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Cable/Sat services/cutting the cord/options and opinions.
This thread has 10 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Saturday June 28, 2014 at 16:54
Hi-FiGuy
Super Member
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So TWC just jacked my bill up to $275.00 because they can. We have currently cable/phone/internet/alarm with them. Alarm only has contract.

The ONLY reason I have kept them is fast internet, over 100Mbps stable all day long, month to month no contract billing and I think dishes are ugly.

I am officially over it and will do dish/fios or cut the cord, not sure which way I am going.

My questions to yall are,
1. Who do you prefer and why
2. Who has the best PQ
3. Who has the best SQ
4. Who has the fastest internet outside cable.
5. Who has good Cust Service. :)
6. Who has best DVR Multi-Channel recording options.

I am currently in So Cal.
Post 2 made on Saturday June 28, 2014 at 17:01
Easton Altree
Founding Member
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July 2001
930
DirecTV!!!!!!

We advise our clients to use DirecTV for picture and Crapcast for broadband whenever possible.  Dishes can be obscured pretty well if you are creative.  I actually like to get them near or on the ground if possible, makes for easier servicing and hiding with landscaping. 
Post 3 made on Saturday June 28, 2014 at 17:11
iimig
Senior Member
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1,154
1. I prefer cable internet from our local provider, and for TV, Netflix combined with OTA because I'm cheap and not very discriminating. Internet is $40 for 25mbps and Netflix $8. OTA is free obviously, all 6-7 major networks in HD plus some subchannels. No landline phone at this time, but if I needed one I would do Ooma.

2. Surprisingly, OTA has been proven to have the best picture quality. But besides that, without any scientific proof, I think DirecTV might have the best PQ.

3. I have no idea but I bet it's not cable

4. Don't know enough about your region to answer correctly. Seems like it would be a fiber based provider though.

5. We are fortunate enough to have a good local cable ISP that has good customer service

6. I personally think it's DirecTV

Last edited by iimig on June 28, 2014 22:02.
The less I say, the smarter I will appear
Post 4 made on Saturday June 28, 2014 at 17:57
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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30,104
On June 28, 2014 at 16:54, Hi-FiGuy said...
I am currently in So Cal.

I can get you 1 Mbps from Verizon, and that's their top speed.

Whereabouts are you in SoCal?
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
OP | Post 5 made on Saturday June 28, 2014 at 20:31
Hi-FiGuy
Super Member
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[Link: speedtest.net]


OC SB county line
OP | Post 6 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 14:34
Hi-FiGuy
Super Member
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So in examination of my cable bill I noticed not only am I paying $13 a month for my DVR, I am paying $13 a month for "DVR Service".

My assumption on this is if I get Tivo I will still have to pay this service fee?

Anyone with experience with Tivo on TWC and this situation.
Post 7 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 15:04
Audiophiliac
Super Member
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3,309
I know my cable co. will still charge the DVR service fee, but not the DVR lease fee. But they did charge $3 or so a month for leasing the cable cards in my Tivo when I had it going. So I really only saved about $7 or $8/month. But it was more than worth it not having to deal with the cruddy old motorola boxes and nasty GUI that came with them. :)

I have been OTA/streaming only for a few years now and have not looked back. The one thing I do miss is watching F1. But torrents are usually available several hours after a race and I can normally have them downloaded within 8-10 hours. :)

I was amazed how much TV we watched when we had Tivo and cable service. I am glad we got rid of it. I can go days now without watching a single show on the TV. My kids have taken it over anyway.
"When I eat, it is the food that is scared." - Ron Swanson
OP | Post 8 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 15:26
Hi-FiGuy
Super Member
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Could you expand on your streaming, if different than Netflix/vudu and your torrents process
Post 9 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 15:34
Anthony
Ultimate Member
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On June 28, 2014 at 16:54, Hi-FiGuy said...


Take this with a grain of salt since I don't live in your neighbourhood and things might be different there

1. Who do you prefer and why

tough question, for one it is not precise enough (internet, phone, TV...) and even if it is TV PQ/SQ are answered below but cable/sat/fios has a larger selection

I like a POT phone line over VOIP since POT won't be affected if there is no power if the internet is down.

I like fios for TV
Internet is less of an issue since it is all about the package but I have fios since I have it for the TV as well.

I think OTA needs to be part of any TV solution because of quality

2. Who has the best PQ

at least from my available choices
OTA> Fios> Sat> cable

and OTA should be higher everywhere. In the end the rest use the OTA signal (for OTA shows) and then compress it more so they can have more channels.


3. Who has the best SQ

more or less equal

4. Who has the fastest internet outside cable.

tough question since it will really depend on the package and the provider more than tech.


5. Who has good Cust Service. :)

nobody :)

6. Who has best DVR Multi-Channel recording options.

tough call.

for example

Fios has a multi-channel (more than 2 channels) multi-room (watch what is recorded in different rooms, start it in one and continue in other) recording, but the bad is that the number of HD feeds is more limited (play or watch) so you might be stuck recording or watching some shows in SD, also to watch a recorded show the internet must work.

Cable here now has some 2 tuner PVRs that can be daisy chained and accessed by the terminals from other TVs so if you want to be able to record 1 show while watching a show on that TV one PVR and terminals for the other TVs will do the job, but if you want to be able to record 3 shows you will need two PVRs and the rest could be less expensive terminals

OTA is a lot harder since unlike a BDU service you are not locked down to specific equipment and it is all over the place.
...
Post 10 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 18:36
Audiophiliac
Super Member
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3,309
On June 29, 2014 at 15:26, Hi-FiGuy said...
Could you expand on your streaming, if different than Netflix/vudu and your torrents process

Netflix/Hulu mostly. I have Roku and there are several channels with some stuff worth watching. NRA has a channel, PBS, a couple of live concert channels, etc.

As far as torrents of the F1 races go, there are 2 places I go to search for them on the day of the race. 50/50 which one has a proper torrent up first. I download them using Bittorrent and then currently, I move the Mac Mini to the TV and connect and watch. I want to get an AppleTV so I can just send it via airplay. I did try Plex but for some reason I cannot get Roku to see the server on the Mac. It works great from my windows machine. No time to figure that out yet. My next NAS upgrade will be to a beefier Synology unit that has the right processor to run a Plex server with transcoding. Then I can just send the files to the NAS, and play them from the Plex channel on Roku. I am sure there are more seamless ways to accomplish all this, but it works fine for me.
"When I eat, it is the food that is scared." - Ron Swanson
Post 11 made on Sunday June 29, 2014 at 19:18
Chris L
Founding Member
Joined:
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October 2001
355
Tale a look here for OTA. [Link: antennaweb.org]


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