Octopus Overlords

mori wrote: Wed Oct 25, 2023 8:04 pm Finally ditched Dish TV. The roofers disturbed the antenna so it no longer worked (very convenient reason for me) and Dish TV wanted to charge me a $90 service fee to fix it so I told them to stuff it. The only streaming services I have now is Amazon Prime and Peacock. I can get an antenna for local stations so that is taken care off. The only thing I am concerned about is how to get the USA Network or some other way to watch the Premier League live. Any suggestions? Or I can just watch everything later on Peacock.

Unrelated kinda: I realized the other day that my current Sling (BOOOO!!!) TV sub didn't include the local network channels, and wife wanted to watch the no good, horrible Carolina Panthers "play" the other day for some reason, so I put a paperclip into the antenna "hole" on the TV, and picked up about 32 stations of OTA HD, pristine goodness. When I didn't see Fox showing up, I added a bit of aluminum foil to the paperclip, and voila, 20 more stations picked up, including the Fox channel. 52 pristine, not (or very low) compressed HD channels, OTA, for free.

The NFL games OTA make the same games on YoutubeTV (and the other cable replacements) look like absolute garbage, in terms of PQ.

Did you take a victory lap after performing this miracle and demand that the household build a shrine to you?

hepcat wrote: Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:55 pm Did you take a victory lap after performing this miracle and demand that the household build a shrine to you?

I'll admit to being pretty puffed up about it, and demanded that my son sit and count out loud as the auto-scan found every new channel, like the Count from Sesame Street.
I might have also possibly mocked up and printed out a certificate proclaiming my awesome technical prowess with simple metal objects.

So yes, I get what you're saying. I could have, and should have received more recognition, but I live amongst thankless, entitled ne'er-do-wells, so what are you gonna do?

My $25 Amazon indoor antenna for OTA was a bust. I thought I was close enough to pick up the stations but the couple the TV detects are simply unwatchable in the quality. I don't think I am going to go further down this path. Maybe what I really need is a paperclip and some aluminum foil.

Spectrum is now pushing its new Xumo Streaming box around here for tv. No more cable boxes. Its live streaming tv these days with voice activation and such. Its the future. Which is really cool if I still watched tv at all or could afford it.

The link talks about Ohio but they have been sending me stuff in the mail about it here in TN.

https://www.wvxu.org/media/2023-10-10/s ... st-tvkiese

Xumo, launched Thursday, Oct. 5, in Greater Cincinnati, has the ability to access hundreds of subscription-based and ad-supported streaming apps, including Apple TV+, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Peacock, Pluto, Prime Video, Tubi, Xumo Play and many more.
The Xumo Stream Box is about four square inches.
Courtesy Spectrum
The Xumo Stream Box is about four square inches.

The Xumo Stream Box is a joint venture by the nation's two biggest cable TV companies, No. 1 Comcast (owners of NBC Universal, Peacock, Xfinity, Telemundo and Universal theme parks) and No. 2 Charter, operator of Spectrum cable in 41 states.

Customers can watch TV while they browse with the "Live Tile" on the home screen and picture-in-picture window in the grid guide, says Michael Pedelty, Spectrum's Southern Ohio region senior director of communications.

$5/mo to rent the box and no DVR.

Does watching Xumo Play count against my Xfinity Internet data usage?
Yes, Xumo Play programming is delivered over your Xfinity Internet service; therefore, Xumo Play will be subject to the same rules, terms, and conditions that govern Xfinity Internet service, including any data usage plans that may apply.

Jesus a data limit on watching tv? Ridiculous that a data limit even exists. Somehow Optimum hasn't done that yet, but I'm sure it will come at some point.

Dont have a data limit here with Spectrum. Never sub'd to a place that did.

Its been so long since I had cable....with no dvr and only streaming theres no need to record or save shows right?..just stream which ep you want?... Weird world.

