NFT: Cable vs Cord cutting

Between internet in PS Vue, I am paying $115 a mont ($125 when i add the sports package for NFL Net and RZ during the season).

Best bet is to go to each site, put in your address and see which service gives you what you are looking for in terms of channels. Putting in your address will also tell you which local channels you get. IF you get the New York locals, you will get all of the Giants games just as you would with traditional cable tv

I believe Sling TV and PS Vue are the only streaming services that offer red zone.

I dont believe sling tv has CBS.

Roku, Firestick, apple tv, etc all have PS Vue Apps that allow for streaming.

We have been using PS Vue for over a year now and absolutely love it. Zero issues.

i might try it once Disney + comes out as the kids content will be needed, but right now i'd probably save $20 per month piecemailing the streaming and I don't find the time and effort to be worth it.

Its very much a personal preference, hard to recommend what to do.

Its strange to me when people "cut the cord" and then sign up for PS Vue, Sling or something else.

You are going to be paying ~$70 for your internet + ~$40 for your streaming service ... Can't Fios/Comcast offer a decent bundle for $120 or so?

If you want truly cut the cord but are scared about missing out on the Giants sign up for NFL Game pass (~$120 for the season) and get an International VPN.

Sorry for the rant been a long week

just get $40 internet and netflix and be done with it.

In comment 14471068 ImThatGuy said:

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Its strange to me when people "cut the cord" and then sign up for PS Vue, Sling or something else. You are going to be paying ~$70 for your internet + ~$40 for your streaming service ... Can't Fios/Comcast offer a decent bundle for $120 or so? If you want truly cut the cord but are scared about missing out on the Giants sign up for NFL Game pass (~$120 for the season) and get an International VPN. Sorry for the rant been a long week

Sure, I can get a TV deal for $99, but guess what?

THat;s for the first year - and only includes one box.

I have 3 TVs in my house. So that would be an extra $20 a month for two more boxes. Okay, so now im at $120 a month - but that is for either one or two years. After the promotional rate goes away, the costs shoot up to OVER $180 a month.

That is why I dropped traditional cable. All of my promos expired and my bill was going to be over $180 a month after taxes. I tried negotiating with customer retention and they still couldn't get down below $160 month.


Crazy.

And that doesn't factor in how with PS Vue I can watch live tv and my dvred shows anywhere on any device. Hard to beat.

In comment 14471068 ImThatGuy said:

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Its strange to me when people "cut the cord" and then sign up for PS Vue, Sling or something else. You are going to be paying ~$70 for your internet + ~$40 for your streaming service ... Can't Fios/Comcast offer a decent bundle for $120 or so? If you want truly cut the cord but are scared about missing out on the Giants sign up for NFL Game pass (~$120 for the season) and get an International VPN. Sorry for the rant been a long week

What I could get from comcast for what I pay for cable internet + DTVNow is not as good as DTVNow. Mainly because DTVNow has MSG and my local cable did not. But the main benefit I see of doing an internet + streaming package is that you have a wide choice of streaming options, all with no cancellation fee bullshit, all with free trials before you sign up for the service. You never get the surprise cable bill where "well, my promotion expired so now my bill is randomly 50 bucks higher".

It's not necessarily cutting the cord. It's really just a greater level of choice and control over what I spend and with what service. And I no longer have to deal with Comcast's bullshit.

I have the 200+ mbps service and it's 77 bucks a month after fees and taxes. I've tried all the providers and have stuck with DirecTVnow for a while because they had MSG and a few other channels that others did not (comedy central, for example).

It has all local stations in my area.

I've also tried
Sling (smaller offering when I tried it and no locals, but good service)
YouTubeTV (really solid streaming, as you can imagine and pretty cost effective)
PSVue - I liked this and only left them because of the MSG thing
FuboTV (tons of sports but they have the worst tech of all of them, IMO).

and I am getting every channel I want and more flexibility with where and how I watch.

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You never get the surprise cable bill where "well, my promotion expired so now my bill is randomly 50 bucks higher".

When my cable jumped from $135 to almost $190, I was done. I tried some of the free trials (all of the streaming services offer at least a week) and once I settled on PS Vue I brought all of the cable boxes back and changed my service.

