NFT: Fios vs streaming

and 2 cat5 to wherever you will be installing TV's.

You can buy them together in the link below in multi cable spool.

Technology changes all the time, so having all available will be able to meet your needs if you like streaming, or decide to stop streaming.

One of the coaxe's is for cable, and the other is for an antenae to get local channels.

Make sure you run all your wires to one central location and run 1 coaxe all the way to the attic, so you can install an antenae for local channels.
Multi Cable - ( New Window )

for the rich and famous was my summer job between college semesters.

Kept the WiFi and switched TV to YouTube TV (after trying almost all of the available options). No regrets.
Live TV (incl YES) plus all of the key stations we watched when we had Fios.
$49/mo (+ $10 for Showtime if you want it)

you want to run the wire to where you think the equipment will be located, and then a separate loop of wire, from the equipment stack to the location on the wall.

Both should be multi-wire and you can turn the CAT5 to HDMI. You could also do COAX to HDMI, but that's a little more expensive.

Unlimited DVR and 6 individual log in profiles if you want it... plus you can watch it anywhere.

If you want to try streaming, most of the streaming services (sling, PS Vue, DTVNow, etc) have free trials.

I had PS Vue and switched to DTV Now. I don't like DTV Now as much but I'm kind of stuck with it, as I can stream it data free in our mountain home where there are no other TV options (can't get hard wire anything nor can I get a satellite signal - but I can get decent wireless internet through AT&T, but only 20GB/month).

about a service called Nitro IPTV ,It replaces your cable .They have every single channel plus all the PPV’s and Sports packages .Iam on the fence with getting it because I use the DVR a lot with my spectrum cable .Does any one have this or know more about it ?

it’s fine (except for the odd exclusion of WPIX/NY), and much cheaper than cable. You will still need, however, broadband to get it, and the price for that goes up if you’re getting it from your cable co.

Also running coaxial cable. All the equipment will be in the mechanical room and will use an IR cable. The thing that bothers me is fios uses fiber optics and then coaxial to the house. There are some cool things out there now. We will have the subwoofer in the wall and speakers in the ceiling where you paint over them and they are unnoticeable.

What are your monthly costs between that and WiFi? I used to work for Verizon and luckily still have an employee discount with FiOS so right now I have the Gigabit WiFi package with the Ultimate HD and my monthly is right around $147. Curious as to what others get and are paying. I believe if I went to just the Gig WiFi it would still be $80 plus tax.

I would have run coax in my house but the router from my cable company only has 4 or 5 ports anyway. (Yes I am a noob.)

Planning on maybe cutting the cord in the fall. Isn't wi-fi and 5G the future anyway?

Amazon makes a dvr that works with your HDTV antenna and then coordinates with all your fire sticks. Thinking about trying that.

In comment 14465793 oghwga said:

Quote:

I would have run coax in my house but the router from my cable company only has 4 or 5 ports anyway. (Yes I am a noob.) Planning on maybe cutting the cord in the fall. Isn't wi-fi and 5G the future anyway? Amazon makes a dvr that works with your HDTV antenna and then coordinates with all your fire sticks. Thinking about trying that.

There's nothing wrong with wireless, and you could probably get by with it. But in a larger house, distributing that ISP access wirelessly is going to be a challenge, and you'll have better success if you could put multiple hardwired devices in place than you would with one access point hardwired and the rest repeating.

Even if you don't go the route of wiring up each room individually, if you put home runs from each floor or different parts of the house down to a central location that you designate as the landing point for the comms, then you'll be able to put a hardwired access point in multiple locations and get solid coverage for WiFi.

Personally, given how inexpensive CAT6 cable and access ports are, I'd go with the recommendation to wire up each room for both RG6 coax and CAT6 ethernet.

In comment 14465790 bigblue5611_2 said:

Quote:

What are your monthly costs between that and WiFi? I used to work for Verizon and luckily still have an employee discount with FiOS so right now I have the Gigabit WiFi package with the Ultimate HD and my monthly is right around $147. Curious as to what others get and are paying. I believe if I went to just the Gig WiFi it would still be $80 plus tax.

You Tube runs me $55/mo, 200MB broadband is $80/mo (Optimum). I'm hoping 5G will make true wifi an option so I can dump Optimum altogether.

By the sounds of that I may as well stick with what I have, for a $10 difference I wouldn't have to worry about missing anything, plus Showtime, Starz and Epix included in that package.

In comment 14465793 oghwga said:

Quote:

I would have run coax in my house but the router from my cable company only has 4 or 5 ports anyway. (Yes I am a noob.) Planning on maybe cutting the cord in the fall. Isn't wi-fi and 5G the future anyway? Amazon makes a dvr that works with your HDTV antenna and then coordinates with all your fire sticks. Thinking about trying that.

