We are going to do it. We have a small summer cottage that we’ve also been paying internet/cable TV. We bought a smartTV and are taking it up this weekend. I called the company and they discontinued the cable tv, and are sending new equipment just for the internet WiFi. Our TV has YouTube installed. We don’t have YouTube yet.
Ou main home we have cable on 3 TV’s. We are going to get rid of the cable tv portion also. We never watch cable except for husbands sports channels, and I’ve been told YouTube has all of those plus the news channels, which we also watch.
So, any opinions/suggestions/concerns with YouTube TV? They have a 7 day trial period, so I think I’ll do that here at home and get it started and then figure it out at the cottage this weekend…how to log in from a different place, etc.
We love YTTV. I started a whole thread on cutting the cord earlier. One suggestion is that you can tailor your live guide but you need to do it while logged on the YTTV website. So I moved our popular stations towards the top and sent obscure station listings to the bottom.
I like that idea! Do you really get all the sports channels? DH loves football, big ten network, the whole kit and kaboodle. He is also concerned with getting the Indy 500. Not sure what channel that is on, I’d imagine a regular network.
We cut the cord years ago and haven’t had any regrets. We don’t have YouTube TV, but have heard good things about it. If you want additional sports, there is always ESPN+ that you can get as an add on.
Lots of sports channels including ESPN, NFL Network and Big Ten Network (also SEC and ACC). Indy 500 I believe is broadcast on NBC which is on YTTV.
I have opinions on the streaming devices, and you may want to do some research online to decide. We have Roku sticks, Amazon Firesticks, and AppleTV. My person thoughts:
ROKU: overall we like the Roku interface the best. So simple and intuitive. Platform neutral. So it doesn’t try to push proprietary stuff on you like Amazon and Apple.
Amazon FireStick: least preferred but I will say that they are frequently sold dirt cheap on Amazon during any excuse Amazon can find to push them (Prime Day, Black Friday, any excuse Day, etc). You can pick up an HDMI streaming stick cheap. We have one that we take along to VRBO’s. No way I’m signing into someone else’s device (and heaven forbid forgetting we are signed in!). So I plug in the FireStick and have our library on the go. Spring for the version with volume control too. It only takes about 30 seconds to switch brands of TV.
AppleTV: expensive but arguably worth it for our most commonly used family room tv because it is lightning fast. If you switch apps like we do (YTTV to Netflix to HBO to Disney+ to Apple to Amazon Prime, etc) there is nothing faster we know of. In the evening we tend to watch different series on different platforms for variety, and the AppleTV rocks in that department. On the downside, the remote is loved or hated, and if you watch anything on the Roku channel (like old forgotten syndicated tv shows from your childhood) then AppleTV doesn’t carry the Roku channel.
As I understand it- cable tv has a lot of complications as a business and a lot of the non-xfinity/spectrum companies are phasing it out and just focusing on Internet. They will offer Sling TV or similar as part of their packages instead.
Youtube TV is fine and it works well. But it’s expensive in its own right.
The only thing I’m a little concerned with is getting strong enough WiFi to 2 TV’s in the basement. One is in a workout room and that’s the only time I watch network tv.
We use YouTube TV just as you are planning. Turn it on for about 4 months a year. We also get a few over the air channels, and have a couple subscriptions to other app stations (Netflix, for example) which we have all year.
I’m guessing they know they have lost the war and are just milking the cash cow till it dies. They sell broadband access and cable tv but really now are retreating just to broadband because they can’t compete with streaming. For cable tv they need to PAY big time every year for content on every network and the negotiations are getting worse. The content gets costlier (like ESPN) and the need to pass on the price increases. They also provide the hardware and I expect hardware failures are the reason for most tech/service labor support. For broadband they have already made the fixed investment with little maintenance required I’m thinking. So fixed cost assets with much better marginal profitability.
My cord cutting occurred because I had the dreaded attempt at renegotiating the cable bill with my threat of cancelling. They wouldn’t budge on price for once (couldn’t budge?), and seemed indifferent to my cancellation. Like they were happy to divorce. Meanwhile all the streaming services are easy to cancel online anytime. We started with SlingTV but realized YTTV was best for us. Cancelled Sling, started YTTV free trial same day. No interruption. No waiting. You can also turn on/off premium services on YTTV with the flick of a toggle.
Sorry if these posts are long and rambling. I guess I could blab about YTTV/cord-cutting all day.
You shouldn’t worry. There are plenty of solutions. You probably only need a mesh system. You can buy them cheap on Amazon or Costco. Great extenders and just a single SSID as you seamlessly roam your house. Requires a modicum of tech setup ability. Not to get too nerdy here, but I use mesh in combination with MoCA adapters that utilize our coax (since the coax is no longer required without cable TV). I switched to MoCA from Ethernet powerlines. Powerlines are not as good as MoCA, but for technophobes they can be plug & play if your housing circuitry is compatible.
We switched over to YTTV about 6 months ago- wish we had done it sooner. Most things we watch are on streaming services but we do love sports ( B1G mostly, golf too) there is nothing I miss about cable!
Do you have Verizon FiOS? I pay $24.99/month for Internet (200Mbps service), and $72.99/month for YTTV but only during football season. Very cost effective.
We cut the cord years ago and have YouTube TV. We use it mainly for ESPN but it has a good variety of channels. It is our most expensive subscription, and we often debate whether to keep it since we have other subscriptions (Prime, Peacock, Paramount+). Our total bill is still cheaper than cable.
We cut the cord and switched to Youtube TV and just internet from xfinity. It has been great - no complaints. There is nothing that I have wanted to watch and couldn’t. You can use in multiple locations (we were using it in two addresses where we lived part time in each) They have an excellent feature where you can mark programs and they will “record” it for you and keep it for a year. If you say record Sienfeld for example, you will get access to any Sienfeld eposides anywhere on any station from the past few months and going forward.
Along with the free 7 day trial - see if they are offering the first few months at a discount (they were when we subscribed)