Looking to Cut the Cord and Dump DirecTv after 25 years. 13 TV's. Advice please...

[jaythree]

I am ready to cut the cord (I think). 25 Year Directv customer, 13 TV's, all have their own box. (Genies, 4K, 3 DVR's). My Bill is $325/mo. It's only me and my wife in the house. (we watch a LOT of TV, mostly DVR recordings and Netflix)
The majority (8) of the TV's are in the basement (party room). We only have parties 2-3 times a year these days, so not much use down there. 3 main TV's (4K) (living room, basement, bedroom). Others are lower use.
So now knowing my situation, am I crazy to make this switch? My reasoning is to save "some" money on the monthly bill, and to hopefully not regret it with inferior viewing quality. My thoughts are to get the top Hulu (unlimited) package with all of the channel add-ons.
My other question is what equipment do I get for the 3 main (4k) TV's, and what do I attach to the other (not used much) TV's? I have the highest speed Comcast internet and really good routers so I'm not worried about signal. I was thinking a cat wired (Roku) type box for the main TV's, and not sure what I need for the others. I don't want to overkill those, but obviously don't want buffering when they are in use.
Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Zookster]

Wow! You stand to save more than $250 by cutting the cord and switching to a OTT live TV service, as you are likely aware. I suggest Roku sticks for the other TVs. Buffering will have more to do with the service you choose than the device as long as the device is newer and your WiFi setup is solid and signal consistent. You could always start by testing one or two setups before buying all the devices you need for all of them.

 

[camo]

FYI most streaming services have a limit on how many concurrent streams. 3 is a common number while a few allow 5. One of the exceptions is Hulu live which offers unlimited streams and advanced DVR service for extra $.

 

[jaythree]

So I signed up for a Hulu free trial and did some testing on a Fire Stick. First impressions, I love it. The streaming was flawless (albeit only about 6 feet away from my router). I am happy with the content. Wish the Live TV guide was more of a "guide" like most satellite or cable guides...it's more of a "list". I am sure updates will come with time to make it look like more of a guide. My wife and I like how it puts everything in your face (trending, popular, you might like) over just browsing channels in a list. This will introduce a lot more content to us that we may have never known about. (which might not be a good thing!)
I loaded out the subscription with absolutely every option except the Latin channels, and my monthly bill would be $116. (just over $200/savings) I'll gladly take an extra $2400/year!
It's only been a few hours but so far we love this potential switch. For the basement TV's, we will either go with direct connect receivers where we can, or throw a WIFI router down there. I think either way we will get good streaming during the (few and far between) parties. Thanks for the replies, any more input/advice would be appreciated.

 

[Ronnie-]

Wish the Live TV guide was more of a "guide" like most satellite or cable guides...it's more of a "list". I am sure updates will come with time to make it look like more of a guide.

Did you find this? Or were you just using the tile interface page? (I know currently in addition to recent and all channels, it shows "sports" "news" and "movies" tabs as well, for some reason it is not shown in this pic. )

There is an update coming to the guide that will extend the listings up to two weeks, and a few more tweeks.

 

[jaythree]

Yes that's what I was referring to, thanks! I would like to see more of a grid guide I guess...been staring at one for 25 years! This isn't horrible, but could use some updating for sure. I really like the tile interface page though.

 

[harshness]

Did you find this?

Such an enormous waste of screen acreage I had never seen.

 

[harshness]

My Bill is $325/mo.

I was trying to resolve how you managed to arrive at such a high bill and I have to admit that I can't do it. Obviously you're paying up to $70 in equipment lease fees. I'm assuming that you must have some manner of maintenance plan.

If any of your parties (or weekly activities) involve live sports, that can be difficult (depending on the sport).

Since you're otherwise just a two-person household most of the time, it shouldn't be an enormous burden on your broadband service.

Cloud DVRs aren't typically what you're used to with physical DVRs and you need to spend some time contemplating what you lose for the savings you might realize.

You may have to convert some or all of your coax over to MoCA so that you're not dependent on Wi-fi for your Internet access (assuming you don't have Ethernet cable everywhere already). Today's MoCA may not be up to more than six simultaneous sessions.

With more than a half-dozen TVs going, many Wi-fi setups will be iffy (even if they're multi-band).

 

[jaythree]

I was trying to resolve how you managed to arrive at such a high bill and I have to admit that I can't do it. Obviously you're paying up to $70 in equipment lease fees. I'm assuming that you must have some manner of maintenance plan.

Yes I do have the maintenance plan with Directv.

Cloud DVRs aren't typically what you're used to with physical DVRs and you need to spend some time contemplating what you lose for the savings you might realize.

I know we can probably just watch a lot on demand instead of actually recording it. I did bump up to the 200 hour which should be plenty for our needs.

