CES 2015 - Sling TV

[wxman1]

Well I'm pretty sure we'll be taking the plunge and cutting DirecTV this weekend (the wife needs to make sure she can still watch all her shows first).

I'm planning to get a Roku Stick and a Roku 3.
Signing up for Sling TV and Hulu Plus. ($28/month)
That should cut out about $80/month.

Other than no DVR, any other downsides I'm not considering?
Sling TV will only work on one TV at a time, correct? So we can't have ESPN going in the living room and bedroom at the same time.
Otherwise we can stream from Hulu Plus on two devices at the same time, right?

I'm excited, but nervous...

You are correct.

Call Sling and sign up for three months of service for $60 and they will send you a free RokuStick.

We are debating dropping sling and just going with Netflix and OTA due to Slinget having issues streaming.

 

[DSMCy]

Check your internet package and make sure you have enough data to support the move to streaming. Mediacom has data limits that my family exceeded when we first cut the cord. When I worked with Mediacom I actually got a better package for the same price that I was already locked into with about 3x the data per month.

I've got 20 mb through Centurylink right now, which shouldn't have any issues supporting streaming.
Good idea on the data limits though. I'll check that out today.

You are correct.

Call Sling and sign up for three months of service for $60 and they will send you a free RokuStick.

We are debating dropping sling and just going with Netflix and OTA due to Slinget having issues streaming.

Yep, definitly planning to get the free Roku stick.

What were you using to stream SlingTV? I've seen others in this thread say they had issues streaming with the app or the computer, but sounds like the Roku players work really well.

This is my nightmare and what I most worry about. If there are any buffering/connection issues, my wife won't be happy.
I can deal with that stuff a little, especially when I start seeing the monthly savings, but she won't care about that.

 

[JY07]

We are debating dropping sling and just going with Netflix and OTA due to Slinget having issues streaming.

I mentioned this in another thread, but we're living in a place temporarily so it seemed like a good time to cut the cord and give sling a shot.

I was going to do the 3 month equipment deal, but just ended up doing the 30 day trial through xbox one instead. It ended up being borderline unusable - the app would crash quite a bit; live TV would occasionally have issues. We ended up dropping it and signing up for mediacom instead (which is not much of an improvement)

 

[wxman1]

I've got 20 mb through Centurylink right now, which shouldn't have any issues supporting streaming.
Good idea on the data limits though. I'll check that out today.



Yep, definitly planning to get the free Roku stick.

What were you using to stream SlingTV? I've seen others in this thread say they had issues streaming with the app or the computer, but sounds like the Roku players work really well.

This is my nightmare and what I most worry about. If there are any buffering/connection issues, my wife won't be happy.
I can deal with that stuff a little, especially when I start seeing the monthly savings, but she won't care about that.

We have a Roku Stick and a Roku 2. Both have issues. When it works it is great but that is around 50% of the time.

We have zero issues with other streaming services so this is 100% a Sling issue.

 

[DSMCy]

Officially cut off DirecTV so thought I'd share my experience after about 2 weeks in.

Here's what I've got and what I've signed up for:
-Bought a Roku 3
-Paid for 3 months of SlingTV and should receive a Roku Stick today
-Hulu Plus
-Netflix
-Bought 2 Mohu Leaf antennas for OTA channels

So far SlingTV works pretty well on the Roku3. Every so often it will lose connection but I normally just have to go to the Roku Home screen and open the app back up. Otherwise its solid HD quality. Some channels even allow rewinding and pausing.

Hulu and Netflix work great. I don't think I've had any issues with them.
I'll be interested to see if the Roku stick has enough horsepower to run SlingTV or if I'll have similar buffering issues.
I've read the Roku 4 should come out this fall so I may buy that and move the Roku 3 to the bedroom.


One somewhat odd thing with the Roku 3 is that I cannot get it to work via wired connection, only wireless.
I have powerline adapters in my house, so the Roku plugs into the powerline, not directly into the router. This could be the issue but I've never had problems doing that with my laptop, PS3 or DirecTV box.
I may keep messing with that because I'd like to use a wired connection rather than rely on wireless.
Anyone doing something similar?

I'm happy so far. We'll see what happens during the fall/winter. Hopefully I can figure out ways to watch all the football games. Basketball shouldn't be an issue with most games on ESPN's networks.