Cutting the cord

[erickpl]

We're considering cutting our cable and going with streaming and OTA options.

We'd like to be able to 'dvr' or record things on occasion. Since this part is all new to me, I'd be curious as to what you all did.

I'm considering doing a gigabit switch in the house and wiring TV's, gaming systems, and other smart devices (DVD's with connectivity) via hardwire instead of using wifi. I'd still have wifi, but it would be for mobile devices.

Any suggestions on optimal configuration/setup? I will say, networking is not my strong suit, but I know enough to be dangerous enough to muck it up by doing too much and making it more complicated than it should be. :)

[Mike Mercury]

guy at work is OTA only. Has a dedicated PC, used as a DVR.

PC has some sort of TV tuner, and also has outputs to connect to televisions.

Program he uses is called "Myth TV"

[Cybercowboy]

This should get you started. (http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/how-to-cut-the-cord-and-what-to-do-if-you-cant/) When you stream there really isn't any need to DVR stuff. But there are a number of ways you can DVR stuff that comes OTA (antenna, locals and whatnot), and you can search around for ways to record streaming stuff. In general, when you stream you totally change the way you watch TV.

I can say that streaming over an AppleTV or similar device seems to work better than streaming on a smart TV's built-in capability. Not sure why. And yes, wired is better than wireless every single time.

[04 commemorative]

:waiting:

[erickpl]

Thanks, CC. I was thinking that about wired/wireless as well. Just need to figure out how to have more than one switch/router/whatever on the same network and have them all on the same subnet (unless there are advantages to having the hardwire/streaming devices on one subnet and the mobile devices and home printer and laptops on another).

I'll read up on the DVR aspect of things.

Thanks for the link.

[Cybercowboy]

Thanks, CC. I was thinking that about wired/wireless as well. Just need to figure out how to have more than one switch/router/whatever on the same network and have them all on the same subnet (unless there are advantages to having the hardwire/streaming devices on one subnet and the mobile devices and home printer and laptops on another).

I'll read up on the DVR aspect of things.

Thanks for the link.

You can have up to 255 devices all on the same subnet using gigabit switches no problem. Connect an 8-port switch to your router. Now you have three more wired connections from the router and 7 or 8 more from the switch for a total of at least 10 devices. If that's not enough, connect two 8-port switches to your router, now you have at least 16 connections. If you need more than 16 connections, you're insane. :lol:

Depending on the capabilities of your router you could do separate subnets but I can't think of any great reason to do so. The main thing you want is a solid internet connection. 100 Mbit/s and up. Also you might want to check to see if they cap your data or throttle you if you exceed a certain amount of data.

[Datawiz]

We've been using OTA for years. Wife watches most of her shows over the .net using her brother's comcast account. I got HBO Now on my iPad and love the content there.

Local stations come in just fine.

We simply got sick and tired of the MASSIVE amount of money cable/satellite wants for television. Screw them. :datawiz:

[Aerovette]

I'm still holding out for someone to come up with an ala' carte system.

Any 5 channels - $22.00/month
Any 10 channels - $30.00/month
Any 15 channels - $38.00/month
Any 20 channels - $48.00/month
Basic 100 channels - $65.00/month

and so on.

[snide]

We've been using OTA for years. Wife watches most of her shows over the .net using her brother's comcast account. I got HBO Now on my iPad and love the content there.

Local stations come in just fine.

We simply got sick and tired of the MASSIVE amount of money cable/satellite wants for television. Screw them. :datawiz:

Where I live, OTA is not an option. Well, it was for me, because I don't really watch much TV. The wife insists on watching Fox sNews 24x7 :ack: so I have TV through my ISP.

Something that annoys me is that I'm paying for these channels, but there's nothing really worth watching on. And when there is something interesting on, there are more commercials than actual content. WTF?

After we close on the new house, I'm going to see if OTA is viable there, and if so, won't be paying for content. Well, I'll still keep Amazon Prime.

[erickpl]

You can have up to 255 devices all on the same subnet using gigabit switches no problem. Connect an 8-port switch to your router. Now you have three more wired connections from the router and 7 or 8 more from the switch for a total of at least 10 devices. If that's not enough, connect two 8-port switches to your router, now you have at least 16 connections. If you need more than 16 connections, you're insane. :lol:

Depending on the capabilities of your router you could do separate subnets but I can't think of any great reason to do so. The main thing you want is a solid internet connection. 100 Mbit/s and up. Also you might want to check to see if they cap your data or throttle you if you exceed a certain amount of data.

Yeah I was thinking just a good wifi router (with gigabit ports) and an 8 port gigabit switch. Guy at work has a NIB never used one (albeit a bit older) for $25.00 I may pick up just to have it ready. Has a 5 port one too for $10.00...

[Cybercowboy]

Yeah I was thinking just a good wifi router (with gigabit ports) and an 8 port gigabit switch. Guy at work has a NIB never used one (albeit a bit older) for $25.00 I may pick up just to have it ready. Has a 5 port one too for $10.00...

Just make sure it's full duplex. They almost always are but if not they will succckkkk.

[69camfrk]

Got rid of the satellite years ago. Have Netflix and Hulu for a grand total of 16 bux a month. Haven't missed the other crap for one second....