For the Boston market they have live TV for CBS and NBC. Fox and ABC are on demand only. They do have FX.
Cutting The Cord on Cable/Satellite TV Service?
- Thread starter LoweTek
- Start date
Just saw the whole Vue increase now, must have missed it in my email earlier. FFS. I'm really going to regret not perma-locking into that $35 rate for DirectTV. Ass ass ass.
I also suddenly have two HBO channels? I didn't pay for anything, so I have no idea what's going on, maybe some promotion.
I also suddenly have two HBO channels? I didn't pay for anything, so I have no idea what's going on, maybe some promotion.
I recently joined the growing population of cord cutters. Just didn't watch enough TV to justify it.
I was using Spectrum/TWC. I was paying about $190/month. That was for the bundle (cable, internet, phone). I didn't need the home phone, but the bundle package was the cheapest at the time. I also had the TWC sports pass and HBO.
To get internet alone from Spectrum is $70/month, which seems high. The only other stuff I really need is my local channels (I like to watch the news from time to time and of course need CBS/Fox/NBC for the Pats. Having NESN would be great, but I can survive without it (don't mind the radio).
What are my best options? HD antenna? PS Vue, Sling, something else? I have a DTV dish on my roof from service I had with them years ago. Would love to keep it around $100--$120 or so, but I realize the $70 for internet takes up a big chunk of that.
I was using Spectrum/TWC. I was paying about $190/month. That was for the bundle (cable, internet, phone). I didn't need the home phone, but the bundle package was the cheapest at the time. I also had the TWC sports pass and HBO.
To get internet alone from Spectrum is $70/month, which seems high. The only other stuff I really need is my local channels (I like to watch the news from time to time and of course need CBS/Fox/NBC for the Pats. Having NESN would be great, but I can survive without it (don't mind the radio).
What are my best options? HD antenna? PS Vue, Sling, something else? I have a DTV dish on my roof from service I had with them years ago. Would love to keep it around $100--$120 or so, but I realize the $70 for internet takes up a big chunk of that.
The first thing you should do is call your cable company and tell them you're going to cancel and see what kind of deal they will give you. I was paying $230 with Frontier, called up and got it down to $125 for cable, phone, internet including an upgrade from 20Mbps to 45Mbps. If you can keep the costs in the same general ballpark, seems much easier to not deal with the hassle of cord cutting.
That's the strange part. I went over to Spectrum/TWC yesterday to let them know I wanted to cancel my service (except for internet) and they didn't say boo. They switched me over from the TWC internet to the Spectrum. Told me that my new bill would be $70/month. No deals offered or anything like that.
But, my cable is still working. I'm not sure if they are letting it run through the billing cycle or not. The woman told me that it would be effective as soon as I left the office, but maybe she meant the internet part. I'll have to call and see what's up.
But, my cable is still working. I'm not sure if they are letting it run through the billing cycle or not. The woman told me that it would be effective as soon as I left the office, but maybe she meant the internet part. I'll have to call and see what's up.
If you're within range and don't really care about NESN I'd do an antenna. Otherwise you need Vue for NESN.
OK, one last silly question (thanks for any help that is given). Cable is off (TWC/Spectrum really didn't offer any deals worth pursuing without committing to another year of service).
I'm thinking of getting the HD antenna and going with the Vue. My question is this......my son has a PS4 in his room and my daughter has a PS3 in her room. For other TV's in the house, what is the best option to run the vue? Roku? Amazon firestick? Something else? Are there different options for each device? (I see different types of Roku's when I look them up)
I'm thinking of getting the HD antenna and going with the Vue. My question is this......my son has a PS4 in his room and my daughter has a PS3 in her room. For other TV's in the house, what is the best option to run the vue? Roku? Amazon firestick? Something else? Are there different options for each device? (I see different types of Roku's when I look them up)
Stay as far away as you can from the Roku for Vue app. It's horrible.
I have a first generaion Fire Stick gives a UI that most closely resembles the PlayStation, but it's pretty laggy. I've heard the newer generation are much better, but I can't speak for it myself.
I have a new generation FireTV and it works perfectly. The sticks are only 30 FPS, which has issues with sports especially. The FireTV is 60FPS, which looks great.
The Roku app is so bad. But ultimately, mark NESN and a couple other channels as favorites. Add your favorite shows to My Shows, and it never takes more than three clicks to watch something.
That said, I plan to dump Vue after game 162 and the price hike. Here's hoping DirecTV Now has a better Roku app.
That said, I plan to dump Vue after game 162 and the price hike. Here's hoping DirecTV Now has a better Roku app.
I ended up getting a firestick (the ask Alexa edition) and although it's been working fine, I'm kind of kicking myself for not springing for the FireTV instead. I haven't gotten Playstation Vue yet, but after reading some reviews, it seems like I may regret it. I'll at least do the Vue for the 5 day trial and see how it is. Worst case scenario, I can use the stick for my bedroom TV and get a FireTV for my livingroom.
And what is this Kodi install that people are saying to do? What will it provide for me? Is it safe?