Like I said above, no I am getting more for less. It was a no brainer for us

There is a great site that allows you to input channels you want and it recommends a service but they all are missing one thing or another and I only entered 10

Must haves

NFLN
NFL RZ
YES
CBS
FOX
MSG
TLC
NBC
PIX11


Really want

HBO
Starz

The two contenders I settled on:

Hulu plus Live TV: $45 / month and I can get the HBO add on for an extra $15. All local channels, YES, Big Ten network, SNY. Overall it came to $60 a month plus tax. No NFL redzone though. Can stream 2 devices.

Playsation Vue: The Core is $49.99 and you can add NFL redzone for $10 and HBO for $15.00. Local channels like YES and SNY as well. This one also seems very good. I believe they also have all the local channels. Can stream up to 5 devices.

NFL Red Zone is great but I found myself not using it as much as I wanted to so I'm going to get Hulu just because it's cheaper. The nice thing is you get a free trial and can cancel anytime!

Youtube TV seems similar to Hulu but it's $5 more.

It's just like having cable but much cheaper. Free DVR and no cable boxes at $10 per month each.
Only problem is no MSG. I was ok with that next year, but if the Knicks add 2 max players ... I've got to figure something out.

I’ve been reluctant to cut the cord but this has me intrigued. Couple questions that may be obvious but would appreciate the help.

- How much is the Fios GB internet alone price? Will they charge me for canceling TV? If so, anyway out of it?

- With DirectvNow, I can just simply stream it on my smart Samsung TVs? Do I need a hardwire Ethernet for best performance or will WiFi work? Any issues with lagging?

- I assume you just use your Samsung tv remote control? How’s the guide? Same as Directv?

- As a Knicks, Giants, Mets fan, what am I missing? Every time I’ve looked into this in the past, there seemed to be a hole in sports programming. What am I missing?

Be aware that the UI is different on different devices. We like the Firestick interface the best. Left Fios TV for it a couple of years ago and never looked back.

In comment 14471088 jlukes said:

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and I am getting every channel I want and more flexibility with where and how I watch.

Fair points I always forget about the promotional periods and the charges for additional boxes

We cut the cord a few years ago.

We had a one-time fixed cost for a new HD antenna plus Roku, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix (which we have since have canceled). When there is something we really want to see that we don't have (i.e., Game of Thrones on HBO, we'll order that off of Roku for 2 months).

We basically spend about $20 per month now on TV.

have had it and am switching to YouTubeTV. Reason - the interface on ROKU is not very good for PSVue. I hated it.

I have a Roku ultra on one TV and the other is a RokuTV.

Try them out but realize that hardly any will be as good as the experience you might get elsewhere. For example, DirecTV is hands down the better DVR experience to the previous two for my purposes, imo. Just got too expensive for me and the others are good enough.

In comment 14471133 TyreeHelmet said:

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I’ve been reluctant to cut the cord but this has me intrigued. Couple questions that may be obvious but would appreciate the help. - How much is the Fios GB internet alone price? Will they charge me for canceling TV? If so, anyway out of it? - With DirectvNow, I can just simply stream it on my smart Samsung TVs? Do I need a hardwire Ethernet for best performance or will WiFi work? Any issues with lagging? - I assume you just use your Samsung tv remote control? How’s the guide? Same as Directv? - As a Knicks, Giants, Mets fan, what am I missing? Every time I’ve looked into this in the past, there seemed to be a hole in sports programming. What am I missing?

Directvnow does have a Samsung app, although I haven't used it. I've used the Roku, AppleTV and FireTV apps and they're all pretty good. Since they have a samsung app, I'm sure you do just use the remote. That's what I do with the Roku TV. The guide is like any cable box type guide. The one thing that the DTV app is really missing is a "last channel" option. PSVue has that. That's the only thing I miss.

I do use a hardwired connection and I believe it does reduce lag a bit. With a TV, I'd probably want a wired connection just because I don't know how good the wifi is on a tv.

The local networks and sports channels are based on the zip of the billing address. The link below will tell you what you get for sports. In CT, I get NESN, YES, MSG and SNY, so that would cover Knicks, Giants (local fox for me) and Mets. I don't miss any sports that I care about. Have ESPN and FS1 too. NBCSports as well.
sports channel lookup - ( New Window )

I call the Comcast Retention Dept. right before my promotion expires and try to get a new deal. They usually do. Just call your cable provider and ask to close out your account. They VRU or rep will connect you to a retentions agent. They usually offer you the new customer promotions. If they don’t have a deal I find that’s acceptable I check with Verizon FiOS. They usually can work something out though.