Nothing wrong with wifi. It's just better to have hardwired anything when it comes down to it. In communication wiring, hard wire is always king, because it usually it is never going to give you issues. As stated you can even use the hard wired CAT5 to add wifi access points.

Wifi just isn't as reliable as a hard connection at all times, and you will constantly have to upgrade the wifi technology. Hardwired, you just upgrade the router in your designated comm space.

If the walls are open, just run conduit flex pipe everywhere so you can fish other wires if need be down the road.

In comment 14465793 oghwga said:

Quote:

I would have run coax in my house but the router from my cable company only has 4 or 5 ports anyway. (Yes I am a noob.) Planning on maybe cutting the cord in the fall. Isn't wi-fi and 5G the future anyway? Amazon makes a dvr that works with your HDTV antenna and then coordinates with all your fire sticks. Thinking about trying that.

Wifi is much better then it used to be, but in general, if a device isn't portable and you have the opportunity to hardwire it, then you should. Since the house is being built it is far easier to run wires now. Wireless will always have a greater potential for saturation and/or interference.

As for the 4-5 ports, an 8 port gigabit switch can be found for < $20 and will add 6 ports to any setup.

Playstation Vue about 2 years ago. The problem with Fios and cable in general is the device (box) fees and taxes. I have the top plan with Vue with HBO and Showtime and it is just under $80/month all in. I have all the local channels in the DC area. You can have up to 5 streams going (TVs, devices) at a time, some services allow less. I use mainly FireTV stcks as their interface has a better guide than Roku. Buy the device once for ~$30 and then no monthly fees and you can use it for all streaming services. Amazon also has a recast device that lets you hook up a HD antennae and you can watch and record free TV if you prefer to go that route. After switching my internet to Cox cable Fios is now offering 100 up and down for $39.99/month.

I took advantage of most of the streaming companies free trials, and finally decided on Playstation Vue and Philo. I get virtually everything I want including NFL Red Zone and Local Channels. I decided on Vue because it offered the most channels I wanted including sports, I added Philo for $20 to get a few more channels that Vue doesnt have. Overall I pay $80 for both services, wheras I was paying close to $150 on DirecTV for less.

I have my main TV hooked up to Apple TV through a Gig ethernet connection. I feel that it offers a more stable connection while taking some of the burden off the multiple devices my family uses over WiFi. I have three other bedroom Tvs that are over wi-fi with the same streaming services, although those are received through an Amazon Fire Stick. I get all my local channels through Vue, so I don't need an indoor antenna or coax cable.

So, if you like Sports (which I assume you do since you're here) Vue is probably the way to go. The only other streaming service that compares to Vue on sports coverage is probably FUBO, but you don't get ESPN through them, which was deal breaker for me. Sling sports coverage is pretty good as well, but by the time you get all the add-ons you be be paying comparable prices to VUE, which has much better streaming quality, and has never buffered since I subscribed. Sling buffered several times during my month long free trial. YouTube TV also has very good streaming quality, and local channels, but didn't offer Red Zone or NFL Network.You will also get quite a few channels over a few free streaming services like Pluto, Crackle, or Tubi.

Is the interface decent for channel flipping? I have a seasonal home and I'm looking for something to have a couple of months out of the year and disconnect when not in use. It seems that YTTV would fit the bill. I had a Slingbox but that company has gone straight into the toilet lately and need to find a replacement. My TV has a home theater PC attached to it, so there should be no issue with hardware, just the UI.

COAX is going to be obsolete soon. FIOS satellite boxes have done away with the need for COAX and they are all wifi now so you dont even need one in every room. All you need is a single COAX for the mean box and some repeaters if you have a big house.

Up to 5 screens streaming at once with one account(including mobile), cloud DVR, reasonable add-ons(sports plus RedZone is $10/mo extra) and you can cancel it anytime. I add it on just for football season and cancel it during playoffs. I get all the local channels included and the interface on Roku is much better than what it used to be.

Best parts? No hidden fees and monthly lease charges for renting their boxes to be wired everywhere in the house. Just get a smart TV like a TCL with Roku built in and use the WiFi. No extra wires, no always on box, just one remote control. No dealing with setting up an appointment for someone to "do an installation".

I pay $50 for PS Vue Core and $40 for FiOS internet only (100/100).

you can buy a usb drive and plug it into the back of the TV and it gives it DVR capabilities for over the air signals. A nice touch.

My problem is that we're two people in a 12 room house with 7 TV's. I like the laziness of cable where everything is there in one place with one click and one remote. If I have to search out Shawshank Redemption on HBO now and click on it to watch it from the beginning I'll never do it but if I'm flipping around and it comes on then BOOM I'm good. Tough to relearn old habits.