justin_o_guy2 wrote on 12/25/18 at 22:17:19:



I don’t know enough about the subject to answer the questions you are unable to ask.
We are not metro at all, over 8 miles outside the nearest little town, 4-5 miles from a cell tower, and require satellites for both TV and internet service.  We don’t have the fastest internet available but are on the next one down because of cost and so video streaming is buffered a lot.  Watching something even just a few minutes long is an exercise in patience.

I don’t know enough about the subject to answer the questions you are unable to ask.

Admit it,you were kinda giggling when you typed that, weren't you?

We just went through this so I can give you some ideas.  You have a lot of options in a couple of areas.  

First, you have to decide what you want from your streaming service (or services.)  There are a lot of different ways to get content, but let's assume you want something similar to cable so we'll start with that.

If you watch mostly network TV, news and Sports, YouTubeTV does a great job with that and you will get your local network stations as well (might depend on area) for ~$40 a month.  DVR functionality is included. You can share your account with 6 family members and use it on 3-4 different devices at the same time.

If you are looking to replace cable but keep HGTV, Food Network, History, and stations like that I would look into Sling TV for $25-$40+ a month. It gets more expensive if you need to add sports packages. DVR and family sharing might also add to the expenses depending on what level you choose.

There are other streaming services, but I would start by looking at those two to get an idea of what content you can get.  We chose YoutubeTV  because of the local content and sports along with the fact that we can watch our local sports teams on our phones/computers even when we are outside of our market.   So far we haven't missed Discovery, TLC, HGTV, or Food Network.

Next you have services that offer their own content like Amazon Prime, Netflix and network sites.  I think of these as supplemental services.  We are Prime members and have a Netflix subscription, but haven't really used them to supplement our TV yet.  (We don't watch a ton of TV to begin with.)  You will also find many more services on the device you may or may not need to purchase to steam content.

Which leads into the other choice you need to make.  What are you going to watch you content on.  You can use your phone, tablets, computers or TVs. If you have a Smart TV, you just download the providers app. If you have a regular TV, then you'll need to chose a streaming device like Roku, AppleTV, Fire TV or Chromecast. This gets confusing, and they all good products but some will suite your needs better than others.  We got a Roku Ultra mainly because it's easy to use and it allows me to use headphones with it's remote control or phone app.  That's a bonus for watching YouTube after the misses is in bed.  We got ours at Costco for less than $100.  

The last choice you have to make is where you are getting your data.  We kept our cable internet service, because it's fast and we still have kids in house.  We are still saving $100 a month compared to what we had before.  At some point, I'm going to cut that cord and just us unlimited data on our phones.

Hopefully that's enough to get you started.  Overall, I'm happy we cut the cord on cable and I was probably the one who watched the cable offerings the most.  But it was mostly just to kill time.

Netflix has turned into a pretty decent service.  Their self-produced content is getting better, and they even pick up some shows that get cancelled on other networks and make new seasons.
A Roku device is probably the best choice these days, but then I've never had Sling or Apple TV as a comparison.  I do know it's much better than the Chromecast devices I've owned.  Hulu can be a good service, but I find we don't watch much directly from them.  It's a cheaper way to add HBO or Cinemax for a month or two to watch some good stuff.  We did that for Black Sails.  We also added Britbox to watch the rest of an excellent series called Shetland; highly recommend watching that one to any of you guys.

Roku is arguably the best box to hook a big TV up to (and it is what the wife uses in the den) but I survive just fine using a PC with a 22" monitor at my computer station.   I can use the same accounts (actually she swaps codes with family relatives so we don't even have to pay for all the services, they swap off everything they can and cover Grandma like a rug for free).

Returned a router to Best Buy and asked about streaming. They sell a gizmo called a fire stick. Sounded cool till the
Download the app
Part.
Wife is gonna Hafta be the one.
And
There's actual AnTennas out there, and even dvr to hook up.

Roku keeps coming up in my conversations about this.
I'm not planning on ending January with the cable still connected.

There are 2 general pathways.

1)  Antenna and DVR and put up with waiting for stuff to air ......

2)  Roku and internet connection (real streaming) .......

Both pathways cost money.   Both can get you there ..... better than cable, anyway.

I picked Roku and Internet, although I did have a DVR and antenna also at one point in time just for a couple of items, it was limited too much by what was showing locally and the DVR hardware was expensive (and the DVR equipment went obsolete way too quickly to suit me).