topic Re: STREAMING in Community Chat

STREAMING

Katcat1 — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:23:01 GMT

It seems this is the newest way to watch different programs. From what I understand, you sign up with a co. that offers streaming and your given certain regular channels to watch but you can also stream. I guess some kind of connection is made thru your Internet but evidentially is has to have a certain amount of power to stream (I don't know if power is the accurate word). You pay the co. for the pkg. you selected (monthly) and I was told there is no charge for streaming but I find that hard to believe. If you have more details, please share.

P,S, Personally, all I want to do is turn on the TV and select what I want to watch. I do not want to flick through thousands of options to stream.

Re: STREAMING

kaydee50 — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:42:52 GMT

@Katcat1 Completely agree with your P.S. I find this "streaming" thing very confusing. But we have 3 TVs and we're going to try "streaming" on one of them. Cable is getting more expensive but I'm not sure how much we'd save with streaming.

Re: STREAMING

4kitties — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:51:11 GMT

Peacock is included in our cable package. We recently bought a new TV and there are several other streaming channels included with it that are free.

We had Netflix for about 18 months or so but we watched it so little that I got rid of it.

I like having the streaming channels available for shows I cannot watch on the cable channels.

Re: STREAMING

SilleeMee — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:00:34 GMT

You need high-speed internet, at least 25 Mbps and more for HD/4K. If you have multiple wi-fi devices connected to your internet then consider getting a faster internet service otherwise you'll be running into buffering issues.

Re: STREAMING

Meowingkitty — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:19:51 GMT

Streaming is a piece of cake. We have Hulu. Simply turn on the TV, select Hulu from the menu (sometimes it's a button on your remote), flip through the channels. It's not rocket science. If you don't like Hulu, cancel it at any time and pick another one etc. if you don't want to watch Hulu (or whatever) you can stay on live tv. You pay for the service monthly. That's it. My cable bill was over $200 a month for garbage. Now I pay $70 for Hulu. I also have Prime. If you don't want a service you can get tons of stuff for free.

Re: STREAMING

Caaareful Shopper — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:27:43 GMT

Six or seven years ago I bought Roku sticks -- one for each TV -- after deactivating my cable.

I purchased SlingTV, Netflix, and Hulu streaming channels. I already had Amazon Prime from my shopping.

I turn on my TV; if I want network channels and sports, I click on SlingTV, and choose what I want to see.

For new movies, TV programs and old-school movies & TV shows, I watch Netflix or Hulu.

Plus, there are loads of free channels available with Roku -- like all the 7 QVC & HSN channels and their videos they make available to stream. I get streamed exercise programs this way.

Almost all streaming channels offer a free trial period if there's a movie I want to see but don't want to pay for the channel itself. I watch plenty on HBO, AppleTV, Disney+, etc. that way.

I don't find it any different from turning on my TV and selecting the channel I want to watch, like I did when I had cable. But I'm watching a wider breath of shows, and paying over $150 less per month for three TVs (my Xfinity bill was ridiculous!).

I still get my wi-fi internet service from Xfinity. When I notice any buffering problems, I call them for a check up on the speed. Twice since I've had Roku, Xfinity has come out to install an upgraded modem, at no additional cost to me. Buffering stops immediately.

Re: STREAMING

SilleeMee — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:38:03 GMT

With streaming how do you record your favorite shows? For instance, on my DirecTV Genie I can record dozens of shows and have them record each week on a regular schedule which I can modify at any time. How can you do that with streaming?

Re: STREAMING

CelticCrafter — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:48:05 GMT

@Caaareful Shopper @Meowingkitty when you say flip through the channels, is it like regular tv or do you have to scroll through boxes and boxes of stuff to find what you are looking for?

Re: STREAMING

CelticCrafter — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:51:13 GMT

@Katcat1 wrote:
It seems this is the newest way to watch different programs. From what I understand, you sign up with a co. that offers streaming and your given certain regular channels to watch but you can also stream. I guess some kind of connection is made thru your Internet but evidentially is has to have a certain amount of power to stream (I don't know if power is the accurate word). You pay the co. for the pkg. you selected (monthly) and I was told there is no charge for streaming but I find that hard to believe. If you have more details, please share.
P,S, Personally, all I want to do is turn on the TV and select what I want to watch. I do not want to flick through thousands of options to stream.

