Verizon Fios / cord cutting question

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

New place and only option is going to be Verizon Fios. I'm so used to comcast.

 

anyway. Im not looking to completely cord cut. I'll still have 1 HD set top box for my livingroom but Verizon only offers digital converter boxes for $8/mo or additonal HD set top boxes for 12/mo. In that case, why would I not just get 2 more HD boxes for bedroom and office/gaming room?

 

but lets say i'd like to save some money and really dont need the full array of HD channels outside the livingroom.....

 

anyone have Fios? can I simply run a cable from the cable jack to my bedroom TV and at least pick up basic cable off it? I believe this to be the case but not sure with Verizon.

 

or alternatively, I've never owned a firestick or chromecast. Worth it? What can I pick up on them, channel wise? ESPN? NFL network? HBO? TNT? AMC? etc? or is it just streaming like netflix, youtube hulu?

 

 

thanks for any responses.

 

I'm a creature of habit and comcast has been so awesome.

[kutulu 1,542]

You can get some of those channels via sling, starts at 25 bucks... They just raised from 20. Maybe get a Roku... Can be used for Netflix, Hulu, AP, sling and a bunch of other apps some are free like the news apps, cbs, nbc, etc

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

You can get some of those channels via sling, starts at 25 bucks... They just raised from 20. Maybe get a Roku... Can be used for Netflix, Hulu, AP, sling and a bunch of other apps some are free like the news apps, cbs, nbc, etc

 

gotcha but i wont be getting ESPN or TNT HD for example, correct?

 

ill probably shell out for the extra HD boxes at least 1 more.

[kutulu 1,542]

I think they have a seven day free trial... Not really sure about the hd part ESPN looked pretty decent to me but I'm not super picky. My sling subscription ended right around the time of the small rate increase cause my CC card was no longer good and I never got around to updating... Will probably resubcribe when football season rolls around.

[frank 2,144]

gotcha but i wont be getting ESPN or TNT HD for example, correct?

 

ill probably shell out for the extra HD boxes at least 1 more.

Sling has ESPN and TNT and everything is in HD.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

Sling has ESPN and TNT and everything is in HD.

Ah cool

 

But, sling is still a subscription service correct? So you'd need a physical roku or other device and then a monthly sling fee?

 

Basically just trying to figure out something that beats paying an extra 24 per month for two more HD cabke set boxes if those rooms don't need a wide range of channels.

 

Like if I want to fall asleep to espn like I do now.

 

So my interest would be in a 1 time purchase device that allows me to watch some basic cable channels without a monthly fee.

 

2 cable HD boxes at 24/month is 288 a year. A Google chromecast is 35 dollars for example.

 

But being completely new to cord cutting devices I have no idea what I can watch for free using thise devices if anything?

 

So maybe I just run a coax cable to the TV and channel scan and get a dozen channels

[fandandy 3,311]

I wouldn't recommend Firestick. My experience with Fire TV has been terrible. My ex-wife loves their Roku. I would try that.

 

Also watching TV on non HD channels will prolly drive you batty. Might as well lose your remote and walk to the TV to change the stations too.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

I wouldn't recommend Firestick. My experience with Fire TV has been terrible. My ex-wife loves their Roku. I would try that.

 

Also watching TV on non HD channels will prolly drive you batty. Might as well lose your remote and walk to the TV to change the stations too.

Thanks for the advice.

 

HD versus non HD in a room where viewing will be much less than the main TV isn't a concern to me. The TV in the bedroom or office ends up being more background noise or just to know what's happening in whatever game I'm watching as I'm multi tasking.

[kutulu 1,542]

Big fan of the Roku

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

I wouldn't recommend Firestick. My experience with Fire TV has been terrible. My ex-wife loves their Roku. I would try that.

 

Also watching TV on non HD channels will prolly drive you batty. Might as well lose your remote and walk to the TV to change the stations too.

So if I bought a roku, what could I watch... Station wise... without a monthly subscription fees?

 

Because at some point getting a bunch of different subscriptions (sling, hulu, etc) won't make sense over simply having another HD cable box for 12-month.

 

Because I'm not actually looking to fully cord cut, i just don't like he idea of paying to rent extra HD set top boxes for rooms that don't get utilized that often.

[fandandy 3,311]

So if I bought a roku, what could I watch... Station wise... without a monthly subscription fees?

 

Because at some point getting a bunch of different subscriptions (sling, hulu, etc) won't make sense over simply having another HD cable box for 12-month.

 

Because I'm not actually looking to fully cord cut, i just don't like he idea of paying to rent extra HD set top boxes for rooms that don't get utilized that often.

I am unsure. I have never used one. She uses hers mainly for Netflix. They have separate cable in the living room but like you didn't want the extra expense of multiple boxes. When I did use the Fire TV it was just to watch YouTube and free Prime stuff. I think they recently made watching You Tube more difficult on anything Fire.

