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Many people have heard about streaming and cord-cutting. People also want to save money, and they have heard cord-cutting is a way to do just that. But they have many questions.
The word stream implies that something is moving in a steady flow. In this case, instead of water moving, it is data. Therefore, streaming is television through a stream of data on the internet. It can be live TV, on-demand videos, or rented or purchased movies. In other words, instead of the cable wire, satellite, tape, or DVD you are using your internet connection to watch something on your TV.
Related to this is the phrase cord-cutting. This phrase derived from the idea that all cable and satellite boxes traditionally required a coaxial wire connected to the TV or special equipment to receive the signal. However, every streaming device can use the cordless WiFi standard. Cord-cutting thus came to mean you are not using the cable or satellite company to watch live TV. This phrase has also come to mean that you use an antenna to watch local channels for free.
There are two types of streaming services for the cord-cutters. The first is streaming live TV. This is the direct replacement to the cable or satellite service. The second is streaming on-demand TV. This is not live TV, but a service that provides various videos, some of it exclusive and some of it available on other platforms. Streaming on-demand can include TV shows — including classic TV shows, exclusive TV shows, and TV shows that were already aired on live TV. Some people wait until a season of a TV show is over and then watch all episodes of that show back-to-back instead of waiting the next week for the new episode to come out. This is called binge watching. And finally, there are some services that provide both live TV and on-demand TV. However, none of those services provide the cable channels you are used to, just exclusive channels that play content the company has a contract with.
Yes. And that is true for anybody who switches to streaming only TV, regardless of how good they are with technology. Techs-on-Call can help you make this easier.
First, and most important, you need a fast internet connection. At the end of this article are several internet providers that may offer you good enough service to stream your videos. A good rule of thumb is that your internet speed will need to be 10 MBPS per HD stream and 25 MBPS per Ultra HD stream. Which is to say that if you want to watch 4 HD programs at the same time, your internet speed will need to be no slower than 40 MBPS to guarantee uninterrupted video.
If you want to watch live TV through the internet, you will also need an internet service with unlimited data.
Second, you will need something to provide a strong WiFi signal to every streaming device in your house or a network wire (or Ethernet wire) to every streaming device in your house. This may require that you purchase a new router or new networking equipment. Techs-on-Call can survey your house and help you make the best choice for your money. If possible, using a network wire is far superior than wireless. However, running network wires is not easy or cheap. WiFi was created to provide internet to devices where a network wire is impractical. If a WiFi signal is weak, the quality of the video will have to be degraded or else you will get frequent stops as the data builds a buffer in an attempt to workaround slowdowns.
Next, you will need a device that supports streaming. I strongly recommend you DO NOT use the streaming service built in to most smart TV's. The exception to this recommendation is if the smart TV is an Andriod TV, Fire TV, or Roku TV. If your TV is not one of those, then you are better off never ever connecting the TV to the internet. At the end of this page are several streaming devices that are capable of streaming TV.
Although not required, it is a good idea to have a streaming device that supports all the standards that your TV supports to give you a better picture quality. Most of the newest streaming devices do. But if you have an older one, you might want to upgrade so your can get a better viewing experience.
First the advantages. One big advantage is you can save money. This is because you have more choices, and you may choose a service that excludes channels you never watch. For example, what some people do is get a streaming live TV service for basketball season, then switch to a cheaper service without a sports channel in the offseason because they don't watch baseball. Or, if you do not care about live TV, you can subscribe to services that offer shows and movies you like. Since there are no contracts, you can cancel anytime and then resubscribe to binge watch your show.
Another way you save money is because you own the equipment and there is no contract. Cable TV makes it hard to purchase your own equipment because they want you to rent their equipment. And those equipment rental fees add up real quick. Yes, you can still buy a TiVo and if streaming is not an option for you, buying a TiVo is great way to save money on your cable bill. But it can be a pain to do this mostly because of the horrible customer service of the cable companies. Satellite TV makes you sign a contract, and often their cheap rate is only for half that contract. In contrast, even the expensive streaming service require you to buy your own equipment.
