Cutting The Cord on Cable/Satellite TV Service?

Red Sox Physicist

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
296
Natick, MA
Is there any option? In my town we can choose from Comcast, Comcast, Comcast or slow ass DSL. Does anywhere have more than 2 options of Comcast / FIOS / random cable provider like RCN?
I have all three of those options in Natick: Comcast, FIOS and RCN. At the moment, the cheapest internet only deal of the three is RCN at $30/month for 50 Mbps.
 

kneemoe

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 19, 2006
2,436
Glens Falls, NY
Most cable providers have a lower tier they don't advertise, something more like 2m/s (which is fine for Netflix/prime etc streaming in SD) at about half that price (I think mine is $12/mo)... And you actually get the full bandwidth you pay for as opposed to the higher tier plans where you almost never do outside of initial connections/bursts.
 

drbretto

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 10, 2009
12,081
Concord, NH
Very sad to hear that the Chromecast won't work with NESNgo (and I presume the MLB network streaming service as well, as they seem to be pretty similar).

Besides Playstation Vue, which as I understand it costs money for channels I'm always getting for free (free cable via working for my cable company), is there any reasonable way to get this stream to my TV without my PC? The short of it is, the room in my house where I want to watch baseball doesn't have a cable box. I can put it up on the screen with my PC, but that's not always an option.

I've tried the PS4 internet browser, which would have been a clumsy solution, but that didn't work either.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
Very sad to hear that the Chromecast won't work with NESNgo (and I presume the MLB network streaming service as well, as they seem to be pretty similar).

Besides Playstation Vue, which as I understand it costs money for channels I'm always getting for free (free cable via working for my cable company), is there any reasonable way to get this stream to my TV without my PC? The short of it is, the room in my house where I want to watch baseball doesn't have a cable box. I can put it up on the screen with my PC, but that's not always an option.

I've tried the PS4 internet browser, which would have been a clumsy solution, but that didn't work either.
HDMI from your phone, tablet or laptop to your tv should work. Well I think it should work.
 

drbretto

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 10, 2009
12,081
Concord, NH
That's a good outside-the-box idea. Unfortunately, the only tablet I have is my phone and that might be a bit of a pain in the butt, but at this point it might be my only other option besides the PC
 

IdiotKicker

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 21, 2005
10,785
Somerville, MA
Two days in on 50/50 FiOS and PS Vue and I'm stoked that I don't feel like I'm missing anything despite cutting my overall bill from around $170 per month to $75 per month.
 

Foxy42

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 1, 2002
3,655
nyc
I am cutting the cord...unfortunately Comcast is still the only ham in town for internet access. They are quoting the following monthly prices:

25 Mbps - $75.95
100 Mbps - $84.85
200 Mbps - $87.95

I connect via vpn for work regularly, but do not download large files for work. We will use Sling / Netflix / Amazon for tv.

Is it worth it to pay for more than 25 Mbps?
 

SumnerH

Malt Liquor Picker
Dope
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
31,900
Alexandria, VA
I am cutting the cord...unfortunately Comcast is still the only ham in town for internet access. They are quoting the following monthly prices:

25 Mbps - $75.95
100 Mbps - $84.85
200 Mbps - $87.95

I connect via vpn for work regularly, but do not download large files for work. We will use Sling / Netflix / Amazon for tv.

Is it worth it to pay for more than 25 Mbps?
No.

EDIT: Unless you want UHD (4K) content from Netflix while other people are also using the connection. For regular HD, 25 Mbps is plenty for multiple simultaneous viewers.
 

Foxy42

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 1, 2002
3,655
nyc
No.

EDIT: Unless you want UHD (4K) content from Netflix while other people are also using the connection. For regular HD, 25 Mbps is plenty for multiple simultaneous viewers.
Thanks. I've been in the wormhole of figuring out how best to cut the cord over the past day. Leaning towards Sling with HBO Now and an HD antenna. Only concerning item is that DVR w live sports seems to be a bit of a pain but I'm sure that will improve over time.

