Sling TV

[CuseJacket]

Testing it out the 7-day free trial and am disappointed with the quality. Frequent buffering and sometimes halting altogether before resuming. The ESPN stream is worse than when I used to stream directly from my laptop to Chromecast, when I paid for TV. Right now I am streaming via the Sling TV phone app to Chromecast.

Anyone have a different experience or advice? Right now our internet speed is 25Mbps, which I recognize is less than recommended for streaming, though as I mentioned it worked just fine pre-Sling. Do I need to upgrade speed, get a Roku, direct connect Roku to ethernet, something else?

@GTNavyNuke - if I remember correctly Sling is your service provider

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Yeah I love Sling. If you are getting buffering problems it is probably your ISP or more likely your modem. What I did when I bought a 4K TV this year was hard wire from modem to TV. Great picture now. Cox is my ISP and I believe that I lose bandwidth in peak times here. I could meter it but haven't.

So what I'd do is get a Cat 5 cable and hard wire your TV to modem just laying on the floor. If the problem goes away, hide the cable (mine I ran in a crawl space). If it doesn't, then it is probably your ISP. Unless of course you have an ancient modem. I just replaced my modem this week since I was getting a lot of service drops. We'll see if it works.

I have an Amazon Fire box I had to buy for the new 4K TV since the old Roku 2 didn't have speed. I like the Roku menu and navigating setup better than Amazon but IIWII now. So it depends what type TV you have as to which Roku (original, 2 or 3) you should get.

 

[collegeballfan]

Yeah I love Sling. If you are getting buffering problems it is probably your ISP or more likely your modem. What I did when I bought a 4K TV this year was hard wire from modem to TV. Great picture now. Cox is my ISP and I believe that I lose bandwidth in peak times here. I could meter it but haven't.

So what I'd do is get a Cat 5 cable and hard wire your TV to modem just laying on the floor. If the problem goes away, hide the cable (mine I ran in a crawl space). If it doesn't, then it is probably your ISP. Unless of course you have an ancient modem. I just replaced my modem this week since I was getting a lot of service drops. We'll see if it works.

I have an Amazon Fire box I had to buy for the new 4K TV since the old Roku 2 didn't have speed. I like the Roku menu and navigating setup better than Amazon but IIWII now. So it depends what type TV you have as to which Roku (original, 2 or 3) you should get.

How long you been fluent in Greek GTNavy?

 

[GTNavyNuke]

IDK, since χίλια εννιακόσια εβδομήντα πέντε or so.

 

[jeffgt14]

I use playstation vue mainly on an Amazon Fire TV as well but should be about the same. 25mbps may not be cutting it if other things in the house are connected to the internet. Things like Netflix and Hulu have the added benefit of buffering in advance as it’s not technically “live”.

 

[AE 87]

Has anyone tried Sling TV on an Android phone?

 

[RamblinCharger]

PlayStation vue is better from my experience. I've used it with an Amazon Firestick and it worked great. I only have 30mbps but I have a really good modem and a really good wireless router. I think my router is either n900 or the new AC1750.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

PlayStation vue is better from my experience. I've used it with an Amazon Firestick and it worked great. I only have 30mbps but I have a really good modem and a really good wireless router. I think my router is either n900 or the new AC1750.

Thanks, I checked it out on Amazon and others agree with you that Play Station Vue is better than Sling. So I'm going to cancel Sling later this month at the end of the subscription and flip over to Play Station to try it out. Can always switch back.

One question, looking at stations for $30 or $35 a month, where is ESPN3 included? I'd think in the $35 a month since that shows ESPNU being added. ESPN3 is essential ........ especially for Beesball.

 

[jeffgt14]

ESPN3 is on the $30 plan. The $35 plan really only gets you ESPNU and SEC Network.

I'm not sure how much better it actually is but I really only have it because it gets the Discovery channels for my wife. Plus having the ability for multiple people to watch at once is nice. It all may just depend on if those are worth the extra $10 to you.

 

[CuseJacket]

Well I can report some progress re: Sling TV. Chromecast was clearly the issue. We connected to Sling via laptop and direct to our TV via HDMI (older HD TV), and the buffering/slowness mostly stopped. We pulled the trigger on the free Roku 2 w/ 3 months prepaid a few days ago. Hopefully I can configure a set-up similar to @GTNavyNuke with a CAT 5/ethernet direct to the box rather than using wifi.