**edit to add that I stopped being lazy and did some research on the kodi thing. Not sure it's something that I'd be interested in**
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I have the same problem with the Fire stick. It works fine for everything else but the Vue UI is clunky and laggy as fuck. Once I finally find the channel/show I'm looking for, the feed is fine (although frustratingly behind a tv feed) but searching for something is a soul-sucking venture. So much so that I'll be switching to YouTubeTV as soon as they get their heads out of their asses and develop a Fire stick UI - though if this talk about a price hike is true, I may have to do it sooner than that.
As a side note, it's interesting that the available networks on Vue are region dependent. My Vue package has CBS, Fox and NBC but not ABC (which is about to be a problem with college football season around the corner). I figured it was a contract issue with the national network, not the regional affiliates.
Back in my initial days of cord cutting and when I was still messing around with apps like Vue, being able to hard wire to the FireTV definitely made a fairly big reliability difference there.
As your primary source of live TV viewing upgrading to the box it would be a solid plan imo. Plus and like you pointed out the stick will still serve a purpose. I personally splurged for a Nvidia Shield, but certainly couldn't justify doing that for the other 2 TVs in my home.
DirecTV Now finally struck a deal with CBS/Showtime. I have no need for Showtime, but lack of CBS was my only major complaint about the service, especially at $35/month in perpetuity.
I've been hovering around this thread recently since I am moving out of the Boston TV market, and looking at streaming options for Pats games. Is Sunday Ticket the only option for out of market streaming? That is different from NFL Game Pass (appears to be NFL archives and live radio pbp)?
My new apt provides cable as part of the rent, which is some basic version of Dish. Running through the lineup the only sports channel I am missing is FS1. That also covers my non-sports tv watching too. I started Amazon Prime's student trial for 6 months. I am a bit unimpressed by its content library...
Is it worth for me to pay for NFL streaming service? I will be getting the national ESPN/NBC/NFLN games, and whenever they are on the CBS/Fox national 4:35pm games.
I am also $100/year for SiriusXM, so I could get the radio pbp of Sox/Cs/Pats.
Is Sunday Ticket my only option? Is it worth it for me to get it?
My new apt provides cable as part of the rent, which is some basic version of Dish. Running through the lineup the only sports channel I am missing is FS1. That also covers my non-sports tv watching too. I started Amazon Prime's student trial for 6 months. I am a bit unimpressed by its content library...
Is it worth for me to pay for NFL streaming service? I will be getting the national ESPN/NBC/NFLN games, and whenever they are on the CBS/Fox national 4:35pm games.
I am also $100/year for SiriusXM, so I could get the radio pbp of Sox/Cs/Pats.
Is Sunday Ticket my only option? Is it worth it for me to get it?
NFL used to have a student option for their streaming service that was heavily discounted. Not sure if they still do.
Anyone have experience with YouTube TV? It's $35 and they have a pretty robust sports package which includes NESN for local folks. I think it tips the calculus in my way in terms of Comcast vs. non-cable
Been on Hulu with Live TV + chromecasts for a month now . Heading to Comcast tomorrow to turn in 4 X1 boxes. Experiment proved successful!
Do you have any friends or family in the pats market that would let you hookup a sling box to a spare cable box? I recently did this at my parents place and the early results have been phenomenal. We have talked about it extensively in the Sunday Ticket thread.
Been able to watch CSNNE on NESN GO, with the family XFinity credentials. That has been a plus. Just no Boston market BZ. I'd be annoyed to pay for Sunday Ticket if most of the Pats games fall into the national TV game slot. I've been listening to the preseason games for free on TSH's website.
Does Sling only work on a 2nd cable box? I can't do it on the main?
Do you mind linking me to the Sunday Ticket thread?
That's fine you can link it in the other thread. It will work on the main box. I just suggested hooking it up to a secondary box or one that's not used as frequently. One of the caveats with the sling box is that the cable box will override it so if someone is home watching tv on the box hooked up to the sling you have to watch what they are watching. They can't be watching the hallmark channel while you watch the Pats. If you can arrange it so the people at home won't interfere with your viewing it will work on the main box.
Looking into Vue. I live in Fairfield County and right now on cable I get CBS Pats games because I have a New Haven CBS affiliate, but looks like I would only get the NYC CBS affiliate with Vue. Is it true you lose local channels if you "travel" (or in my case use a VPN?) The streaming Sunday Ticket deal is obviously an option but it's really expensive and sometimes I work Sundays so there are months I would possibly be paying $70 to watch 1 game.
For Vue, you choose a zip code and those are the local ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX affiliates you get. You get that by the package and it doesn't matter if you're traveling or using a VPN. I live in San Francisco but used a Boston zip code to get access to NESN, CSNE, and CBS (to watch Pats games)
Does anyone know if it is possible to tune in over the air networks in the lower-Cape area? I brought my cheapo antenna to my parents' place in Harwich and got nothing, but maybe there is a more powerful antenna that works? Searching online it looks like they are too far away to reliably tune in any of the Boston or Providence transmitters. As it is their second home, they would really like to cut the cord, and Vue would cover them for just about everything, but lack of live Fox/ABC would hurt for World Series, NBA Finals, US Open, some NFL and College Basketball, all of which are fairly important to my dad, although most of those things happen outside the summer when they are there most frequently. As far I can tell, all of the streaming services are missing at least 2 of the big 4 networks for live streaming.
