Internet TV for home?? Tired of paying Direct TV

[pawpawdiv9]

Guys i am tired of paying Direct Tv, thinking of getting rid of it and just use the internet for TV.
I need to know how and whys to it.
Like what channels i will have, as for Live news and sports.
I have been using the YouTube for other stuff.
And to note, if i get rid of AT&T and Direct TV, that will mean no landline phone as well.
Please give me help and idea or whatever to navigate toward this
Thanks ChrisM

[D. Bergin]

Buy a Roku device for 60-80 bucks, connect it to your TV through your internet connection, either direct wired or wirelessly, and then a-la-carte what channels you want. It also comes with an App Store with a bunch of free streaming channels, if you don’t mind watching commercials.

If you want Live TV, you’ll have to pay for some sort of plan for that however.

[bnorth]

I prefer the Amazon Firestick. Live TV is limited but there are 1000s of free channels. You do need a Amazon account. The free one works you don't need a Prime account.

Most of the sports apps have free games. I watch free baseball on the MLB app regularly.

[pawpawdiv9]

I have 3 smart tv's
and was messing around the buttons on the remote...
one was Pluto...which i found is free and has many channels.
and of course there Free TV button on it as well, which does have my local news on it.
but was not live streamed.
Thinking of getting a antenna for the main tv downstairs for my local news.
as thats what we mainly watch after dinner.
So looking at dropping the Direct TV and keeping the AT&T internet and phone

We do watch SportsCenter in the mornings and Nascar races on the weekends and college football when it starts up, so not sure if we be able to get those or not.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

I have 3 smart tv's
and was messing around the buttons on the remote...
one was Pluto...which i found is free and has many channels.
and of course there Free TV button on it as well, which does have my local news on it.
but was not live streamed.
Thinking of getting a antenna for the main tv downstairs for my local news.
as thats what we mainly watch after dinner.
So looking at dropping the Direct TV and keeping the AT&T internet and phone

We do watch SportsCenter in the mornings and Nascar races on the weekends and college football when it starts up, so not sure if we be able to get those or not.

Pluto is nice. They also have stuff on demand. My favorite is 7 years of the SCL. Tubi, Crackle, Freevee, PBS, and Plex are also nice. Plus there are many many more. You can find most anything you want for free. We also use an antenna for local news.

[Schlesinj]

We have HuluLive for around 4 years and never had any issues. Love the fact you can pay for unlimited screens option especially with larger families. Great for college football as well.

I went with Hulu over YouTube. You can also buy Redzone as an add on during football season.

Most people cut the cord to save money, but I doubt that it will save people money in the long run.

[sthoemke]

We are also cancelling AT&T cable. Cost is getting rediculous. The lame Family Plan is up to over $140/mo

Anyone know what streaming services (preferably free) have the following shows/channels?

- History Channel
- AMC (Walking Dead shows)
- Major networks (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX) news mainly
- Wrestling shows (Basically WWE Raw/Smackdown and AEW, or others)

Also, just bought a Rabbit TV stick (5,000 Internet channels) to stream on computer, but haven't tried it yet. (cost was about $10 off ebay - 1 year of service).

Downloaded the Pluto App to a tablet, but haven't used it. I think there is some way to cast to a TV, but haven't tried to figure it out.

Might just stream content off of YouTube.

[LuckyLarry]

Chris: You will not be able to watch NASCAR unless it's on regular FOX or NBC. If you are close to a metro area you may be able to pick up these "over the air" major networks to watch some of the races. If close to a major metro with old school broadcast TV, purchase a digital TV antenna that you run up a mast on the side of your house like we did when we were kids. I think you need a new antenna digital because the networks broadcast a digital signal that old antennas won't pick up.

Also for the other NASCAR races not on NBC or FOX MRN (motor racing network) or PRN (performance racing network) stream the audio from the race and I kind of like that listening to the race on the radio. The next day NASCAR. YouTube recaps the race 10-15 minutes on their free YouTube channel.

MLB app on your smart TV streams one free game a day unless you are close to the team you get blacked out.

I cut the cord several years ago. I do not subscribe to any channels (Netflix Hulu etc etc none of them).

Larry

[LuckyLarry]

I live out in the country and the only cell service that works is Verizon. They have a tower right down the road. For years the only internet available was through my land-line telephone using Windstream which changed recently to Kinetic. My cell phone bill was about $70 a month and internet was $80 a month.

