Watching TV over the internet ?

[Johnch]

They want to raise my cable bill

I can now get a high(er) Internet connection over the phone line
I am going to check things out first

But how fast of a Internet connection speed does I need to watch TV ?

I figure I might save enough to speed up the suppressor purchase

John

[jmort]

I dumped cable and use Nexflix and Hulu and an antenna for free HD broadcast T.V. - I get 4 MB internet speed, not much, and that will support two T.V.'s at the same time and a couple computers to boot. They just started a full fledged internet T.V. service in Atlanta - seems that will be the next wave. That is essentially what the cable companies are doing anyway. Now if I could only get 60 MB out here in the sticks.

BTW - I also use Magic Jack Plus for unlimited phone service for less than $3.00 per month, less than $40.00 per year, and that is a fantastic deal. Works real good. I get 4 mb down and 1 mb up.

[reloaderman1]

I dumped cable and use Nexflix and Hulu and an antenna for free HD broadcast T.V. - I get 4 MB internet speed, not much, and that will support two T.V.'s at the same time and a couple computers to boot. They just started a full fledged internet T.V. service in Atlanta - seems that will be the next wave. That is essentially what the cable companies are doing anyway. Now if I could only get 60 MB out here in the sticks.

.

What he said ! I dumped the cable in December and signed up with Netflix ($8 per month ), the antenna picks up the locals and thats all I need.
I love this digital TV, if you can pick up a station the picture is great! No bad reception, you either get it or you don't.
P.S. I have a "smart TV", it connects right to my network, nothing else to add no box or anything.

[lars1367]

I can stream pretty much anything on my 5Mbps connection that also runs a digital cable box, and several internet enabled devices all at one time. It actually runs more like 8-10Mbps since they have yet to run the caps on our lines. My father in law has Netflix way out in God's country using a satellite connection that gets somewhere around 2Mbps. It takes longer to load and I don't think he can get HD content, but it works for him and his old spaghetti westerns.
-Corey

[10-x]

Anyone tried the "TV Rabbit" sold at wally world? Kinda sounds to good to be true.

[SeabeeMan]

http://www.digitalhdsource.com/new20diamrou4.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=21619610058&utm_content=pla&gclid=CJKf2rfJm7cCFUtgMgodHhcAvg

We have one of these and pull stations from 70+ miles of hilly terrain despite being in a dead zone on the FCC map. Get Hulu for tv prime time shows and Netflix for movies and discovery channel type shows. Vudu and amazon on demand are great for new movies unless you're near a redbox.

[SeabeeMan]

Oh, and we have 3.5mb service via dsl. Can't hardly notice the difference over the 20 we used to have before moving to the country.

[Philngruvy]

Ok, I am going to show you how illiterate I am. How do you find out the speed of your connection? We have Netflix, and sometimes it runs great. Other times it pauses every couple of minutes I assume to buffer or what? I might have to check out Hulu.

[SeabeeMan]

Go to speediest.net and run the test in the window. This will give you an idea of what you're working with and what your options are

[SeabeeMan]

Sorry speedtest.net

[firefly1957]

You need a true 1 MB / Sec. for H.D. TV if you have usage limits it would be a poor choice but with unlimited use it would be worth a try for you.

[Philngruvy]

OK, thanks, I did the test and came up with 1.4 mbps. What does this mean and what can I expect in the way of satisfactory viewing with netflix and hulu?

[zardoz]

I live out in a rural area, but finally got solid, unlimited 1.5 Mbps on DSL. Believe I was the first customer to get it out here, but I had been bugging the provider for years.

Been getting Netflix smooth and reliable as of late. Recently bought a newer DSL wireless router/modem and big improvement over the first one I had. Also, removed all the old phone wire from my house, and put in cat5/e to everything. My Dish HD receiver/recorder is on the network, as well as the Blu-ray player which accesses all the current streaming services. Took a while, but got it all worked out for now. Really like the wireless for the portable gadgets, as cell phone signal out here is pretty weak to no bars at all.

A newer gadget I am pleased with, is a thermostat which is hooked into the wireless network, that I can control via remote with iPad.

Anyway, if I can get it, then you have a good chance of making it work for you.

[jmort]

I believe you need around 1.2 mb to stream Netflix/Hulu etc.

