Cutting The Cord on Cable/Satellite TV Service?

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
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OK, I had to look that up, apparently gig+ is 1.2 gig - so there are >1gig options now (yay, marketing).

My main point(s) still hold - you don't really need much over 400, and the speed bottlenecks are mostly going to be in your house. The boosters (?) you have are either wifi extenders (yuck) or mesh extenders (better), depending on what the base router is.

If you were willing to do (or have done) a little drywall cutting, wire fishing and patching, I'd guess that you could get massively better internet speeds throughout your house. I'm always surprised that there aren't more AV/internet contractors that do that kind of work, it's such a common problem. Perhaps it's not profitable.
It's probably because the mesh networks work pretty well. Well enough that most people won't bother with the process of chopping up walls and wiring the house. The cost and the hassle.

And you are correct. Extenders are a disaster and should never be used. Always mesh.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,202

YTF

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No exactly a cord cutting question, but does anyone have the new Xumo streaming service from Spectrum. We're considering it as we can replace 4 cable boxes @ 10.99 each per month with the one Xumo for 5.99 per month and use the Spectrum app on the other TVs via Roku. So while it's not cutting the cord I feel were a step closer and able to save about $38.00 per month on the boxes and we're likely to scale down our package as well as the unlimited cell package as the BOGO on the $29.99 unlimited has lapsed after a year so that's doubled now.
 

bradcote

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Jul 27, 2005
3,148
Keepin' it real in Maine
No exactly a cord cutting question, but does anyone have the new Xumo streaming service from Spectrum. We're considering it as we can replace 4 cable boxes @ 10.99 each per month with the one Xumo for 5.99 per month and use the Spectrum app on the other TVs via Roku. So while it's not cutting the cord I feel were a step closer and able to save about $38.00 per month on the boxes and we're likely to scale down our package as well as the unlimited cell package as the BOGO on the $29.99 unlimited has lapsed after a year so that's doubled now.
I used the Spectrum app on our Roku devices instead of getting cable boxes. The app was so awful, we dropped Spectrum altogether and went back to YouTube TV.
 

YTF

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I used the Spectrum app on our Roku devices instead of getting cable boxes. The app was so awful, we dropped Spectrum altogether and went back to YouTube TV.
We recently upgraded our bedroom TVs with Roku TVs as part of this move and so far the app has been fine. The whole regional thing is what keeps us clinging to Spectrum. We live in the Berkshires but are in the Albany NY market. The Albany news is more local to us and I know that we can get that as a local elsewhere, but we want NESN as well. I'm not sure that I want to pay $30 per month for NESN and because we are in MA, there is a deal worked out with Spetrum that requires them to also offer us one Boston local, so I'm able to watch most Patriots games on on the Boston CBS affiliate that we get. So that affords me one extra option on most Sundays. I've a feeling that we're likely to cut the cord within the next year, but I want to give this a go and see how much I can drop from my bill by getting rid of the boxes, taking a lesser package and reducing my cell rate. Perhaps I also give them the speech about going elsewhere, but the truth is that they mostly offer additional services at just a slight reduction for a year and I'm not really looking for more channels that I'm not really going to watch. Also, they are the best (nearly only) internet option in this area so that also factors into the decision not doing everything piecemeal ATM.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
36,920
Hingham, MA
Sorry for being so uninformed, but how does this get to you? We have very old Verizon for much less $ and far less bandwidth that comes through our phone line.
It’s Fios. It doesn’t get everywhere. You have to enter your address on their website to see what’s available to you.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
No exactly a cord cutting question, but does anyone have the new Xumo streaming service from Spectrum. We're considering it as we can replace 4 cable boxes @ 10.99 each per month with the one Xumo for 5.99 per month and use the Spectrum app on the other TVs via Roku. So while it's not cutting the cord I feel were a step closer and able to save about $38.00 per month on the boxes and we're likely to scale down our package as well as the unlimited cell package as the BOGO on the $29.99 unlimited has lapsed after a year so that's doubled now.
Update...So we visited the Spectrum store yesterday and things went better than hoped. As planned, we saved $38.00 by getting rid of the boxes and getting the Xumo. Saved another $5 by signing up for autopay. The clerk was great as he also dropped the internet/cable/phone bundle to the introductory rate and saved us about another $80. I've never experienced this level of rate reduction from these guys before and it was pretty much offered up without any haggling. The guy said it would put it in as "retention" and that we threatened to leave, though we never reached that stage. The best I've been able to do in the past is a $30-$40 savings. Safe to say that I was shocked, So for the next year we're looking at a bill of about $143 per month vs the $263 that we were paying for the internet/TV/phone bundle, with no loss of channels or services. The Xumo box was fairly easy to install and the remote is 100% better than Roku as it actually has numbered buttons as well as being voice activated. Another bonus is that I've been able to sync it with my sound bar which I was unable to do with my cable box.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,363
Chicago
I noticed that Hulu has a "Pause Subscription" feature that is pretty handy if you signed up for a discount rate and want to extend the rate until a particular show returns
 

Van Everyman

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Apr 30, 2009
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Newton
So I’m on YouTube TV now, thanks for the suggestions. Has anyone popped for the 4K add on? I have a nice OLED TV so am wondering if it’s worth it for sports games (Pats, Celtics local broadcasts).
 

