Wireless Streaming HD players

[winos5]

I'm fed up with my cable provider. I'm paying @ $150 a month plus various xtra fees for devices plus tax so my monthly bill is like $230 for cable internet, phone and digital HD. They offer the same bundle to new subscribers for $89 and refuse to give me a similar discount. Unfortunately my options locally are limited for service providers. I'm seriously considering a wireless streaming HD player and either basic cable or an enhanced antenna to get local TV programming. I know alot of HD TVs are coming with these devices standard now. Was wondering if anyone has any experience devices like Roku or Boxee and could provide feedback.

 

[supraman]

I had a Roku it aint bad. Do you have an Xbox? You can stream netflix and Hulu plus through it so it might work for you

 

[phranchk]

I have a friend who has Apple TV and likes it a lot. If I were to buy one I'd probably go with Roku personally though I haven't researched enough. I know one advantage of Roku is that you can also do Amazon streaming content on it. Don't know if Boxee has that yet.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

I reconfigured my cable, and now it's under $100 a month for internet/cable (with a pretty good selection of channels).

I'd call your provider and basically threaten to cancel. It saved me about 75 dollars a month. They know times are tough financially, so they'll work with you (or should).

Wino, who's your provider?



As far as HD is concerned, I stream many shows/movies thru my PS3, and the quality is okay. Blu ray wired through HDMI is amazing, but I have no issues so far with streaming. It's getting better-- but then again we're used to crap feeds through coaxial.

 

[MassHavoc]

I'm not sure you really need the box anymore, just a way to stream to your TV. The apps on the newer TVs give you basically anything the Roku would? Hulu, Vudu, Netflix, everything except sports. You get the enhanced antenna and you'll get the local stuff, but nothing for the stuff on CSN. You can now stream Center Ice, NFL ticket, MLB extra innings on the PS3, but I believe those are still all subject to blackouts based on IP address.

 

[BlackHawkPaul]

I'm not sure you really need the box anymore, just a way to stream to your TV. The apps on the newer TVs give you basically anything the Roku would? Hulu, Vudu, Netflix, everything except sports. You get the enhanced antenna and you'll get the local stuff, but nothing for the stuff on CSN. You can now stream Center Ice, NFL ticket, MLB extra innings on the PS3, but I believe those are still all subject to blackouts based on IP address.

We thought about that too because PS3 has NHL Gamecenter. The problem is that I think they black out local games. If they didn't I'd consider dropping cable altogether.

I also like HBOGO. The problem I see there is that you cannot subscribe to HBO without a cable/satellite service (or I haven't found out how to do it).

 

[MassHavoc]

I have HBO go as well, and you are right, they make you sign in with your cable/sat. provider, I haven't found a way around it.

 

[winos5]

Update: At lunch today I drove 30 miles to the nearest Time Warner Cable office and gave them back the HD DVR/Cable box, cancelled the cable and my phone service. Less than 15 minutes later they called me on my cell and asked me to come back to the office. I got digital cable, phone and high speed wireless internet for $99 plus equipment fees for the wireless device and DVR equipment plus taxes. Should be around $140 total bill now. Next year when the service contract expires I intend tol be set up at home to stream everything and I will tell them to **** off.



As far as current streaming devices (other than PCs/laptops) we have 2 Xbox 360 game consoles and a Wii. The game consoles belong to my sons and daughter respectively. THe Wii is set up in the living room, where the biggest HD TV is. I doubt my sons will allow me to usurp their Xbox 360s for any length of time. By next year I intend to to have devices set up that stream better than the Wii (does netflix only and a few Wii related channels and internet surfing), probably a Blu-ray player and/or a Roku.



The reason for wanting a Roku/Boxee is to stream Gamecenter live to it. Most of the time I could care less if they blackout local NHL games as I can't stand the Stars. For the occassional games I'd miss on NHLN or Versus I can just get a quasi-illegal stream from hockey streams (also supported on Roku/Boxee).

