INGO opinions WEB TV service

[NHT3]

Looking for a web based TV to replace Direct TV.. If you have experience with something that works well I would love to hear about it. Sports are not a priority for me, more Documentary, A&E and History channel stuff

THANKS

 

[CampingJosh]

I've used YouTube TV, Sling, and Hulu Live. They all work fine, so it's just a matter of choosing the service that has the channels you want.

If I weren't specifically looking for live events (sports or news), I wouldn't consider any of them. Multiple streaming services, including Curiosity Stream, seems to make more sense and would cost less.

 

[T.Lex]

We've opted for Youtube TV and really like it. The DVR-style recording system (that's unlimited IIRC) is really nice. We are a blended household with both FireStick and Roku, and I think I like the Roku better. The search feature can alert you when something you want to see becomes "free" on the services.

But, the FireStick has alot of options and is totally workable.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Have a google chrome cast on my tv.
I have
Hbo
Hulu
Netflix
Prime
&
Disney

I think if I could only have one I'd go with hulu

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Ive been using sling tv for about 2 years now and I am very happy with it, my package costs me $30 a month and has every channel I used to watch on Dish and more.

 

[schmart]

We moved from DirectTV to Hulu live as our primary service. I preferred the interface of Youtube TV, but it didn't carry the History channel and related channels. My wife also still has Netflix and we get HBO Max through our cell phone plan.

We are using a Roku device for streaming apps but am looking into the new Chromecast w/ Android TV since Roku doesn't have an HBO Max application. Overall we have no complaints about switching to streaming.
--Rick

 

[IndyIN]

I recently switched from u-verse (they are no longer offering it as a new service) to Hulu, along with a few other niche services like FriendlyTV for my wife.

I'm not sure how many tv streams you need, but most have limitations to 3 at one time. I know this sounds like a whiny 1st world problem, but I have a lot of TVs in my place and had read about some hassles folks had of needing to run around their house to log out of a TV so they could watch on a different device. I didn't want that hassle, and I didn't want guest bedrooms to not be able to access tv when they wanted. Hulu has an unlimited TV option, which the others do not.

From a programming perspective, I found that Hulu has the types of programming that you mentioned. Just take note that they use a lot of data, so you most likely need to be on an unlimited internet plan, or you could run into throttling. I'd also add that Hulu (and I think the others, too) are month to month with no long term commitment. So, sign up and test it out before you take the plunge. I ran u-verse and Hulu in parallel for a month, so my wife could get comfortable with it.

 

[NHT3]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm still shopping and plan on ditching Direct TV before the end of the year.

 

[Jaybird1980]

We ditched them a few years ago, haven't missed them yet. We have off air antenna and Roku with Hulu and Pluto tv. We also don't watch very much tv

 

[cburnworth]

Roku with any number of apps they offer, Pluto tv is free. Are you on at&t internet, i know you said direct tv ? If on comcast you can get the the flex box free which offers all kinds of stuff also. I also have friendly( about 15 channels) for $6 a month.

 

[JCSR]

We've opted for Youtube TV and really like it. The DVR-style recording system (that's unlimited IIRC) is really nice. We are a blended household with both FireStick and Roku, and I think I like the Roku better. The search feature can alert you when something you want to see becomes "free" on the services.

But, the FireStick has alot of options and is totally workable.

Youtube TV plus Roku for us. We get all the local channels which is a big deal to the wife.

 

[dnurk]

Website that lets you search by the channels you want/need and compare the major streaming services.

https://thestreamable.com/channels

fwiw we use 2 Roku sticks in our house and currently have Sling plus an OTA antenna for local channels. Works great for what we want to watch.

 

[Phase2]

I know very little about this area as I hardly watch any TV, so someone please fact-check this as it appears relevant:

Dish To Shut Down Slingbox, Devices Will Become 'Inoperable' In 2022

 

[Brandon]

We have hulu live. It is ok but every once in a while it acts stupid on our samsung smart tv and boots us from hulu. It is only doing so on hulu. At the time Live Pd was on theh offered the most stations me and the fiance watch.

 

[PistolBob]

We have a Roku, and an over the air antenna. We watch MeTV probably close to 60-70% of our T viewing time (which ain't much) and that is free OTA TV. We subscribe to Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Friendly TV. Hulu has the live TV channels we can't get on OTA antenna, plus a bunch of TCM, Nat Geo, FX...etc etc We have Prime because of the free quick shipping....when you buy Prime you get Prime Video with it. Friendly TV has 4 or 5 Hall mark movie channels, a couple outdoor channels....the Roku has access to literally 1000 streaming video options.

Prime is about $110 a year
Hulu is $55 a month
Friendly is $79 a year if you pay for the whole year...you can also get it monthly for $8/mo I think

We could drop the subscription streams and be fine I think ... wife would get over it. Eventually...maybe.

 

[radar8756]

You might want to check your Internet provider not so much for Bandwidth
(each service needs ~ 5 mb/s if you do multiple TV's at the same time ) ...
but if there is a Monthly Limit on Data (similar to your cellphone) ...

I have the Mediacom 1 Gb/s Internet which has a 6 TB / month download limit ...
I stream probably 4 hrs / day (give or take) ... Binge watching on weekends can use 80 gb+
I average 2400 Gb/month ... if you have more users streaming at the same time it can add up quick ...
Granddaughters came for a week and between Netflix 12 hrs day (2 tv's because they wanted to watch different shows) & 3 amazon tablets added +100 GB for the week

Current Cost --- Internet + 5 streaming = $ 200 / month
Prime (more for shipping but Video Included) ... Netflix ... Starz ... Hulu ... FRNDLY --- ~ $75 / month
Mediacom 1 Ghz plan --- $125 / month


Total cost on DirecTV + Internet + 3 streaming = $ 275 / month
DirecTV - $ 175 / month (4 TV's) ...
Mediacom 50 Mb plan - $ 60 / month ...
Prime ... Netflix ... Starz - $40 / month

 

[Super Bee]

We have Roku boxes with Hulu Live, Netflix, Amazon and Disney and we are thrilled with them.

Roku also offers The Blaze which the wife likes watching in the morning instead of FOX News.

I do wish the Roku came with a better remote. There are no numbers on it and HULU Live channels are not numbered, this means you have to scroll through every single channel. Not real handy, but you get used too it.

 

[cbhausen]

I got in on the original sweet deal AT&T TV Now and I’ve kept it ever since. We just dumped U-verse and its crappy ADSL connection which just wasn’t cutting it anymore with all the devices we were trying to stream at once. So now we have a couple Amazon fire TV sticks and an Apple TV with multiple subscription services like Hulu and Netflix, Disney+, etc. It’s a little more awkward trying to tune channels but we have everything we want to watch and more and we’re saving about $160/month now.

We switched to Xfinity gigabit Internet for $70 a month and bought our own Motorola modem and wireless router, which works so much better covering our two-story house then the AT&T hardware did. And we’re seeing about 500 Mb per second download speeds over the Wi-Fi and 800 Mb per second over Ethernet.