Internet TV options

[petefoss]

Originally Posted by sage

This breaks down into three different problems you have to solve:

1. How do you get your Internet? With sufficient speed, with enough bandwidth to support your viewing habits, and at a cost you find bearable.

2. Which content provider (programming) is right for you? Do you need a full on cable replacement or can you get by with a little less? And at what cost?

3. How will you display the content on your screen of choice? A tablet or notebook computer or a TV set? If a TV is your choice do you want a 'smart' one or a 'dumb' one with an add on box, like Roku, AppleTV or FireTV?

While all of these are interrelated they are separate technologies that have to be addressed. Currently, there is no one purchase you can make which solves all three of these issues. And if there were I don't think I'd want it. You'd be locked into the choices that that manufacture made for you. I want the ability to change each of these choices in the future, independently of the other two.

1) AT&T unlimited wifi hotspot for 29.99/month.
3) Laptop connected to dumb TV via HDMI.
2) I have Netflix and Amazon Prime now. All I'm asking is the best/cheapest solution for major network TV and sports. Preferably with DVR fast forward rather than on-demand streaming.

[Soldier Girl]

Originally Posted by TheBreeze

Got it. Thanks. Safe Travels.

Just FYI - TBirds at Davis Monthan air show next weekend if you're close enough. They'll have A10s too. You may have seen a few of those. I crewed one. Can't wait to get close again.

"Admission to the air show is free, but there are premium seating areas with a limited number of tickets available, including the exclusive Thunderbolt Club" (re:
http://www.kold.com/2018/12/19/usaf-...-d-m-air-show/)

Warthogs & their drivers are awesome, & the mechanized infantry loves their close air support. I can't understand why the Airforce wants to mothball them. I don't think I'll make it to the airshow, but I won't ever forget their impact on my life

[sage]

Originally Posted by petefoss

1) AT&T unlimited wifi hotspot for 29.99/month.
3) Laptop connected to dumb TV via HDMI.
2) I have Netflix and Amazon Prime now. All I'm asking is the best/cheapest solution for major network TV and sports. Preferably with DVR fast forward rather than on-demand streaming.

Sports is the fly in the ointment. I assume that you mean professional sports, not your college games that are broadcast on the major networks every weekend.

The problem is that the regional sports networks have locked up professional sports and you have to have cable to get most of them. I'm only interested in the Boston Red Sox and there simply isn't any way to get 100% of the Red Sox games except by subscribing to New England Sports Network (which is owned by the Red Sox). And currently the only way to get NESN is with a cable subscription.

DirecTVNow is working on pulling in the RSNs but they are nowhere near having all of them yet. And in my opinion, DTVNow is the closest thing to a 100% cable replacement, with DVR.

If you're interested in going this way, sign up right now - literally. They have announced a price increase that goes into effect next week, which if I understand it will increase prices by $10 a month and reduce the number of channels you get substantially. There is no contract it's month to month, so you can try it without committing yourself to an annual contract.

[Popfla]

My problem with all these options is that I don't have a third grader to teach this old dinosaur how to use all that stuff. It took me six months to figure out our electric toothbrush !

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by sage

Sports is the fly in the ointment. I assume that you mean professional sports, not your college games that are broadcast on the major networks every weekend.

The problem is that the regional sports networks have locked up professional sports and you have to have cable to get most of them. I'm only interested in the Boston Red Sox and there simply isn't any way to get 100% of the Red Sox games except by subscribing to New England Sports Network (which is owned by the Red Sox). And currently the only way to get NESN is with a cable subscription.

DirecTVNow is working on pulling in the RSNs but they are nowhere near having all of them yet. And in my opinion, DTVNow is the closest thing to a 100% cable replacement, with DVR.

If you're interested in going this way, sign up right now - literally. They have announced a price increase that goes into effect next week, which if I understand it will increase prices by $10 a month and reduce the number of channels you get substantially. There is no contract it's month to month, so you can try it without committing yourself to an annual contract.