 

[MassHavoc]

Good for you, i have no real experience with Time Warner, but I assume they are as bad as the rest. I really hate that all companies don't fail to see that when your contract is up, you are essentially a new customer and should be treated as such but with the loyalty of your continued service. New customers is where the growth comes, but loyalty is where the profit stays.

 

[phranchk]

You can always set up your ps3 to go through a proxy server, but in order to have it work at a reasonable speed you'll likely need to pay for that proxy. Not sure how much they cost, but then you'd be able to set up your ps3 as if you're in a different location and you can get all the blackhawks games.

I too wish you could get HBO Go without a cable subscription. Only problem with that is they still don't have HBO Go for streaming through set top boxes. If they did and you could sign up for it without a cable provider it would give me one more reason to drop cable.

 

[LordKOTL]

http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx



Okay, you mentioned that you might go with an OTA antenna, here is a good resource for you. Type in your information (you can hit the zip code only, then drag the map over your home), and answer the questions about buildings, trees, and prospective antenna height. It will output the direction, distance, and recommended range you'll need to pull in all avaliable antenna signals to your home and make a buying recommendation.

 

[MassHavoc]

http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx



Okay, you mentioned that you might go with an OTA antenna, here is a good resource for you. Type in your information (you can hit the zip code only, then drag the map over your home), and answer the questions about buildings, trees, and prospective antenna height. It will output the direction, distance, and recommended range you'll need to pull in all avaliable antenna signals to your home and make a buying recommendation.

What a great little tool. I didn't need the site, but it was still fun to see what antenna would work for me. Basically it said go with a good cheap little one because I'll be able to get everything with it. I'm not sure how being 17 floors up affects this, but if it's anything like cell phone reception I'd be screwed.

 

[LordKOTL]

When it comes to terrestrial TV and terrestrial radio, the higher the better. You want to get over any trees, hills, and buildings between you and the transmitting tower.

 

[MassHavoc]

It's the walls and the quadruple pained glass and everything that kills my reception. Drives me nuts. Fucking cell phones.

 

[winos5]

When it comes to terrestrial TV and terrestrial radio, the higher the better. You want to get over any trees, hills, and buildings between you and the transmitting tower.

When I moved into my current home we tore down the 30ft antenna tower on the side of the house because it was an "eye sore". In retrospect, perhaps it was a mistake?

 

[bookjones]

My good friend M loves him some Roku players man! For serious. He's been a longtime fanboy of them and has just upgraded models over the years as well as upgraded TV's. The man would likely rather sever an arm than have his Roku taken away especially now that he's got his beloved 72-inch set. Between that and his Netflix subscription he's good to go. But he's not a TV addict anyway so he just wants to see what he wants to see when he sits down to see it. I believe his neighbors let him splice their cable just so he can get basic digital reception.

 

[phranchk]

I have recently purchased both a roku hd box and an apple tv. Love them both. The one thing I like about apple tv is its better at streaming your iTunes content, including movies. One area roku wins is the channels, but with air play apple tv isn't far behind.

 

[LordKOTL]

When I moved into my current home we tore down the 30ft antenna tower on the side of the house because it was an "eye sore". In retrospect, perhaps it was a mistake?

Possibly. You're in the Dallas area, right? I don't think there's anything there remotely resembling a hill, much less a mountain, to get in the path of your signal. And last time I was in that area, there was no trees like the ones we get out here in terms of height. A 30' pole might not be the best idea, but something mounted to the roof or chimney might be a good option just to get it above most of the obstacles in the path towards the antennas might work well.



Tip of advice if you go that route. Use Antennaweb and any other resources you can find about the channels in your area. Some out here are still broadcasting on the VHF band, and if that's the case with you and it's a chanel you want, along with a UHF band, you may need multiple antennas unless you get a dual-band

 

[chasman]

You ever try dish network?

I've had them since they started, never had a problem, also love center ice

 

[MassHavoc]

Dish Network > Directv > Cable > everything else > anything att.