Looked like a fantastic deal until I checked their local lineup. None of the major networks live and no regional sports networks listed in Ohio. You can also get a Fire TV stick + 1 month for $35, which is again worth it if you need a Fire TV stick.
Can you skip ads when you pause for ten mins or so and resume? I like to do this when I watch live football games.
A true DVR feature is what I’m looking for, I guess. If I can’t skip commercials, none of these streaming services will work for me.
I would consider this if it was say an Roku Ultra. I wish they would stop pushing apple products. Like Locker said though, the problems with the broadcast networks and these streaming services is I guess understandable but not worthwhile. They need to figure out a way to address it.
It looks like this works in the web app, I assume it would work the same on the Android TV.
My cable and internet provider won’t let me ditch the cable and keep the internet without absurd pricing so it looks like I will have to stick with cable for now. I think Playstation Vue is very good though and would switch if I could.
Any update yet Denny? Does the old HDHomeRun work with the Plex software to let you record things and play them back, fast forwarding through the commercials?
Super-busy week and I haven’t had time to set up the Plex software. Should be able to check it out this weekend.
So over the weekend I decided to give:
http://www.nextpvr.com/
a try. It’s not half bad.
First of all it’s free. It can also use:
http://www.schedulesdirect.org/
for epg data. I already had an account for my own use so that was nice. It’s $25/year and well worth it.
NextPVR has some nice features like a web interface with transcoding using the usual ffmpeg stuff. It’s pretty responsive so it will work on your phone if a bit buggy and you can select a variety of resolutions and bitrates. There are also native apps which I haven’t bought or tried yet.
The best part so far is the slick kodi integration. I’m running it on my fire tv’s through spmc and it’s quite nice. The WAF is pretty high.
Saves as standard mpeg2 .ts files.
Setup wasn’t too difficult. I’ve got it working with my ancient very first gen hdhhomerun and also a newer hdhr connect.
Give it a try as an alternative to plex/hdhomerun dvr especially if you are a kodi user. PS Vue + NextPVR to cover pbs, cbs, cw and we are pretty much set.
Yep, I too have been using NextPVR for a while and like it. I also tried the Kodi integration at first but soon found some weird glitches that just made it more trouble than it was worth. I also don’t like how Kodi doesn’t get the channel numbers correctly and instead re-numbers everything starting with 1…the programming guide in NextPVR instead works as I expect it to.
Looks like I have the HDHR-3. (Which was replaced by the HDHomeRun Connect.)
And… It’s not listed as supported by Plex DVR beta, and the DVR beta won’t connect to it. :(
That’s the one I have.
Well, this makes the decision easy not to get the lifetime Plex pass for the current sale Denny. Thanks.
If they make the lifetime pass cheap enough in another future sale, I might actually bite and then get the HDHomeRun Connect to go along with it.
I emailed [email protected] and they will upgrade HDHR3-US owners to an HDHomeRun Connect (HDHR4-2US) for $59+shipping. Which is half price for a brand new unit. I’d rather just have my existing hardware work, but that’s a pretty decent deal.
I’ve finally been able to convince my wife that we should/can dump our $100/month Bell satellite TV. As I understand, all I really need to do is buy one of these Android TV boxes, plug it in and Bob’s your uncle?
There seem to be a limitless selection of these boxes out there. Looks like (from this thread) that the HDHomeRun is the box of choice for Qt3? Or would there be something otherwise recommended for one just embarking on the adventure.
I’ve got 2 TVs I’d like to provide a signal for. One is a Smart TV, so it does have some apps native. The other is not, but I can plug my Xbox360 into it to give it that capability.
I’d sure appreciate any links to reliable, current, helpful websites you may have used to get yourselves up and running. Most of what I’ve found seems to be outdated, or sketchy.
The HDHomeRun is not an Android box. It’s a device that takes an over-the-air (OTA) signal and rebroadcasts it over your home network. So, you can plug in your antenna to an HDHomeRun upstairs, and use the HDHomeRun app on your phone or computer to watch local, broadcast TV downstairs. They are highly dependent on how good your local channels are. I recommend TVFool to see what you can get with an antenna positioned at various heights.
I think when you say “Android box” what you mean are some of the shadier Android boxes that come preloaded with Kodi and a variety of pirate oriented add-ons. There’s been a crackdown on those lately in several countries, including Canada, so that’s why information on that has dried up. If you want to go that route, it’s probably best to not talk about it here as Tom is not really OK with flagrant piracy discussion.
The HDhomerun is just a tuner-- you will need to get a streamer box also.
If you’re price-sensitive, I suggest picking up two amazon fireTVs. They aren’t the best streamer boxes available, but they are much better priced than the ShieldTV. You can usually find them around $85.