You may have to convert some or all of your coax over to MoCA so that you're not dependent on Wi-fi for your Internet access (assuming you don't have Ethernet cable everywhere already). Today's MoCA may not be up to more than six simultaneous sessions.

I actually have Ethernet going to most of the basement locations.

 

[Zookster]

I know we can probably just watch a lot on demand instead of actually recording it. I did bump up to the 200 hour which should be plenty for our needs.

I'm not sure about recorded Hulu Live broadcasts, but on demand is definitely the way to go on Hulu if you have a 5.1 audio setup. Hulu has greatly expanded its device support and available content in 5.1. Its FAQ page (below) says "limited to a selection," but everything I've watched during my current one-month trial of regular Hulu has been in 5.1 via my PS4, including an A&E docuseries I didn't expect or need to be in 5.1.

Hulu with 5.1 surround sound
While Hulu’s collection of 5.1 supported content and devices continues to grow, at this time, it’s limited to a selection of Hulu streaming library shows and movies and movies (which includes all Hulu Originals), on the compatible devices listed below.

• Chromecast*
• Fire TV (3rd generation and Cube) and Fire TV Stick 4K
• LG TV (WebOS 3.0 and above)
• Nintendo Switch
• PlayStation 4 (all models)
• Xbox One (all models)

 

[harshness]

The absence of Roku and other TV manufacturer options is pretty noticeable.

I'm at a loss as to how it could be so difficult unless they're trying to limit bandwidth usage.

 

[Bobby]

I'm not sure about recorded Hulu Live broadcasts, but on demand is definitely the way to go on Hulu if you have a 5.1 audio setup. Hulu has greatly expanded its device support and available content in 5.1. Its FAQ page (below) says "limited to a selection," but everything I've watched during my current one-month trial of regular Hulu has been in 5.1 via my PS4, including an A&E docuseries I didn't expect or need to be in 5.1.

Hulu with 5.1 surround sound
While Hulu’s collection of 5.1 supported content and devices continues to grow, at this time, it’s limited to a selection of Hulu streaming library shows and movies and movies (which includes all Hulu Originals), on the compatible devices listed below.

• Chromecast*
• Fire TV (3rd generation and Cube) and Fire TV Stick 4K
• LG TV (WebOS 3.0 and above)
• Nintendo Switch
• PlayStation 4 (all models)
• Xbox One (all models)

I bought the 4K Fire Stick at the sale price of $35 just for Hulu in 5.1.

 

[camo]

I was a big fan of FireTv until I started getting excessive buffering with PSVUE. I was blaming PSVUE until I discovered the buffering was less (not completely gone) directly over computer internet or using the Roku box.
Anyway, no longer a fan of Firetv it's heavily loaded with unwanted garbage and from my experience has buffering issues which have gotten worse over the last 6 months.
Since switching to YTTV and Roku I've had no buffering whatsoever. YTTV only allows 3 streams is why I didn't recommend to OP with so many TV's.

 

[harshness]

YTTV only allows 3 streams is why I didn't recommend to OP with so many TV's.

In my mind it isn't so much the number of TVs as the number of viewers and with that in mind, YTTV may be sufficient (assuming it meets the programming requirements).

For parties, you could set up a bunch of Roku boxes and stream YouTube or Vimeo or maybe a short movie plex subscription. That depends entirely on what kind of content the TS would offer at parties.

Content-wise, I prefer Fubo though its movie offerings are a little thin. I can't speak to the PQ or AQ fidelity or how well their Cloud DVR works.

 

[skydivingwill]

Wish the Live TV guide was more of a "guide" like most satellite or cable guides...it's more of a "list".

The guide is being updated to a grid guide with 14 days in Spring of 2019.

Hulu Announces a New User Interface With a New Grid Guide - Cord Cutters News

 

[Ronnie-]

Did you find this? Or were you just using the tile interface page? (I know currently in addition to recent and all channels, it shows "sports" "news" and "movies" tabs as well, for some reason it is not shown in this pic. )

There is an update coming to the guide that will extend the listings up to two weeks, and a few more tweeks.

What the updated guide will look like.

 

[DawnB]

What the updated guide will look like.

YAY!!!!!! I see a “My Channels” tab on that screen!!!! FINALLY!!!!!


Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[Ronnie-]

YAY!!!!!! I see a “My Channels” tab on that screen!!!! FINALLY!!!!!


Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!

Indeed. It hints that you should be able to customize the channels that show up, as all the other tabs are on the current guide.

Hopefully group them how you want as well, like YTTV does.

 

[harshness]

I blame DIRECTV for 90 minute guides.

I'm thinking they should be able to fit at least six channels on the screen.

I'm not sure how they associated the zoom symbol with the current time.

 

[ncted]

I blame DIRECTV for 90 minute guides.

I'm thinking they should be able to fit at least six channels on the screen.

I'm not sure how they associated the zoom symbol with the current time.

Agreed! WTH, people who design guides these days?