To think, when I was a kid we had 3 channels that went off at midnight with a salute and rolling picture you adjusted.

Jesus thats how old I am. Half a century ago I was 4 years old.

Daehawk wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 4:42 pm Dont have a data limit here with Spectrum. Never sub'd to a place that did.

Its been so long since I had cable....with no dvr and only streaming theres no need to record or save shows right?..just stream which ep you want?... Weird world.

To think, when I was a kid we had 3 channels that went off at midnight with a salute and rolling picture you adjusted.

Jesus thats how old I am. Half a century ago I was 4 years old.

Dude, you make it sound like you're 75...you're 54?! That's not that old, and probably barely above the age average around these parts.

Daehawk wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 4:42 pm To think, when I was a kid we had 3 channels that went off at midnight with a salute and rolling picture you adjusted.

Ahh. The good old roll to static... it was a useful alarm if you accidentally fell asleep watching tv on the couch.

Punisher wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 11:08 pm

Daehawk wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 4:42 pm To think, when I was a kid we had 3 channels that went off at midnight with a salute and rolling picture you adjusted.

Ahh. The good old roll to static... it was a useful alarm if you accidentally fell asleep watching tv on the couch.

So I'm rewatching Babylon 5, and (to keep it vague) there's a plot line where rebel forces establish their own alternative galactic TV station. Before it goes live, it shows...an old-fashioned test pattern.

Octavious wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 3:20 pm Jesus a data limit on watching tv? Ridiculous that a data limit even exists. Somehow Optimum hasn't done that yet, but I'm sure it will come at some point.

Xfinity is happy to sell you a data plan with no cap...for $30/month extra. Might actually be an improvement over before, I remember it being $50. I just deal with the data cap. Also, they don't count TV viewing through their streaming app.

Does Xfinity still remove the data cap if you use their home networking stuff though? I remember you could avoid the cap by just getting one of their cable modem/routers at one point. It was the cheaper way to get around their "no cap tier".

hepcat wrote: Sat Nov 04, 2023 1:33 pm Does Xfinity still remove the data cap if you use their home networking stuff though? I remember you could avoid the cap by just getting one of their cable modem/routers at one point. It was the cheaper way to get around their "no cap tier".

Yes, and it is still cheaper (it's the "Xfi Complete" plan.) Instead of paying $30 for the unlimited data, you pay $25 for perpetual equipment rental, and you have to deal with Xfinity's equipment.

The last bit there was why I ended up going for the extra $30 - their equipment is designed for grandma. It makes it really simple to connect to the internet - but if you ever need to forward a port for a game so that you can host your friends, or adjust any advanced setting - well, good luck. I spent something like ten hours on the phone just trying to figure out how to access an option to configure my ports to solve a problem before figuring out that they really, really don't want you messing with any settings - after all, if you can't mess up the settings, they don't have to provide as much support.

I ordered a new modem and router that same day (and I figure that I had probably paid $1500 in rental fees on their old one by that point.)

Why would they? To them you're just a wallet. They want you sitting there not fiddling with anything and watching their streams. If they have to deal with you or help you then thats on their dime.

I'd say that it's more that they're like Microsoft or Apple: They much prefer that you do things the way that they designed them, as they designed them to bring the maximum benefit to themselves. When you start changing things, you are not serving their interests as well. And thus options are slowly removed, and the viability of alternatives is slowly eroded.

LordMortis wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:48 pm Today was finally the day. There was no flexibility coming off a $140 a month bill, so now I'm Internet only for $40.99 a month plus all the extra fees. We'll see what that means in a month. Time to get the antenna working, I guess, for news. My TiVo is now useless.

Either there is an outage or they finally cut my cable. It was a good run. Now I'll have to figure out what will keep me company. Some network station or another.

LordMortis wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2023 7:48 pm

LordMortis wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:48 pm Today was finally the day. There was no flexibility coming off a $140 a month bill, so now I'm Internet only for $40.99 a month plus all the extra fees. We'll see what that means in a month. Time to get the antenna working, I guess, for news. My TiVo is now useless.