There are even several free streaming channels. Every one shows commercials, but you get commercials with the pay live TV anyway.
Finally, some streaming services have content exclusive to that service. Those services are always cheaper than the live TV services. What some people do is subscribe to one service, watch all the episodes of the show they want and then cancel the service. Then they repeat for a different service. (However, I find that many of these shows replace good acting and good storytelling with lots of sex, violence, bad language, and loud noises because they are not bound by the ratings found in live TV. Thus, much of the exclusive content found on these streaming services has very little appeal to me.)
Now the disadvantages. The biggest one for live TV is, except for DirecTV stream and ones specific to an internet service, there are no channel numbers. For many, this is a dealbreaker. To get channel numbers with DirecTV stream, you must buy a box from them for $120. Internet providers that support channel numbers also require a box purchased or leased from the company. This equipment will not let you subscribe to other live TV services, but other streaming services without live TV are allowed.
(However, the Amazon Fire TV devices can help with this disadvantage. Their voice remotes let you change the channel simply by talking into the remote and saying "Tune to ..." and the channel name. For example, "Tune to CBS" or "Tune to Discovery channel". The newer Amazon Fire TV devices also have a special button that makes it easy what is on and change channels more quickly. The only flaw with it right now is that channels are in strict alphabetical order and cannot be rearranged, only hidden.)
For streaming movies, you should never without exception buy a streaming movie. If you want to keep a movie, always buy the disc. This is because movies bought from streaming services are never owned, only licensed. And that license can be taken away at the whim of the (greedy) movie studio. But when you own the disc, it cannot be taken away because of contract disputes. It is okay to rent movies from streaming services; it is buying streaming movies that is the problem. There is an exception: If you are allowed to download the movie without any protections so that you can make as many copies as you need without the knowledge or permission of the copyright holder.
It is also important to remember one important fact. All live TV companies — Disney, Viacom, NBC Universal, etc — make you subscribe to channels in a package and they charge a rebroadcast fee for each channel, despite throwing in 18 minutes of commercials each hour. Even the local channels that you can get free with an antenna charge a rebroadcast fee. Each one of those companies signs a contract with a live TV provider — Optimum, Spectrum, DirecTV, YouTube TV, etc — in which they agree to pay a certain amount for each channel. Also, the live TV companies do not charge the same rate to every provider. Contract disputes are, without exception, when the live TV companies wants to jack up their rebroadcast fee price. Every single time. Altough the live TV providers are greedy, the more evil ones are the live TV companies. They raise their prices, and someone else gets the blame. Cord-cutting will help you save money; it will not fix the greed of the live TV companies.
This document has a list of streaming on-demand services. Some are free, some are pay. Some have speciality channels that play certain content all day, some are on-demand only, and some are both.
This document has a list of live streaming TV services. It is updated periodically, but not often. No illegal services are listed. Below is a brief overview of the streaming live TV services available in this area.
Below are several common streaming TV devices and some information about them.
This is a list of internet providers in the eastern and central North Carolina area.
The easiest way to go streaming is DirecTV stream. It has the highest price, but the most channels and for $120 per TV you can purchase a box that still has channel numbers just like cable.
However, chances are good you want to save money. Therefore, if you still want to make the transition easier, then you will need a Fire TV device. DirecTV Stream, Philo, Sling, and YouTube TV let you change channels using your voice with Amazon Fire TV devices. Plus, these devices have a special button that lists all the channels you have across your pay and free services, letting you change channels easier. You can buy a TV with Fire TV built-in, or buy a Fire TV stick which regularly goes on sale for under $40, or a Fire TV cube if you have a high-end TV.
If you care about sports, then we recommend YouTube TV with the 4k add-on. YouTube is the only service to broadcast all channels in full HD and with the 4k add-on, you can watch live TV or recorded shows on the road or away from home.
If you don't care about sports — or if you only care about certain sports — then we recommend Philo. And if you only care about certain sports, then you can subscribe to YouTube TV when it is the season for that sport, and then cancel and switch to Philo when it is done. Philo offers many channels at a low price. It can really help you save money.