I’m in Canada and have cut the cord. My subscriptions are Netflix and Prime video and occasionally a rental or purchase on Google Play store. Chromecast is great and almost enough, except it doesn’t support Prime Video. Not a problem so far as the selection on Prime is currently weak and my wife and I haven’t found a joint show to watch. When we do I’ll reevaluate.
The other major issue is lack of baseball.
I’ve heard that if you’re going with an Android TV box, the 2017 Shield TV has the best hardware, can play 4K and HDR content, play Amazon Prime video (unlike Chromecast and most Android devices), and you can use Kodi on it. But it’s also pretty expensive.
I ditched Comcast and went for a combination of fiber internet (no data caps and improved speed); an OTT service (PlayStation Vue) to get a channel lineup similar to my old cable one plus DVR capabilities; streaming subs like Netflix and Hulu; and an OTA tuner for my Xbox One as a random backup for local channels in HD. I also got an Apple TV to basically replace my cable box.
If I watch a show the same night it premieres, I do so via PSVue and its DVR. if I don’t catch it that night, I watch the commercial-free version on Hulu if possible, or choose between DVR version on PSVue or on-demand version via specific channel apps (SyFy Now, FXNow, etc). CW and PBS are either via OTA on Xbox or next-day viewing via their respective apps. Live events (Super Bowl and the Grammies) can be done via either Vue, or when the streaming goes hinky, the OTA on my Xbox One.
At some point, I can probably do HD Homerun to capture/DVR OTA content, but the above has been working well so far.
It lacks the simple elegance of “one box, one remote, one service” that I had with Comcast, but I also save over $100 a month with this setup.
I cut the cable awhile back and have become a big fan of Kodi with the Exodus addon. Along with an rooftop OTA antenna that pulls in everything within 75 miles ( and living in metro detroit that covers all the networks plus PBS and about 40 other channels ) I get everything I need. They only exception is some sports. Fortunately my favorite is football and that still shows on the networks mostly. I am happy with the set up.
I do plan on getting an HD Home run in the future so I can pick up my OTA signals in my bedroom but outside of that I am all set. No regrets at all with dumping the cable.
I use Netflix ($10/month), Over the Air TV through Xbox One (live TV only, plus 30 minutes of pause ability), SlingTV for my wife ($25/month) and every three months I get one month of commercial-free Hulu ($12/month), and of course Youtube. So, total is about $38/month on average. Slightly more if I need other services for live sports.
I’ve been surprised at how much ends up on Youtube actually. For example, most of the time someone puts Bill Maher on there, the whole show. And then it’s taken down. Other shows seem to be put on Youtube legitimately. Like Samantha Bee’s show, and Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (And John Oliver).
Over the Air TV is usually great for watching American Football during football season, as well as the Olympics, and other sporting events. For things like Tennis, I have to get ESPN, and up to now I got that through a month of SlingTV or a free preview on Playstation Vue. It’s nice that these services are available a month at a time, so you don’t have to sign up long term.
And then a month of Hulu allows me to catch up on current TV shows on every network except CBS and the CW. So Fox, ABC, NBC, Comedy Central (South Park) basically. I can also occasionally add a month of HBO Now to catch up on HBO shows as well.
I cut the cord almost a year ago now. Some thoughts for you @Gladguy, as I may be different from the others here.
I went with a Roku instead of an Andoid TV box. Really all you want are the abilities to stream from different sources, and also have a local HD antenna. Your major gain is the reduction of your bill. There are losses though.
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Streaming doesn’t cover most (legit) sports games that are not OTA broadcast. You’re screwed if, say, you want all the college football games easily. Explore your options to stream those and how to get those before you cut.
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Streaming sadly doesn’t cover a lot of cable networks. History, HGTV, etc aren’t represented well. You can get them via things like Sling or PSVue, but not all of them. You also lose a DVR for most of that, since, unless things have changed, DVRs don’t accept app streams as input. An exception here is PSVue, which has a built-in DVR to their service.
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You’re going to slowly change over time, and ad-hoc is the way to go. Want to catch up on Game Of Thrones? Sign up for HBO Now for a few months. Want to catch up on this weeks shows? Use either OTA, or Hulu paid or free. Want to watch full seasons of stuff and/or movies? Netflix and Amazon Prime are the two best sources of that I’ve used so far. I’ve added and removed several services over time, and it’s nice to be able to do that. Don’t sign up for long term for anything unless you truly see yourself using it that way.
Things are changing for streaming and you’ll need to be flexible replacing what you want with what you get. I miss things from Cable/satellite, but I don’t miss the bill. In the meantime I’ve dived in to some fucking fantastic seasons of things I missed completely. Hours and hours of great entertainment await.
Quick edit to compare costs, I’m in NC, your mileage may vary. I had internet and cable, no premium channels for about $180 a month. I cut the cord and my costs are now at $49/month internet, plus costs of my streaming options (currently about $35/mo.) I had initial costs for two Roku’s, and two HD antennas. Some of the streaming options had free initial periods.