could look at DTV Now but... I've a non-technical reason not to use them... Just not for *me*, YMMV.

Oh, and on the NAS units... I've set up a bunch of the Synology units and a few of the QNAPs for friends, family for home and/or business, in some cases both, with backups for their business replicating to the home NAS, stuff like that. (I just have junk i don't want to replace until I need to, I guess...) I tend to lean toward the Synology though I've got nothing against the QNAP. The one feature I do like about the Synology is the SHR, Synology Hybrid RAID. You can get R5 protection with mixed drive sizes. It's kind of nice because I can take the old drives, in my old NAS, buy two bigger ones to put in a 4- or 5- drive Synology and then get a better than 50% usable space across all of them, and avoid doing two R1 arrays or a R1 and a R5. Upgrade the old drives later, when I need the space and they're cheaper... and take advantage of the increased space then with RAID migrations or the like.

...or I could see if I could slip one of the Pure Storage arrays out of the DC at work with nobody noticing... I've got an unused Dell chassis sitting there... with a handful of 2-socket blades and a few iSCSI storage blades. Hmm... Then I'd need an electrician to wire up some 220V... and somebody might start asking questions...

amgraham · 01-16-2018, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paimon.soror

So within the first hour we have noticed some interesting things with PSVue.

Many channels are 'darker' than 'normal'. Its rather strange. Almost like the contrast is a few notches too low. For example TBS, Food Network, and USA. And some channels have 'meh' quality. Anyone else experience that?

I didn't notice the darkness but like i mentioned before... I did notice what seemed to be very momentary frame-rate drops... Not very often though...

JasonCSU · 01-17-2018, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGM135is

It's almost overwhelming how much functionality is built in to these. I am barely using maybe a quarter of everything it can do. I doubled up on the RAM which helps since I may run some VMs later on. I was going to run a firewall (Sophos UTM) on it, but it didn't work out. I ended up getting an Untangle small firewall appliance and love that thing too. I will probably start feeding logs to the QNAP from it so I can look back over a longer period of time. Just haven't had time to mess with it.

Before getting your Untangle appliance, did you get a VM running with Sophos UTM on it? I'm just curious because I created a VM on my QNAP and installed Sophos UTM on it; just haven't switched over to using it as my firewall/gateway for my home network yet.

c1pher · 01-17-2018, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

Before getting your Untangle appliance, did you get a VM running with Sophos UTM on it? I'm just curious because I created a VM on my QNAP and installed Sophos UTM on it; just haven't switched over to using it as my firewall/gateway for my home network yet.

My QNAP only has two NICs and in theory could have worked. I know someone who had four NICs and is running Sophos UTM. I went back and forth with QNAP tech support, which is very responsive btw, and determined it wouldn’t work on mine.

paimon.soror · 01-17-2018, 07:56 PM

One thing that is a bit annoying about Vue, is that the load times on the guide are rather iffy. Sometimes going from page to page takes a bit to show what is actually playing on the channel... and then when you select the channel, you have to make sure the loading indicator isn't showing else it wont actually select.

#firstworldproblems

paimon.soror · 01-20-2018, 09:05 PM

And now on to DTV Now.

So far so good! Checks off every single box. I was able to get the wife to agree to test out the 'just right' package, which comes out to $50.50 a month.

I didn't realize that DTV Now had a 'hulu esque' library of shows on-demand, so the great thing is that it realy reduced the need for a DVR. I know that there are rumors of DTV coming out with one for their streaming service, but we can probably survive.

Quality is looking good, but I noticed their website is really slow/buggy on Chrome. Seems to be a common issue.

paimon.soror · 01-21-2018, 01:55 PM

I think DTV has moved its way up to our top choice, and probably what we will commit to. So far the channel selection is fantastic, quality great, and NO buffering issues at all.

Going to give this a few more days, but honestly, the wife is impressed!!