 

Not sure how you feel about an over the air antenna but that coupled with a booster and a splitter might serve you well and would also be in HD on the main stations.

 

eta: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024R4B5C/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Something like this, especially if you live near a city, would get you all the main stations plus PBS etc.

[kutulu 1,542]

For free you can get most of the major channels news apps, I use the cbs one, course you pay with commercials.

 

Then there is crackle it's so so I'm not a huge fan, has commercials too

 

There are a bunch of different apps for free TV shows but it's gonna be old shitte. You could rotate sling, Hulu and Netflix depending on what you want/like... Also there is Amazon prime which is part of Larger package of stuff like free shipping, music etc To see new decent shitte without stealing you'll have to pay something but you can do it on the cheap if you want, some people don't want the hassle of changing services and I get that too...cable was fockingg ripoff though imo.

 

Edit oh yeah the pbs app has a lot of stuff I don't use it much though, pbs over the air is plenty for me, got a couple HD antennas too

 

There is a pretty new Roku channel that has movies and TV shows for free

[kutulu 1,542]

https://cordcutting.com/best-free-roku-channels/

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

So it sounds like a really my best option is just an HD antenna and just pick up whatever it picks up cuz I really am not interested in getting into multiple subscription streaming services cuz that's going to end up being more expensive than just getting an HD set-top box and since I really would only want to have access to like ESPN on TNT maybe the major NBC CBS ABC for golf it doesn't seem like I really need too much

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

I wouldn't recommend Firestick. My experience with Fire TV has been terrible. My ex-wife loves their Roku. I would try that.

 

Also watching TV on non HD channels will prolly drive you batty. Might as well lose your remote and walk to the TV to change the stations too.

 

Roku TV is great, but you cant add kodi/terrarium to them

 

Sling 40$ a month works on any smart tv, dont need a stick or a box, their 40$ package almost has too many channels

 

fwiw I use 2 firetv boxes hardwired thru ethernet (59$ each), and 2 firesticks wifi (25$ each) all 4 have Kodi and Terrarium and amazon prime and netflix

 

I pay the amazon yearly 100$ and 10$ for Netflix and haven't spent a dollar on anything in 3 years now

 

also have a roku tv wifi in my man cave room, but no kodi, so only can stream games that are on ESPN/NFL in that room

[kutulu 1,542]

So it sounds like a really my best option is just an HD antenna and just pick up whatever it picks up cuz I really am not interested in getting into multiple subscription streaming services cuz that's going to end up being more expensive than just getting an HD set-top box and since I really would only want to have access to like ESPN on TNT maybe the major NBC CBS ABC for golf it doesn't seem like I really need too much

yeah I'd start with just the HD antenna and go from there... Can't get cheaper than free over the air tv (assuming you're not in West buttfock and can't pick up anything)

 

If you already got wireless going on in your house I'd spring for a Roku too though. One time cost, there is stuff that is free, and you could always try a pay service one at a time see if any are better for you than the others or try the free trial some of them have, I know sling has a 7 day one. Roku and a HD antenna probably cost you about 60-80 bucks? I got a roku express not that long ago works fine imo

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

yeah I'd start with just the HD antenna and go from there... Can't get cheaper than free over the air tv (assuming you're not in West buttfock and can't pick up anything)

 

If you already got wireless going on in your house I'd spring for a Roku too though. One time cost, there is stuff that is free, and you could always try a pay service one at a time see if any are better for you than the others or try the free trial some of them have, I know sling has a 7 day one. Roku and a HD antenna probably cost you about 60-80 bucks? I got a roku express not that long ago works fine imo

Yeah. Gonna probably do that.

 

Thank for the help

[The PosterFormerlyKnownAs 61]

We cut Fios back to internet only. Two Rokus, with one direct tV now subscription.

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

We cut Fios back to internet only. Two Rokus, with one direct tV now subscription.

 

gotcha. at this moment, im still planning on going internet/cable and just figured maybe I could save a little on the 2 other rooms where I want to have some entertainment but don't need the full blown HD set top box with all the channels/on demand/etc as the extra two boxes would run me another $24/month plus taxes and fees and blah blah. Even if you just take the $24 thats $288 for the year versus buying a chromecast ($25 at bestbuy) or a Roku for that one time fee. The 55" Samsung I just recently bought came with a free HD antenna... kinda weird but i'll take it so no cost there to try that out.

 

Roku seems to have a few different options but not costing more than $50.

 

Basically as long as I can watch some cable channels in those rooms (hopefully ESPN, TNT, YES, AMC) i'd be more than happy as most of what I watch is on those stations. And it sounds like chromecasts and i would guess Roku's too have apps like HBOgo which I can just log into via my service provider anyway like I sometimes do on my computer.

 

Without subscribing to anything sling/netflix/hulu etc, I'd save $188-238 yearly.... and if i really like the chromecast or roku, then maybe I cut Fios cable completely.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

I used to have a roku. It was awesome. I miss it.