We get all our local sports via Playstation Vue (Fox Sports Detroit).

From their web page Playstation Vue also supports NESN
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/sports/

[petefoss]

Can PlayStation Vue use a PC as the device?

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by petefoss

Can PlayStation Vue use a PC as the device?

PC, iOS, Android, Playstation, Roku, Apple TV--I've watched it on all of those devices too. LOL

PC: vue.playstation.com

[simidrm]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

We need to set up a rally in the middle of the U.S. and have a real geek come in and break all this down for us with demos on how to use everything. I think the turnout would be huge...another Woodstock. We could have oxygen tents, Geritol smoothies, free eye exams, hearing tests, a dermatologist burning off bumps, a "comb-over" hair specialist...lots of cool things we could really use. Who's in?

I could really use the hair specialist getting kinda light in the middle,so I do the military thing and redeploy available forces to the middle.

[howzball]

Originally Posted by sage

Sports is the fly in the ointment. I assume that you mean professional sports, not your college games that are broadcast on the major networks every weekend.

The problem is that the regional sports networks have locked up professional sports and you have to have cable to get most of them. I'm only interested in the Boston Red Sox and there simply isn't any way to get 100% of the Red Sox games except by subscribing to New England Sports Network (which is owned by the Red Sox). And currently the only way to get NESN is with a cable subscription.

DirecTVNow is working on pulling in the RSNs but they are nowhere near having all of them yet. And in my opinion, DTVNow is the closest thing to a 100% cable replacement, with DVR.

If you're interested in going this way, sign up right now - literally. They have announced a price increase that goes into effect next week, which if I understand it will increase prices by $10 a month and reduce the number of channels you get substantially. There is no contract it's month to month, so you can try it without committing yourself to an annual contract.

Doesn't AT&T also not charge you bandwidth while you're streaming DTVN as well? I thought there was something to that? I use Verizon so I can't say for sure.
I thought I also heard DTVN would soon be losing Discovery channels, that could just be on certain packages though.

There might also be a way to sign up for a VPN service to just fool DTVN into thinking you're still in your home area to watch your local channels. I do know for a fact that if you're in an area that DTVN doesn't service then you'll likely not get any of the affiliate channels... CBS, ABC, NBC...
I just found it out in Carlsbad NM, you either pick up the locals OTA or you get nothing at all.
Makes it tricky when there's a forecast of big weather heading your way and no local channels to keep you up to date.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by howzball

Doesn't AT&T also not charge you bandwidth while you're streaming DTVN as well? I thought there was something to that? I use Verizon so I can't say for sure.
I thought I also heard DTVN would soon be losing Discovery channels, that could just be on certain packages though.

There might also be a way to sign up for a VPN service to just fool DTVN into thinking you're still in your home area to watch your local channels. I do know for a fact that if you're in an area that DTVN doesn't service then you'll likely not get any of the affiliate channels... CBS, ABC, NBC...
I just found it out in Carlsbad NM, you either pick up the locals OTA or you get nothing at all.
Makes it tricky when there's a forecast of big weather heading your way and no local channels to keep you up to date.

That is what a weather radio is for.

[Soldier Girl]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

That is what a weather radio is for.

I think everyone should have not just one weather radio, but redudancies. Mine has already saved my tail end a couple of times this year...

[Sursavage]

We use an Amazon fire stick. With an internet connection we watch sling, Netflix and cbs streaming.