ElUno20

Member
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Jul 19, 2005
6,021
Update...So we visited the Spectrum store yesterday and things went better than hoped. As planned, we saved $38.00 by getting rid of the boxes and getting the Xumo. Saved another $5 by signing up for autopay. The clerk was great as he also dropped the internet/cable/phone bundle to the introductory rate and saved us about another $80. I've never experienced this level of rate reduction from these guys before and it was pretty much offered up without any haggling. The guy said it would put it in as "retention" and that we threatened to leave, though we never reached that stage. The best I've been able to do in the past is a $30-$40 savings. Safe to say that I was shocked, So for the next year we're looking at a bill of about $143 per month vs the $263 that we were paying for the internet/TV/phone bundle, with no loss of channels or services. The Xumo box was fairly easy to install and the remote is 100% better than Roku as it actually has numbered buttons as well as being voice activated. Another bonus is that I've been able to sync it with my sound bar which I was unable to do with my cable box.
Does the xumo box have dvr or is just a streaming box?
 

johnmd20

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Dec 30, 2003
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So I’m on YouTube TV now, thanks for the suggestions. Has anyone popped for the 4K add on? I have a nice OLED TV so am wondering if it’s worth it for sports games (Pats, Celtics local broadcasts).
There is not a lot of 4k content yet. Some soccer games and a small handful of college games. None of the NFL is in 4k yet.

But the 4k plan is good if you have a sports TV room with a lot of TVs because you get unlimited streams.
 

Van Everyman

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Apr 30, 2009
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Newton
There is not a lot of 4k content yet. Some soccer games and a small handful of college games. None of the NFL is in 4k yet.

But the 4k plan is good if you have a sports TV room with a lot of TVs because you get unlimited streams.
Excellent, thanks for the tip. I may hold off for now as most of the 4K stuff I’m watching is on individual apps (Netflix, D+). But that is good to know.
 

johnmd20

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Excellent, thanks for the tip. I may hold off for now as most of the 4K stuff I’m watching is on individual apps (Netflix, D+). But that is good to know.
Yes, Apple, Netflix, and Disney have 4k stuff. Amazon too. But when it comes to cable or internet TV, there is very little 4k stuff. It's fair to say there is almost none.

I assume in 5 years most things will be in 4k. But it's taking a while.
 

Van Everyman

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Apr 30, 2009
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Newton
When I had FiOS cable I would use the ESPN app to watch sports (signed in to my FiOS account). Was that not in 4K? It did seem sharper than what I’m seeing now on that app (signed into YouTube TV).
 

johnmd20

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When I had FiOS cable I would use the ESPN app to watch sports (signed in to my FiOS account). Was that not in 4K? It did seem sharper than what I’m seeing now on that app (signed into YouTube TV).
Probably very little of it was in 4k.

ESPN doesn't do many 4k productions. Nobody does right now.
 

cgori

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Oct 2, 2004
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SF, CA
Broadcast sports in 4K is/has been like a half dozen games a week - 2 college football games, 2 NFL and a smattering of other random stuff. Olympics 2022 was mostly available for broadcast in 4K (one of the reasons I upgraded to a 4K set top box), I assume 2024 will be the same. Otherwise ~all the 4K content is from streaming platforms right now (Netflix, Amazon, etc).
 

Max Power

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Jul 20, 2005
7,838
Boston, MA
NESN does Red Sox home games in 4k. You can only get it on cable through Fios, but the NESN app works with a Comcast login. I hope the fix the Roku app so the sound syncs up better. It was a huge problem last year.
 

MuzzyField

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Much of the 4K sports we are watching aren't native 4K productions and are upconverted to 4K for our viewing.

There is also compression hitting the 4K video during streaming (compare the 4K quality on various streamers (Disney+ and Apple TV are better, Netflix and others not so much) and distribution of the games to cable and sat providers then on to their customers.

The best use of 4K and 8K so far has been in replay where you can crop those cameras in tight and convert it down to 720 or 1080 without pixelating and blurring.
 

johnmd20

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Broadcast sports in 4K is/has been like a half dozen games a week - 2 college football games, 2 NFL and a smattering of other random stuff. Olympics 2022 was mostly available for broadcast in 4K (one of the reasons I upgraded to a 4K set top box), I assume 2024 will be the same. Otherwise ~all the 4K content is from streaming platforms right now (Netflix, Amazon, etc).
I don't think any NFL games have been broadcast in 4k this year.