The lack of a DVR is tough, but support mentioned that they are looking at a DVR solution "soon" , and with that, it would be the perfect package. If anything, i think committing to this and getting the wife into the habit of using the 'on-demand' shows vs DVR, might mean not even needing the DVR should DTV release one and expect an extra monthly charge.

amgraham · 01-21-2018, 02:55 PM

While I appreciate how methodical you've been in your analysis, it's difficult to be truly comprehensive if you can only test on one or two platforms. I'm in the same boat as well since I don't want to shell out $30-$60 for each of the various devices. To that point, I've read that the experience can vary from device to device and service to service. For example, I've read that Vue is better on Fire than Roku and my one buddy wasn't happy with the experience on an older Roku. I've read similar opinions on other "combos" as well. A lot of variables in play for the typical "consumer" to practically test, unfortunately. The plus is, of course, no contract. No matter which one you pick, you can switch again down the road if it doesn't work out.

paimon.soror · 01-21-2018, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amgraham

The plus is, of course, no contract. No matter which one you pick, you can switch again down the road if it doesn't work out.

Absolutely, 100%

And thanks for the kind words. The method to the madness is the wife really haha. If shes not happy, no price savings is worth it (happy wife happy .. you know).

I also talked to my cable company.... to be eligible for any promotional deals, you need to be disconnected from cable for 90 days.... so worst comes to worst, i told her we can switch back and maybe get a promo contract deal.

All in all, i think the hardest part is going to be the actual commitment to not having 'cable'. Its so ingrained in our heads that it is a basic need, that you watch more shows than you need just beceause its 'on' lol. So, the journey will certainly continue.

So far, DTVNow is looking like the winner. I just went to wash my car, and came home to my wife using it, and watching one of her shows.

Spa2k · 01-21-2018, 04:54 PM

I’ve been lurking here for awhile, since I live in an area with only one high-speed Internet provider and the same company offering cable TV. I can keep the Internet service and cut the basic TV service and save about $110/month, so streaming TV is starting to look pretty good. However, most of the shows I want on History, Bravo, Velocity and other channels carry a per-show charge of $2.99 or $15-20 for a season, which more than negates any savings I’d get by cutting the cable.

DTVNow promises no extra charges for any of the shows on the channels in their packages, so for those who have tried DTVNow, is that true? Four months including Apple TV is a screaming deal (less than the cost of just the Apple TV), if there are no per-show surcharges. What’s the real story?

paimon.soror · 01-21-2018, 07:16 PM

So DTVNow offers those channels as well as a nice on-demand library that comes at no additional cost!

Let me know what shows in particular you want me to check out to see if they have 'seasons' available. Since there is no DVR its good to check incase you miss a show and want to catch up.

Spa2k · 01-21-2018, 08:28 PM

Thanks. Here are a couple:

Velocity - “Chasing Classic Cars”
History - “The Curse of Oak Island”

paimon.soror · 01-21-2018, 08:52 PM

Chasing Classic Cars -
Season 9 and 8 is on there
Latest episode is S09 E17 (Aired Sep 25, 2017)

The Curse of Oak Island -
Season 1 - 5 on there
Latest episode showing S05 E10 "The signs of a cross (Jan 15 2018)

paimon.soror · 01-21-2018, 08:53 PM

Also, Cox internet gives me 1TB cap per month

So today I have been streaming DTV literally all day. Then during the pats game, i streamed it on my laptop while my wife streamed live tv on the tv. All while I Was also playing xbox live.

Should give me an idea of daily usage for "worst case"

Spa2k · 01-21-2018, 10:07 PM

Thanks for checking. DTN is looking like it’s worth a trial, especially since the worst case scenario is ending up with a discount-priced Apple TV.

Chihuahua · 02-02-2018, 06:01 PM

I'm about to pull the trigger on this, have a couple of questions:

1. for those with DirecTV Now, how reliable is it? any glitches while watching shows?
2. with streaming, do you get hit with the same crazy taxes and government fees you do with cable?

thanks!