Then Verizon sent me a card offering $50 a month internet with a $10 a month veterans discount. The only thing holding me back was I was concerned about changing my email address which was ///////@windstream.net for 25 years But I got a Gmail account and took the bait. No real hiccups changing to Gmail.

As soon as I called Kinetic to cancel they immediately offered to reduce my bill which Im thinking why didn't you offer this five years ago. I lost my landline but I never used it anyway only for Kinetic internet.

So now Verizon cell phone and internet is $90 a month. I do not subscribe to any pay TV service. I watch free YouTube

Larry

[MooseDog]

I dumped DISH a year ago when the price kept going up, they kept losing channels and the final straw was when they couldn't reach an agreement to broadcast local sports (owned by Comcast). Looked into Comcast and in order to get similar service was ~$100/month. It's been quite an adventure trying to figure this all out...here's what I suggest.

1) Make a list of the channels that you regularly watch including local sports and whatever networks they are on.

2) Go to CordCutting.com and compare the services there with what you watch. What they have listed there are the streaming equivalents of cable/satellite. Expect to pay $35/75 month for that kind of service. All have free trials so you can test, which I would recommend as they don't have great user interfaces like you might be used to.

Depending on channels, you might be able to piece together a bunch of free apps and cheap services and save a bunch of money, but be aware there is going to be a learning curve. It's no longer "just turn on the TV and watch". Some channels offer free old shows but you have to pay something for the newest content. Some, like History don't let you watch the new content unless you subscribe to a carrier.

As someone mentioned earlier you can get a digital antenna to get local stations. I got a "flattenna" from Channel Master (lightweight and can tape to a window) that works quite well, although I'm in a major metro area, YMMV.

It's a mess, to be honest. I've actually found I watch less TV now and by SO has pretty much gone completely to YouTube for entertainment.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Schlesinj

We have HuluLive for around 4 years and never had any issues. Love the fact you can pay for unlimited screens option especially with larger families. Great for college football as well.



I went with Hulu over YouTube. You can also buy Redzone as an add on during football season.



Most people cut the cord to save money, but I doubt that it will save people money in the long run.

I purely stream. I have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ package. I use Prime for free shipping, so that is a freebie as far as I'm concerned. Netflix we occasionally drop throughout the year. My kids require Disney+ for their shows.

Twice a year I bump up my membership to Hulu to get HuluTV. It has March Madness and the baseball playoffs. Outside of March and October I don't get regular TV channels.

I tried YouTube TV once and it didn't have live sports so I dropped it before my 7 day trial lapsed.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

[bnorth]

For baseball fans I forgot to add the best part of the free MLB app. Every day they show every game from the previous day for free. It is in condensed form and they shrink a complete game down to 7-8 minutes. It is awesome because you can watch pretty much every meaningful play from every game in the same time or shorter than watching just one game live.

[Kaneen]

Originally Posted by todeen

I tried YouTube TV once and it didn't have live sports so I dropped it before my 7 day trial lapsed.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

Please elaborate...I've been a YouTubeTV subscriber for several years now since I dropped DirecTV, and I watch pretty much nothing but sports (live and recorded on their unlimited DVR). I'm confused by your comment...what live sports did they not have? My basic YouTubeTV package has live sports on:

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
CW
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS
SEC NET
BIG 10 NET
ACC NET
NFL NETWORK
NBA TV
GOLF CHANNEL
CBSSPORTS NET
FS1
FS2
TBS
TNT
USA

This year they did not reach an agreement to carry MLB Network, which kinda sucks, but I have the MLB Extra Innings package, so not as big a deal for me. They also don't have the regional sports network that carries my local home team games, but other than those 2 issues, I can't think of any live sports they don't have.

[jingram058]

Try Fubo TV. It's better than YouTube TV. Then add Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. You'll have all you'll ever need, including all the sports with the right Fubo choice.

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by Kaneen

Please elaborate...I've been a YouTubeTV subscriber for several years now since I dropped DirecTV, and I watch pretty much nothing but sports (live and recorded on their unlimited DVR). I'm confused by your comment...what live sports did they not have? My basic YouTubeTV package has live sports on:

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
CW
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS
SEC NET
BIG 10 NET
ACC NET
NFL NETWORK
NBA TV
GOLF CHANNEL
CBSSPORTS NET
FS1
FS2
TBS
TNT
USA

This year they did not reach an agreement to carry MLB Network, which kinda sucks, but I have the MLB Extra Innings package, so not as big a deal for me. They also don't have the regional sports network that carries my local home team games, but other than those 2 issues, I can't think of any live sports they don't have.

