Cutting the cable cord

[riser4]

One thing to know about Directv stream--you buy the device for each TV at $30 per, if it breaks you buy another one. And with Fidium--you don't have to use their router if you already have a good one and that saves some money. With cable internet we had a router and an extender and still lousy wireless in parts of the house. Fidium gave us a mesh system with 3 devices. Much better coverage in the house.

Which is why I am considering YouTube TV. Dirtbag question: can you access everything for DirecTV stream using a PC without their devices? If so do they require you to buy at least one? Because

Regarding the router, funny you mention that, local facecrack page has folks who switched to Fidium and went back Xfinity because, are you ready for it? The wifi signal didn't cover their whole house. Snicker.

Meanwhile I'm stuck waiting for them to start connecting people at my end of the street. Any week now, so they say.

[smmokan]

People who think they can save real money on this shit and still get what they want are delusional. Maybe five years ago. These companies have it all figured out, and they're smarter than you.

It’s not hard. We have Max for $9.99 a month, Peacock for $4.99/mo and Paramount+ for $4.99/mo. Occasionally we add Netflix for a little bit for $10/mo if they have anything new. Then add PBS for free, the local news app for free, and ESPN with my parents’ login. So we’re paying $20/mo most of the time and it covers just about everything (caveat, I don’t care about most live sports).

[riser4]

What does Max offer?

[smmokan]

It’s Discovery & HBO together… lots of good series and original programming. Better than Netflix these days, IMO.

[yeahman]

It’s not hard. We have Max for $9.99 a month, Peacock for $4.99/mo and Paramount+ for $4.99/mo. Occasionally we add Netflix for a little bit for $10/mo if they have anything new. Then add PBS for free, the local news app for free, and ESPN with my parents’ login. So we’re paying $20/mo most of the time and it covers just about everything (caveat, I don’t care about most live sports).

When I read this I think thanks for proving my point.

[lowsparkco]

Anyone ever used Speedify or another service or equipment to “bond” two types of internet connections?

A friend works remotely using a lot of video conferencing. He’s considering a move, but there’s no fiber optic or coax at the road. Current residents are using Starlink with success, but his boss is saying others in their organization not so much. We’re thinking there’s decent access to 4G that could be “bonded” together with Starlink to mimic a high speed low latency connection. Any experience? Thoughts?

[jackattack]

Router/firewalls that support multiple connections will have basic failover at a minimum. Most have the ability to create routing policies to direct specific traffic to either internet connection. In your friends case, I would think starlink should be the primary with a 4g failover.

That said, starlink does switch satellites regularly and if I was concerned about maintaining reliable video conferencing connections I would stick with hardline.

[riser4]

I think the idea is for the upstream traffic to be on the lower latency network.

[RShea]

Anyone ever used Speedify or another service or equipment to “bond” two types of internet connections?

A friend works remotely using a lot of video conferencing. He’s considering a move, but there’s no fiber optic or coax at the road. Current residents are using Starlink with success, but his boss is saying others in their organization not so much. We’re thinking there’s decent access to 4G that could be “bonded” together with Starlink to mimic a high speed low latency connection. Any experience? Thoughts?

I would not hold up hope, but have not used Speedify before. The best bonding is from the same ISP and they do the combined connection. The services are basically taking 2 different data streams at possibly different packet levels and trying to resolve the 2 different IP addresses and maybe other issues with a VPN type of activity. But he could give it a try and see how it works for a month or so.

[lowsparkco]

I agree it’s a tall task and I’m no computer whiz.

As I understand it you have it right, RShea, it’s packet by packet running through a VPN to maximize the transmission speed.

Router or other equipment can balance the data stream sending different operations or demands from machines through different connections, but can’t necessarily detect the latency differences and route through the faster connection. I keep hearing that Starlink is stable enough that as rare as it chokes you don’t really need an alternative.

[old goat]

Which is why I am considering YouTube TV. Dirtbag question: can you access everything for DirecTV stream using a PC without their devices? If so do they require you to buy at least one? Because

Regarding the router, funny you mention that, local facecrack page has folks who switched to Fidium and went back Xfinity because, are you ready for it? The wifi signal didn't cover their whole house. Snicker.

Meanwhile I'm stuck waiting for them to start connecting people at my end of the street. Any week now, so they say.

Reading Directv's site it sounds like you can watch on a device or PC anywhere but it's not clear if you can watch the full range of programming or limited content. I haven't tried. With Fidium, if you use their equipment you get up to three routers for the price. Ours works fine in a 2 story 2700 sf house--wood lath and plaster downstairs, drywall upstairs. Small rooms.