@Katcat1 that's what I want to be able to do. Like right now with cable if I want to watch Bravo all I have to do is enter 44 on the remote.

Re: STREAMING

depglass — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:06:05 GMT

Where we live I have to sign up for each streaming service individually. So far its only Netflix and Hulu and I have cancelled them both for short periods. That is the plus with streaming, no contracts, at least I haven't encountered any. What I am worried about is putting my credit card out all over the net. I have a new card due to a very minor problem with Amazon and I am super careful with it. There were companies like Rolling Stone magazine that automatically renewed even though they weren't supposed to. From now on magazine scripts will be paid by check.

Re: STREAMING

Caaareful Shopper — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:25:49 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
With streaming how do you record your favorite shows? For instance, on my DirecTV Genie I can record dozens of shows and have them record each week on a regular schedule which I can modify at any time. How can you do that with streaming?

@SilleeMee

Each streaming channel is autonomous, so they are different in how they record, if they record. For example, I turn on the TV and select SlingTV channel fron the screen. I could also just select Sling directly from the Roku remote control since there's a Sling button already on it. Then I can either select a show from its home screen, or select one of the options:

Guide

DVR (Record)

OnDemand.

I select DVR to choose what I want to record. That's actually how I record a show from QVC's main channel, since the QVC streaming channel does not offer Record option.

There's also no Record function (that I know of) with Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime. They make their money by having the most competitive current offerings. Those offerings change out for new ones every so often. Amazon Prime has free, and rentals, and per cost movies and shows.

The only time I pay extra to watch a movie is if I really want to see a new movie and not go to a theater. I did that with the latest James Bond movie. I still paid less than two people going to one of our usual theaters [and ordering popcorn and soda].

Re: STREAMING

SilleeMee — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:30:49 GMT

@Caaareful Shopper

Do you need to buy a separate DVR device to record stuff from streaming? My DirecTV has the Genie tower which is an all-inclusive DVR+receiver.

Re: STREAMING

Caaareful Shopper — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:34:20 GMT

@CelticCrafter wrote:
@Caaareful Shopper @Meowingkitty when you say flip through the channels, is it like regular tv or do you have to scroll through boxes and boxes of stuff to find what you are looking for?

@CelticCrafter Think of the different streaming channels as separate,very competitive cable networks. So you first need to select the streaming channel you want. If I like shows on Bravo, I would select SlingTV streaming channel, either from the screen or the remote control. I get Bravo from SlingTV; I can also make it one of my favorite channels in Sling so that the current Bravo show icon pops up on Sling's home screen. Then I can select it right there.

Re: STREAMING

Caaareful Shopper — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:36:48 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
@Caaareful Shopper
Do you need to buy a separate DVR device to record stuff from streaming? My DirecTV has the Genie tower which is an all-inclusive DVR+receiver.

@SilleeMee No separate DVR devices at all. The DVR function will also tell you how much capacity you have left. So if you're at 90% full, you may have to cancel some recorded shows you've already looked at to make room for new recordings.

Re: STREAMING

gardenman — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:38:10 GMT

@CelticCrafter wrote:
@Katcat1 wrote:
It seems this is the newest way to watch different programs. From what I understand, you sign up with a co. that offers streaming and your given certain regular channels to watch but you can also stream. I guess some kind of connection is made thru your Internet but evidentially is has to have a certain amount of power to stream (I don't know if power is the accurate word). You pay the co. for the pkg. you selected (monthly) and I was told there is no charge for streaming but I find that hard to believe. If you have more details, please share.
P,S, Personally, all I want to do is turn on the TV and select what I want to watch. I do not want to flick through thousands of options to stream.
@Katcat1 that's what I want to be able to do. Like right now with cable if I want to watch Bravo all I have to do is enter 44 on the remote.

With Sling TV you can make a list of favorites that will be right at the top and it makes picking one easy. You just launch Sling and if you've made Bravo a favorite, it's right there. Just one click and you're on Bravo.