Thanks, this is the info i was kinda looking for.
and What is the cost $ for the basic package??

[Tom S.]

About 2 years ago, I got a Superbox 2 Pro for around $300. It gets all the local networks for about 100 cities throughout the US, along with all the channels you would expect to get on cable (ESPN, HBO, etc.) for FREE. I can also watch EVERY MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, and college football or basketball game for FREE. Live PPV events as well for FREE.

It also has about 10,000 FREE movies on demand to select from. Since it is an internet based device, you can download apps on it to be able to view movies that are current releases too.

The only drawback to the superbox is that it only works for one TV. If you have a home with multiple TV's, you would need to buy a superbox for each TV.

I believe that they are up to the Superbox 4 version now. In my opinion, it's the best $300 that I ever spent!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Tom S.

About 2 years ago, I got a Superbox 2 Pro for around $300. It gets all the local networks for about 100 cities throughout the US, along with all the channels you would expect to get on cable (ESPN, HBO, etc.) for FREE. I can also watch EVERY MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, and college football or basketball game for FREE. Live PPV events as well for FREE.

It also has about 10,000 FREE movies on demand to select from. Since it is an internet based device, you can download apps on it to be able to view movies that are current releases too.

The only drawback to the superbox is that it only works for one TV. If you have a home with multiple TV's, you would need to buy a superbox for each TV.

I believe that they are up to the Superbox 4 version now. In my opinion, it's the best $300 that I ever spent!

What app are you running for all the free sports/ppv events? KODI? I used to have the same thing using a Firestick.

[pawpawdiv9]

^^^ This seems very interesting, THANKS! i will look into this for sure.

[Schlesinj]

One thing about live sports trying to work around the system is going to get harder and harder IMO. Teams are selling games off to various separate companies. Good example is the Yankees (I live in PA) if you want to watch every game you will need to subscribe to MLB.tv (most games), Appletv+, Prime, ESPN (part of my HuluLive). I guess Yes too, if I did not have MLBTv.

If you are paying attention the latest from Disney, ESPN seems to be in the middle ground of what to do next. They have ESPN+ and have been tied to cable forever. It still makes them money, but not what it did. I suspect in the near future we will see something like ESPN++, where you are getting the regular channel.

Direct TV lost Sunday Ticket to the highest bidder, so now we have people shifting to the next owner.

Redzone good enough for me along with the “local” games on HuluLive.

I would not say I really “cut the cord” like some people with rabbit ears.

[Tom S.]

Originally Posted by bnorth

What app are you running for all the free sports/ppv events? KODI? I used to have the same thing using a Firestick.

You don't need an app for the sports/PPV events - it's all built into the device. The app that I downloaded was for streaming movies (some of which can be current releases).

Check out their website here: https://superboxtv.shop/

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by Tom S.

You don't need an app for the sports/PPV events - it's all built into the device. The app that I downloaded was for streaming movies (some of which can be current releases).

Check out their website here: https://superboxtv.shop/

I been looking at some reviews, it sounds like it 'freezes' up from time to time?? Is that a issue you have or is it more the wifi speed??
Before i spend 300+ (on 3 tvs=900+) i am researching this quite a bit.
Also, i found another device:
VIDIA Shield Pro which is less than half of the price of Superbox.
I'll have to check it out.

[Tom S.]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

I been looking at some reviews, it sounds like it 'freezes' up from time to time?? Is that a issue you have or is it more the wifi speed??
Before i spend 300+ (on 3 tvs=900+) i am researching this quite a bit.
Also, i found another device:
VIDIA Shield Pro which is less than half of the price of Superbox.
I'll have to check it out.

Mine (version 2) does freeze up on occasion. I don't know why it happens - maybe it's because of a lagging internet connection or something. It's possible that the newer versions (3 or 4) have fixed the problem.

It still beats losing my former DirecTV signal whenever a heavy rain or snowstorm would take place...

