Online tv question

[JD 4520]

What is the solution when your internet speed is only 5mg down?

If you really want cable (video) in this situation, the obvious choices are Directv and Directv. If you’ve come this far without, you’re life is probably not missing anything.

 

[dfkrug]

What is the solution when your internet speed is only 5mg down?

I am now on streaming for everything after dumping Dishnet this last year. Tho I live in the mountains, I am just a few miles from the Silicon Valley.

Despite living near the cradle of hi-tech, our crappy old telephone lines have only been delivering DSL since about 2008. I am currently using bonded pair internet (2 pairs twisted copper) and get 28Mb/s download speed. Love it. When it was only 3Mb/s about 7 years ago, I could stream a std-def Netflix movie using a Nintendo gaming box connected by WiFi to my modem. You don't need great speed for a well-designed system with good buffering like Netflix has.

We now get all live TV thru Hulu using a Roku dedicated streaming box (Wifi). About $75/month, which is what we used to pay Dishnet, but is far superior. I would think that you would need at least 10Mb/s for that, but others may opine.

BTW, I also use VOIP instead of a landline, due to poor cell phone reception here and Frontier's refusal to restore my landline. It only costs $3/mo with Skype-to-phone service.

 

[JD 4520]

I am now on streaming for everything after dumping Dishnet this last year. Tho I live in the mountains, I am just a few miles from the Silicon Valley.

Despite living near the cradle of hi-tech, our crappy old telephone lines have only been delivering DSL since about 2008. I am currently using bonded pair internet (2 pairs twisted copper) and get 28Mb/s download speed. Love it. When it was only 3Mb/s about 7 years ago, I could stream a std-def Netflix movie using a Nintendo gaming box connected by WiFi to my modem. You don't need great speed for a well-designed system with good buffering like Netflix has.

We now get all live TV thru Hulu using a Roku dedicated streaming box (Wifi). About $75/month, which is what we used to pay Dishnet, but is far superior. I would think that you would need at least 10Mb/s for that, but others may opine.

BTW, I also use VOIP instead of a landline, due to poor cell phone reception here and Frontier's refusal to restore my landline. It only costs $3/mo with Skype-to-phone service.

See, I’m telling you guys this really works and this is the future for cable. Eventually you will want and need more bandwidth but you don’t need it presently. More will eventually come due to costs and technology.

Great overview!

 

[BigBlue1]

What is the solution when your internet speed is only 5mg down?

When we first moved to our rural home in 2016 the only feasible ISP option was 5Mb/s DSL. Which really only gave us 1.5-3 Mb/s normally because of the quality of the system. We were able to stream Netflix over it. Not HD usually, and for sure not 4K. But it worked.

 

[lman]

I am now on streaming for everything after dumping Dishnet this last year. Tho I live in the mountains, I am just a few miles from the Silicon Valley.

Despite living near the cradle of hi-tech, our crappy old telephone lines have only been delivering DSL since about 2008. I am currently using bonded pair internet (2 pairs twisted copper) and get 28Mb/s download speed. Love it. When it was only 3Mb/s about 7 years ago, I could stream a std-def Netflix movie using a Nintendo gaming box connected by WiFi to my modem. You don't need great speed for a well-designed system with good buffering like Netflix has.

We now get all live TV thru Hulu using a Roku dedicated streaming box (Wifi). About $75/month, which is what we used to pay Dishnet, but is far superior. I would think that you would need at least 10Mb/s for that, but others may opine.

BTW, I also use VOIP instead of a landline, due to poor cell phone reception here and Frontier's refusal to restore my landline. It only costs $3/mo with Skype-to-phone service.

Your internet should support wifi calling. I would skip the $3 and use your cell phone. Newer cell phones are able to make and receive calls by wifi.

 

[jyoutz]

Apologies if something here is repeated. The future of TV is streaming. We are in a long transition from “cable” to streaming. Streaming is over IP or easier stated high speed internet (HSD) connection. Today, HSD really only needs to be 100mg to get really good and reliable service for a typical family- that honestly may be overstated. So, if you have a good, newer Smart TV and good HSD, you can get anything you want to watch at reasonable prices. The reason being is you won’t generally have to pay for a 300 channel package that you only watch 7 channels on.
If you have the newer Smart TV and good HSD, begin your own transition to streaming services. Try a number of services like YouTube TV and others. You will eventually have access to any package and not limited at all to the local provider, only the HSD service. Within 10 years, cable as we have known it should be phased out.
BTW, I have 1G service, just because I can get it, but do I use or need more than 100mg, nope, not at all. Happy to try to answer more questions along this line.

Streaming sucks when your internet connection is slow (like many rural areas).

 

[dfkrug]

Your internet should support wifi calling. I would skip the $3 and use your cell phone. Newer cell phones are able to make and receive calls by wifi.

True enough, but my 3yo LG phone does not support WiFi calling.

Note that most folks paying for a landline to the POTS (phone company) should dump it if they have internet at home and a cellphone. Even the 911 excuse for keeping a landline no longer applies in some areas.

Another recent change in TV technology: the need for hardware DVR machines to record programs is much reduced due to the fact that live streaming services support automatic and requested cloud-based video recording.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My son bought us a roku when he lived with us, and he pays for multiple streaming services which I get to use.

 

[dfkrug]

My son bought us a roku when he lived with us, and he pays for multiple streaming services which I get to use.

It is not rare for folks to be paying hundreds of $ per month for data services (internet, video, etc), and another hundred $/mo or so for cell phone service.

Gone are the days when you can find every movie you want to watch on Netflix. Or even every episode in a series you want to see. So you must pay for Netflix, PrimeVideo, Paramount, PBS, etc. Then add "live-TV" to get the usual networks and cable-TV channels. Many channels have their own premium streaming services as well. Sometimes I envy my BIL, who can get digital video over the air, for free, since he has line-of-sight to the TV transmitter mountain 75 mi away.

One more option is you can get your local library to purchase the DVD or DVD set so you can borrow it for free.

 

[fiddlearound]

If you really want cable (video) in this situation, the obvious choices are Directv and Directv. If you’ve come this far without, you’re life is probably not missing anything.

Thanks, I've had Direct for twenty years. I'm a retired golf professional and enjoy the Golf channel and it's only offered on the upper level so we pay about $140 a month for that and the ten other channels we watch. Just seems wrong to pay that much for 40 minutes of programming per hour and still have to endure 20 minutes of propaganda.

So I'm looking for a better solution. I try to follow my alumni athletics so I purchased ESPN plus, but it buffers so much that its unwatchable. Utube videos work a little better so I watch that some.