[liv2ski]

Happy to say I finally got to tell Spectrum to fuck off after being held captive by them and Time Warner (previously) due to their monopoly of my area. Got an email from T Mobile 5G internet was available for my home two weeks ago (praise baby jeezuz). I immediately signed up and I am saving $100 a month Works great!

[evdog]

Awesome ^^^

I tried Verizon 5g home Internet earlier this year and was disappointed. At times it was fast enough, other times websites would load very slow. I seem to be in a dead spot for cell service, have to connect cell phone via wifi at home to make data usable. Would have been nice to tell Cox to fuck off. I complain about their price but their speed is great.

[liv2ski]

Maybe contact T-Mobile and ask them how close you are to a 5G Tower as the guy told me they just put one in three blocks away from me so my speed is really good.

[RShea]

So one more comment to follow up about the 2 different internet providers and trying to bond them into 1 faster single stream. Their is one newer way to possibly do that- it is now regularly considered for businesses that need to have really high uptime. Set up an SDWan appliance that handles the dual Wan connection and manages the tunneling of the data. Velocloud and many of the Business Router companies now have products to do the SD-Wan configuration. New appliances are really pretty pricey and licensing is usually required that can really be pricey also. Used equipment is out there now, but again may require annual licensing to work still also. Since Velocloud is a VMWare product, used to be owned by Dell, but was sold to Broadcom and Broadcom really Jacked up their pricing making it unaffordable to many small business type of users....

[nickwm21]

Who has an upgraded antenna setup?

I currently have the slim / indoor / cheap antenna’s taped to the back of our TVs and get two dozen channels - signal is ok but periodically drops off on some key channels.

I’m looking at putting a legit antenna in the attic and utilizing one of these TV receivers to WiFi devices to send the signal to our TVs like a HDHomerun or Tablo.

Thoughts? Would I see a real improvement? Any device suggestions?


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[Iowagriz]

I've had the same thoughts on upgrading the antenna. Also, I was wondering if you do the nicely powered attic version and then tap into the cable input to the house line. Would that allow the antenna signals to go to each tv via the normal cable outlets? Seems like it should be that easy.

[singlesline]

Who has an upgraded antenna setup?

I currently have the slim / indoor / cheap antenna’s taped to the back of our TVs and get two dozen channels - signal is ok but periodically drops off on some key channels.

I’m looking at putting a legit antenna in the attic and utilizing one of these TV receivers to WiFi devices to send the signal to our TVs like a HDHomerun or Tablo.

Thoughts? Would I see a real improvement? Any device suggestions?


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Tablo kinda sucks. It works but I think other tuner solutions would be better. But it is a simple single box solution (with mini usb thumb drive for DVR storage) and you can make do without the subscription.

I haven’t been able to get my antenna sorted since moving…but a big antenna is definitely better than those slim ones.

[nickwm21]

[emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji640][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]][emoji637]]Tablo kinda sucks. It works but I think other tuner solutions would be better. But it is a simple single box solution (with mini usb thumb drive for DVR storage) and you can make do without the subscription.

I haven’t been able to get my antenna sorted since moving…but a big antenna is definitely better than those slim ones.

Thanks HDHomerun looks like the device I need…



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[nickwm21]

I've had the same thoughts on upgrading the antenna. Also, I was wondering if you do the nicely powered attic version and then tap into the cable input to the house line. Would that allow the antenna signals to go to each tv via the normal cable outlets? Seems like it should be that easy.

If I had already had coax routed in the house - I would have already done this. I’m no expert but these attic antennas are pretty cheap, it should work like you say and if it doesn’t you probably just need another cheap device (amplifier? Tuner? Etc…) between the antenna and the TVs…


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[Touring_Sedan]

Which is why I am considering YouTube TV. Dirtbag question: can you access everything for DirecTV stream using a PC without their devices? If so do they require you to buy at least one? Because

Regarding the router, funny you mention that, local facecrack page has folks who switched to Fidium and went back Xfinity because, are you ready for it? The wifi signal didn't cover their whole house. Snicker.

Meanwhile I'm stuck waiting for them to start connecting people at my end of the street. Any week now, so they say.

I've been using a HD Homerun for a number of years. They're great if you're willing to do a little bit of setup and tinkering. I have mine paired with PLEX to act as my DVR. There's a HD Homerun app in the Roku ecosphere and you can do most of the configuration on the unit with the Android or iOS apps.

[Flounder]

I tried an attic antenna in the garage when we first cut the cord. Couldn’t pick up one set of local channels and ended up with an antenna on the garage roof. Works great. I have an older generation Tablo that we used for local tv and Sling for cable channels. Sling’s reliability dropped last year and we ditched it all for YouTube TV. Still have the Tablo but don’t really use it now, just one weekend when YT had audio issues on their local channels.