The definitive answer to the question, how can I cut cable and watch sports?

[OSUDD]

SIAP

I have been wanting to cut cable for a long long time but always ran into the same problem everyone talks about, what about sports?

This week my uverse bill was set to go up to over $200 for the cable package and internet so I decided to dive in deep and do the research. Initially I looked at Sling TV and thought it was an OK solution. Still a limited amount of access to content and while it had ESPN, it still lacked Fox Sports Southwest. It also of course doesn't have DVR.

The I discovered Playstation Vue (doesn't require a Playstation). For $40 you get live local TV, plus 75 other live and on demand channels including all of the ESPNs, all of the Fox Sports including FSSW, It also includes free DVR cloud storage but perhaps even better, full access to past episodes of most shows without even needing to DVR. For example, I looked up Better Call Saul, immediately I have the option to watch an of this seasons episodes. Also since they have live local TV, no need to go get an HD antenna.

Only hardware requirements are that you have either a Playstation, Amazon Fire Stick or Amazon Fire TV. Also work great with Chromecast.

One note on wifi, I found that I was paying uverse for 18mbps while actually getting about 12 at best. This is $80 standalone whereas I now have Charter for $40 and 60 mbps for wifi (actually about 57mbps).

 

[purkey]

not trying to one up here, but on cox I'm getting 119 mbps download speed and around 11 mbps upload. Paying around $65 a month. Wireless is around 35 and 33 respectively...not sure how it's getting the 33 upload speed. Is everything on the Playstation Vue HD?

 

[shnake33]

Yep, it's all HD and supports 4K. Also no contracts so prices don't change after a promotion period and no cancellation fees

 

[cableok]

Purvey that is a big drop from 119 to 35 Mbps when you go from hardline to wifi. Do you have an AC router?

 

[Cowpoke]

Oh yeah?! I'm getting about 2.5 Mbps down and like .0005 up. Beat that suckas!

Rural (like only 6 miles outside of Owasso) internet options are horrible.

 

[100TonsofOrangeFury]

Oh yeah?! I'm getting about 2.5 Mbps down and like .0005 up. Beat that suckas!

Rural (like only 6 miles outside of Owasso) internet options are horrible.

See if you can find one of these and upgrade.

 

[Cowpoke]

See if you can find one of these and upgrade.

Seriously. I had faster internet access 20 years ago.

 

[100TonsofOrangeFury]

Seriously. I had faster internet access 20 years ago.

 

[TheRedSon]

Will it work with a Roku?

 

[dude02]

No app for Android yet. Only IOS. FYI. Looks intriguing.

 

[OSUDD]

True, no app to use with Chromecast on Android. Fire TV experience is the best

 

[purkey]

Purvey that is a big drop from 119 to 35 Mbps when you go from hardline to wifi. Do you have an AC router?

not sure what happened as I tested again and it was in the 90's.

 

[Medic007]

Kodi. Costs nothing. You can watch anything imaginable. Software runs on Android, Windows, IOS, Linux, Firestick, etc. Takes a little work to setup but once you do, you will never need anything but internet access ever again. I ditched AT&T and Netflix. I have an antenna for local broadcast.

 

[OSUDD]

Kodi. Costs nothing. You can watch anything imaginable. Software runs on Android, Windows, IOS, Linux, Firestick, etc. Takes a little work to setup but once you do, you will never need anything but internet access ever again. I ditched AT&T and Netflix. I have an antenna for local broadcast.

I like Kodi but I found there to be too many downsides for what I need. Watching live sports is pretty spotty, especially for local sports like Fox Sports SW. Plus while Kodi itself is legal as it's just a media center, most of the content is not. I know most people don't care but I was once busted because I had one episode of Entourage downloaded on my computer. Also with the antenna, it's pretty good but no DVR.

 

[cableok]

OSUDD is correct. If you think Kodi is your answer to free movies and free live sports, you are most likely viewing pirated content.

 

[Medic007]

I know it's pirated content. Somebody is streaming something they aren't supposed to for me to be able to watch it through Kodi. But until the content providers and cable companies decide to modernize and provide ala carte programming, it's probably what I'll do. I'm done paying outrageous monthly bills for crap like 32 food channels just to have the 10 or so channels I'll actually watch. For the price, the Sony Vue system looks intriguing though.

 

[osutater]

Kodi. Costs nothing. You can watch anything imaginable. Software runs on Android, Windows, IOS, Linux, Firestick, etc. Takes a little work to setup but once you do, you will never need anything but internet access ever again. I ditched AT&T and Netflix. I have an antenna for local broadcast.

I bought a $42 4K Android box on amazon. Formatted it and installed KODI. There isn't a movie I haven't been able to find. I finally watched Gummo after searching for that movie for years.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Playstation Vue is expanding to Roku and Android.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016...to-roku-today-launching-on-android-next-week/

 

[MajorMike_Ret]

So this is completely dependent on internet, correct?

 

[nathajw]

What about HBO/Showtime/Cinemax? Are these additional charges on Vue? There's HBO now but what about the other two?

 

[Mr. Blonde]

So this is completely dependent on internet, correct?

Yes.

What about HBO/Showtime/Cinemax? Are these additional charges on Vue? There's HBO now but what about the other two?

Looks like Showtime is available as an additional charge. Not sure about Cinemax.

 

[MajorMike_Ret]

So if I have decent to crappy internet that is occasionally affected by the odd weather (Atlink wireless) this is probably not a good option for me?

 

[Mr. Blonde]

I wouldn't think so.

 

[ells2090]

I bought a $42 4K Android box on amazon. Formatted it and installed KODI. There isn't a movie I haven't been able to find. I finally watched Gummo after searching for that movie for years.

Wait, you sought out Gummo??

 

[shortbus]

Been toying with Kodi the last few days.

Some of it is great. Some not so much. Live TV isn't much of an option so far. But I'm
Still in the weeds sorting things out.

If I continue to use it I'm definitely gonna pay for a VPN and make some tweaks for privacy purposes.

Probably gonna add sling tv.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

I don't think "the definitive answer" would involve illegally stealing content.

 

[csh]

I messed with Vue for a couple days on a free trial. It certainly is a step in the right direction, but, it looks like you can't pause live TV, and, it didn't look like fox sports oklahoma was available, i.e. no Thunder games.