[Johnch]

Thanks for the info

I will see what I can realy get

John

[khmer6]

That will be fine for streaming media. 1.5mbps downstream is common for dsl. Are you going to watch Netflix via a smart TV or blurry player? How many computers do you use simultaneously in your household?

[Kull]

OK, thanks, I did the test and came up with 1.4 mbps. What does this mean and what can I expect in the way of satisfactory viewing with netflix and hulu?

It's just your max download speed in megabits per second, that's the usual spec isp's rate their services with. The same measurement can be done in megabytes, kilobytes, kilobits, etc. Just remember 8 bits to a byte, and big B is byte...little b is bit. 1.5 down is not great, bottom of the barrel really. Speed isn't everything though, connection quality is also very important for streaming. Besides speedtest.net (www.speedtest.net/‎) also go to pingtest.net (www.pingtest.net/‎), their sister site, and see what kind of results you get there. Do these types of tests during the hours you will be streaming for more realistic results. If you live in a really rural area small isp's can and will get bogged down during peak hours. Been a while since I had dsl but I think this can be true regardless of service type. There are better more advanced ways of using the internet to replace cable and/or satellite tv......hint hint, but this is a family site.

[10x]

For the first 15 years of my life I lived out of range of a television signal.
The we got a tv - and could get one channel - there was nothing redeeming on that one channel.

For the first 50 years of my life I lived without internet. Then I got a modem and used to log into an open port at a University 300 miles away -after midnight when long distance rates dropped.

Now I have flat screen tv with a satellite dish and 500 channels - with nothing redeeming or interesting on any of them/
and now I have internet, email, a telephone, my kids have moved away, they never use email to talk to me, they just call when they need money.
Apparently email is "too impersonal"....

[Johnch]

That will be fine for streaming media. 1.5mbps downstream is common for dsl. Are you going to watch Netflix via a smart TV or blurry player? How many computers do you use simultaneously in your household?

Not sure all what I will watch
I now watch Sience , syfy , CW , ABC,Nbc,Cb and fox
Along with a few others

Not working and having head acks leaves me way to much time to kill sometimes

John

[khmer6]

I hear you on that. I have chronic pain and chronic migraines. It's a PITA trying to enjoy time off when you're hurting. I dumped my cable provider last year, should of done it a long time ago, as I never watched anything but history channel then it got to the point where it was a replay of the whole day. Currently I use Netflix and have an amazon account for streaming as well. Cheaper than having basic cable. If you are looking for specific new shows, there are always ways to find them online. Be careful with Netflix it gets addicting, you might find your self watching 5 seasons of a show you never heard of

[Baja_Traveler]

I'd dump cable in 2 seconds if there was another alternative source for the Golf Channel. The golf addicted wife lives on that station, but I can only get it on cable apparently...

[dbosman]

Golf? Ugh. ;-) A long walk interspersed with too many too long rests.
Curling, now there's a sport. How can one not like a sport that encourages you to stand around and drink.




I'd dump cable in 2 seconds if there was another alternative source for the Golf Channel. The golf addicted wife lives on that station, but I can only get it on cable apparently...

[Philngruvy]

. Be careful with Netflix it gets addicting, you might find your self watching 5 seasons of a show you never heard of

For sure.Our current addiction is Monarch of the Glen. Ahh , those Scottish lassies......

[HATCH]

I have 3 meg DSL.
I can stream Netflix or hula on 3 devices with no issues at all.

Keep in mind that not everything is watchable via netflix,hula or amazon.
I like watching Walking dead. Hula doesn't show those at all. Amazon I have to pay to watch it the next day.

My brother Ray moved to NC. he went with broadcast tv and his getting internet via guy next doors wifi (with permission)
He watches netflix and hula and thinks its GREAT.

I am not saying to do this but it is possible to watch netflix, hula, and even amazon at multiple locations at the same time.
Even if such locations are 100's of miles away from each other....

[HATCH]

I'd dump cable in 2 seconds if there was another alternative source for the Golf Channel. The golf addicted wife lives on that station, but I can only get it on cable apparently...


you can get live streaming of golf channel at channelsurfing.net , but it requires that you have a player download from Veetle.com

[uscra112]

Back about 1977 I saw a bumper sticker that said "Kill Your Television". So I did. I have never been sorry. :smile:

[10-x]

Back about 1977 I saw a bumper sticker that said "Kill Your Television". So I did. I have never been sorry. :smile:
IIRC, Elvis started that.......

