Sanity check from you cord cutters

[drssg]

Hulu looks like it offers a lot more, but costs more too.

How does limited commercials work? What is on when the commercial would be playing? Or are you watching everything in more of an "on demand" way vs live broadcast?

Hulu is an on demand service, so nothing is playing behind the scenes when a commercial is on.

 

[thekkfan]

Doing something similar here in MI due to high price of Comcast/Xfinity internet.

Got a prepaid phone with Verizon. $30/mo with 500k of data (cheapest option)
Added a prepaid wifi spot 4G LTE with unlimited data and streaming. When combined with prepaid phone and autopay it costs $45/mo. Since my wife can take it anywhere with her, she now has unlimited data on her $30 phone. And unlimited streaming on phones tablets and smart TV.

Since verizon has good service all over, we can use the hotspot on vacation or even if we move. Seems like the best deal I can find now given that there are no phone/cable based service providers in my area that can do internet for less than $80/mo.

This only works up to 15GB, after that they throttle your 4g back to 600k. So while its unlimited, the speed is only up to the first 15GB, then way slower.

 

[goeduck]

I have a Roku and it seems to go stupid and needs to be rebooted once a month or so. Mine's the Ultimate (I think)...it's the one that has an ethernet connection, since we don't have wifi here.

My primary ROKU (actually my wife, the TV addicts, ROKU) is the ultra with a hard wired Ethernet connection and I noticed unless I had it on HDMI-1 it went stupid from time to time. I am not sure that was the issue but since switching it to HDMI-1 it has been okay.

 

[goeduck]

I get all of these in map below, and my strongest are NBC on Sauratown Mt and FOX, CBS out of Roanoke. I have my antenna pointed to the SSE towers for WGHP(FOX) and WFMY(CBS) down off 220 (no rotor, its fixed). So I'm getting a stronger signal from Roanoke off the back side of the antenna.

Mine is very similar to this in dimensions. I have it mounted in the attic hanging over my bedroom so prob around 25' off the ground, shingle roof .......... Digital Advantage HDTV Outdoor TV Antenna-Channel Master CM 2018 (CM2018)

Have this exact preamp also..... Outdoor HDTV VHF/UHF Antenna Amplifier/Booster-Channel Master CM 7777HD (CM7777HD)

So you have the antenna feeding into a preamp, then feeding into a Tablo which feeds into your house network? Does the Tablo not have the ability to pull in the stations? Or did you add the preamp first? Or because the antenna is in the attic?

 

[Zerk]

When I have watched the free shows on Roku they have commercials. I don't like commercials, but I can tune them out, go to the bathroom, ect. I am willing to put up with commercials for free. I wish they would have more variety and not the same one. Ha.

 

[goeduck]

I checked with my internet provider and I have a 1 TB cap that I did not know about. I went into Netflix and set its feed to medium rather than auto. I have not found a way to do that to YouTube or Philo. ROKU does not seem to have a method to do this across the board. When I hit the info button on my TV remote it lists 2160 rows but I cannot tell the different between that and 1080p or even much difference than 720p for that matter. I do not know if my feed is actually 2160 or if that is just what the TV says.

Unlimited data takes me from $50/month to $100, so trying to avoid that. I only set up ROKU part way through the month but my data is at around 500GB already. My wife had been turning the living room TV off with a different remote if that makes a difference. I asked her to exit the show to home and then turn the TV off with the ROKU remote. On the TVs that have ROKU sticks I have them plugged into the TVs USB port so when the TV is off they are not streaming. She likes to sleep with the bedroom TV on so I have to enhance that behavior by convincing her she will sleep better with it off.

 

[CMV]

How Easy Is It to Burn Through a 1TB Data Cap? - Consumer Reports

Here's an interesting article on what it takes to break a 1TB data cap.

 

[MAD777]

How Easy Is It to Burn Through a 1TB Data Cap? - Consumer Reports

Here's an interesting article on what it takes to break a 1TB data cap.

Be sure to read the Comme ts after the article. It seams lots of people go over 1tb if they have multiple kids that game.

 

[thekkfan]

So you have the antenna feeding into a preamp, then feeding into a Tablo which feeds into your house network? Does the Tablo not have the ability to pull in the stations? Or did you add the preamp first? Or because the antenna is in the attic?

Sorry, didn't see you question til now.

My antenna is in attic. Preamp attached but powered in my laundry room distribution panel. Out of the preamp into a 6 way house amp/splitter (with 0 gain/0 loss per leg- very important to not overdrive or lose.) Similar to this...Advanced residential 8 way cable amplifier SV-A15-8PRS-I zero db loss | eBay

Then I go out to multiple TV tuners AND to the room that my Tablo is located-which I made sure is the shortest run in the house.

So on some TVs I can watch the integrated tuner, or I can hit the Tablo app and watch live or what I've recorded. I have one in my garage with no tuner, so Tablo is my only choice for OTA.

This setup has come from alot of trial and error and signal level comparison with THIS antenna. Everything plays a part in preamp and distro selection. Every drop length, antenna style, distance from towers, objects/mountains between. Alot of testing most people arent willing to endure.

 

[thekkfan]

Be sure to read the Comme ts after the article. It seams lots of people go over 1tb if they have multiple kids that game.

Lol, they should take two months internet bill and buy those lazy kids a push mower. And next they'll wonder why the have no socialization skills, blah, blah, blah.....

Here's an idea, if the kids think they need that much data, let them work it off or pay part of the bill. That's what I did/do with my daughters' cell phones.