Cord cutting revisited

[Cheeks]

I’ve got the opposite issue, my man. In fact, on the toilet right now.

It won’t.

[Cheeks]

Can any of you nerdbaits help explain if and how having Fiber internet would impact streaming?

I may soon have Xfinity fiber and may go to YouTubeTV or another streaming service.. will the lag still be CRAZY for live sports (crazy = 15 seconds)?

Will having Fiber make a big difference in doing anything for me???

It won’t.

The latency of streaming comes from how video is distributed via the Internet, which is is to say it was never designed to do that.  The lives sports feed has to be digitized into a specific codec, hopping along the bunny trail over the various networks (CDNs) until it arrives ultimately to your device where it is utilized in the format that device can handle (bit rate, screen size, resolution, etc).

Tons of variability in that process, and you last part of that connection will likely make little to no difference.

The variability

[MUfan12]

Looking at kicking Spectrum completely. ATT is offering 300 Mbps at a better price with a 1TB data cap. The one thing holding me back is the data cap.

If we're streaming on two TVs (one far more than the other), while also working from home a couple days per week, will we have to worry about it?

[🏀]

Looking at kicking Spectrum completely. ATT is offering 300 Mbps at a better price with a 1TB data cap. The one thing holding me back is the data cap.

If we're streaming on two TVs (one far more than the other), while also working from home a couple days per week, will we have to worry about it?

You’re totally fine.

[mu_hilltopper]

Looking at kicking Spectrum completely. ATT is offering 300 Mbps at a better price with a 1TB data cap. The one thing holding me back is the data cap.

If we're streaming on two TVs (one far more than the other), while also working from home a couple days per week, will we have to worry about it?

A year ago, AT&T Fiber came to my neighborhood.  I have the 100/100 1TB data cap plan.    I had the same concern you did, thinking my family of 4 was going to hit the 1TB number.

We stream TV .. kids watch Youtube all the time. 

AT&T will show your daily data consumption, and for the first month I watched it like a hawk.  Figured our "data budget" was 33 gigs per day.   Turned out we only exceeded 33 maybe 3 times per month .. we've never hit 500 gigs for the month. 

So .. rest easy.

AT&T's current fiber plan is a 12-month promotion, 100 up/100 down for $50/month. With taxes it's $52. In a year, that'll go to $62/month.

Toast.net resells AT&T fiber. Same fiber, same company, it's just resold under the Toast.net brand.

Toast.net has a 60/60 plan for $45 a month with NO DATA CAP. It doesn't say it's any sort of promotion, so the rate doesn't expire.


I'm a network guy .. I would recommend the lowest plan -- 60 or 100 is absolutely plenty of bandwidth -- and they overprovision it 20%, so 60 is 72, 100 is 120.

I will be switching to the 60 plan at Toast once my contract is up.   

Your bandwidth needs are all about streaming.   One 4k stream is 15-25 megs, so let's say 25.   You could stream three 4K TVs and no one is doing that anyhow, at the same time.

[reinko]

While technically not a cord cutter, just moved and set up a few TVs with Comcast/Xfinity.  You can stream live tv via Roku devices via their app (I have one Roku TV and bought a cheap Roku for an older LCD on Amazon).

So I get live TV, cloud DVR, on demand...can’t pause live tv but can record if need be.

So no cable boxes, 150 MPS internet speed, and 200 or so channels (no premiums) for $80/month and will jump to $95 in a year.

[shoothoops]

Seeking feedback for a current situation, thanks.

I have multiple accounts/locations for elderly and disabled family.  For many years they have had Dish Network because it had the greatest value.

As of a week ago Dish no longer Regional Fox Sports Networks as it declined to renew the current deal with Disney. Sinclair is waiting for government approval DOJ/FCC. Disney asked for $20 billion and settled on $10 billion sale. Recent industry articles have suggested that it will be a prolonged dispute. Unlike some other markets they watch their Fox Sports Regional channel most days of the year. It’s big in their market.