[khmer6]

Also be careful of getting faster Internet, it may lead to a shopping addiction =D. If you can get fiber that would be smoking fast.

[TXGunNut]

TV over the Internet? Waste of bandwidth, IMHO. I still have a TV but the SatTV box bas been dark for over a year. Huge waste of time & money. May try an HD until the Internet/TV relationship matures but could really care less about TV these days. OTOH I'm a big fan of the $5 DVD bin @ Wally World.

[starmac]

Never had tv while my kids were at home, we watched dvd's if anything.

[smokeywolf]

Told cable and Dish to get lost 8 years ago. Started collecting DVDs; must have 500 or more. Started up with Netflix a couple of years ago. Have since added Amazon and Hulu. We have to have a Amazon Prime acct. for the wife's business anyway. So the streaming services are costing us $16.00 per mo. Used to pay Dish $1,000.00 per yr.

smokeywolf

[Ohio Rusty]

You are lucky to have both !! I don't have internet at home ... it's dial up and won't work at all with the newer Windows machine ....and our cable is $40 bucks for 25 channels, and half the time 1/2 of the channels don't even come in. Satellite is too expensive so we do without. I'd rather spend time doing other things anyway. I'd take high speed internet over TV anyday ....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[10x]

I'd dump cable in 2 seconds if there was another alternative source for the Golf Channel. The golf addicted wife lives on that station, but I can only get it on cable apparently...

The horror, the horror, a golf course is a complete waste of a gun range.....

[WILCO]

I dumped cable and use Nexflix and Hulu and an antenna for free HD broadcast T.V.

That's how I'm doing it here. I also have "Rabbit TV" which is another version of Netflix.

[WILCO]

Started collecting DVDs; must have 500 or more.

Yep. I've done that and old VHS tapes two years ago. The thrift stores have quite a selection of movies.

[reloaderman1]

For sure.Our current addiction is Monarch of the Glen. Ahh , those Scottish lassies......
Yeah, we watched that whole series ,and then the wife found out there was another series, so we had to find it and buy the DVD. Great show!

[dragon813gt]

I never even bothered getting cable when I bought my house. Been using Netflix since they started streaming. I'm on DSL at right around 10mbps. I connect my laptop to my TV through a HDMI cable. It really opens your options up as far as what you can watch. I won't lie and tell you they are legal. But it beats only being able to use a few select sources. I also have a digital antennae. I'm right at 50 miles from Philadelphia so I get a lot if channels when the leaves are down and not so many this time if year.

Lately I've been watching MEtv over the air and not Netflix. After years of watching Netflix you realize a lot of the movies and shows are horrible. And the updates are few and far between. They updates are in spurts and it's a lot better than it used to be.

Another great thing about using the laptop is to watch the UFC fights. Their servers are phenomenal and there is no hiccups w/ streaming the live fights. No need to go out to watch them. Watching them on the iPad is great but it doesn't compare to a big TV w/ surround sound :)

[smokeywolf]

One of the biggest benefits to not being on cable, sat or broadcast TV is my kids don't see the news. In my part of the world the TV news broadcasts are composed of mostly murders, police pursuits, and liberal political propaganda.

smokeywolf

[Artful]

So dug up my TV instructions and it's wireless network capable - so this morning I got it talking to my CenturyLink modem/wireless hub - I was watching You-Tube and stuff without issue so I'd guess I can look into Netflix and HuLu etc. next - my cable contract is up in October.

[10x]

So dug up my TV instructions and it's wireless network capable - so this morning I got it talking to my CenturyLink modem/wireless hub - I was watching You-Tube and stuff without issue so I'd guess I can look into Netflix and HuLu etc. next - my cable contract is up in October.

Netflix works for you guys in the U.S. Canadian CRTC ( the offical government censorship board) will not allow all of the movies available on Netflix in Canada. Apparently to protect "Canadian Content". Nor will the CRTC approve a new Canadian news channel that offers a less than left wing view of Canada. Apparenty any news that is not from the left is not Canadian Content....

[RobsTV]

Roku (includes easy to use remote control and is the key to using your regular HDTV like you always did before) + Netflix + PLEX + navi-xtreme and an old outdoor antenna pretty much covers everything Sat and Cable had to offer (yes even the Golf Channel). Besides the one time purchase of Roku ($50 - $95) and the monthly $8 for Netflix, everything else is free. Google the above stuff to learn more.