Anyone cut the cable completely?
- Thread starter bigloum
- Start date
Totally thought this was about a vasectomy. But I've done neither.
Been streaming and antenna only for about a year and a half now. Had Sling first, then switched to PlayStation Vue when they added Roku support last summer. Been satisfied, but always have eyes open for new options.
Tell me more about Vue. I saw it for first time today. Do I need a Playatation?
Nope. Never owned one, not a gamer. Works with Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Android TV. Much more stable than Sling in my experience, although I imagine Sling has improved in the past year. Cloud-based dvr is a huge advantage. Unlimited storage for any program you add to your favorites for 28 days. I'd give it a shot if I were you. They offer a free week trial.
i'm also without cable
have a $15 antenna, chromecast, and access to netflix, amzn prime vid, hbo, showtime, and espn/abc/fox/com central/tbs/tnt using friend's cable passwords
there's virtually nothing i can't watch.
have a $15 antenna, chromecast, and access to netflix, amzn prime vid, hbo, showtime, and espn/abc/fox/com central/tbs/tnt using friend's cable passwords
there's virtually nothing i can't watch.
Yes, you can authenticate with PS Vue just like with Sling. I have the "Core" plan, which is the middle plan. It includes ESPNU and SEC Network and ESPN News, Fox Sports 1 and 2,
Fox Sports South and Southeast, and a couple other sports channels. When I sign into the WatchESPN app with your Vuel credentials, I have access to everything on there.
The more I look into it, Vue looks like the best option. What has your experience been with the DVR?
It works, but it takes some getting used to. It's not your traditonal cable/satellite box dvr. If you want to record something, you find it in the guide and add it to your favorites, which means it will keep every episode of that show across all channels in the cloud for 28 days. College football or basketball will just be every episode across all channels. So it's not very user friendly, but it works. Also, what device you use makes a difference. I use my Roku TV primarily, and Roku's Vue interface is lacking. From what I've read, Amazon Fire TV (box, not stick) is great, as is Apple TV's latest version.
I run Vue on the Fire TV Box and it works fine. Don't get the stick as it runs much slower.
The Vue DVR does take some getting used to. Since it records all shows it is sometimes hard to keep track of what episodes you have watched. It would be much better if you could delete episodes after you watch. It's not perfect but it's better than not having a DVR.
Sling is beta testing their DVR now and Directv now is supposed to have one eventually so I will be interested to see how those will compare.
The Vue DVR does take some getting used to. Since it records all shows it is sometimes hard to keep track of what episodes you have watched. It would be much better if you could delete episodes after you watch. It's not perfect but it's better than not having a DVR.
Sling is beta testing their DVR now and Directv now is supposed to have one eventually so I will be interested to see how those will compare.
One drawback for Vue and Sling is they do not broadcast in 5.1 surround sound. I would probably switch if they offered that.
This is true. I don't have a surround sound setup, so it doesn't make a difference to me, but I understand for those who have a nice theater setup that would be a major issue. I would imagine Sony/Dish and the other over-the-top services coming out will add that feature over time. The nice thing is they all have no commitment, so you can try them and drop them from one month to the next.
I must admit, I have no idea what 5.1 surround sound is, so I assume I wouldn't miss it or know if I did or didn't have it.
Heh. It's just the number of speakers you have connected to your tv. Many people have a home theater receiver with multiple speakers to get a real movie-theater sound experience. I just have a soundbar with sub-woofer connected to my tvs. That's 2.1 (two channel stereo). Most of the streaming services don't have the ability to push higher than that, which is turn off for those who want to be able to take advantage of their nice audio systems.
There's another thread from a couple months back that is very informative and discusses all the options:
https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/i-just-cut-the-cord.161117/
I have a PS4 and Playstation Vue service. I also use it with an Amazon Fire TV, Roku and on my phone. As said above, do not use it on a Fire TV Stick, it's painfully slow. Also, warning about service staying on: PS Vue service has no option to throttle usage or change quality of video stream like Netflix and other services have. It sends the best video quality possible based on your internet speed. If you have a fast internet connection, it will drink your data like water. In my case, I average about 1.5-2GB of data usage per hour. I've seen some people can get as much as 3 GB of data use per hour with the service in fast data areas.
I made the mistake of leaving my Amazon Fire TV Stick on after watching PS Vue and it doesn't go to sleep automatically. It was on for 1 week straight, streaming 24-7 and it used up 600 GB of data. With Comcast, data limits are around 1 TB (1,024 GB). You are allowed to go over your max twice for free, then it's $10 for every 50GB you go over.
Be very careful with selecting any streaming TV options if you have Centurylink. The data limit for most of their plans is 600GB and they have the same policy as Comcast on the data cap/overage fees.
