Sling tv for bama ball?

TideEngineer08

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Jun 9, 2009
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A year ago I left my AT&T two wire internet and went over to WOW cable internet. I knew streaming live sports could be challenging and made sure to wire my ROKU direct to the cable modem. I also changed from Sling to YouTube TV. I have had some moments when cable usage was high in the neighborhood that my picture clarity decreased but I have had very few problems with buffering. For the Super Bowl this weekend I switched to my antenna but found little difference between HD TV and streaming on YouTube. Count me generally pleased with streaming on YouTube TV during this entire football season.
I am pleased with Youtube TV as well. I don't think my issues are with them at all. I think it's the Roku device. And I've moved it around to see if my issues were due to signal interference between it and the wifi router, but even sitting next to or on top of the router, it still happens, and again, only with live sports. And it's not due to high usage or broadcasts with a ton of world wide users, like the Super Bowl was. This will happen while watching a Nevada vs. San Diego State basketball game at 11 PM on a Wednesday night. I'm certain it is the Roku.

Since it works fine with everything else, and since I can watch whatever game I want on the iPad or Macbook, and the kids and wife remain happy, then I'm ok with the current set up. The TV in the living room is aging. When we get ready to upgrade, I'll move the roku we have to another room and get something different for the living room. Without any need for urgency I haven't spent time trying to fix or upgrade. I've thought about getting the Roku model with the built in ethernet port, and networking it over ethernet cable to the router instead of using Wifi.
 

CrimsonForce

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Posted this on the NS forum but figured I post here also since some people don't go over there:

So the time has finally come where AT&T / Direct TV did not offer me the same discounted rate as they have in previous years when my promotion ended. Typically, Direct TV would give me a $60 credit for 12 months when I would call to cancel. No dice this time. They offered me a lower package which did not include many of the sports channels so that was a no go. After 7 years of Direct TV and AT&T internet I have both set for cancellation at the end of the current billing cycle. Google Fiber internet will be installed this Saturday and then the end of March will finalize my Direct TV service. The internet change should be pretty seamless. So what to do now for TV? After doing a lot of research and talking to people who have tried all the services (including this forum) I'm going to try YouTube TV. I was excited at first but the more I read about it the more skeptical I'm becoming. Mainly due to picture quality issues. Most people who have switched to a streaming service from Direct TV have commented that it's a noticeable decrease in picture quality. Not bad per say but a noticeable downgrade. If so that may be a deal breaker for me. I plan to stream from a Roku which will be hardwired into the new Google Fiber modem so there should be no connectivity issue or latency there. As long as the picture quality is good everything else about the service sounds great. I'm actually going to be splitting an account with somebody so it will only cost me $20 per month for YTTV and then $50 for the Google Fiber internet. Total of $70 per month versus what I was paying which was $160. Just hope the picture quality is at least on par to what I had with Direct TV.

Has anyone here switched from Direct TV or a cable company to YouTube TV and noticed lesser picture quality with YTTV (or better)? The good thing is I have several months before football season starts to get everything settled..
 

CrimsonNagus

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I canceled DirecTV about 6 years ago, before there were many streaming options. Had DirecTV Now since it launched in October ‘17 until last month when I switched to YouTube TV and Philo.

I’ve tried all the main streaming services, DTV Now, YTTV, Philo, Sling, Hulu Live TV and PS Vue. IMO YTTV works the best. Their app is the easiest to use and their DVR just works like it should. DirecTV Now would be next and has the best channel selection but, it the most expensive, and it didn’t have any of my local channels. PSVue would be 3rd on my list.



No streaming service is going to look as good as cable/satellite TV. Streaming services have to compress the signal a good bit more to work over the internet. If you are going in expecting the same quality you got with DirecTV then you will be disappointed. Do you watch Netflix? If so, are you fine with Netflix’s 1080p streams? If so, you’ll be fine. The 1080p stream I get from YTTV looks good to my eyes and I have no complaints. It’s not as good as cable/satellite or even my antenna though so, just set your expectations accordingly.

Don’t want to burst another bubble but, don’t expect the audio to be as good as cable/satellite either. YTTV only offers 2.0 stereo audio, no 5.1 surround.
 
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TideMom2Boys

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Nov 17, 2010
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I posted on the other thread, but I do want to say the one main thing you have to get used to is not being able to "flip through channels". Instead you can scroll through the guide and pick the show you want. Minor thing for me...but my husband had to get used to that.
 

DzynKingRTR

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Dec 17, 2003
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I posted on the other thread, but I do want to say the one main thing you have to get used to is not being able to "flip through channels". Instead you can scroll through the guide and pick the show you want. Minor thing for me...but my husband had to get used to that.
that definitely did take some time.
 

CrimsonForce

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Dec 20, 2012
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I canceled DirecTV about 6 years ago, before there were many streaming options. Had DirecTV Now since it launched in October ‘17 until last month when I switched to YouTube TV and Philo.

I’ve tried all the main streaming services, DTV Now, YTTV, Philo, Sling, Hulu Live TV and PS Vue. IMO YTTV works the best. Their app is the easiest to use and their DVR just works like it should. DirecTV Now would be next and has the best channel selection but, it the most expensive, and it didn’t have any of my local channels. PSVue would be 3rd on my list.



No streaming service is going to look as good as cable/satellite TV. Streaming services have to compress the signal a good bit more to work over the internet. If you are going in expecting the same quality you got with DirecTV then you will be disappointed. Do you watch Netflix? If so, are you fine with Netflix’s 1080p streams? If so, you’ll be fine. The 1080p stream I get from YTTV looks good to my eyes and I have no complaints. It’s not as good as cable/satellite or even my antenna though so, just set your expectations accordingly.