I'd be going from $281 per month w Comcast now to @ $130 per month ($75 for 25 Mbps internet, $40 for sling (blue plus orange), $15 for HBO Now). Also have the start up costs of buying a modem (don't know why I've been paying to rent from comcast, inertia I guess) and an HD antenna.
 

kneemoe

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 19, 2006
2,436
Glens Falls, NY
Thanks. I've been in the wormhole of figuring out how best to cut the cord over the past day. Leaning towards Sling with HBO Now and an HD antenna. Only concerning item is that DVR w live sports seems to be a bit of a pain but I'm sure that will improve over time.

I'd be going from $281 per month w Comcast now to @ $130 per month ($75 for 25 Mbps internet, $40 for sling (blue plus orange), $15 for HBO Now). Also have the start up costs of buying a modem (don't know why I've been paying to rent from comcast, inertia I guess) and an HD antenna.
Antenna is easy, google sbgh and you'll get a bevy of hits on a great diy that takes little effort, time or $$ to put together.

Fwiw, probably not much, TW/spectrum has an unadvertised lower end 2Mps service at just $15/mo, I use it and stream/vpn just fine.
 

TallerThanPedroia

Civilly Disobedient
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
25,549
Boston
I haven't had time to investigate as I've been out of town, but I noticed that a lot of the new channels I had gotten suddenly on Vue, like NECN, NESN, and even Turner Classic Movies - have vanished again. I'm in Boston. Anyone else? I'm on Access Slim so maybe they just moved them to a different tier.
 

Bigpupp

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2008
2,391
New Mexico
I read last week that Vue was doing a free one week upgrade for some people. You might have been one of them and your week is up.
 

TallerThanPedroia

Civilly Disobedient
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
25,549
Boston
I read last week that Vue was doing a free one week upgrade for some people. You might have been one of them and your week is up.
You think they'd tell people ;) But I had NECN and NESN for a good while, at least. TCM surprised me - that wasn't even basic tier when I was on DISH.

But yeah, on the website it seems like they're just one tier up from me now.
 

Soxy

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2008
6,095
Just got an email that PS Vue is jacking up their rates. Core Slim is going up $10/month, from $35 to $45. Suddenly doesn't seem like a better deal than cable, especially considering my internet rates will go down (while speed increases) with a bundle.

Boooooooo.
 

Madmartigan

Member
SoSH Member
May 1, 2012
5,664
Just got an email that PS Vue is jacking up their rates. Core Slim is going up $10/month, from $35 to $45. Suddenly doesn't seem like a better deal than cable, especially considering my internet rates will go down (while speed increases) with a bundle.

Boooooooo.
Just got the same email. 29% price increase is kind of bullshit. To keep this cost effective I'm going to try switching from Comcast to RCN for internet. I'm pretty sure I can save at least $10/month there, just not sure about the quality of RCN's service in the Boston area.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2008
4,266
New England
Just got an email that PS Vue is jacking up their rates. Core Slim is going up $10/month, from $35 to $45. Suddenly doesn't seem like a better deal than cable, especially considering my internet rates will go down (while speed increases) with a bundle.

Boooooooo.
Just got the same email. 29% price increase is kind of bullshit. To keep this cost effective I'm going to try switching from Comcast to RCN for internet. I'm pretty sure I can save at least $10/month there, just not sure about the quality of RCN's service in the Boston area.
Thank you both for the heads up on this. I don't keep Vue tied to my primary email because of the PSN hacks, so I would've missed this. This sucks. I'm already on the Ultra package (I wanted HBO and Showtime), but I really don't want to pay more. Unfortunately, I can't get cable so my only option is IP services like this. The only silver lining is that current pricing is effective for 3 billing cycles, or in my case mid-Octotober. That puts us right at the end of baseball season. I may cancel then and switch over to a NESN-less package like Sling.

Ugh. Too good to be true.

If they'd add more local channels I'd scrap the $15/mo I'm currently paying for them through a separate service and call it a wash. But local CBS and Fox are must-haves during football season.
 