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Kaneen

Please elaborate...I've been a YouTubeTV subscriber for several years now since I dropped DirecTV, and I watch pretty much nothing but sports (live and recorded on their unlimited DVR). I'm confused by your comment...what live sports did they not have? My basic YouTubeTV package has live sports on:



ABC

CBS

NBC

FOX

CW

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNEWS

SEC NET

BIG 10 NET

ACC NET

NFL NETWORK

NBA TV

GOLF CHANNEL

CBSSPORTS NET

FS1

FS2

TBS

TNT

USA



This year they did not reach an agreement to carry MLB Network, which kinda sucks, but I have the MLB Extra Innings package, so not as big a deal for me. They also don't have the regional sports network that carries my local home team games, but other than those 2 issues, I can't think of any live sports they don't have.

It was 2018 or 2019 when I tried it for March Madness. I follow Gonzaga. Whatever partner channel they were placed on forthe first round was not on YouTube and I couldn't watch them. So then I had to subscribe to HuluTV. Luckily I had the 7 day trial and I canceled.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

[Kaneen]

Originally Posted by todeen

It was 2018 or 2019 when I tried it for March Madness. I follow Gonzaga. Whatever partner channel they were placed on forthe first round was not on YouTube and I couldn't watch them. So then I had to subscribe to HuluTV. Luckily I had the 7 day trial and I canceled.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

I can't speak to how it was in 2018/19, but YouTubeTV definitely has all the networks that air March Madness now (CBS, TBS, TNT, & TRU). In addition, this past year for March Madness they offered a split screen option where you could watch 2 games at once, or all 4 games that were being aired at the same time. If you have a large screen TV, it was like watching the action in your own sports bar...it was a great feature for bracket junkies!

[pawpawdiv9]

Update:
Cutting the cord on AT&T and direct tv
Bought 3 Roku devices
And T-Mobile gateway
Trying them out before the cord is cut

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

Update:
Cutting the cord on AT&T and direct tv
Bought 3 Roku devices
And T-Mobile gateway
Trying them out before the cord is cut

Nice, let us know how you like them. It's also a learning curve on using them to their fullest potential. So the longer you have them the more you will like it in my experience.

What Roku model(s) did you buy? I found the more expensive ones with more internal memory work best. There is so much Free stuff the little stick versions run out of memory.

[pawpawdiv9]

1 was the premium one which was a Xmas deal but
May be discontinued which is a basic remote
But after learning that
Went with the voice command one which I only
Need 1 remote for tv
That’s what the other gets
Now these are not sticks but small box
Plugs into hdmi and the small box
Sticks to bottom of tv to point
Remote at & has power cord from it
So far I been exploring apps and live tv
Still have YouTube as I did before on
My smart tvs
Still got to see if sports center is on it or something
Else
And my nascar and college channels

[pawpawdiv9]

Didnt like it already...decided to go YouTube Live, since we were already accustom to Youtube. For 72.99 (1st 3 months are 62.99) still a huge savings from what it was.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

Didnt like it already...decided to go YouTube Live, since we were already accustom to Youtube. For 72.99 (1st 3 months are 62.99) still a huge savings from what it was.

What part don't you like?

[pawpawdiv9]

Not having live news which is important
Roku streaming just gave news that was
4 hrs ago
The movies was ok

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

Not having live news which is important
Roku streaming just gave news that was
4 hrs ago
The movies was ok

Did you ever add an antenna to get the local stuff? I don't care about the news so I have never looked for it. I see a lot of different "local news" listed on a lot of different free apps but have never checked them out to see who they are really local to.

[pawpawdiv9]

i looked into the antenna, but we are far away from Atlanta and in the wooded area too.
Theres a site, where you type in your area and shows what channels you get.
I think its called 'channelmaster'..and did not show any local stations we watch, since they are HQ in Atlanta.
Yeah, you can get the local channels on the Apps, which we did...but they are recorded
from like 4+ hours before. So for example @ 6pm...you be watchin the Noon news.
So that was not great for us.
The movies were somewhat good, not any new stuff tho. If you want 'free' than that it.
Stream all you want.
I think we are satisfied now & cut the bill in half+

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

i looked into the antenna, but we are far away from Atlanta and in the wooded area too.
Theres a site, where you type in your area and shows what channels you get.
I think its called 'channelmaster'..and did not show any local stations we watch, since they are HQ in Atlanta.
Yeah, you can get the local channels on the Apps, which we did...but they are recorded
from like 4+ hours before. So for example @ 6pm...you be watchin the Noon news.
So that was not great for us.
The movies were somewhat good, not any new stuff tho. If you want 'free' than that it.
Stream all you want.
I think we are satisfied now & cut the bill in half+

Nice, that is all that matters. I also use a site that shows what channels and direction you need to point your antenna when out camping.