If you're going to use PS Vue on multiple TVs, make sure your users remember to exit the app and don't just leave it running in background. The data overages would be killer.
Other than that, If you go PS Vue, then Playstation is really an unparalleled experience. As far as I know, it's the only device (PS3/PS4) that supports full DVR feature. The other devices support on-demand content, but not DVR.
Couple the PS4 with the PS Multimedia universal remote and service is just like a regular cable box. Remote controls volume pass-through to sound bar, receiver, etc, as well as your TV and other cable boxes. When in PS Vue app, remote controls guide and DVR short cuts, as well as FF/RW/Pause/Play features.
The guide available on PS3/PS4 is also much different than the other devices. It's a true channel guide that goes back and forth about 5 days to select shows to watch or search for content. The guide on Amazon Fire TV and Roku is pretty awful by comparison. I couldn't deal with it if that was my primary device, I only use those devices on the TVs in our kids room and the one I have in my workshop in the garage.
PS Vue supports "start over" feature for most content, and you can go back to watch shows you missed as far as 48 hours back. Pretty handy feature. Adding favorite shows and stations is pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. Only downside to DVR is content only stays available to you for 30 days from when it's added to your DVR.
PS Vue is better than sling if you're going to use it on multiple devices. I've watched many shows from my phone while traveling or in bed. You get up to 5 devices streaming at the same time, which is a great deal.
I've been really happy with PS Vue service overall. Price is what it is, no tax or additional fees. They were running a really good deal if you signed up in December/Jan, but think it just expired. Was $10/mo off their highest package, and price was good for 1 year.
https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/i-just-cut-the-cord.161117/
I have a PS4 and Playstation Vue service. I also use it with an Amazon Fire TV, Roku and on my phone. As said above, do not use it on a Fire TV Stick, it's painfully slow. Also, warning about service staying on: PS Vue service has no option to throttle usage or change quality of video stream like Netflix and other services have. It sends the best video quality possible based on your internet speed. If you have a fast internet connection, it will drink your data like water. In my case, I average about 1.5-2GB of data usage per hour. I've seen some people can get as much as 3 GB of data use per hour with the service in fast data areas.
I made the mistake of leaving my Amazon Fire TV Stick on after watching PS Vue and it doesn't go to sleep automatically. It was on for 1 week straight, streaming 24-7 and it used up 600 GB of data. With Comcast, data limits are around 1 TB (1,024 GB). You are allowed to go over your max twice for free, then it's $10 for every 50GB you go over.
Be very careful with selecting any streaming TV options if you have Centurylink. The data limit for most of their plans is 600GB and they have the same policy as Comcast on the data cap/overage fees.
If you're going to use PS Vue on multiple TVs, make sure your users remember to exit the app and don't just leave it running in background. The data overages would be killer.
Other than that, If you go PS Vue, then Playstation is really an unparalleled experience. As far as I know, it's the only device (PS3/PS4) that supports full DVR feature. The other devices support on-demand content, but not DVR.
Couple the PS4 with the PS Multimedia universal remote and service is just like a regular cable box. Remote controls volume pass-through to sound bar, receiver, etc, as well as your TV and other cable boxes. When in PS Vue app, remote controls guide and DVR short cuts, as well as FF/RW/Pause/Play features.
The guide available on PS3/PS4 is also much different than the other devices. It's a true channel guide that goes back and forth about 5 days to select shows to watch or search for content. The guide on Amazon Fire TV and Roku is pretty awful by comparison. I couldn't deal with it if that was my primary device, I only use those devices on the TVs in our kids room and the one I have in my workshop in the garage.
PS Vue supports "start over" feature for most content, and you can go back to watch shows you missed as far as 48 hours back. Pretty handy feature. Adding favorite shows and stations is pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. Only downside to DVR is content only stays available to you for 30 days from when it's added to your DVR.
PS Vue is better than sling if you're going to use it on multiple devices. I've watched many shows from my phone while traveling or in bed. You get up to 5 devices streaming at the same time, which is a great deal.
I've been really happy with PS Vue service overall. Price is what it is, no tax or additional fees. They were running a really good deal if you signed up in December/Jan, but think it just expired. Was $10/mo off their highest package, and price was good for 1 year.
I'm not sure what you mean by full DVR feature. I can replay from the start, ff-rw anything saved in "My Shows" with Roku. From my understanding, the AFTV, ATV, and Android TV boxes have the same guide as the PS4. Roku has no guide at all, which makes it very user-unfriendly for finding what to watch. I have gotten used to it, but I am still hoping for an app refresh.
I'm part way there but we are a 5 person 7 tv household - !?!- and only 1 has internet access via Roku.