Don’t want to burst another bubble but, don’t expect the audio to be as good as cable/satellite either. YTTV only offers 2.0 stereo audio, no 5.1 surround.
Was at somebody's house yesterday who had YTTV. I could definitely tell it wasn't quite as sharp but at the same time it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Plus, they were streaming from the Roku Stick. I'll be streaming from the Roku Ultra hard wired into the modem. Not sure if that will make any difference but something to consider. The guide and everything was much more responsive that what I'm used to with Direct TV. My DTV box was old when I first got the service 7 years ago. It was very laggy with a noticeable delay from user input so the YTTV interface being faster was a nice surprise. I'm going to give YTTV a shot and then settle on something by the time football starts in the fall..
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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For those that have streaming service, what device do you use? Trying to decide between a Roku and AppleTV.
 

UAH

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For those that have streaming service, what device do you use? Trying to decide between a Roku and AppleTV.
I have no expertise except to say that the advantage of Apple TV is that it is integrated with your iphone and any other Apple devices if that is desirable to you. My ex has AppleTV and it is slow to adapt and offer new streaming services such a YouTubeTV. I have an old Roku device I have had for four years and have found it to have a much more open architecture in terms of offering practically any new service. Even though my Roku device was old YouTubeTV was offered immediately and is still not available on older AppleTV devices.
 

CrimsonForce

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For those that have streaming service, what device do you use? Trying to decide between a Roku and AppleTV.
I'm going with the Roku Ultra. They retail for $84 on Amazon. I found a barely used one on eBay for $55. The advantage of the Roku Ultra over the other Roku models is the Ethernet port for a hardwired connection. This may or may not make a difference but I like the peace of mind that I have a stable connection. I know people who use the Roku sticks and they seem to work just fine but I prefer to have the best technology available. The latest Apple TV model starts at $179. Also, there are continuous complaints on forums of problems with YTTV on Apple TV. I'm also not tied into the Apple ecosystem.

If getting the Roku Ultra I'd make sure it's the 2017 model - 4660 or 4661 model. The only difference between the 2 are the headphones that come with it. Any of the Ultra's before these 2 are a noticeable downgrade i.e. the 4640 model..
 
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smokies1

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Jul 10, 2005
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For those that have streaming service, what device do you use? Trying to decide between a Roku and AppleTV.
Xbox one with the media remote, had a roku stick for a while and hated it, laggy and the picture quality was not that great.
 

CrimsonForce

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Xbox one with the media remote, had a roku stick for a while and hated it, laggy and the picture quality was not that great.
Depends on which streaming stick you get. The $29 streaming stick has some of the problems you mentioned but the streaming stick plus ($59) and the Roku Ultra work really good..
 

RollinTider1335

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Jun 12, 2010
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Depends on which streaming stick you get. The $29 streaming stick has some of the problems you mentioned but the streaming stick plus ($59) and the Roku Ultra work really good..
I agree. We have a roku ultra and streaming stick plus in the house to watch playstation vue. They are awesome. Less issues with them than we did charter communications.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

aldo

BamaNation Citizen
May 8, 2010
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ATT told me if I discontinue the IPTV part of my bundled fiber iptv/phone/internet I would not be getting unlimited internet anymore. I am concerned over switching to streaming service because I don't know if the "limited data" will run out or be slowed down or incur extra charges after lots of usage. Does anybody on here use ATT fiber internet only and stream their tv and have no problem?
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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ATT told me if I discontinue the IPTV part of my bundled fiber iptv/phone/internet I would not be getting unlimited internet anymore. I am concerned over switching to streaming service because I don't know if the "limited data" will run out or be slowed down or incur extra charges after lots of usage. Does anybody on here use ATT fiber internet only and stream their tv and have no problem?
I cancelled U-Verse last week. They didn’t say anything about my internet speed or if my unlimited status would change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

CaliforniaTide

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Aug 9, 2006
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I had Sling and while I liked it, I just felt that the connection between the Roku stick and my wireless router wasn't the best. In our current house, we're able to have the wireless router and the Chromecast in the same room, and we've gone over to YouTubeTV, which gives us local channels on the streaming device in addition to the normal stuff. We still have our antenna outside just in case streaming fails, but we've been much happier with that combination.

YouTubeTV automatically DVRs your selections for a very long time and you don't have to set it either to make it happen. You just pick your show or sports team you want to follow, and it records when it comes on TV. Plus you can watch it on your phone, laptop, or tablet.
 

aldo

BamaNation Citizen
May 8, 2010
59
1
27
I cancelled U-Verse last week. They didn’t say anything about my internet speed or if my unlimited status would change.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I chatted with att chat and I asked them if internet would still be unlimited and they told me no.
 

BamaNation

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For those of you with wifi range problems, I would suggest a powerline extender like the one below (just click to go to Amazon page to learn more). This particular one also extend wife. I use one without wifi to connect appleTV in my living room and a Roku in my upstairs bedroom.

I also use the Google Wifi system to extend wifi throughout the house



 
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kyallie

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Jan 17, 2010
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I chatted with att chat and I asked them if internet would still be unlimited and they told me no.
I went with Spectrum (Charter) got better TV and internet (by a fluke, an irate call by me and talking too a MGR. I got 400 MPS for 4 years at their regular price for 50) ATT is not interested in u-verse since they bought Direct- TV.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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For those of you with wifi range problems, I would suggest a powerline extender like the one below (just click to go to Amazon page to learn more). This particular one also extend wife. I use one without wifi to connect appleTV in my living room and a Roku in my upstairs bedroom.

Great information - you use your home's electrical wiring to extend your ethernet network. You can also buy these with RJ45 connectors so you can hard wire network appliances anywhere in your home without running additional wiring. They work very well - as well as CAT 5E cables.
 

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