Last edited:

Marceline

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2002
6,441
Canton, MA
Thank you both for the heads up on this. I don't keep Vue tied to my primary email because of the PSN hacks, so I would've missed this. This sucks. I'm already on the Ultra package (I wanted HBO and Showtime), but I really don't want to pay more. Unfortunately, I can't get cable so my only option is IP services like this. The only silver lining is that current pricing is effective for 3 billing cycles, or in my case mid-Octotober. That puts us right at the end of baseball season. I may cancel then and switch over to a NESN-less package like Sling.
That's what I was thinking - the main reason I chose Vue was because of NESN. So I'll keep it until October and probably switch to Sling at least until next spring and then see what options are available.
 

TallerThanPedroia

Civilly Disobedient
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
25,549
Boston
I was hoping a giant company like Sony would be fine keeping the price low to attract more users. Oh well.

Just got the same email. 29% price increase is kind of bullshit. To keep this cost effective I'm going to try switching from Comcast to RCN for internet. I'm pretty sure I can save at least $10/month there, just not sure about the quality of RCN's service in the Boston area.
Thinking about RCN as well if anyone has experience with them in Boston. They became an option in my neighborhood about a month after I moved and signed up with Comcast.
 

yecul

appreciates irony very much
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 8, 2001
18,470
This thread is too big to browse through, but hopefully this wasn't addressed recently.

Any recommendations for HD antenna? Interior, non-attic.

I had a generic Amazon one (25m I believe). When it worked it was great. It would drop sound, drop pixels, etc. So I spent for a Mohu Leaf, which had a 50m range and was powered and... pretty much the same signal results (# of channels, quality, droppage).
 

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,885
This thread is too big to browse through, but hopefully this wasn't addressed recently.

Any recommendations for HD antenna? Interior, non-attic.

I had a generic Amazon one (25m I believe). When it worked it was great. It would drop sound, drop pixels, etc. So I spent for a Mohu Leaf, which had a 50m range and was powered and... pretty much the same signal results (# of channels, quality, droppage).
I bought this one, on the recommendation of The Wirecutter. Works great: I tend to only have it attached to a window when I'm using it (basically, just broadcast channel sports), and the picture/reception has been great.

http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-indoor-hdtv-antenna/
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2008
4,266
New England
DirecTV Now's $35 option (+$5 each for HBO or Showtime) seems like a great deal. It's got access to AMC and FXX, which are the only channels I watch. Assuming I can get access to FXX Now (Every Simpsons Ever is the best thing on TV), I'll switch after baseball season. Their Roku app has to be better than Vue's. I'll switch back to Vue once the Sox are back in season (or I might call Sony and play hardball and see if they can keep my current rate... but I doubt it. And without Red Sox games, DirecTV is hands-down a better deal.
 

Luis Taint

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 7, 2012
5,883
DirecTV Now's $35 option (+$5 each for HBO or Showtime) seems like a great deal. It's got access to AMC and FXX, which are the only channels I watch. Assuming I can get access to FXX Now (Every Simpsons Ever is the best thing on TV), I'll switch after baseball season. Their Roku app has to be better than Vue's. I'll switch back to Vue once the Sox are back in season (or I might call Sony and play hardball and see if they can keep my current rate... but I doubt it. And without Red Sox games, DirecTV is hands-down a better deal.
I love my Roku/Vue system that I have going. I pay 35 for internet, 35 for VUE, and 15 for Fox Soccer Plus and 5 for HBO. I think its a great deal for what I get.
 

Luis Taint

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 7, 2012
5,883
They offered it to me in an email about 5 months ago. I was a previous HBO Now customer during last year's Game of Thrones season, and then I let it lapse.
 