That could be. I don't use the AFTV or Roku as often as the PS4, but the interface does not look the same when I use it at all compared to the PS4. It could be that I am not accessing the guide and rather am using the Explore screen instead.
As for the DVR, my understanding originally was that PS3/PS4 gave full 28 day save time and the others didn't, but maybe that was misinformation as I'm not seeing it listed as such on their FAQ.
I would rate PS Vue experience as:
PS4 > PS3 > AFTV > AFS > Roku
Also, the mobile app is pretty darn good, probably better than AFS.
Yeah, a few years now. Although I don't know how much it's cutting the cord when you're paying for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Sling etc. When I first cut I was about 20% legal, now probably 85% legal. Goal was always to go legal when I could.
I pay for the aforementioned Netflix, Hulu, Prime and Sling, pull locals in an HDHomerun tuner serving my TV and a HTPC if I need to record, and have a couple other services that I've had activated by people in exchange for activating Hulu on a device for them. (hit me up, I could sure use Fox Sports Go for tonight's basketball game!)
Wife/kid approval factor could be a big issue, but my wife isn't really into TV and doesn't have any shows. She just watches what I suggest and queue up. She probably turns on the TV herself maybe 2-3 times a year. Daughters watch stuff on their laptop, in the same room with a 60" tv. My 13 year old boy has the aptitude to figure it out.
I pay for the aforementioned Netflix, Hulu, Prime and Sling, pull locals in an HDHomerun tuner serving my TV and a HTPC if I need to record, and have a couple other services that I've had activated by people in exchange for activating Hulu on a device for them. (hit me up, I could sure use Fox Sports Go for tonight's basketball game!)
Wife/kid approval factor could be a big issue, but my wife isn't really into TV and doesn't have any shows. She just watches what I suggest and queue up. She probably turns on the TV herself maybe 2-3 times a year. Daughters watch stuff on their laptop, in the same room with a 60" tv. My 13 year old boy has the aptitude to figure it out.
I can confirm the dvr function is available across all devices. I don't have any other box/stick than Roku and Chromecast, but from all I've read the interface is the same across all devices except for Roku, which uses an outdated platform for building their apps. The PS3 is supposed to be too slow, but the Fire TV Box excellent.
Lol, is it really "cutting the cord" if you're stealing cable using a friends cable passwords? If so I guess in college I "cut the record label cord" by using Napster.
He should just get an Android Box or hacked Firestick instead of mooching off of his friends LMAO.
This is great information! I'm sold on Vue.
My next question is regarding my internet speed. Currently, I have Uverse Gigabyte, and I can keep the internet at $70 a month. However, I do the have option to drop down to their Internet 300 which is $50. I can also switch to TWC and get their Extreme Internet for $34.99 which is speeds of 50MBPS, $44.99 for 100 MBPS, $54.99 for 200 MBPS.
In order to realize the biggest savings from what I pay right now, changing to TWC for their Extreme at $34.99 seems like the best option. However, I want to get your opinion on what my streaming quality would be at 50MBPS. Just for reference, we will only have 2 TVs that we'll use Vue on, and hardly ever at the same time.
50mbps is plenty. I have 15mbps from Cox and stream from Netflix all the time and it's crystal clear.
Any experience with steaming live TV? I'm thinking live TV may be different from Netflix, but I'm not 100% sure.
Yeah it's pretty awesome for video games and sports and movies as it isolates sounds to the different speakers. So when say a jet is flying from in back of you to the front of you it times the sounds of the engines from the rear speakers to the front or even on the right or left. In sporting events the background crowd noise is like in the rear speakers to kind of give you a more realistic feel of being at the game.
My guess is one of the reasons the streaming service do not offer it yet is it would be additional bandwidth to support that format and that would potentially decrease or cause additional buffering if your internet speed is not fast enough additionally more taxing on them if they started sending that format to all their subscribers. Hopefully, they will offer it soon though.
I believe PS Vue requires at least 5 Mbps to stream and recommends 10 Mbps speed for reliable viewing. Keep in mind other data usage that may drop, overall you probably want to be in the 20Mbps package speed.
50 Mbps is plenty fast for that.
I will say that, just like Netflix and others, your video quality will adjust up or down depending on available bandwidth.
You're fine. I have similar speed and number of devices as you and Vue works fine. It's no different than Netflix.
I think they're beta testing a dvr. PS. Vue is the only live streaming service that has dvr currently.
We have for over a year now. We did spend $200 on a Nvidia Shield to install Kodi on but three months in, we made up the cost by not paying for cable. Also have Amazon Prime, Netflix (which we really don't need with Kodi)
The reason for the Nvidia Shield, it can process live TV better than Amazon Fire stick or box.
The reason for the Nvidia Shield, it can process live TV better than Amazon Fire stick or box.
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