Either there is an outage or they finally cut my cable. It was a good run. Now I'll have to figure out what will keep me company. Some network station or another.

interesting about the timing, as the 'cable shutoff delay' was exactly six months (to the day).

And it's back on this morning. *shrug* I wasn't complaining. I was getting ready to disconnect TiVo and shut it down and CNBC comes right up. I am happy that I feel like the day was ruined without cable. I just shrugged and started streaming from a PC to keep me company.

Does anyone have a replacement for a Tivo that can record OTA programming? Tivo use to have Tivo Edge, but stopped selling it. I found Tablo DVR which is probably what I should use, I just don't love that it's owned by Scripps...but I probably have to make peace that someone is going to be selling my viewing habits one way or another.

My TiVo died and so too went my viewing of anything OTA except sports. I occasionally miss it but I was down to just about nothing watched anyway. Oddly enough I miss it most for sports. I liked being able to either rewatch stuff I might have not paid enough close attention to or starting late and then catching up by skipping commercials.

Sling can act as a DVR for OTA can't it? Only it's a sub model unto itself. I like my TiVo because I paid a lifetime Sub in like 1998 or something and it moved boxes when I finally got sick of my series II.

I have this digital converter box. It has DVR capabilities and the last time I tried it it worked. Only use it very rarely when there's a playoff game or some kind of championship that I want to watch on our projector in the basement and feel like kicking the kids off. This one's long discontinued but they have a newer version. It has no bells and whistles at all but I'm sure there are more advanced ones out there that don't barely do what they need to.

I'm finding the less I watch TV, the less I miss TV or have it fill in my down time gaps. When I do watch, I seem to fall asleep like the old man I am becoming. Thank goodness for streaming. I sometimes watch a cartoon three or four times to see an entire 23 minute episode. I'm OK with that but I hate it when I'm really looking forward to a sporting event and miss the whole thing.

Very soon my limited free cable that I cancelled but keeps broadcasting will be gone as WOW ceases cable altogether. After that I will need to rely on my antenna and irrespective of antenna, true OTA signals are not great. I just don't see me paying for better quality OTA but I might yet. We'll see. I also have a smart TV whose broadcast channel system I've yet to really learn because there are a lot channels and I don't have the patience channel surf through the Matlock Channel, the Designing Women channel, the Home Shopping Network and 100s of others like them to find a channel that I want to accidentally fall asleep while watching. It's going to suck a bit if I ever want to start seeing the Tigers or Red Wings regularly again as there is no ready non paid for OTA solution once WOW folds shop on cable.

So YouTubeTV announced they are jacking up the price to $90 in a month. We were paying $50.

Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm So YouTubeTV announced they are jacking up the price to $90 in a month. We were paying $50.

Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

Nothing at a price point that's going to save any significant money over YTTV long term that I am aware of.

pr0ner wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:43 pm

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm So YouTubeTV announced they are jacking up the price to $90 in a month. We were paying $50.

Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

Nothing at a price point that's going to save any significant money over YTTV long term that I am aware of.

I might consider Sling again, but they don't have all of the local channels, and sometimes the networks they do have don't provide the regional feed (like instead of Chicago news, I get Philadelphia news).

I don't watch YTTV enough to justify its cost. Every now and then I look a week ahead on TCM and record half a dozen old movies. And sometimes I pick up network shows like Bob's Burgers there and stuff on AMC there. Not nearly enough to justify $90/mo, BUT whenever there's a major breaking news story, Wife demands that CNN be available immediately, and she grumbles if the local networks aren't also at our fingertips. So I keep paying for YTTV and grumbling about that. If we ever fall on hard financial times again, it will be an easy budget item to cut.