There really is no such thing as coed cutting if you keep the internet. The streaming services prices aren’t that great and end up being a compromise in my opinion.

with a VPN where you can set your local location, you can watch local games from anywhere that has the service. I was able to set my location to NYC and get all the Giants games DVR'd last season no messing around. Pretty good stuff.

about 10 or so years ago. It was tough early on, but it's really easy now. We literally just have Netflix and Hulu. Sport streams are very very easy to find on Reddit and then cast to the TV (if you have a smart TV, a Roku, chromecast, whatever). So the basic drawback is that you have to know what you want to watch and it's more difficult to just watch some show casually.

Like Eric said, when there's something MUST SEE on HBO, subscribe for 2 months, watch it, along with other things that you missed out on and then cancel. The longterm savings is really insane. I was paying about $100 a month when I had cable. My bill magically went up to $170 and I called and I thought I would be given a promo. They said "No, it ran out." Now this was before all the people cutting the cord, so I think they were just trying to call my bluff.

But after that I bought a Roku, an antenna and cut $120 off my bill. It was definitely worth it to me.

add this, I don't see the appeal of permanently subscribing to "movie" channels like HBO anymore. They just don't have enough content to justify the expense.

but Frontier here in CT has a pretty decent model when your promotion comes up. When I'm entering the 12th month of the promotion, I call and let them know I'd like to extend the promotion. The past 3 years they've done it for me. They actually suggested I do this.

Sure, it's a pain remembering what month I need to call in, but now it's ingrained in my memory.

In comment 14471106 BleedBlue said:

Quote:

There is a great site that allows you to input channels you want and it recommends a service but they all are missing one thing or another and I only entered 10 Must haves NFLN NFL RZ YES CBS FOX MSG TLC NBC PIX11 Really want HBO Starz

what site is this?

i am in the same boat - I have Fios and live in Manhattan, so trying to figure out if there is much in savings by cutting the cord...

In comment 14471196 Eric from BBI said:

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add this, I don't see the appeal of permanently subscribing to "movie" channels like HBO anymore. They just don't have enough content to justify the expense.

HBO isn't a movie channel anymore. In fact, their movie selection is pretty crappy.

People subscribe to HBO for the original content. And a lot of people find content they like all year round.

In comment 14471196 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

add this, I don't see the appeal of permanently subscribing to "movie" channels like HBO anymore. They just don't have enough content to justify the expense.

HBO will be ramping up programming soon to try to compete with Netflix and Hulu. When they were bought by... AT&T? I can't remember off the top of my head, but the new head of programming was charged with increasing the amount of original programming, so that should show up sooner or later.

But some of that HBO "exclusive" content is available on other platforms. Plus again, is there that much stuff to justify subscribing to it year around?

If you really want to watch a particular show, there are usually cheaper ways to view it.

things from all of these streaming services? I would really miss having a DVR.

Finding that Goldilocks type perfect deal. Psview comes close but doesn’t have MSG. One of the other streamers didn’t have nick JR so that’s another deal breaker since my daughter watches that.

Can’t find the perfect match.

In comment 14471228 Steve in ATL said:

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things from all of these streaming services? I would really miss having a DVR.

We DVR stuff off of the antenna. I don't see a need to DVR content that is already on Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc... which basically acts as a DVR.

is $53 per month, 2 receivers. When the season starts I have my contract timed to run out in August and usually end up with Sunday Ticket for free along with another year of discounts. The highest my bill ever goes is in the $75 range. I'm sticking with DTV and Sunday ticket for now.

and I have now tried most streaming services in CNJ. Here is my summary.

SlingTV - Pretty good introduction, I believe they have all locals if you ensure that you get the higher priced package; DVR was OK, Redzone was the seller here for me.


DirecTVNOW - Great channel selection, pretty much had everything; DVR and interface were shit and the app just isn't smooth.


Hulu with Live TV: Another great option, at the time they did not have AMC and a couple of other channels and that is why I moved away from them. Their DVR is OK and their interface is different but it works (they apparently are coming out with a more standard guide within the next 6 months)


YoutubeTV: So far my favorite, the interface is amazing , the quality of streaming is exceptional. The DVR is by far the best. If you list a show as a favorite, it will record every instance of that show that is broadcast on their channels and save them for 90 days, it is then organized by season and episode in the DVR menu. You can have different accounts for people in your household with their own favorites etc.

In comment 14471228 Steve in ATL said:

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things from all of these streaming services? I would really miss having a DVR.

PSvue, Youtubetv and Directvnow all have DVR functionality. Between that and on demand, I never feel like I miss anything.

