Cutting the COX Cable cord.....

[barrettd]

Any long time Sling users here? I'm doing a month right now and I'm not really sold on this product/service.

I've noticed several times I loose connection - even happened during the OU game. Some searching online showed that can be a common issue. It's also happened a few times while watching programs - get the circling buffer thing for about 20 seconds. Really kills the momentum of a movie. I've never experienced this while streaming HBO, Showtime or Netflix on their independent apps.

Also, I guess I'm too used to services like Netflix and my DVR. I was hoping Sling would have more on demand programing. I find very little. I also hate that the live streams most often will not let you pause or rewind.

Right now its not feeling like a good tradeoff from COX Cable with TIVO.

Anyone else experience the lost connections with Sling?

*I'm currently streaming on a Apple TV 4th generation.

By this time, I've tried all of the streaming services. PS Vue is the class of the field, with DVR capabilities and very capable On Demand. Connection issues do occur occasionally, but not during time of high traffic (think Game of Thrones season premiere or other special event). I'm on an Amazon Fire TV and it is, by far, my favorite service. Sling updated their interface, but the back end stuff still seems to be wonky.

You can always try a 7-day trial of PS Vue. Worth a shot. I do not miss my cable bill.

[Timshel]

By this time, I've tried all of the streaming services. PS Vue is the class of the field, with DVR capabilities and very capable On Demand. Connection issues do occur occasionally, but not during time of high traffic (think Game of Thrones season premiere or other special event). I'm on an Amazon Fire TV and it is, by far, my favorite service. Sling updated their interface, but the back end stuff still seems to be wonky.

You can always try a 7-day trial of PS Vue. Worth a shot. I do not miss my cable bill.

Ditto. I'm using a 4th gen Apple TV and an old Roku - service has been better than expected on both and the DVR/on demand features are great.

[BBatesokc]

I think i'm going to try PS due next. Looks to have more of the features I'm looking for.

My biggest issue at this point is the money I've already invested in my TIVO with lifetime subscription and the fact I'm apparently paying less than $20/month for my basic cable.

If my rate goes up, it will be a no-brainer.

[Thomas Vu]

What kind of features are you looking for?

[BBatesokc]

What kind of features are you looking for?

DVR ability, good on demand programing, ability to pause/rewind and a stable connection. Basically everything I have now - but with the satisfaction of not giving COX a dime of my money.

[Thomas Vu]

If we can throw morals out the window, I have a couple of suggestions pending on what you want to watch.

[BBatesokc]

If we can throw morals out the window, I have a couple of suggestions pending on what you want to watch.

Kodi? If so, I already have it. I find it maddening to play, "Will the movie really load roulette." I still have my Firesticks but don't bother with Kodi. It's probably just me, but I find it too frustrating.

[barrettd]

Kodi? If so, I already have it. I find it maddening to play, "Will the movie really load roulette." I still have my Firesticks but don't bother with Kodi. It's probably just me, but I find it too frustrating.

Don't know how frustrated you are, or if you want to pursue Kodi further, but check out RealDebrid. It's a subscription that gives better streams, and it's very inexpensive. I don't have too many problems using Kodi streams, but, even when I do, I have to allow that I'm getting a lot of content at little or no cost, so I'm ok with it.

I use Exodus and S.A.L.T.S, primarily, and have very few issues. I also use Trakt integration to keep track of my shows.

[shawnw]

Surprised I rarely hear about PlayOn as an option/supplement since they have DVR product.

[barrettd]

Surprised I rarely hear about PlayOn as an option/supplement since they have DVR product.

I tried using PlayOn, but it never quite worked very well for me. I assumed user error, however, but none of the channels for content ever worked well enough to consider using it on a regular basis.

UPDATE: I think I was using a weird XBMC-related version of PlayOn. The service actually looks pretty cool, but I don't currently have a Windows box on which to run it, so I can't really test it out.

[Stew]

Kodi? If so, I already have it. I find it maddening to play, "Will the movie really load roulette." I still have my Firesticks but don't bother with Kodi. It's probably just me, but I find it too frustrating.

It's not just you.

[Thomas Vu]

Kodi? If so, I already have it. I find it maddening to play, "Will the movie really load roulette." I still have my Firesticks but don't bother with Kodi. It's probably just me, but I find it too frustrating.

Nope, Both are extremely reliable.

Wheres the spoiler option in here?

reborn4hdlive for NBA.
nfl2go for NFL.

All games, home and away feeds, national games, reg season + playoffs, and they keep the games for some amount of time.

[BBatesokc]

Nope, Both are extremely reliable.

Wheres the spoiler option in here?

reborn4hdlive for NBA.
nfl2go for NFL.

All games, home and away feeds, national games, reg season + playoffs, and they keep the games for some amount of time.

Unfortunately, being the son of a single mom led to the lack of appreciation for professional sports! I watch sports, I just couldn't recite any player or even team stats. I just appreciate a well fought game in general.

In all honesty, we only watch a handful of shows and we like the occasional at home movie. But, I want to watch them on my time (which Sling or OTA doesn't allow me to do) and I want some variety and I want to be able to pause. I just really hate that I have to give my money to COX to get those things.

[SoonerDave]

I tried using PlayOn, but it never quite worked very well for me. I assumed user error, however, but none of the channels for content ever worked well enough to consider using it on a regular basis.

UPDATE: I think I was using a weird XBMC-related version of PlayOn. The service actually looks pretty cool, but I don't currently have a Windows box on which to run it, so I can't really test it out.

I splurged and bought a lifetime license to PlayOn and set it up on a Windows VM and I'd say it works largely as advertised. For some reason, *some* sources don't record well. For example, scheduled recordings of certain shows from Food Network are dodgy, but recordings from TNT are usually perfect.

