jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

After working on computer problems for most of yesterday, I got everything working. It began with Sling not working right after I subscribed. Then I thought I'd install the TP-Link Deco mesh router. I bought it over a year ago. Over the past few years, I've put off doing things because "things" don't work the way they're supposed to work. "Plug and Play" is a great term; so is "Happily ever after."

When I installed the new router a few weeks ago, it was an awful experience. "Just follow the directions." Sure, like that would work. I had read over the Deco router directions several times, and I figured I'd try to install it since Sling seemed to work. It took hours to get it working. Why? I have no idea. It would get to the end of the process, and the red light would come on. I checked the directions: "Something is wrong." Excellent! I had no idea there was something wrong.

By 6:30 PM, everything seemed to be working -the computer, the TV, Sling, and all three Deco units. I decided to pick a random movie on Sling TV. Great! It worked. And then the three or six-minute commercials started! $45 a month for commercials? I don't think so. I checked with YouTube TV - $80 a month for commercials.

The unsubscribed Tivo is still connected, so I'll have to remove that and re-wire things.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Just think Jerry, you COULD be sitting on your couch totally bored…you’re right, all those new ‘plug & play’ electronic gadgets never go as advertised…spent over 30 minutes the other evening trying to figure out why ‘Prime Video’ wouldn’t load but all other streaming services did…frustrating at times….Cheers

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, frustrating at times.

Tommg

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry ....?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You can buy many streaming services without commercials including Netflix, Hulu: Showtime and Max (was HBO) by paying extra. I’m not aware of any way to buy real-time TV without commercials on a streaming service, but if anyone know, I’d be glad to hear. Unfortunately, streaming real-time is just the same as old time cable with respect to commercials. You can, however, watch CNN and other news services on Hulu without commercials, but it’s yesterday’s news. The worst offenders are CNN and discovery where there is 50% content and 50% ads. As it is, we can watch PBS, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and Max without commercials (plus other stations on Roku) without commercials by paying extra. It’s so bad that if I could get TCM (turner classic movies) and one of the major 24 hour news channels, I’d drop YouTube TV.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'll call Spectrum before the next billing period and see what they can do. Before they dropped support for Tivo, it was okay, except for the rising prices.

Red6

I must be living a charmed life. Just moved to a new place that has ATT fiber. The fiber mode/router is free and was delivered within 3 days of setting up the service.

Installation was simple. Plug in the power cord and fiber, log into my new ATT account, get my modem/router ID and password, and then log in to all my devices. Took 10 minutes at most.

The place is wired for cable TV along with Cat4 network cable, but all my TVs, computers, tablets, and phones are wifi capable, so no cables are needed. So now all my network connections are wireless. Other than power cables, we have no cables connected to anything.

I was able to log onto my Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Tubi accounts in the next 30 minutes. And the fiber connection is fast. No hesitation whatsoever in loading webpages, TV stutter, or any problems so far. Download speeds in excess of 300 mbps.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, definitely a charmed life. One problem with a house being wired for a network is the cable. Cat 4 is old. Cat 6 or 7 or 8 is what they are using now. I'm sure that replacing that cable would not be easy.

I bought a router a year ago, and I just got it setup last night. It came with Cat 5 cable, so I used Cat 6, instead.

tomc601 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

There's no live streaming service that will skip commercials. If you're watching live local news, you'll get commercials. Except for the news, all other local broadcasts we DVR on YoutubeTV and fast forward through the commercials, same as we did with Dish and Direct. YoutubeTV has unlimited DVR.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's funny, but in all the research I did about TV alternatives, there was no mention of commercials. Tube and Sling Free have no commercials and no monthly fee.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

SlingFree says it’s ad supported. Have you tried it and found it to be ad free Jerry?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No, not ad-free, but neither is the Sling TV I paid for - and canceled. Of course, Sling TV has better offerings than SlingFree. I watched a couple of movies, but the three-minute (or more) commercials were very distracting. Occasionally, that three-minute segment would repeat, for a total of six minutes. I mute the TV and close (rest) my eyes when the commercials come on. If I want to actually watch and record TV, Spectrum is my only choice.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Depends on where you want to record them. YouTube TV allows unlimited recording (and automated recording of a series) in the cloud, but they only persist for 9 months. Also, many streaming premium services such as Netflix allows downloading content for later viewing. Spectrum allows recording of anything you receive, BUT there’s no way to transfer it off the HD in the box if you have to exchange or turn in the box for any reason. You can avoid adds on the premium streaming services such as Hulu, NetFlix, etc. by paying extra plus TCM and PBS are ad free. So you can avoid commercials for most things, but not live news (CNN, MSNBC, Fox), local news or channels such as Discovery (one of the worst offenders).

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'll call Spectrum and see what they can offer me.