01-16-2018, 09:00 PM	#133
paliknight fuck this field 2196 Rep 2,603 Posts Drives: 18 F80 CS/18 F80 ZCP/19 M2C Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: everywhere iTrader: (1)	For those looking to cut the cord, right now you can get 4 months of directv now and a 4K Apple TV for 140 bucks total. Directv now will then only be 35 a month after the 4 months. Apple TV alone is 180 bucks. __________________ BMW family... for now.
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01-16-2018, 09:04 PM	#136
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	yup offerings seem very close. The package we would want is 5 dollars less with PSVue. PSVue also has a DVR. __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-16-2018, 09:28 PM	#138
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	So within the first hour we have noticed some interesting things with PSVue. Many channels are 'darker' than 'normal'. Its rather strange. Almost like the contrast is a few notches too low. For example TBS, Food Network, and USA. And some channels have 'meh' quality. Anyone else experience that? __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-16-2018, 09:35 PM	#139
amgraham New Member 41 Rep 27 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW X5 x35d Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Pittsburgh, PA iTrader: (0)	Yeah, my wife is warming up to the PS Vue. It has all the channels we need. There's one or two we might like that aren't offered (yet) but nothing critical. I'm not a huge sports guy except for racing and both PS Vue and Hulu have them covered and as I'd mentioned before, I think both offer FS2 which I don't currently have with Comcast. It was a little trial and error, trying to find what she wanted but she's figuring it out. The kids, no problem. Like I said before as well... If you do the expanded DVR with Hulu, you're right at that $55 price point, same as Vue. The Vue DVR is "unlimited" in space but your recordings "expire" automatically after a 28 days, or a month... I'm going to try Hulu myself as well as I think we could live with the "basic" DVR limitation and save more money. It might come down to the interface and usability. I like outboarding the "smart" aspect of the TVs as well. I think the frequency of updates, fixes and additional features can be more reasonably expected from Fire, Roku, etc. than the embedded smart components of the TV. Furthermore, a couple years down the road, it's easier to throw a $30 new ,upgraded, "box" at it than it is to replace the TV. For us too, which I had mentioned earlier... It takes us to a single "source". No switching inputs and the savings "increase" as I can add boxes in two, maybe three locations, that I don't not have connected to cable now, without a $10/month per box fee. Specifically I'd add one to the TV in the gaming/VR "studio" we set up in the basement, and the guest room. Possibly the exercise room and garage later. It isn't just about the $30/$40 a month I'd save now, even after unbundling the internet. I mean... I'd rather have the $30 or $40 in my pocket but in the grand scheme of things, it's marginal and not worth grief if that's where it gets me. But... like some of you, giving it a whirl although I think if Vue or Hulu don't work... based on what I've read here and elsewhere, I won't waste my time with the others. I could look at DTV Now but... I've a non-technical reason not to use them... Just not for me, YMMV. Oh, and on the NAS units... I've set up a bunch of the Synology units and a few of the QNAPs for friends, family for home and/or business, in some cases both, with backups for their business replicating to the home NAS, stuff like that. (I just have junk i don't want to replace until I need to, I guess...) I tend to lean toward the Synology though I've got nothing against the QNAP. The one feature I do like about the Synology is the SHR, Synology Hybrid RAID. You can get R5 protection with mixed drive sizes. It's kind of nice because I can take the old drives, in my old NAS, buy two bigger ones to put in a 4- or 5- drive Synology and then get a better than 50% usable space across all of them, and avoid doing two R1 arrays or a R1 and a R5. Upgrade the old drives later, when I need the space and they're cheaper... and take advantage of the increased space then with RAID migrations or the like. ...or I could see if I could slip one of the Pure Storage arrays out of the DC at work with nobody noticing... I've got an unused Dell chassis sitting there... with a handful of 2-socket blades and a few iSCSI storage blades. Hmm... Then I'd need an electrician to wire up some 220V... and somebody might start asking questions...
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01-17-2018, 07:56 PM	#143
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	One thing that is a bit annoying about Vue, is that the load times on the guide are rather iffy. Sometimes going from page to page takes a bit to show what is actually playing on the channel... and then when you select the channel, you have to make sure the loading indicator isn't showing else it wont actually select. #firstworldproblems __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-20-2018, 09:05 PM	#144
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	And now on to DTV Now. So far so good! Checks off every single box. I was able to get the wife to agree to test out the 'just right' package, which comes out to $50.50 a month. I didn't realize that DTV Now had a 'hulu esque' library of shows on-demand, so the great thing is that it realy reduced the need for a DVR. I know that there are rumors of DTV coming out with one for their streaming service, but we can probably survive. Quality is looking good, but I noticed their website is really slow/buggy on Chrome. Seems to be a common issue. __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-21-2018, 01:55 PM	#145
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	I think DTV has moved its way up to our top choice, and probably what we will commit to. So far the channel selection is fantastic, quality great, and NO buffering issues at all. Going to give this a few more days, but honestly, the wife is impressed!! The lack of a DVR is tough, but support mentioned that they are looking at a DVR solution "soon" , and with that, it would be the perfect package. If anything, i think committing to this and getting the wife into the habit of using the 'on-demand' shows vs DVR, might mean not even needing the DVR should DTV release one and expect an extra monthly charge. __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-21-2018, 02:55 PM	#146
amgraham New Member 41 Rep 27 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW X5 x35d Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Pittsburgh, PA iTrader: (0)	While I appreciate how methodical you've been in your analysis, it's difficult to be truly comprehensive if you can only test on one or two platforms. I'm in the same boat as well since I don't want to shell out $30-$60 for each of the various devices. To that point, I've read that the experience can vary from device to device and service to service. For example, I've read that Vue is better on Fire than Roku and my one buddy wasn't happy with the experience on an older Roku. I've read similar opinions on other "combos" as well. A lot of variables in play for the typical "consumer" to practically test, unfortunately. The plus is, of course, no contract. No matter which one you pick, you can switch again down the road if it doesn't work out.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