Kid T

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
793
San Francisco
I live on the west coast but subscribe to Playstation VUE using a Boston zip code for NESN access (bonus that the packages are $10-15 cheaper per month than the San Francisco bundles). I have a package called "Core Slim" that is no longer offered and just noticed they dropped CSN NE from the lineup. Anyone else notice?
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
How are the new services (Sling, PlayStation Vue, and DirecTV Now) doing now that they've been around for a while?
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I did a five day trial of Vue and it seemed to work great. I didn't have enough time to play with it as much as I wanted and I never figured out how to dvr, but I intend to sign back up under my GFs name and give it another spin. It had everything we wanted for channels including locals, NESN and hbo/showtime, the feed was smooth and seemed only about five seconds or so behind live tv. The interface kind of sucks, but I think if I played with it more it could be customized. I picked the wrong week to try it, I just didn't have calendar space to sit and mess around but it's a legit option in my opinion. We watch the majority of our programming via DVR or apps anyway, so the delay isn't a big deal for me outside games. We fully intend to chop Comcast and give it a spin, if it doesn't pan out then we can sign back up as a new customer under her name and lower our bill anyway. Anyone using Vue have tips on DVR?
 

Marceline

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2002
6,441
Canton, MA
The Vue "DVR" isn't a real DVR, and there are some annoying limitations with the interface and functionality.

You "record" by adding a show to "my shows". So you can't just record an episode of something (or an individual game for sports). So for example I have to record "MLB baseball" for the Sox and it records all instances of that (not just red Sox) whether on nesn, ESPN, or whatever. and the interface to browse shows is very clunky.

During NBA season I had to record all basketball games on all channels and try to browse through and figure out with ones were the Celtics games I wanted to watch... Extremely annoying.

Not to mention you also can't extend end time so if you want to have an extra half hour or hour of padding you have to record all post-game shows too, then browse them separately to access them.

It's really my main gripe with the whole thing (aside from the coming price increase) because otherwise I've been very happy with Vue.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Sigh. That's what I feared. Back to the drawing board I guess. Anyone have experience with TiVo OTA? If I can DVR games on local through an HD antenna, I can work around anything else enough to justify it.
 

SumnerH

Malt Liquor Picker
Dope
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
31,900
Alexandria, VA
The Vue "DVR" isn't a real DVR, and there are some annoying limitations with the interface and functionality.
A real DVR isn't a service, it's a device you have on your end that can successfully record whatever you throw at it. Relying on the service for their "DVR" functionality is always going to leave you with something more like an On Demand thing where programs can disappear whenever they want and you are at their whim as far as fast forwarding, injecting commercials, etc goes.

Basically you should always view DVR as completely separate from your content provider, and look for a good DVR that has expandable storage and allows you to copy things to the newer device you get when that one becomes obsolete. Anything else is going to be disappointing.
 

Marceline

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2002
6,441
Canton, MA
A real DVR isn't a service, it's a device you have on your end that can successfully record whatever you throw at it. Relying on the service for their "DVR" functionality is always going to leave you with something more like an On Demand thing where programs can disappear whenever they want and you are at their whim as far as fast forwarding, injecting commercials, etc goes.

Basically you should always view DVR as completely separate from your content provider, and look for a good DVR that has expandable storage and allows you to copy things to the newer device you get when that one becomes obsolete. Anything else is going to be disappointing.
I hear you but then I'm locked down to having my stuff on a piece of hardware that sits in a particular room of my house. I'm more interested in the mobile/convenience elements of the Vue service, which outweighs the lack of a true DVR for me at the moment.
 
Last edited:

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
My issue with it on Vue was most likely just not playing around with the interface enough. I'm used to pulling up a 'guide' or searching for a show and setting a season pass or recording a specific program. I assume if it's targeted - 'hey I heard about this show next Tuesday, let's tape it' - it's fine once I figure it out. But I'm used to looking at a TV guide style grid and flipping through and seeing something that catches my eye.

The lack of a laid out grid threw me off too. Just to fillip through and see what's on. But again, I didn't play with as long as desired and I'm sure here's probably a way to customize it all. I intend to dive back in because about 75% of what we watch is off some kind of streaming or DVR and it would great to send my last $220 check to Comcast with 'fuck you' on the memo line.
 