DIRECTV Now has all four networks, or at least will when CBS rolls out in the next couple of weeks. Not in every market yet, though, and although Boston has ABC and FOX, and will get CBS immediately (since the local is network owned and operated), not sure what the situation is on the Cape.
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According to the channel lookup page, only ABC, NBC, and Telemundo are currently available thru DirecTV Now in Boston or Cape Cod. I understand CBS is coming, but don't see Fox.
CBS went live in Boston yesterday (and NYC, LA, Chicago, SF, and several other major markets). I know that lookup link says otherwise.
The problem is they still have no form of DVR, unless I am missing something. We still desperately miss Jeopardy and can't watch when it airs. I'm thinking within 6 months we'll either have DVR on DirectTV Now or Vue will pick up ABC in the DC market.
Cloud-based DVR is in beta testing and is scheduled to go wide sometime this fall.
I just got Vue earlier this week to try it out, mostly because the sports package includes NESN and CSNNE and I'm in the Phoenix area. I had assumed that CBS/Fox being included would also take care of some NFL weekends where the Patriots are on the national broadcast, but when I tried tuning into the SEA/GB game yesterday I got a message that the program wasn't streamable. Apologies if I missed this earlier in the thread, but is this expected? I'd probably still take RedZone/NESN/CSNNE over having the standard cable channels, but it's still frustrating. I guess an antenna could be a solution, but it seems ridiculous that they promote watching the NFL and local channels and it doesn't actually work.
It's kind of weird because it was available on Directv Now and Hulu. You may be able to use the Fox Sports Go app.
http://cordcuttersnews.com/get-around-playstation-vues-nfl-blackouts/
http://cordcuttersnews.com/get-around-playstation-vues-nfl-blackouts/
Even though I don't get the live Fox broadcast in my area with Vue, I've been able to use my Vue login to authenticate in the Fox sports go app on Roku, allowing me to watch live games. I used to do the same thing with the NBC sports app too, although that's not necessary now that live NBC is available on Vue in Boston.
I'd just grab the antenna. It's better quality than the stream anyways and the thing is $40 and you're good to go for life.
I just canceled Vue and switched to DirecTV Now. I've lost NESN, but gained Comedy Central. I'll watch September baseball at friends houses. I prepaid 2-months and they included a Roku device. Their app can't possibly be worse than Vue's. Most importantly: my DirecTV Now plan ($35/mo + $5 mo/HBO) is $25/mo less than what I was paying for Vue.
I'll probably be back next baseball season though. They don't have any local channels, but my telecom company offers local channels through Roku for $15/mo.
I'll probably be back next baseball season though. They don't have any local channels, but my telecom company offers local channels through Roku for $15/mo.
All four major networks are now available in Boston.
http://www.fiercecable.com/cable/directv-now-launches-13-more-network-affiliates-now-has-locals-75-country
That sounds great. I won't need nesn until next April and can just see what else is available at that point. I might have to make the switch now that Vue has gone up to $45/mo.
$5 HBO, is that some sort of promo deal?
The other one I was considering trying is YouTube TV.
The HBO thing has been like that the whole time, which is a nice feature. Still waiting on that DVR service, though, so I can’t make the switch.
I've been using YouTube tv primarily for NESN. I like it, but it needs some work. I was not able to watch the Pats the other day on my mobile device. I could have cast it to my TV had I been home however. If you try to start watching a recording in progress it starts the video at the current time rather than at the beginning. Very spoilerish if you are using it to watch a live sports event.
Vue does the same. A lot of nationally televised sports stuff is "mobile restricted" and will only play on the ps4 or roku.
FWIW, I haven't missed DVR on DirecTV Now. It has a "72 hour rewind" for many shows so you can watch episodes on demand for up to 72 hours after they air. It also offers access to all of the separate apps for channels that are part of your package, and those apps have on-demand programming.
One thing that's annoying: Vue gives you access to HBO Now. DirecTV Now gives you access to HBO Go. HBO Now > HBO Go, because it gives you access to shows right after they air, instead of 2 hours after (#FirstWorldProblems).
The big problem with DirecTV Now is its reliability. It's as reliable as the SundayTicket.TV streaming... which I should've guessed, but didn't. If you've used SundayTicket.TV, you know it's notoriously unreliable. DirecTV reliably craps out on Wednesdays at 10 and Sundays at 11.
HBO Go gives you access concurrently with airing on the network.
Edit to add, that’s what I’m told. My girlfriends mom and sister use our login on hbo go to watch GoT and they talk immediately after the episode every week about what happened that night. I can attest that at very least it’s available immediately after and there’s no two hour wait.
Edit to add, that’s what I’m told. My girlfriends mom and sister use our login on hbo go to watch GoT and they talk immediately after the episode every week about what happened that night. I can attest that at very least it’s available immediately after and there’s no two hour wait.
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Hell it's even better if you're not on the east coast: it gives you access when it's initially available. So using your GoT example, if you were a west coaster you could stream it three hours early.
