OT: Sports Fans without Cable

Every month when I pay my Direct TV ($92) and Cox Internet bill ($89) bills my butthole tightens up to the size of a pinhead.. then every year they want to raise my bills, so I have to yell and scream and write letters to retention specialists...

Have been exploring doing something different for a while now, however as I am not tech savvy often get confused with the language and what am I actually getting.. get flyers from Verizon that if I "bundle" for $74.00 per month, but then when I price it out the cost is about the same...rental modems, DVR etc.

Then I chat with Customer Service Reps online, and usually I get pissed off as they never answer a question unless I give them my life history.

IMO this whole topic deserves its own thread to discuss how to save on what seems to have become a basic necessity, like to break away, but being retired sometimes life gets pretty boring..

DarrylS said:

IMO this whole topic deserves its own thread to discuss how to save on what seems to have become a basic necessity, like to break away, but being retired sometimes life gets pretty boring..

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Turns out there are entire forums dedicated to this topic including one which is all about reception in Boston.

Post or PM a link to your TVFool.com report and I will tell you what you can expect for reception, what you need for antennas, and how to install them. So much fun

KontradictioN said:

Get a fire stick and jailbreak it with Kodi. You then get a lot of free sports apps where you can stream every game. That's the best option for users without cable. Exodus is also on there and it has every television show and movie you can think of. The only thing you need is an internet connection.

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I find Kodi and its addons too unreliable in terms of streaming quality of live sports to be considered a viable cord cutting option. Buffering, buffering, buffering . . . Not to mention, sometimes the game you want isn't even available at all.

oldrover said:

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

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YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I find Kodi and its addons too unreliable in terms of streaming quality of live sports to be considered a viable cord cutting option. Buffering, buffering, buffering . . . Not to mention, sometimes the game you want isn't even available at all.

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Hmm. I never once had that problem. Sometimes it took me a while to find crystal clear games but, once I did, the stream itself was reliable. Might be your wifi connection.

oldrover said:

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

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Make your own.

I see that you already have some great suggestions.

wizwor said:

I don't know how things work in the UK, but in the US, many premium providers offer such options, but use 'bundling' to compel users to add channels they do not want. We have DirecTV Now, Sling TV, and Sony Vue which have smaller bundles for less money with limited concurrent connections. This works well for antenna-first cord cutters who want to add sports or 'cable news'.

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Our main provider has the 30 or so free to air channels, 6 bundles of channels plus two sports bundles and a movie bundles which are at a premium price. You can then add some specialised channels like that of your favourite soccer team if they broadcast one as a single channel.

There is no crossover in bundles so if you only want two channels and they are in separate bundles you have to pay for both. Once my contract is up I will be cutting the cord from them. I recently change my internet provider away from them. They market very well though recently adding a cellular package to try and keep customers. Between Netflix, Amazon prime and BBC iPlayer I can get most things I want, the others such as Game of thrones and Silicon Valley I can stream.

KontradictioN said:

Hmm. I never once had that problem. Sometimes it took me a while to find crystal clear games but, once I did, the stream itself was reliable. Might be your wifi connection.

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Finding a stream use to be my biggest issue on Kodi, I signed up for a paid for service and get UHD streams now. Once you find the right add on's its great.

Gwedd said:

Thanks for that. Looks like I have some reading to do. I am 50+ miles from any of the regular stations. Sigh.

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Mohu has an 60 mile indoor antenna..
Otherwise, you will need to go with an outdoor one..

Batman said:

Finding a stream use to be my biggest issue on Kodi, I signed up for a paid for service and get UHD streams now. Once you find the right add on's its great.

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Posting the name of the Kodi service would be helpful..

DaBruinz said:

Posting the name of the Kodi service would be helpful..

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I am not sure if it's allowed, I know links to streams of the game are not. I am more than willing to PM it to anyone who wants it. Along with a link to the facebook group for support and requests for events.

KontradictioN said:

Hmm. I never once had that problem. Sometimes it took me a while to find crystal clear games but, once I did, the stream itself was reliable. Might be your wifi connection.

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I doubt it. Sometimes it streams perfectly fine; other times, it buffers so much it becomes unwatchable. It's a complete crapshoot.

Youtube TV might be an option. Was reading a short blurb on it today that didn't have much detail but it did say it would have all the networks plus lots of sports channels and movie channels for $35 / month or something like that

Here's a link:
YouTube TV - Watch & DVR Live Sports, Shows & News

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I doubt it. Sometimes it streams perfectly fine; other times, it buffers so much it becomes unwatchable. It's a complete crapshoot.

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What's your download speed over speedtest on the stick vs what you are supposed to get. There tends to be a lot of degradation sometimes. I myself went with the Nvidia Shield 4k Pro. Set up a MoCa network in my house by buying the adapter and I get full DL speeds at my box now. Have no buffering whatsoever. I really recommend getting a box and plugging it right into an Ethernet connection as wifi tends to be unreliable.

DaBruinz said:

Mohu has an 60 mile indoor antenna..
Otherwise, you will need to go with an outdoor one..

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Yeah, I'm pretty well resigned to using an outdoor antenna. The indoor ones I tried just won't cut it. I not only have distance to deal with, but also intervening tall tree lines, and ridges/hills between myself and the transmitter locations.

pmb116 said:

What's your download speed over speedtest on the stick vs what you are supposed to get. There tends to be a lot of degradation sometimes. I myself went with the Nvidia Shield 4k Pro. Set up a MoCa network in my house by buying the adapter and I get full DL speeds at my box now. Have no buffering whatsoever. I really recommend getting a box and plugging it right into an Ethernet connection as wifi tends to be unreliable.

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I just run the Amazon Fire stick off the wifi internet provided by the good folks at charter. It usually works fine for movies and TV shows I get from the kodi addons but live sports is very hit or miss.

I'll consult with my more tech savvy friends about your suggestion. Thanks!

Batman said:

I am not sure if it's allowed, I know links to streams of the game are not. I am more than willing to PM it to anyone who wants it. Along with a link to the facebook group for support and requests for events.

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I'd be interested. Generally I just pay $300 for gamepass and it's been completely reliable and hassle-free for me but I'd like to give Kodi a try.

Batman said:

I am not sure if it's allowed, I know links to streams of the game are not. I am more than willing to PM it to anyone who wants it. Along with a link to the facebook group for support and requests for events.

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The reason that Ian doesn't want the links to streams of the NFL games posted is that most of them are illegal. And Ian doesn't want to get entangled in that.

Unless you're saying that the Service you are paying for is illegal, then there shouldn't be an issue. Kodi isn't illegal.

wizwor said:

Turns out there are entire forums dedicated to this topic including one which is all about reception in Boston.

Post or PM a link to your TVFool.com report and I will tell you what you can expect for reception, what you need for antennas, and how to install them. So much fun

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TV Fool

pmb116 said:

What's your download speed over speedtest on the stick vs what you are supposed to get. There tends to be a lot of degradation sometimes. I myself went with the Nvidia Shield 4k Pro. Set up a MoCa network in my house by buying the adapter and I get full DL speeds at my box now. Have no buffering whatsoever. I really recommend getting a box and plugging it right into an Ethernet connection as wifi tends to be unreliable.

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According to the speed tester, I'm downloading at 60.64 Mb/s, it gave me a B and said I'm faster than 69% of the US