Also to add insult to injury, local CBS affiliate has been dark for two weeks over dispute with Dish. Dish provides free antenna and installation for local channels to counter that one.

DirecTV’s first year price offer is actually higher than current every year Dish price. Then their price doubles in year two. Current Dish price includes free Pac 12 Network (many others do not carry, not a deal breaker but they are used to having it for years)  They also use Dish’s DVR service and it is fine. Current Dish price also includes some movie channels which would have to be added to DirecTV offer.

Spectrum tv is also higher price year one  to have similar channels. I could go down in either DirecTV or Spectrum to a lower tier  but lose a few often watched channels for them.

I had them on Verizon mobile service for a long time but switched them to Sprint. Saved about $50 a month for similar, terrible customer service though by comparison. 

Youtube tv looks to have the best tv channel offerings but $50 is not all that much different than current Dish pricing. And adding the wifi costs it will be higher.

At this point I am likely going to have to switch them to DirecTV or Spectrum in their market.

Anyone with any input that i am missing. Cutting the chord will be a bug adjustment to them as they are a mic of elderly and one disabled. But it can be done. Previously I have had pretty much all three tv carriers as well as a combo of Hulu, Netflix, Sling. Sling of course owned by Dish is involved in the Fox Sports Regional dispute.

So, they need the Fox Sports Regionals. Other sports channels needed for them are ESPN ESPN2, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports, Golf, Tennis, CBS Sports (they really have poor distribution) Pac12 Network, ACC Network. I am aware that a change will possibly affect the last two.  They also watch movies channels, some others as well as local over the air channels.

Dish has stated it is now trying to go after non sports viewers and let the sports people drop their services. They also want to switch their business model to be the 4th wireless mobile carrier snd have been putting money towards that for years. It was a great run with Dish but need those Fox Regional Sports channels for my family.

Thanks for any ideas.

[Jockey]

You can get a 2 year deal with price lock for Directv by going through an authorized dealer. Never do the 1 year deal that is offered by outside contractors that set up shop in retail stores. They offer no other service if you have issues as opposed to a dealer who you can call directly if you have an issue.

Not trying to push directv -just clearing up a misconception.

[shoothoops]

You can get a 2 year deal with price lock for Directv by going through an authorized dealer. Never do the 1 year deal that is offered by outside contractors that set up shop in retail stores. They offer no other service if you have issues as opposed to a dealer who you can call directly if you have an issue.

Not trying to push directv -just clearing up a misconception.

Thanks. Multiple dealers offered me same thing. 2 year deal. But 2nd year doubles the first year price. Are you saying you can lock in the discounted first year price for 2 years? Example: $52.13 Choice package......but doubles to $110 year two in their offer. Contract is 2 years. I would likely be doing Choice or Extra package. First year price I believe includes Regional Sports fee $7 plus movie channels.

Thanks.

[Jockey]

Thanks. Multiple dealers offered me same thing. 2 year deal. But 2nd year doubles the first year price. Are you saying you can lock in the discounted first year price for 2 years? Example: $52.13 Choice package......but doubles to $110 year two in their offer. Contract is 2 years. I would likely be doing Choice or Extra package. First year price I believe includes Regional Sports fee $7 plus movie channels.

Thanks.

Yes. That is what I'm saying. I had talked to a contractor at Menards and they only offered a one year deal. I found a dealer in Milwaukee who offered a two year deal with the price locked at the same rate for two years. They also threw in NFL Sunday Ticket (watch all NFL games) free for the 1st year. 

This was two years ago so I don't know if there is still the same deal. If you live in the Milwaukee area, I can give you the dealers name.

[shoothoops]

Yes. That is what I'm saying. I had talked to a contractor at Menards and they only offered a one year deal. I found a dealer in Milwaukee who offered a two year deal with the price locked at the same rate for two years. They also threw in NFL Sunday Ticket (watch all NFL games) free for the 1st year. 

This was two years ago so I don't know if there is still the same deal. If you live in the Milwaukee area, I can give you the dealers name.