In comment 14471165 Heisenberg said:

Quote:

In comment 14471133 TyreeHelmet said: Quote: I’ve been reluctant to cut the cord but this has me intrigued. Couple questions that may be obvious but would appreciate the help. - How much is the Fios GB internet alone price? Will they charge me for canceling TV? If so, anyway out of it? - With DirectvNow, I can just simply stream it on my smart Samsung TVs? Do I need a hardwire Ethernet for best performance or will WiFi work? Any issues with lagging? - I assume you just use your Samsung tv remote control? How’s the guide? Same as Directv? - As a Knicks, Giants, Mets fan, what am I missing? Every time I’ve looked into this in the past, there seemed to be a hole in sports programming. What am I missing? Directvnow does have a Samsung app, although I haven't used it. I've used the Roku, AppleTV and FireTV apps and they're all pretty good. Since they have a samsung app, I'm sure you do just use the remote. That's what I do with the Roku TV. The guide is like any cable box type guide. The one thing that the DTV app is really missing is a "last channel" option. PSVue has that. That's the only thing I miss. I do use a hardwired connection and I believe it does reduce lag a bit. With a TV, I'd probably want a wired connection just because I don't know how good the wifi is on a tv. The local networks and sports channels are based on the zip of the billing address. The link below will tell you what you get for sports. In CT, I get NESN, YES, MSG and SNY, so that would cover Knicks, Giants (local fox for me) and Mets. I don't miss any sports that I care about. Have ESPN and FS1 too. NBCSports as well. sports channel lookup - ( New Window )

I really appreciate the reply. Dumb question but I'm a novice here. I have my router upstairs guest bedroom and an extender in the basement. Would I simply just run an ethernet cable from the router directly to the tvs?

I have read there are issues during live sports- especially highly watched games ( championships/ finals/ etc.). Have you experienced this?

Any issue with picture quality?

Thanks

you mentioned "a one-time fixed cost for a new HD antenna". Can you share the one you selected? I've tried a few, but ended up returning them as I couldn't get any consistent reception. Thanks.

the one advantage I think this has over the others is the unlimited DVR... there is no cap on the # of hours of shows you can record.

someone asked about Fios GB price... the Internet only price is $99.99/mo.

I was very nervous about switching and did a fair bit of trial & error... very happy with the decision about a year later.

April 2019 review
Link - ( New Window )

In comment 14471323 davek3698 said:

Quote:

you mentioned "a one-time fixed cost for a new HD antenna". Can you share the one you selected? I've tried a few, but ended up returning them as I couldn't get any consistent reception. Thanks.

We used a guy locally in VA who got rave reviews. I don't know what he installed but it's large enough to pick up quality signals from 50 miles away.

If you don't want to go that route, then be prepared to shell out a decent chunk of change for all those channels.

I will say that DirectTvNow has become incredibly pricey.
I started at $35/month and received a free-promotional AppleTV.
Now, it's up to $50/month and the channel offerings are much less than they use to be.

The only saving grace is that AT&T customers can stream the service data-free via cell data. Great feature for having live TV while traveling.

In comment 14471314 TyreeHelmet said:

Quote:

In comment 14471165 Heisenberg said: Quote: In comment 14471133 TyreeHelmet said: Quote: I’ve been reluctant to cut the cord but this has me intrigued. Couple questions that may be obvious but would appreciate the help. - How much is the Fios GB internet alone price? Will they charge me for canceling TV? If so, anyway out of it? - With DirectvNow, I can just simply stream it on my smart Samsung TVs? Do I need a hardwire Ethernet for best performance or will WiFi work? Any issues with lagging? - I assume you just use your Samsung tv remote control? How’s the guide? Same as Directv? - As a Knicks, Giants, Mets fan, what am I missing? Every time I’ve looked into this in the past, there seemed to be a hole in sports programming. What am I missing? Directvnow does have a Samsung app, although I haven't used it. I've used the Roku, AppleTV and FireTV apps and they're all pretty good. Since they have a samsung app, I'm sure you do just use the remote. That's what I do with the Roku TV. The guide is like any cable box type guide. The one thing that the DTV app is really missing is a "last channel" option. PSVue has that. That's the only thing I miss. I do use a hardwired connection and I believe it does reduce lag a bit. With a TV, I'd probably want a wired connection just because I don't know how good the wifi is on a tv. The local networks and sports channels are based on the zip of the billing address. The link below will tell you what you get for sports. In CT, I get NESN, YES, MSG and SNY, so that would cover Knicks, Giants (local fox for me) and Mets. I don't miss any sports that I care about. Have ESPN and FS1 too. NBCSports as well. sports channel lookup - ( New Window ) I really appreciate the reply. Dumb question but I'm a novice here. I have my router upstairs guest bedroom and an extender in the basement. Would I simply just run an ethernet cable from the router directly to the tvs? I have read there are issues during live sports- especially highly watched games ( championships/ finals/ etc.). Have you experienced this? Any issue with picture quality? Thanks

