YouTube TV, cutting the cord

In my house, we are making progress. Some of us slower than others, but we are definitely making progress. :smile:

3 Likes

We are at a standstill right now. Seems during the week DH is too tired to deal with it, so I’m trying on my own. Stuck with the basement TV. Tried putting in the ID/passwords yesterday and it won’t connect. I think it’s because I need the EERO mesh extenders. We don’t have any extenders now. He says I need to probably just buy 2. Think I will go to Best Buy tomorrow and talk to them. I wish we were doing this more together, because I’m struggling to understand all of this and how it works.

We should have a thread for all technical questions/issues.
I trained my mom to use tube on her TV, do zoom calls, do banking and trade online. She is 86.

4 Likes

I returned my TiVo box and cancelled my cable and phone service. I am very happy with YTTV so far. I have hooked up a 4K Apple TV box and watching streaming through it. The picture is crystal clear. Someone told me that by using Apple TV cuts down occasional “hiccup” on screen.

4 Likes

@conmama: We are lucky enough to have a neighbor who works for Microsoft, plus his wife who is tech savvy. I had her come over the other night to help me set up the wifi extender – the type of the instructions was so tiny, I literally couldn’t read it – and she offered me the strong, strong opinion that I should not use the one I had purchased. It was from China and a no-name brand, and she had concerns that the Chinese could somehow hack my internet. She showed me what to buy, I did it, and I was able to set it up on my own. (From Amazon and delivered the next day.) This is what I bought: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TLT65WM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Do you have anyone nearby who could help?? IME, people under age 40 just know this stuff!

Let me say, I feel like this is such a “rooting you on!” thread and I am INVESTED in seeing those of you making this switch do it successfully!

We have the Erro mesh systems in our house and they seem very effective. But our cable company set them up. I do know there is an app with them which I have on my phone. @conmama if you purchase Erro it may ask you to download the app.

I also agree that a perfect side hustle for someone tech savvy (young or not!) is to offer up assistance to get these systems set up.

I would imagine you could find someone to pay to do that - like if you buy from Best Buy would their Geek service do this? I know that is $$ but having it set up right is going to save you $$$ for the long run.

3 Likes

I would really like to keep this as a YTTV thread, as others may want to read it, all our issues and invaluable teachings (and cheering on).

Our cottage has the Eero and it did ask me to download the app, but I didn’t because I didn’t understand why I needed to do that. Do I and for what reason?

Best Buy charges like $100 just to come out, or per hour…not sure which. I’m positive DH will want to save the money and figure it hiw when he has a moment, I was grouchy about him not helping last week, but on Friday when he told me all about the week he had at work, I feel guilty complaining about him. So, I’m backing off until the weekends.

But, if he can’t figure it out, that’s a great idea to ask Best Buy.

1 Like

Our senior center has a tech help person for no charge or very little.

Luckily I have a tech savvy husband who loves to figure these things out.

1 Like

Thanks for the tip and yes, you are so lucky!

1 Like

Do you use your cellphone or a laptop using your wifi? Do they pick up the signal when you’re near the “problem” tv? Is the tv finding your network at all? IME in the network settings it should show you the available networks and maybe the signal strength of each. Are you able to get that far?

My phone is working when I stand by the TV. The TV pulls up my ID, (great, I thought) I put in the password, and then it says it’s not connected to the internet.

And you press “enter” or whatever after you type in the password? (Even more experienced people forget to do this sometimes!)

It’s possible the WiFi signal might be very weak in your basement.

What does the WiFi indicator on your phone look like when you’re next to that TV? Is it actually on WiFi or has it switched to cellular?
If your phone is on WiFi, are you able to browse news websites? Is it particularly slow?

Yes, I was so excited after I pressed enter and I thought it was going to connect.

One more thing: if you go to your phone’s WiFi settings, what network is it connected to? Is it the same one your TV is trying to connect to?

Yes, I browsed CC and a new site. A bit slower, but not terribly. I was connected to WiFi. Maybe it changes to cellular automatically if WiFi not working? I’m sure it’s very slow. I wonder if we should do a factory reset, that was an option. Or just wait until we get the mesh extender.

I’d wait for the mesh extender; that’s what worked for us in the upstairs bedroom TV. But your situation may be different.

You can download a free app to check your wifi speed in various parts of the house. I use Speedtest on my iPhone and SpeedSmart on my iPad. Then you can check if you’re getting decent speed in your basement. You could always try unplugging the tv for few minutes then replugging, then trying to connect again. I swear that method solves 90% of our tech problems overall.

Back in 2020, I replaced our very old router with an Eero router and one extender via Amazon. I downloaded the Eero app - don’t remember anything particularly hard in setting it up although I think it was a tiny bit of trouble connecting it to the modem. But it did work. Do you have a separate router, or is it a combo modem/router?

Pretty sure the app can help with locating connections and trouble shooting. At the time we had one old dumb smart tv to connect. The app currently shows me everything connected to wifi -desktop, laptop, phones, tablets, smart tv’s, Echo’s, smart plugs, and my husband’s smart printer.

1 Like

A TV draws a lot of bandwidth so you need strong reception. I changed my router and 3 extenders at my home to Eeros and they work very well.

OK, DH is frustrated, and I don’t have an answer.

He thought he was recording all the matches for the Six Nations Rugby tournament. When he goes to his Library, several of the matches are there, but at the top left of each box, they say “EXPIRED,” and they don’t play. What does that mean??