Thanks. I will look for that. Not Milwaukee. I have lived all over, including, Milwaukee, Chicago. NYC, L.A., Nashville. But these family live in St. Louis. Charter and DirecTV have significantly more market share there than Dish.  I knew one retailer from a previous DirecTV account. That deal was great as it was a commercial account and locked in every year deal. I am familiar with them setting up shop in stores such as Menards, Sam's Club, Walmart, etc...Anyway, it's frustrating, for example, they wanted to watch MLB baseball this week and their game was on 3 channels, Fox Sports Regional, NBC Sports Regional, and MLB Network. Game was blacked out on all three. However when it is an ESPN game, blackout does not apply. So, for them 162 MLB games, 82 NHL games, plus some local teams college football and hoops games...all for decent/contending teams, t's a must have for them. .....Thanks for the tip. I will see if I can get it for two years, and/,or something else with them, in addition to looking into the other options. Unfortunately for them, they can't even get weekend golf either which they like on Sat/Sun afternoons when around because Dish is having a dispute with its Meredith Corporation distributor. No CBS either.  Soon that would include college and pro football on CBS, any shows they like etc...

[jesmu84]

https://www.cordcutters.com/huludisneyespn-bundle-should-scare-hell-out-folks

Making me contemplate abandoning Netflix as the wife watches a lot of shows on our cable that she could get on Hulu.

Meaning I could drop DirecTV and Netflix. Stick with the Disney bundle and Amazon prime.

[mu03eng]

https://www.cordcutters.com/huludisneyespn-bundle-should-scare-hell-out-folks

Making me contemplate abandoning Netflix as the wife watches a lot of shows on our cable that she could get on Hulu.

Meaning I could drop DirecTV and Netflix. Stick with the Disney bundle and Amazon prime.

I'm going to be a day 1 adopter of Disney+ but I'd wait until you go all in with their cord cutter package.......Disney does a fantastic job from a content library (having a dream set of content) but they have yet to show that they can do content delivery (think user experience).

Netflix has a killer delivery model but they may be out maneuvered by Disney in content library standpoint....it'll be fascinating to see which one wins.

Short term, this competition is going to be fantastic for consumers. Long term, I very worried about the content generators being owned by the content providers. That kind of vertical monopoly will never end well for consumers.

[Chili]

I'm going to be a day 1 adopter of Disney+ but I'd wait until you go all in with their cord cutter package.......Disney does a fantastic job from a content library (having a dream set of content) but they have yet to show that they can do content delivery (think user experience).

Netflix has a killer delivery model but they may be out maneuvered by Disney in content library standpoint....it'll be fascinating to see which one wins.

Short term, this competition is going to be fantastic for consumers. Long term, I very worried about the content generators being owned by the content providers. That kind of vertical monopoly will never end well for consumers.

I think some of that fear is being realized. Interesting column here written 2 days ago:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-05/pay-tv-companies-are-too-powerful

[Jockey]

I'm going to be a day 1 adopter of Disney+ but I'd wait until you go all in with their cord cutter package.......Disney does a fantastic job from a content library (having a dream set of content) but they have yet to show that they can do content delivery (think user experience).

Netflix has a killer delivery model but they may be out maneuvered by Disney in content library standpoint....it'll be fascinating to see which one wins.

I don't know if that will be true - at least for many years.

In 2018, Netflix had over 1,500 hours of original content. Of course they had more than that of non-original. HBO charges users more than Netflix with just a fraction of the content.

Whereas Netflix, in its early stages was where you went to find commercial free content from an assortment of sources. it is now the producer of massive amounts of content - both stand-alone and in cooperation with other studios.

If Disney works out as they plan, I think cable and satellite are the big losers, not Netflix. Disney/HULU Live/ESPN and Netflix and HBO will be all that is needed. I assume tens of millions will have Amazon Prime because of the free shipping benefit.

[jesmu84]

I don't know if that will be true - at least for many years.

In 2018, Netflix had over 1,500 hours of original content. Of course they had more than that of non-original. HBO charges users more than Netflix with just a fraction of the content.

