Sling TV

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
i am learning little by little.

i settled on sling o/b and netflicks. will add the sling sports package when i need it to watch the jackets.

i found this page and it lists almost 20 free apps you can use with your sling subscription. including watch espn.

http://help.sling.com/articles/en_U...s=Search&pn=1&getcategoryname=&getParentName=

when i was on the main page of fire tv i searched for amc and low and behold there is an amc app under fire tv that you can subscribe to using sling as your provider. it adds additional free programing not available with the amc channel in sling itself.

its basically hit or miss on apps. there are apps located under the fire tv "umbrellla'' and there are apps 'within' each app you add in some cases.

when they say free app sometimes the app is free but there are charges within that app. for instance i downloaded cbs now app and it costs extra to actually watch programs. in my world that aint free.
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
what id love to do is replace spectrum "HIGH SPEED" internet for something cheaper. most of the time its not high speed. ive been seeing speed tests give me half what im supposed to have...... for $65? they can kiss my grits.
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
just found out that youtube is offering its version of streaming. $35 for 40 channels.

and while im at it. i found this web page and now have links to stream at least 100 movies i found via a search among thousands of selections. in addition to all the episodes of the ... the sopranos.... dexter... game of thrones... better call saul... breaking bad... shameless... shanara chronicles... hells kitchen... etc. also able to watch 'stranger things' a net flix original.

since i found this i dropped net flix. i can watch just about everything on net flix on this site.

no registration required. it allows my popup blocker to work meaning i dont have to wade through popups and re-directions. been using it for a month and havent had any issues with viruses either.

now to check out youtube tv to compare it to orange/blue sling.

when i cut the cable the girl at time warner/spectrum told me id be back. hardly. in one year i will have saved at least $1000 on my cable bill. and i have FAR more selections than i EVER did with time warner / spectrum / att.

i no longer have to wait for a movie i want to watch to be released to cable. i watched 'it' a week after it was released to theaters and im going to watch the new thor movie tonite.


https://gostream.is/gomovies
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
19,554
Ignorant question - what internet speed are you all finding successful for streaming? Just switched on SlingTV again a few weeks ago and it seems 25 mbps is not getting it done consistently, which is about what I see via speedtest. WatchESPN and ESPN/ESPN2 sometimes get pixelated. Can't tell if the issues are related to WatchESPN vs. Sling in general vs. my internet speed.
 

LibertyTurns

Banned
Messages
6,216
WatchESPN is utter trash regardless of your internet speed. 25 Mbps is acceptable if streaming SlingTV is all you're doing but it probably depends on how many devices you have connected to the internet.
What kind of service only delivers 25Mbps anymore?
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
im no expert but im learning. i was told by vue they recommend a minimum of 20. i currently have the 60 mbps service with time warner spectrum. an article i read recently said that i probably see half that most of the time. which is STILL more than 20. that service bottom line runs me $65 a month.

my set up consists of a samsung 42" smart tv. 60 mbp internet service with spectrum. sling orange/blue. a fire tv box AND a hard wired gaming display adapter from my modem to my tv. im going to add more memory to the fire tv box as i think that apps take up memory and cause picture issues at times????? i had 40 apps dl'd but uninstalled 20 of them to the cloud to free up fire tv memory.


i do not use any other tvs nor do i use a cell phone to 'cast' with? what ever that means. im bare bones.


the other thing im looking into is using kodi. i have the program on my pc but havent installed it as its huge. during my research i found out that kodi can be dl'd/installed to the fire tv box and can give one access to just about any programming you want. im going to do more reading before i do that.
http://www.wirelesshack.org/how-to-install-kodi-on-the-new-updated-fire-tv-stick.html
 
Last edited:

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
Ignorant question - what internet speed are you all finding successful for streaming? Just switched on SlingTV again a few weeks ago and it seems 25 mbps is not getting it done consistently, which is about what I see via speedtest. WatchESPN and ESPN/ESPN2 sometimes get pixelated. Can't tell if the issues are related to WatchESPN vs. Sling in general vs. my internet speed.

in brainstorming there are never any stupid question or answers. heh.

btw i think that picture issues are one of the things that fire tv box is supposed to reduce with its on board memory which i think is 5 gig.
 

Peacone36

Helluva Engineer
Messages
10,500
Location
Maine
Ignorant question - what internet speed are you all finding successful for streaming? Just switched on SlingTV again a few weeks ago and it seems 25 mbps is not getting it done consistently, which is about what I see via speedtest. WatchESPN and ESPN/ESPN2 sometimes get pixelated. Can't tell if the issues are related to WatchESPN vs. Sling in general vs. my internet speed.

I have often seen the same issues with WatchEspn and i would switch over to see if the issue was on PSV as well. The problem typically resides with the WatchEspn app. Which should probably get better since most of yesterdays 150 layoffs were technology/app/social media people.
 

Peacone36

Helluva Engineer
Messages
10,500
Location
Maine
WatchESPN is utter trash regardless of your internet speed. 25 Mbps is acceptable if streaming SlingTV is all you're doing but it probably depends on how many devices you have connected to the internet.

