Direct TV alternative

[liv2ski]

I know there are threads on this, but the streaming landscape is constantly changing and the Googlez searches didn't share the wisdom of the maggots, so help me out.

I am ready to send my Direct TV receiver back as it shit the bed last night and the tech support guy annoyed me. That said here is my situation. We mostly watch HBO, Showtime and some football in the fall. Now that BBC has killed off Top Gear we only watch Graham Norton. My cable router isn't the fastest (fuck you Time Warner) and is in the back office, so the wifi signal where the TV / DVD player are blows. I can have TW run another cable to the TV area, but do I need another router box from them or can I just connect it to Roku or some other such device?

I think HBO is offering stand alone service now and Mrs L2S has a Netflix subscription, so what else do I need to get? An antenna for local channels (any suggestions) maybe a new box to get my programming on the TV (what would you suggest)? I do like some of the Showtime series and I don't know how I will get those. What else am I missing here?

Thanks for your suggestions. I am giving Direct TV $150 a month now, so spending a little money to get the right setup is fine.

[Garth Bimble]

Can't answer all your questions but as far as ROKU is concerned:

You can get HBO GO for the ROKU but you need a SlingTV subscription also. Sling is $20/month and HBO GO is $15. Sling has an offer right now that if you prepay for 3 months you get a ROKU stick for free and they usually cost $49, so you save some that way. Showtime doesn't have a freestanding streaming service yet, but it's coming and I expect soon. As far as signal to the ROKU goes, I have my router in a back office also and have no problems with it. Pretty sure you're not locked into the router that TW provided, if yours is slow go get a faster one, that's what I did with the one Comcast provided me. Depending on where you live an antenna is a viable alternative for local channels. I don't use one but I've messed around with them and the HD ones get a high quality picture/sound if you live fairly close to the source.

I haven't tried any of the other streaming options (amazon/google/etc) but I really like the ROKU. It hasn't allowed me to get rid of DTV yet, but I can see it happening down the road. Because it's open sourced, you can get a shit pot of programming for it, some of it's meh but some is pretty cool, including free pron. Definitely worth the $49.

[stuckathuntermtn]

HBO go/now, Netflix, Amazon Prime. Take you pick. Shit, all 3 and a high speed internet connection are still less than adding cable on, especially with all the premium channels. If you want sports, I think a lot of them can come in on rabbit ears.
If you have the internet, you don't need to pay for cable/satellite.

[Cruiser]

A wireless range extender is probably worth considering if you're not satisfied with your WiFi coverage. They're not without some issues but it's a worthwhile tradeoff in our house at least.

[Tippster]

Just run a Cat 5 cable to your Roku box.

[hutash]

...or move the cable/router to somewhere in the middle of the house where it can cover everything.

[Tippster]

Your Roku will still stream better with a hard line connection than via WiFi.

[Garth Bimble]

Your Roku will still stream better with a hard line connection than via WiFi.

No doubt but FWIW the ROKU stick doesn't have an ethernet connection, only wireless. OP might want to keep that in mind.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Your cable internet connection is probably pretty fast. Wired I'm downloading at over 60mbps (and I live in Montana, for fuck's sake). Wireless, I'm at about 20. The problem isn't the cable company, obviously.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to www.speedtest.net.

[DasBlunt]

i love eating pussy...

[liv2ski]

My wife really likes watching Graham Norton and I can not find a service that offers this seasons shows. Tried a Torrent download, big fucking mistake. Computer got loaded with Malware. I am on run #4 with Malware Bytes trying to clean the computer. I don't know if I can get all this shit off. Fuck me.

Thinking of going with the Mid tier Roku and ordered a range extender. Found an internal antenna for local channels that has good reviews, so I will pick that up at best buy. Signed up for Hulu plus and will likely go with the Sling TV so I can have HBO.

[frorider]

/smug

[Garth Bimble]

Here's a site with some private channels for the ROKU. Not sure how up to date it is but I pulled some interesting stuff off of it a while back. Haven't checked it recently though.

http://mkvxstream.blogspot.com/2013/...u-channel.html

Have fun...

[Tippster]

No doubt but FWIW the ROKU stick doesn't have an ethernet connection, only wireless. OP might want to keep that in mind.

So don't get the stick.

[MTT]

I like my 60$ Antenna Very nice. I have a couple of Smart TV's but if I could do it again it would be a cheap PC with an HDMI input to the unsmarted no WiFi flat screen.

Between Antenna, Hulu Netflix and Amazon prime I can watch shit till I explode.

[RShea]

To expand the internet connection instead of having to rely on wifi, you may also want to check out the power line adapters. They use your electrical circuit to run ethernet data for around $40 for the pair. Also if a device needs to be wifi- consider a newer dual band router (AC series).

[SB]

I like my 60$ Antenna Very nice. I have a couple of Smart TV's but if I could do it again it would be a cheap PC with an HDMI input to the unsmarted no WiFi flat screen.

Between Antenna, Hulu Netflix and Amazon prime I can watch shit till I explode.

this

[that dude who did that thing]

Just made the switch myself. Antenna is bringing in about 15 channels (plus 3 or 4 more in Spanish which I don't speak). Wife bought the antenna at Costco. On Hulu Plus I'm actually watching a bunch of shows that were on the basic cable package I had, but which I never bothered to watch in first run. And Netflix and Amazon Prime provide plenty of alternatives.

I haven't yet gone searching for the limited sports I watch (some bike racing in spring and summer, soccer) and I suppose I will miss, just a little, tuning into random sporting events just because they happen to be on (why else would you watch lumberjack contests). The wife was resistant to the change because she's a huge Steelers fan, but I've promised to take her to the local bar that shows every Steelers game as often as necessary.

Our change is pretty substantial, dropped DirecTV (including Sunday Ticket), dropped our landline, bumped up our internet speed, and we're going to go from $250 a mo. to $30 a month for the next six months, and goes up a little bit after that.

[liv2ski]

Our change is pretty substantial, dropped DirecTV (including Sunday Ticket), dropped our landline, bumped up our internet speed, and we're going to go from $250 a mo. to $30 a month for the next six months, and goes up a little bit after that.

Wait, your saying $30 a month includes your internet service? Fucking Time Warner charges me $65 for 15Mbps speed

[tank3467]

I have a Roku 3 and it is great. Of course it helps that I had someone willing to share their cable password. This gives me access to streaming ESPN, History channel, A&E, HBO GO, SHowtime anytime, and just added NBC sports, I also pay for android and netflix. The best streaming device is a google chromecast, I love this thing and own two. Its 35 dollars and fantastic. I can use my phone to stream netflix, hbogo, watch espn, and many more straight to the tv, even MLB.TV. The best part is the not so legal channels. TV portal, HD cinema, show box all android apps that are not completely legal but are fantastic with the chromecast. Movies and pretty much all tv shows (the day after episodes are on tv), pick the show and cast to chromecast. You also have the option of casting any tab from google straight to your tv. Just need a decent wifi connection, and chromecast is the best thing for cable cutter. If you can find any sports streaming on the internet, just cast it to the tv and your watching it.

[liv2ski]

Well, I am in buffering hell due to my shitty Time Warner cable speed. Guess they and Direct TV have me over a barrel.