Whereas Netflix, in its early stages was where you went to find commercial free content from an assortment of sources. it is now the producer of massive amounts of content - both stand-alone and in cooperation with other studios.

If Disney works out as they plan, I think cable and satellite are the big losers, not Netflix. Disney/HULU Live/ESPN and Netflix and HBO will be all that is needed. I assume tens of millions will have Amazon Prime because of the free shipping benefit.

The question is how much of Netflix original content do people watch vs non-original content. For example, will consumers drop Netflix when NBC/Disney/other networks pull their content and leave Netflix with ONLY their original stuff?

[Jockey]

The question is how much of Netflix original content do people watch vs non-original content. For example, will consumers drop Netflix when NBC/Disney/other networks pull their content and leave Netflix with ONLY their original stuff?

We don’t know yet. And while some networks will almost certainly pull content from Netflix, others won’t.

[mu03eng]

The question is how much of Netflix original content do people watch vs non-original content. For example, will consumers drop Netflix when NBC/Disney/other networks pull their content and leave Netflix with ONLY their original stuff?

Itll take a while to unwind some of the existing contracts but yes I agree a lot of go to content on Netflix that they dont own will disappear (Friends, The Office, Star Wars universe, etc already are). Netflix has definitely given itself a head start and they have a lot of power because of their algos in offering content and deciding what content to make but once they dont have guaranteed content with built in fandoms I think itll be hit or miss for them

[MUfan12]

Really enjoying YoutubeTV and saving a crapton of money in the process. With football and hoops on the way, I'm thinking of adding an antenna to be able to watch the national games (actually) live.

I'm within 2.5 miles of the towers in MKE and can't get crap in with the indoor one. Anyone install, or have had a roof/attic antenna installed? I'm curious about how difficult/costly it is to do.

[🏀]

Really enjoying YoutubeTV and saving a crapton of money in the process. With football and hoops on the way, I'm thinking of adding an antenna to be able to watch the national games (actually) live.

I'm within 2.5 miles of the towers in MKE and can't get crap in with the indoor one. Anyone install, or have had a roof/attic antenna installed? I'm curious about how difficult/costly it is to do.

Any chance you have an old DirecTV dish up there? If so, take it down and put the antenna up. Use the existing coaxial to your home. Worked really well for me.

[#UnleashSean]

Really enjoying YoutubeTV and saving a crapton of money in the process. With football and hoops on the way, I'm thinking of adding an antenna to be able to watch the national games (actually) live.

I'm within 2.5 miles of the towers in MKE and can't get crap in with the indoor one. Anyone install, or have had a roof/attic antenna installed? I'm curious about how difficult/costly it is to do.

Eh I wouldn't bother with it. Your only like 10 seconds behind.

[Jay Bee]

Eh I wouldn't bother with it. Your only like 10 seconds behind.

You’re vs. your.

I cut the cord last week - moves to YTTV. So far, so good, but watching games while being on Twitter may be painful.

[🏀]

You’re vs. your.

I cut the cord last week - moves to YTTV. So far, so good, but watching games while being on Twitter may be painful.

Sports with YTTV became a no-phone situation for me, it's been nice.

[drewm88]

Eh I wouldn't bother with it. Your only like 10 seconds behind.

Closer to 30.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Really enjoying YoutubeTV and saving a crapton of money in the process. With football and hoops on the way, I'm thinking of adding an antenna to be able to watch the national games (actually) live.

I'm within 2.5 miles of the towers in MKE and can't get crap in with the indoor one. Anyone install, or have had a roof/attic antenna installed? I'm curious about how difficult/costly it is to do.

Rooftop ANT here, can't speak to cost because DirecTV gave us this one before they carried the locals but it's probably not much over $100, it almost looks like a lawn mower blade. Installation is simple, bought a pole and hardware at ACE, strapped it to the chimney and ran a ground wire to a 6 feet copper post I drove into the ground near the foundation. Have some one monitor the TV over your cellphone while you find the best position to aim for most channels.