I am pretty ignorant on all this stuff but I bought a dual band (?) wireless router for my house and connected half of my stuff to one option and half my stuff to the other and the difference is pretty extreme.
 

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
Messages
5,879
Location
Mt Juliet, TN
I am pretty ignorant on all this stuff but I bought a dual band (?) wireless router for my house and connected half of my stuff to one option and half my stuff to the other and the difference is pretty extreme.
The 5ghz band probably greatly outperformed the 2.4ghz.

Problem with 2.4ghz is too much congestion. Everything uses 2.4ghz such as bluetooth and microwaves which causes congestion. 2.4ghz also has a longer range so it gets tied up with your neighbors' signals.

Most people also just plug in their routers which automatically pick the "best" channel to operate on out of 11. In reality, it's good practice to manually set the channel to 1, 6, or 11 as they create the least amount of overlap between channels. If everyone in your neighborhood/apt building followed this rule wi-fi in general would be much better. The 5ghz band has much less congestion and less range to interfere with neighbors.

dsss.gif
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
regarding the pixelation issues: i have that experience even with a fire box tv.

in comparison. when i use my hd antennae to receive local stations.... i also experience pixilation issues.

maybe im drawing the wrong conclusion but the problem may originate from the signal origination. sling can only give us what they receive signal wise. if that makes sense???

so it goes back to espn aint all that ....
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
The 5ghz band probably greatly outperformed the 2.4ghz.

Problem with 2.4ghz is too much congestion. Everything uses 2.4ghz such as bluetooth and microwaves which causes congestion. 2.4ghz also has a longer range so it gets tied up with your neighbors' signals.

Most people also just plug in their routers which automatically pick the "best" channel to operate on out of 11. In reality, it's good practice to manually set the channel to 1, 6, or 11 as they create the least amount of overlap between channels. If everyone in your neighborhood/apt building followed this rule wi-fi in general would be much better. The 5ghz band has much less congestion and less range to interfere with neighbors.

dsss.gif


or you could avoid all that and hardwire it from you router to your tv/roku/fire tv etc. that is what i have done. from what i have read.... if you want a quality picture you cant beat hardwiring .

i guess it all depends on your priorities. picture quality vs convenience.
 

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
Messages
5,879
Location
Mt Juliet, TN
or you could avoid all that and hardwire it from you router to your tv/roku/fire tv etc. that is what i have done. from what i have read.... if you want a quality picture you cant beat hardwiring .
Well yeah. Wireless will never beat wired.
 

gtpi

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,642
Location
BFE , south carolina
The 5ghz band probably greatly outperformed the 2.4ghz.

Problem with 2.4ghz is too much congestion. Everything uses 2.4ghz such as bluetooth and microwaves which causes congestion. 2.4ghz also has a longer range so it gets tied up with your neighbors' signals.

Most people also just plug in their routers which automatically pick the "best" channel to operate on out of 11. In reality, it's good practice to manually set the channel to 1, 6, or 11 as they create the least amount of overlap between channels. If everyone in your neighborhood/apt building followed this rule wi-fi in general would be much better. The 5ghz band has much less congestion and less range to interfere with neighbors.

dsss.gif


meant to tell you. great post ^^^^. kudoos
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
19,554
Comcast upgraded internet speeds local ATL residents recently. I'm now getting ~40mbps download speed via wireless router and still the same crap from Sling and WatchESPN. Really not using any other devices except for a laptop on occasion e.g., SwarmChat. ESPN on Sling still pixelates and the WatchESPN app kicks out and restarts every 10-15 minutes.

Didn't have this issue a year ago when I had the slower internet speed, so either the quality of Sling and WatchESPN has truly degraded or there's something else going on with our personal connection. I often have a clearer picture via free streaming websites on my laptop than thru my Roku and TV.
 

jeffgt14

We don't quite suck as much anymore.
Messages
5,879
Location
Mt Juliet, TN
Comcast upgraded internet speeds local ATL residents recently. I'm now getting ~40mbps download speed via wireless router and still the same crap from Sling and WatchESPN. Really not using any other devices except for a laptop on occasion e.g., SwarmChat. ESPN on Sling still pixelates and the WatchESPN app kicks out and restarts every 10-15 minutes.

Didn't have this issue a year ago when I had the slower internet speed, so either the quality of Sling and WatchESPN has truly degraded or there's something else going on with our personal connection. I often have a clearer picture via free streaming websites on my laptop than thru my Roku and TV.
Likely not your internet speed unless it is on Ethernet. WatchESPN will be terrible regardless but if your Sling is acting up too then it’s likely an issue with the Roku and/or Router if you’re on wireless.
 

Mihalak

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
42
We recently got rid of SlingTV and switched to Youtube TV. Did a quality comparison while sling was still active and youtube tv greatly outperformed sling in delivering the stream... especially on the espn channels. only drawback for youtube tv for us right now is that it is not available on our roku yet but we just switch inputs and use the chromecast. btw it feels amazing to be rid of cable!
 
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