Marceline

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2002
6,441
Canton, MA
It does have a program grid. But you can't just record a specific program in the way you're mentioning. The only thing you can do is add a show to "my shows" and then it "records" all instances of that show with no ability to customize (no recording only 1 episode or record only on this channel or don't record repeats, etc)

Compared to an actual dvr, it's severely limited (it's really a bit deceptive that they even refer to it as DVR).

The Vue DVR actually works fine enough for TV series, it's just more challenging for sports viewing for the reasons I described up thread.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Thank you for the tips. I need to schedule the trial around my days off better and put an effort in to explore it. I assumed it's more user friendly than I experienced but also some tricks. Just need to figure them out. And honestly the channel lineup covers most of what we watch so i can deal with hiccups.
 

Bigpupp

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2008
2,391
New Mexico
Unless it's changed recently, Vue on a Roku doesn't have a guide. I actually love the Vue UI on my Ps4, but it's a pile of shit on the Roku.
 

bosoxsue

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 16, 2001
1,774
How are the new services (Sling, PlayStation Vue, and DirecTV Now) doing now that they've been around for a while?
I like Sling so far. I added Sports Extra to get Golf Channel for the weekend (my husband also likes the analysis, etc., after the tournament is over), then I'll cancel it Monday. The true a la carte of these services is terrific. ... I don't get NESN, but my friend's son set me up with a Kodi, and to tell the truth, I listen to them on the radio a lot more than I watch them anyway.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
I like Sling so far. I added Sports Extra to get Golf Channel for the weekend (my husband also likes the analysis, etc., after the tournament is over), then I'll cancel it Monday. The true a la carte of these services is terrific. ... I don't get NESN, but my friend's son set me up with a Kodi, and to tell the truth, I listen to them on the radio a lot more than I watch them anyway.
Thanks, No one has mentioned any major glitches. So your channel preferences may be the biggest issue. Which is great.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Unless it's changed recently, Vue on a Roku doesn't have a guide. I actually love the Vue UI on my Ps4, but it's a pile of shit on the Roku.
Ah, ok, so my initial thoughts are confirmed. That's disappointing because the content was completely satisfactory. I thought I just hadn't figured it out how to streamline the interface. Because yes, it's a big steaming pile of crap on Roku.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
Unless it's changed recently, Vue on a Roku doesn't have a guide. I actually love the Vue UI on my Ps4, but it's a pile of shit on the Roku.
Ah, ok, so my initial thoughts are confirmed. That's disappointing because the content was completely satisfactory. I thought I just hadn't figured it out how to streamline the interface. Because yes, it's a big steaming pile of crap on Roku.
Thanks, No one has mentioned any major glitches. So your channel preferences may be the biggest issue. Which is great.
Definitely a glitch. Sony wants you to buy a PS4.
 

Kid T

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
793
San Francisco
Definitely a glitch. Sony wants you to buy a PS4.
works fine on an Amazon Fire Stick. My only gripe is they altered the "Core Slim" ($35/month) package that enticed me into it but have recently removed CSS NE and NESN. It's a package no longer offered as the cheapest offering is now the "access" for $40/month. To get a package with CSS NE and NESN, I'd have to go with the mid tier Core package for $45/month. I feel like I should be yelling at some kids to get off my lawn now.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
works fine on an Amazon Fire Stick. My only gripe is they altered the "Core Slim" ($35/month) package that enticed me into it but have recently removed CSS NE and NESN. It's a package no longer offered as the cheapest offering is now the "access" for $40/month. To get a package with CSS NE and NESN, I'd have to go with the mid tier Core package for $45/month. I feel like I should be yelling at some kids to get off my lawn now.
These services still have to negotiate with Disney, Fox, etc. for programming. Don't be surprised if within 5 years prices are 50 -100% higher. Don't trust the kids on your lawn either. The little bastards are up to no good.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I'm done my trial and have t signed back up, but I made an effort to make sure the local networks were there, as I was worried about football and other sports. I may have misread the app and it was On Demand and not the local, but that's something I'll look into as I plan to test drive it again.