Voice activation works for many streaming services also. My little Google Nest Home Hub is set up for Sling also and I often watch the NFL Network on it when I'm on the computer in the morning. I simply say, "Hey Google, show me the NFL Network" and up it comes.

Roku's, Fire TVs, and other services offer voice control for many things. You simply have to press a microphone button on the remote then you just tell the TV/device "Show me (insert name of the channel here)" and up it comes. Things don't get a whole lot easier than that.

They make it pretty easy to find what you want to watch.

Re: STREAMING

Caaareful Shopper — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:46:59 GMT

@gardenman wrote:
@CelticCrafter wrote:
@Katcat1 wrote:
It seems this is the newest way to watch different programs. From what I understand, you sign up with a co. that offers streaming and your given certain regular channels to watch but you can also stream. I guess some kind of connection is made thru your Internet but evidentially is has to have a certain amount of power to stream (I don't know if power is the accurate word). You pay the co. for the pkg. you selected (monthly) and I was told there is no charge for streaming but I find that hard to believe. If you have more details, please share.
P,S, Personally, all I want to do is turn on the TV and select what I want to watch. I do not want to flick through thousands of options to stream.
@Katcat1 that's what I want to be able to do. Like right now with cable if I want to watch Bravo all I have to do is enter 44 on the remote.
With Sling TV you can make a list of favorites that will be right at the top and it makes picking one easy. You just launch Sling and if you've made Bravo a favorite, it's right there. Just one click and you're on Bravo.

Voice activation works for many streaming services also. My little Google Nest Home Hub is set up for Sling also and I often watch the NFL Network on it when I'm on the computer in the morning. I simply say, "Hey Google, show me the NFL Network" and up it comes.

Roku's, Fire TVs, and other services offer voice control for many things. You simply have to press a microphone button on the remote then you just tell the TV/device "Show me (insert name of the channel here)" and up it comes. Things don't get a whole lot easier than that.

They make it pretty easy to find what you want to watch.

@gardenman Yes! I forgot about that. I use voice command from my remote all the time.

I asked for Margaret Rutherford just yesterday so I could see the Agatha Christie movies she made. It was great watching "Murder Most Foul" again [on the AppleTV trial channel].

Re: STREAMING

Lipstickdiva — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:24:36 GMT

DH and I stream through Spectrum. We dropped our cable because it kept increasing in price and we didn't watch most of the channels.

Initially we were paying $30.00 a month for the streaming package, which has very limited channels, and we had to keep our high speed internet, which is the bulk of the cost. We also pay $6.00 a month for Cloud DVR. On top of that, Roku is built into our tv so we have those channels but we rarely watch anything on Roku.

When we first started streaming, our total monthly bill was much cheaper than it is today. Of course, just like cable, Spectrum keeps raising the prices. The package itself has increased as has the monthly internet charge. We are now paying $130.00 a month and our package is very, very basic.

We are looking into other streaming services. The problem is, not one of them offers the channels that are must haves for us. To pay for 2 streaming services is more expensive than going back to cable and doesn't make sense. There are too many overlapping channels.

As far as the DVR service, our's is Cloud DVR. It costs us $6.00 a month and we can record many shows at one time and watch something else. We can also watch different recorded shows at the same time on different tvs. It is so much better than our old DVR service where we could only record two things at once and if we were home, we had to watch 1 of the shows we were taping.

Re: STREAMING

MG Chris — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:28:21 GMT

With my Verizon wireless plan I get Hulu and DisneyPlus at no extra charge. I watch them on my tv all the time.

Re: STREAMING

Nuttmeg — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 17:35:22 GMT

@MG Chris wrote:
With my Verizon wireless plan I get Hulu and DisneyPlus at no extra charge. I watch them on my tv all the time.

@MG Chris

I also have a Verizon Get More Wireless plan which costs $90 for a single account. I watch the shows on my phone, or tablet.

Some cable companies may offer Disney Plus as a discount.

Re: STREAMING

Nuttmeg — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 17:51:32 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
You need high-speed internet, at least 25 Mbps and more for HD/4K. If you have multiple wi-fi devices connected to your internet then consider getting a faster internet service otherwise you'll be running into buffering issues.

@SilleeMee

She may want to ask the company about 100 Mbps. See how many devices will run on 25 Mbps.