I did not know Playstation Vue was a viable option without a Playstation until reviewing their FAQ just now. I am glad to know there is another option to consider once our initial 3 months with Sling are over.

Thanks to everyone for the tips.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Well I can report some progress re: Sling TV. Chromecast was clearly the issue. We connected to Sling via laptop and direct to our TV via HDMI (older HD TV), and the buffering/slowness mostly stopped. We pulled the trigger on the free Roku 2 w/ 3 months prepaid a few days ago. Hopefully I can configure a set-up similar to @GTNavyNuke with a CAT 5/ethernet direct to the box rather than using wifi.

I did not know Playstation Vue was a viable option without a Playstation until reviewing their FAQ just now. I am glad to know there is another option to consider once our initial 3 months with Sling are over.

Thanks to everyone for the tips.

There is an app for PlayStation Vue for Amazon Fire TV which I downloaded today. No problem, I'll let you know which I like better after I switch in a month or if I see a difference. Sling is $10 a month cheaper so if it's the same, I'll switch back. I like trying to stay abreast of changing technology ........ having a modem router at one end of the house and a router at the other has really increased our range too. So now I can take my Alexa further outside to listen to baseball or music. Technology is just so great.

As a funny story, I was talking to a person in DC and had to get them a document which couldn't be e-mailed but could be faxed. Turns out this person had never faxed anything and didn't know whether the office had a fax. Damn I felt old.

 

[CuseJacket]

Happy to report Sling TV has been working flawlessly with the Roku 2 and our 25mbps service. Appears the Roku is only getting 12-13 mbps via wi-fi, which is apparently sufficient to avoid any semblance of skipping, buffering, etc.

 

[John]

Friend was telling me he just switched from sling to PS Vue, I guess Vue while it costs more includes more channels (or something like that?)

Perhaps sling is feeling the pressure, Amazon having a promo for sling service:
https://www.amazon.com/l/1519760701...le&pf_rd_r=3P41Q00TFVTF99J56KF0&pf_rd_i=sling

Edit: I actually regret posting the above since we've got a home game tomorrow. Please be at Bobby Dodd if you can, thanks.

 

[nod]

I just signed up for PlaystationVue:
Chose Vue over Sling for multiple devices at same time, recording.
Like it so far, for me it works better on the PS4 then Amazon fire stick. Menus faster on PS4, but once I'm watching stream both are about the same.
Issues with PS Vue:
When adding football game to record, it adds all NCAA football games, not just the Tech game. Could be nice, but hard to locate specific game with 25+ games in the queue.
Fox Sports South shows wrong shows in the guide, looked for Hawks game could not find it, selected FX Sports South showed something else, when I selected it the Hawks were on.

 

[JacketFromUGA]

I just signed up for PlaystationVue:
Chose Vue over Sling for multiple devices at same time, recording.
Like it so far, for me it works better on the PS4 then Amazon fire stick. Menus faster on PS4, but once I'm watching stream both are about the same.
Issues with PS Vue:
When adding football game to record, it adds all NCAA football games, not just the Tech game. Could be nice, but hard to locate specific game with 25+ games in the queue.
Fox Sports South shows wrong shows in the guide, looked for Hawks game could not find it, selected FX Sports South showed something else, when I selected it the Hawks were on.

The ps4 has a FAR superior processor than the fire stick. That's why the menus and such are much faster.

 

[jeffgt14]

Menus are pretty fast on the Fire TV Box.

 

[gtpi]

im totally confused. to be expected as im not a gamer. but i am ready to make a change.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/playstation-vue-vs-sling-tv/

 

[gtpi]

i looked into streaming a while back. wireless or hard wired was my first quess?

i ended up buying a cable to go from my pc to my tv after asking the question 'which gives me a better picture? hardwired or wireless.' i was told that cable does. so i bought a cable. then my laptop crapped out on me heh.

i also have concerns over getting hacked by a hacker trying to gain access to my pc while i am fully engaged in watching tv. wireless gives them an opportunity

 

[jeffgt14]

Competition

https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/25/att-directv-now/

 

[Peacone36]

Why doesn't Vue offer NFL network though? Charissa Thompson is essential for a quality viewing experience