PlayOn recordings show up automatically as a DLNA source on any corresponding client device, so I think given the price its a winner. I just haven't taken the time to tweak all the sources.

[SoonerDave]

Kodi? If so, I already have it. I find it maddening to play, "Will the movie really load roulette." I still have my Firesticks but don't bother with Kodi. It's probably just me, but I find it too frustrating.

I have built two Raspberry PI boxes with OSMC, which is a custom-cut version of Kodi. I don't use any of the pirate streams or services, but I generally find the KODI-approved add-ons to be very reliable and enjoyable. The KODI project itself has a bit of a cloud over it as some developers have threatened recently to leave the project because of the way the name has become tied to the pirate movie/streams business. KODI itself has trademarked the name and their starting to go after the companies on eBay etc that are selling boxes using that name and advertising pirate movie or sports streams.

[barrettd]

Unfortunately, being the son of a single mom led to the lack of appreciation for professional sports! I watch sports, I just couldn't recite any player or even team stats. I just appreciate a well fought game in general.

In all honesty, we only watch a handful of shows and we like the occasional at home movie. But, I want to watch them on my time (which Sling or OTA doesn't allow me to do) and I want some variety and I want to be able to pause. I just really hate that I have to give my money to COX to get those things.

You said you have a lifetime TiVo but in guessing it's not the one with ota input. You could throw more money at it and get a tablo dvr, with which I've been very happy, but you might just be happier with what you've got. Tablo would solve your ota dvr issue, and you can cast it to any fire device.

[barrettd]

I have built two Raspberry PI boxes with OSMC, which is a custom-cut version of Kodi. I don't use any of the pirate streams or services, but I generally find the KODI-approved add-ons to be very reliable and enjoyable. The KODI project itself has a bit of a cloud over it as some developers have threatened recently to leave the project because of the way the name has become tied to the pirate movie/streams business. KODI itself has trademarked the name and their starting to go after the companies on eBay etc that are selling boxes using that name and advertising pirate movie or sports streams.

I've got 2 friends who have recently bought fire sticks with kodi loaded and paid twice retail for each. I've made it clear to them that's not necessary and offered to help them or their friends in the future so they don't buy more of the preloaded stuff. Felt bad for them for wasting their money like that.

[SoonerDave]

I've got 2 friends who have recently bought fire sticks with kodi loaded and paid twice retail for each. I've made it clear to them that's not necessary and offered to help them or their friends in the future so they don't buy more of the preloaded stuff. Felt bad for them for wasting their money like that.

Yeah I know exactly what you're talking about!! And I don't blame the KODI folks for going after the graymarket boxes. The OSMC version of KODI I use on these Raspberry PI boxes is a first-class piece of software that is rock solid and routinely updated. I bought one of the nicer Raspberry PI kits with a case, good-quality power supply (very important), and micro SD card, and an external mini-keyboard remote. It assembles in about five minutes, and downloading/burning the OSMC image to the microSD card takes maybe another five or ten...

[BBatesokc]

You said you have a lifetime TiVo but in guessing it's not the one with ota input. You could throw more money at it and get a tablo dvr, with which I've been very happy, but you might just be happier with what you've got. Tablo would solve your ota dvr issue, and you can cast it to any fire device.

Actually have both types of boxes. Found an OTA unit on Craigslist awhile back for $30 so I grabbed it. In our house we have a mix of TV's on cable and on OTA.

[BBatesokc]

FYI - be careful if you try the Sling 7-day free trial. I cancelled my trial and received an email confirmation. However, I just saw where Sling still charged me for the next month anyway.

Going to call and argue to get that reversed. Not cool.

[Urbanite]

We used to have SlingTV but left due to the same issues that have previously been mentioned, and not to mention PS VUE has Both the ESPN's and FS's available on their lowest tier pkg for $30, whereas on Sling you have to get the $50 pkg in order to get both. I really like the PS VUE and have been running it on a ROKU 3, but about to switch to an Amazon Fire TV since the menu gui for PS VUE is better on it and my ROKU is getting long in the tooth.

I am about to try out the 7-Day free trial of the new DirecTV Now service though since they have quite a few more channels for just $5 more than what we pay for the PS VUE. I made this chart for a friend of mine who is looking to cut the Cox cord as well; these are just the lower end packages, since i feel like they have the necessities and once you cross the $50/mo line you might as well stay with cable.

Hopefully it's readable...

[sooner88]

I experienced another really frustrating part of Sling recently... I pay for the package with FOX, etc, but only certain markets get the full FOX, so I was not able to stream the playoff games through the app. In addition to all the streaming options once I find a better alternative for FSOK, I am done with it.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Tried PSVue for my in laws. Thought it was great! Fast service on Amazon firetv

[shawnw]

We used to have SlingTV but left due to the same issues that have previously been mentioned, and not to mention PS VUE has Both the ESPN's and FS's available on their lowest tier pkg for $30, whereas on Sling you have to get the $50 pkg in order to get both. I really like the PS VUE and have been running it on a ROKU 3, but about to switch to an Amazon Fire TV since the menu gui for PS VUE is better on it and my ROKU is getting long in the tooth.

I am about to try out the 7-Day free trial of the new DirecTV Now service though since they have quite a few more channels for just $5 more than what we pay for the PS VUE. I made this chart for a friend of mine who is looking to cut the Cox cord as well; these are just the lower end packages, since i feel like they have the necessities and once you cross the $50/mo line you might as well stay with cable.

Hopefully it's readable...

tough to read. would you be willing to post as a google doc?

[Urbanite]

tough to read. would you be willing to post as a google doc?

First time using Google Docs, hope this works!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...frXJvxHz-w/pub