Kraken wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 5:43 pm I don't watch YTTV enough to justify its cost. Every now and then I look a week ahead on TCM and record half a dozen old movies. And sometimes I pick up network shows like Bob's Burgers there and stuff on AMC there. Not nearly enough to justify $90/mo, BUT whenever there's a major breaking news story, Wife demands that CNN be available immediately, and she grumbles if the local networks aren't also at our fingertips. So I keep paying for YTTV and grumbling about that. If we ever fall on hard financial times again, it will be an easy budget item to cut.

My LG TV streams a number of local channels and I believe CNN for free.

https://channel-lineup.lgchannels.com/

OtOH, it forces me to have a SmartTV and the SmartTV connected. It's responsiveness is slow and not so fun to use and is full quirky behaviors. It doesn't have a lot of the basic cable channels I grew accustomed to and there is no DVR but it costs me nothing beyond being connected to my WiFi and having one more things tracking me and selling what it tracks.

If you go to your youtubetv account and start the cancellation process, they will offer you to stay at $72.99 for the next 6 months.

naednek wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 6:23 pm If you go to your youtubetv account and start the cancellation process, they will offer you to stay at $72.99 for the next 6 months.

Thanks. I'm hoping to find something acceptable so I don't feel compelled to encourage this behavior.

naednek wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 6:23 pm If you go to your youtubetv account and start the cancellation process, they will offer you to stay at $72.99 for the next 6 months.

Thanks for the tip. Saved me $60.

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

An unwound paperclip with some tin foil, stuck into my ANT hole on my TV (and obviously hidden behind TV, because looks), picks up about 20 HD channels OTA, including all the networks. Try it, you might be surprised by what you can get. Maybe you can only get 2 or 3, but might be the only ones you watch.

Typically less compressed than the stuff you pay for, as a bonus.

Thanks, Ken. You just saved me a decent amount of money.

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 11:48 pm

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

An unwound paperclip with some tin foil, stuck into my ANT hole on my TV (and obviously hidden behind TV, because looks), picks up about 20 HD channels OTA, including all the networks. Try it, you might be surprised by what you can get. Maybe you can only get 2 or 3, but might be the only ones you watch.

Typically less compressed than the stuff you pay for, as a bonus.

Keep in mind that a simple and effective indoor TV antenna can be found for only $17.99 on Amazon, or around the same price as a burger, fries, and a soda. It includes an amplifier, allowing for a reception range of up to 50 miles, and couldn't be much easier to set up and install. Or for greater range and even better reception, consider upgrading to a Mohu Leaf Amplified.

It can also be mighty helpful to use TVfool.com to check which over-the-air (OTA) channels are available in your area, how far away the transmitters are, which direction to point your antenna for best results etc.

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 11:48 pm

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

An unwound paperclip with some tin foil, stuck into my ANT hole on my TV (and obviously hidden behind TV, because looks), picks up about 20 HD channels OTA, including all the networks. Try it, you might be surprised by what you can get. Maybe you can only get 2 or 3, but might be the only ones you watch.

Tried it, got the highest end antenna I could find that doesn't require erecting a 50' tower, and...nada. I'm about 50 miles from the source, but the terrain seems to be prohibitive. I can't tune in a single channel.

Jeff V wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2024 12:50 am

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 11:48 pm

Jeff V wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 4:29 pm Any other reliable services that have local channels included? Standard basic cable channels are a plus, but I spend my time either watching news or football, or movies/shows on Amazon Prime.

An unwound paperclip with some tin foil, stuck into my ANT hole on my TV (and obviously hidden behind TV, because looks), picks up about 20 HD channels OTA, including all the networks. Try it, you might be surprised by what you can get. Maybe you can only get 2 or 3, but might be the only ones you watch.

Tried it, got the highest end antenna I could find that doesn't require erecting a 50' tower, and...nada. I'm about 50 miles from the source, but the terrain seems to be prohibitive. I can't tune in a single channel.

We live in the mountains now so LOL. Even though they're just beginner mountains TV and radio reception are situational.