You could run an ethernet cable from the router to the tv. That is the fastest and least laggy choice. Depending on your set up, you might be able to get an extender near the tvs, too and that might be better than just wifi. It really depends on your house and your signal strength.

I ended up getting a three unit Google Wifi. It has three little puck sized routers that all work as a team in what's called a Mesh Network. So I have one in a main area of the house, which is connected to the cable modem and it connects to the other two - one next to my tv, the other next to my son's playstation. I have an ethernet cable from the puck nearest the tv connected to my roku tv.

When DTVNow first came out, I was an early customer and it was a bit laggy and buggy. But, I don't see those issues any more, really.

My advice, if you want to try it and have a samsung tv with wifi, download the app and register for the 7 day trial and give it a spin. See how it works. Easy to cancel online at zero cost to you if it's not working well for you. No phone tree to the cancellation department BS. Maybe give them all a one week trial and see if you like one more than others. That's what I did. I settled on DTVNow because I'm a knucklehead who likes to watch the Knicks and they are my only MSG option.

In comment 14471345 Knineteen said:

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If you don't want to go that route, then be prepared to shell out a decent chunk of change for all those channels. I will say that DirectTvNow has become incredibly pricey. I started at $35/month and received a free-promotional AppleTV. Now, it's up to $50/month and the channel offerings are much less than they use to be. The only saving grace is that AT&T customers can stream the service data-free via cell data. Great feature for having live TV while traveling.

That's true. I'm grandfathered into some package that isn't available anymore. But one benefit to DTVnow is that HBO is a 5 dollar add on, rather than 15 everywhere else or stand alone. That offsets some cost if you like HBO as I do.

Everyone in my family cut the cord. I pay $35 a month for internet and I pay for Hulu plus ($12 per month). My brother and sister use my Hulu account and I use my brother's Netflix account. We both use my sisters HBO Now Account. I also have an HD attena for CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC. That is all I need so in my case it is definitely worth it over paying 130+ for cable.

I just use Reddit NFL streams to watch giants games and Redzone.

We've had DirecTV for years.... no cable here and recently fiber-optic Internet & VOIP. Roku, Netflix, Prime & ESPN+. Runs about $225 a month for phone, internet & TV.

Our new house will have Comcast Infinity. I guess I could add a dish, but having all underground utilities including gas, sewer & water , instead of a well, septic and SATV is going to be a new experience.

I have had CAT6 wiring added to the TV drops.

I'm thinking I'll buy my own router and sign up for the 2 year introductory pricing plan for TV, Internet & VOIP. I gambling that the streaming options will be much more robust and competitive in a few years.

Northern NJ-I just settled on Optimum once I realized I could threaten to cancel and get all my sports channels, all the locals, HBO for $140 ish per month. I just call and go to the "retention" department every so often and get it done.

It is annoying to have to do that but for $140, the product is still ahead of streaming. Within a few years streaming will be right there if it isn't already but it is not quite cheap enough for me to do it and get all my channels (they jack up your internet when you don't have anything else).

includes internet also.

In comment 14471198 Anando said:

Quote:

In comment 14471106 BleedBlue said: Quote: There is a great site that allows you to input channels you want and it recommends a service but they all are missing one thing or another and I only entered 10 Must haves NFLN NFL RZ YES CBS FOX MSG TLC NBC PIX11 Really want HBO Starz what site is this? i am in the same boat - I have Fios and live in Manhattan, so trying to figure out if there is much in savings by cutting the cord...

Don't know off the top of my head, will have to look in search history when back at work and can post it here

Can you watch yours cable anywhere in them country on any device?

How about not needing to any cable boxes?

Unlimited free dvr?

Ability to cancel and move to a different service instantly without having to change any hardware?

But unfortunately due to my zip code, all of them only offer me Philly channels. Fios, comcast, and cablevision all provide both Philly and NY channels :(