Streaming TV

[45XD]

Good questions and lots of good feedback.
I agree that Comcast surely does suck donkey balls... BUT, their internet is the fastest around here and I work a significant amount from home so we do pay for it. Internet only though- no phone or TV
Like many of the others said, we stream Netflix and Amazon Prime and there's more there than we have time to even watch. But for local channels I have to give a plug for Denny's TV Antenna Source:

http://dennysantennaservice.com//

Yes at $129, these cost more than what you'd find from Radio Shack or Best Buy, but we've tried two different cheaper options for an HD Antenna and neither of them worked that great- despite repositioning, moving from the south side of the house to the west side, and countless channel searches. I purchased the HD Stacker earlier this year, put it in the attic, and now I'm pulling all the local channels from both Denver and Cheyenne (plus a whole bunch of stuff I don't care about) and it's working great. I think the greater amount of surface area with this antenna is just able to gather more signal in (for example, we had never been able to get NBC (so no Sunday night football) until we got this antenna). No need to buy the $300 install kit if you are going into your attic (IMHO) like I did- just some conduit from Home Depot and a new RG6 cable. I also didn't buy a signal booster (despite running 75ft of cable) and haven't needed it so far...

My two cents on this...

[Zundfolge]

Good questions and lots of good feedback.
I agree that Comcast surely does suck donkey balls... BUT, their internet is the fastest around here and I work a significant amount from home so we do pay for it. Internet only though- no phone or TV

The problem with Comcast is that they throttle your connection if you do things they don't like, like torrenting (which isn't always illegal) and there are many complaints online about them throttling Netflix and other video streaming services. Yes they have a very fast connection but they seem to smack down anyone that actually takes advantage of that speed.

[TheWeeze]

I don't know anything about the Roku, but I use Chromecast for a lot of my streaming needs. They have all the apps needed (controlled by your computer browser, or phone or tablet) such as HBO Go, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and any other app you can get on an Android device. It works pretty seamlessly, just need to have your device and Chromecast on the same WiFi. I have 3 Chromecast devices @ $35 each, one for each TV. Works great for me.

As for internet, I have Comcast right now as they seem to have the fastest internet at the moment in my area. CenturyLink is developing a Fibre network that will be faster, but have to wait for my area. My 25-30m/s internet through Comcast is $45 a month with TV.

[TheGrey]

This is GREAT information, guys. Thank you for taking time to pass on information and opinions; I didn't realize there was such a variety of equipment to select from. This is helping tremendously- we'll be able to shake the shackles of the cable company soon, and be able to use the $ for better things!

[Kraven251]

Never had any speed issues with Comcast, and when I did had far more to do with the coax than the service. Re-ran a few drops in the house I was renting including the one that went outside, and suddenly the few minor problems I had were largely resolved.

[smokeyradio]

I use a homemade antenna in the attic for broadcast channels (cost $1.27 to make), a roku for netflix and amazon prime, a chromebook to find anything else I want online. We are satisfied so far. Our bill each month is about $16 plus internet. We would have internet even if no TV, so it is a wash.

[crays]

I use a homemade antenna in the attic for broadcast channels (cost $1.27 to make), a roku for netflix and amazon prime, a chromebook to find anything else I want online. We are satisfied so far. Our bill each month is about $16 plus internet. We would have internet even if no TV, so it is a wash.

I'm sure I could google-fu it, but care to share details?

[smokeyradio]

Here is the link for the 4 bay antenna I built. This link is just one of many on the same antenna.
You could probably find a better one. I built it out of scraps I had laying around. For coax I took
down the coax Dish left from a previous owner and used it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlShMxSCZJ0

I get all the Denver channels. I live close to I25 and Hwy 60. I put it in the attic and it works.
I bought the Chromebook and googled how to watch free tv online. There are several sights
you can do this on. Some are HD some are not.

On the Roku we get all we need in movies. The $16 a month is Netflix and Amazon Prime. We
already had prime since the wife (and me) like the free 2 day shipping. Prime is going up to $99
a year this year, but ours was $79 last year. There are free trials on these sites to check them out.
We tried HuluPlus, but dropped it after free trial.

[Fromk]

Cutting cable is incredibly easy if you don't care about sports. It seems like that's the last big piece of the puzzle until cable companies really start losing subscribers.

To start I have Comcast internet and I have no complaints. Their outsourced phone support is terrible but I have nothing but good things to say about the local staff.

Through the internet I do Netflix and Amazon through my PS3. If you have Netflix don't bother with Amazon unless you order a bunch of stuff through them (which I do and 2 day shipping is great). I also have a simple network setup through my PS3 that streams downloaded video to my tv. In a month or so the Xbox One will have that ability, too. A lot of this end has been covered so I won't get into it.

I also have a $50 antenna on my roof that I patched into the wires somebody else put in for a satellite. That existing hardware made my job really easy. Where I live in Parker and given how many walls the signal needs to go through to get to my tv an set top one wasn't an option. When I was in Lone Tree it was fine. The good news is that you can go to your store of choice, pick up a cheap antenna, and see if it works. If it doesn't then return it, upgrade, and repeat as necessary. It's a good reason to make that purchase locally.

DON'T FORGET TO ADJUST YOUR TV'S SETTINGS!!! Somewhere in the menus you have to change the input from searching for cable channels to looking for over the air channels. This is hugely important. Odds are it will already have the digital converter so don't let somebody sell you an extra box you don't need that just clutters things up. After that there's probably a channel auto detect procedure then you go in and make adjustments to your liking. If you haven't seen OTA tv since the digital conversion prepare to be shocked at how good it looks. It's even better than cable in some cases.

[BigNick73]

I'll add another recommendation for the roku 3. And for those that have one Google roku private channels. There's some out there like whisper TV that add a lot of shows/content.

Also if you use the Bing search engine they have a rewards/points thing that can be redeemed for hulu+

Edit: the private channel I use a lot is nowhere tv not whisper. Whisper TV might be that porn station I found on there.