Streaming services versus Direct TV

[Menagerie-Manor]

What happens if you are a bit under 5Mb? Does it pixalate and freeze until the buffer refills or does it just fail. I have 4Mb down but it is only guaranteed to give me 3.4Mb. (Fiber is coming but not until April 2025 or so)
I have streamed off of Tubi some old shows that work pretty well at the reduced speed but does freeze at times.

At those speeds your not going to be happy with streaming services. Up until recently we have been dealing with download speeds in the 10 to 15 mbps range and it was never good while constantly having to choose between using the TV or computer. We have been using DTV Stream and it pretty much has all the bells and whistles that regular DTV offers including DVR service. We just switched over to our new local Fiber internet service last fall at 1 gbps and the TV service has been amazing.

We do get local programming and commercials on DTV stream, local for us that is.

 

[kthompson]

We are in process of dropping cable at $128 per month and only streaming. Do what we are doing, use streaming while you still have your current service and really see if you are fine without it. Local news and weather are there on firesticks for us. Now live football has not found that on streaming so far. Then I can live without the NFL. Proved that when they had no respect for the flag.

 

[plowhog]

I had an issue with Hulu Live, loading it, it would not set up properly because it could not figure out my Home location.

I ran into this issue with Hulu. We are in Northern Nevada but the Starlink "ground station" frequently reports Los Angeles, CA.

Several times Hulu wanted a lot of information to prove we were really in Nevada. That has completely gone away now, although once in a while I am asked to allow Hulu to know my location. (I keep location services turned off so they must ask permission.)

 

[paulsharvey]

We are in process of dropping cable at $128 per month and only streaming. Do what we are doing, use streaming while you still have your current service and really see if you are fine without it. Local news and weather are there on firesticks for us. Now live football has not found that on streaming so far. Then I can live without the NFL. Proved that when they had no respect for the flag.

Also, the new digital antennas are Far better than the old tower antennas we had 20 years ago. You can probably pick up most of the major networks local channels, unless you are 150 miles from a city. Note, the advertised range is normally about double the real life range; if you get a 150 mile antenna, it's probably good for 75 miles, but still, they are Dirt Cheap.

 

[lpakiz]

As far as D/L speeds for streaming, i had "up to 1.5" and it would barely work. Lots of buffering, and very blurry.
i got the telco (TDS) to upgrade me to a business plan, which is "up to 5" and that streams VERY well. It starts out blurry for 10 seconds or so, then automatically "shifts" to higher resolution as it detects a faster connection.
I canceled NetFlix and Dish Network and watch everything i want for free, with the exception of ESPN+ for $10/? month. Mostly watch WW2 on Pluto, and bought a Roku for $35 and watch more WW2 movies/docs MMA for free.
If you want to watch something special, Peacock and probably many others let you sign up for a month at a time, cancel when ever you want, restart with no extra charges.
Im still in shock at how much is available for free with a smart TV and 5 MB Internet.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

As far as D/L speeds for streaming, i had "up to 1.5" and it would barely work. Lots of buffering, and very blurry.
i got the telco (TDS) to upgrade me to a business plan, which is "up to 5" and that streams VERY well. It starts out blurry for 10 seconds or so, then automatically "shifts" to higher resolution as it detects a faster connection.
I canceled NetFlix and Dish Network and watch everything i want for free, with the exception of ESPN+ for $10/? month. Mostly watch WW2 on Pluto, and bought a Roku for $35 and watch more WW2 movies/docs MMA for free.
If you want to watch something special, Peacock and probably many others let you sign up for a month at a time, cancel when ever you want, restart with no extra charges.
Im still in shock at how much is available for free with a smart TV and 5 MB Internet.

If you enjoy the WW2 programming get a free Youtube account and search around, amazing stuff. Check out the series "war factories" excellent. TubitTV and Freevee too

 

[lpakiz]

I'll look into these--THANKS!

 

[bdhsfz6]

You may be able to save money by streaming now, but what about the future? As cable & satellite companies go away, broadcasters will have to charge streaming services more for content in order to make up for lost revenue. Price hikes are sure to follow.

Any savings you get now may be short lived.

 

[D&D]

Also, the new digital antennas are Far better than the old tower antennas we had 20 years ago. You can probably pick up most of the major networks local channels, unless you are 150 miles from a city. Note, the advertised range is normally about double the real life range; if you get a 150 mile antenna, it's probably good for 75 miles, but still, they are Dirt Cheap.

The “old” antennas work just fine, most even better. The huge flying v’s just probably aren’t pretty enough. The tv frequencies were shifted, however they still use the VHF/UHF bands.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Also, the new digital antennas are Far better than the old tower antennas we had 20 years ago. You can probably pick up most of the major networks local channels, unless you are 150 miles from a city. Note, the advertised range is normally about double the real life range; if you get a 150 mile antenna, it's probably good for 75 miles, but still, they are Dirt Cheap.View attachment 848279

Ah, if it were only so. Here's my tale of antenna woe:

I live in a semi rural location, 40 miles from a large city that has 35 broadcast channels available. The house is on a hilltop and, except for trees, has a near line of sight view of the transmitter towers serving the city.

Even with an amplifier and an antenna rated for 120 miles, I can only get 9 channels. It drops to 5 in the summer with leaves on the trees.

Before TV went digital, I could receive all the available channels with a large VHF/UHF antenna on a roof mounted mast. Over the years, it was struck by lightning a dozen or more times. Early on, little damage resulted, due to an effective grounding system. More recently, with the proliferation of electronic devices around the house, lightning damage gets quite expensive. Consequently, I took down the mast and mounted the new digital antenna lower, below the roof line. That solved the lightning problem but our TV reception took a hit.

I would love to be able to ditch our satellite and go to a streaming service but few offer local channels at a reasonable price.

BTW, among others, I tried that HDTV Digital, 150 mile antenna from Amazon you show in your post. Not only didn't it work very well, but the first wind storm we had tore it to pieces. It's very cheaply made and I don't recommend it.