01-21-2018, 04:54 PM	#148
Spa2k Major 1194 Rep 1,086 Posts Drives: '13 JCW Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: US iTrader: (0)	I’ve been lurking here for awhile, since I live in an area with only one high-speed Internet provider and the same company offering cable TV. I can keep the Internet service and cut the basic TV service and save about $110/month, so streaming TV is starting to look pretty good. However, most of the shows I want on History, Bravo, Velocity and other channels carry a per-show charge of $2.99 or $15-20 for a season, which more than negates any savings I’d get by cutting the cable. DTVNow promises no extra charges for any of the shows on the channels in their packages, so for those who have tried DTVNow, is that true? Four months including Apple TV is a screaming deal (less than the cost of just the Apple TV), if there are no per-show surcharges. What’s the real story?
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01-21-2018, 07:16 PM	#149
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	So DTVNow offers those channels as well as a nice on-demand library that comes at no additional cost! Let me know what shows in particular you want me to check out to see if they have 'seasons' available. Since there is no DVR its good to check incase you miss a show and want to catch up. __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-21-2018, 08:28 PM	#150
Spa2k Major 1194 Rep 1,086 Posts Drives: '13 JCW Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: US iTrader: (0)	Thanks. Here are a couple: Velocity - “Chasing Classic Cars” History - “The Curse of Oak Island”
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01-21-2018, 08:52 PM	#151
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	Chasing Classic Cars - Season 9 and 8 is on there Latest episode is S09 E17 (Aired Sep 25, 2017) The Curse of Oak Island - Season 1 - 5 on there Latest episode showing S05 E10 "The signs of a cross (Jan 15 2018) __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-21-2018, 08:53 PM	#152
paimon.soror Captain 645 Rep 984 Posts Drives: 2016 F36 435x MSport Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Hartford, CT iTrader: (3) Garage List 2016 BMW 435xi GC [6.00]	Also, Cox internet gives me 1TB cap per month So today I have been streaming DTV literally all day. Then during the pats game, i streamed it on my laptop while my wife streamed live tv on the tv. All while I Was also playing xbox live. Should give me an idea of daily usage for "worst case" __________________ 2010 Mazda RX8 - Sold (11/17) 2016 BMW 435xi GC - Current
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01-21-2018, 10:07 PM	#153
Spa2k Major 1194 Rep 1,086 Posts Drives: '13 JCW Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: US iTrader: (0)	Thanks for checking. DTN is looking like it’s worth a trial, especially since the worst case scenario is ending up with a discount-priced Apple TV.
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02-02-2018, 06:01 PM	#154
Chihuahua Brigadier General 4479 Rep 3,366 Posts Drives: E30 329iS, E65 Alpina B7 Join Date: May 2012 Location: TBD iTrader: (0)	I'm about to pull the trigger on this, have a couple of questions: 1. for those with DirecTV Now, how reliable is it? any glitches while watching shows? 2. with streaming, do you get hit with the same crazy taxes and government fees you do with cable? thanks!
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