[CyRE]

How are you connecting your ATT hotspot to your TV? We have AppleTV and an internet router which we take from home when we travel. The hotspot and Apple TV (if you are not familiar it is a black box for about $150 from Apple) are both connected to the router. If you are an Amazon Prime member, it is available directly on Apple TV and the video is free. You can also log your computer onto the router, and then mirror the display image to the TV. https://www.livenewsnow.com is a good source for free worldwide news. Netflix streaming account is $12/month and is directly available on the Apple Tv menu. Sling TV seems to have pretty reasonable rates for streaming. Sports channels may require a subscription. Anything you can watch on your computer can be streamed to your RV TV using display mirroring thru Apple TV. Also on Apple TV: iTunes Movies, iTunes TV shows, iTunes music, podcasts, CNNgo, PBS (free for a donation). Hope this helps.

Thor Compass TR23 2017

[tomkat334]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

That's too good a deal to be true!! Does AT&T cut the speed down after 20 or so gigs? Verizon offers a similar device but we couldn't get through one NASCAR race before they cut the speed down so slow it quit working. Unlimited by their standards is up too them; not how much you want to use yourself. Streaming TV burns up gigs faster than a cat can lick his...paws. If your TV is a "Smart TV' with app capability, you can use most any of them. I prefer Sling for all channels and have the $7 per month plan with HULU for movies.

It's true Gritz. I got the setup two years ago and it's a sweet deal for sure. And although they claim they slow down after so many meg they actually don't. I've NEVER been slowed down. And I've never been to a park that I couldn't get an ATT signal to start the hotspot up. I admit I don't veer far from the main roads but this setup has been a god send for us. I never got a signal on the camp's wifi that was worth a crap. Now I don't have the problem. I have a temperature monitor that I need a constant wifi signal that I can trust so I can ensure the dogs in the RV are comfortable while we're out and about. Park wifi's never worked for me. And it really is unlimited.

[DLM1965]

I see two questions here - Internet and streaming. Obviously, if there is reliable and reasonably secure wifi available in the campground, we use it. Otherwise, I use my Verizon iphone as a hotspot - I have the unlimited Verizon U plan. That works for emails, browsing, etc. No buffering or slowdowns. However, streaming is another matter. Depends on the traffic/load at a given time - if the network is light, it works fine. Otherwise, buffers, sometimes forever! We have Amazon Prime and Netflix - both allow one to pre-download a bevy of movies prior to traveling (when I can use our home fiber network that is fast). Then watch movies while traveling. The downloads do have an expiration - two weeks or so. But, it works fine.

[Paulred]

Here is a link to a huge sports access page. Baseball, football Real Football(soccer), tennis and more. Hockey, NHL and European.

http://livetv.sx/enx/

You'll have to learn to ignore the pop ups but its worth it fro travelers

[Choxnpinz]

I have unlimited hotspot from AT&T as well, but as others have stated, it gets throttled with the more you use. What I do instead is download all the movies and TV shows I want from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video to my phone and then use a Chinese knockoff Chromecast device to mirror my phone to the TV. Works like a champ.



I also have a portable hard drive (4 TB) with hundreds of movies and thousands of TV episodes on it.

[Junodtim]

We use a dishnetwork mobile receiver with a USB hard drive (as DVR) to watch TV. Dish network has a program called DishRV, they say all you have to do is call with your location to receive the local channels.

[safari]

Has anyone tried the app Reelgood ?

[ofracer]

We just put a 32" TCL brand Roku O/S enabled TV in the motorhome. We've been using Roku streaming service (free ) for over a year at home on a couple of TV (Roku enable TV and a couple of streaming sticks). Since Roku TVs include a media player app, I carry and hard drive with tons of movies, TV shows, music and pictures as well. Just back from a couple of weeks in Florida, we found quit a few places that had WiFi, even a National Forest campground that didn't have cell service. The TV has an over the air antenna connection as well but when we didn't have a good WiFi signal, we'd just watch the canned programs on the hard drive.

We used to use a laptop with a TV card or canned programs on a hard drive but this trip with the streaming TV was a big improvement.

Try adding a Roku streaming stick (~$30) or a Roku Media box (~$90) to your existing TV (via HDMI port). You can always bring it inside when your home and use it as a set top box instead of renting one from the cable company.