I belive the NFL has done one total game in 4k, the super bowl two years ago, (no 4k Super Bowl in 2023) and it was a streaming disaster for the people who tried to watch it.

Do you have a citation for the NFL broadcasting in 4k? Because I think it's 0.
 

cgori

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Oct 2, 2004
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I don't think any NFL games have been broadcast in 4k this year.

I belive the NFL has done one total game in 4k, the super bowl two years ago, (no 4k Super Bowl in 2023) and it was a streaming disaster for the people who tried to watch it.

Do you have a citation for the NFL broadcasting in 4k? Because I think it's 0.
No, I was remembering it from 2022 (2021?!) when they did a few - see this from comcast, I stopped bothering because it was underwhelming. I thought (?) the amazon prime thursday night game was available in 4k this year though? (I don't have prime so it didn't matter to me)
 

johnmd20

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No, I was remembering it from 2022 (2021?!) when they did a few - see this from comcast, I stopped bothering because it was underwhelming. I thought (?) the amazon prime thursday night game was available in 4k this year though? (I don't have prime so it didn't matter to me)
Thursday night is in HDR but 0 NFL games in 2023 were broadcast in 4k. It costs a lot and my guess is that most people aren't even set up for 4k yet. I also bet those 2021 games were only 4k upscaled, too. I don't think the networks had the cameras for true 4k.

I think the 2022 calendar year Super Bowl cooled the NFL on 4k games. For now. It went badly. It didn't even work well and if it did work, the delay was 3 minutes, not 10-20 seconds.
 

cgori

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Oct 2, 2004
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Thursday night is in HDR but 0 NFL games in 2023 were broadcast in 4k. It costs a lot and my guess is that most people aren't even set up for 4k yet. I also bet those 2021 games were only 4k upscaled, too. I don't think the networks had the cameras for true 4k.

I think the 2022 calendar year Super Bowl cooled the NFL on 4k games. For now. It went badly. It didn't even work well and if it did work, the delay was 3 minutes, not 10-20 seconds.
I don't watch much/any CFB but was there still a "game of the week" in 4k? I have a buddy with a full 4k setup who is a rabid CFB fan and I thought he said that was still a thing, but it also might have been a 2021/2022 thing.
 

johnmd20

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I don't watch much/any CFB but was there still a "game of the week" in 4k? I have a buddy with a full 4k setup who is a rabid CFB fan and I thought he said that was still a thing, but it also might have been a 2021/2022 thing.
College football has 1 or 2 4k games every week. Notre Dame usually. But there was always another one.

NFL had 0 4k games this season.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Dec 9, 2003
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Auburn, MA
NBC had Notre Dame home games, and one 1/2 EPL matches, in 4K.
DIsney usually had the ESPN prime time game in 4K. Their picture quality is superior to FOX's and did not air commercials.

4K is very costly and requires significantly greater resources to produce. Until the cost comes down, and it may not, this could remain a niche product for a long while. What I find disheartening is seeing video produced by SBS during the '02 World Cup (hosted in Japan and South Korea) that is significantly better than what Disney/FOX/NBC put out.
 

cgori

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Oct 2, 2004
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I used to work adjacent to the video production/distribution business - I would attend NAB/IBC (their two big conferences/tradeshows) some years.

I remember in the early 2010's, in the run up to 2020 Olympics, the Japanese equipment makers (Sony, etc) were showing 8K camera, playback and production equipment (mixing consoles, etc) because I believe that was the original plan, to use the Olympics as a demo platform for that stuff.

8K picture quality was absolutely insane.
 

h8mfy

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Jul 15, 2005
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Orange County, CA
My job involves broadcasting R&D so have worked with a lot of the Japanese manufacturers, one of which has sold 8K camera systems to NFL teams, which use it for evaluating replay challenges independently of the broadcast feeds. NHK has sponsored a lot of their development, in part for the Olympics.

One of the big problems with converting to 4K (let alone 8K) is the amount of data generated and thus the bandwidth and storage required in the workflow - a replay system needs to ingest and store more, GFX systems run harder to output at higher resolution, etc., which leads to systems needing more horsepower, which requires more power and cooling (and space) in the trucks and better connectors (SDI, leading to more failure points), etc.
 

CodPiece XL

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Jun 4, 2007
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Any suggestions for best indoor over the air antennas? I’ve downgraded my spectrum service to remove all local channels and the $26 broadcast fee. I seldom watch local channels but I can see where I could miss coverage of golf, football etc at certain times of the year.

In an unrelated topic I decided to upgrade to 1GB internet speed for an additional $10. Oddly my speed actually decreased by 40% , go figure. Tech is coming out tomorrow.