Cable cutters, rejoice

Tried both the Vue phone app and online viewing. The app is pretty straight forward. No glitches. Was watching with the phone over my home wifi connection so no picture quality issues. Will try again when I'm away from home. Online viewing much the same. Quality is excellent. No picture quality issues.
 
Spent a few minutes trying out Vue on the Fire Stick app. I like the layout of the channel far better on the Roku over the Fire Stick. Other than that everything was identical, quality and the like.

I also just had a few minutes to try out XStreamingTV on the Fire Stick app. The layout of the app is somewhat cumbersome. Picture quality selections from STD, 720P, 1080P, & 4K. Most titles fall under the 720P quality which isn't bad at all. I didn't run across any 4K content yet but I've only spent a few minutes with it. One thing you do get with this app/subscription..... a huge database of live channels, sports, movies, television shows, etc..... There is a lot of content here. Price $25/month or $142/180 days or $270/year. I am going to spend a lot of time looking at this option.
 
On a short trip from Wichita to Kansas City this past Friday, I was able to use my mobile data to watch the entire truck race using the Sling TV app. I was surprised that the stream was able to stay connected through the entire race without freezing or shutting off completely. In the past, I've had trouble connecting to Sling using mobile data, so I was quite surprised. We were on the turnpike the entire time though, so I was always within service range. It was only slightly blurry which made it tough to see the on track positions, but that didn't affect the viewing of the actual race.
 
Strange thing. I had both TVs on, both have a Roku attached, both on the same thing, the NBC Olympics app, on the same broadcast (curling, of course), and there was about an 8 second difference between them.
 
VaDirt said:
Strange thing. I had both TVs on, both have a Roku attached, both on the same thing, the NBC Olympics app, on the same broadcast (curling, of course), and there was about an 8 second difference between them.
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That has happened to me too with cable, same cable company, same show, two different tvs and a delay on one of them.
 
Been using the PlayStation Vue package since this past Sunday. Working well. The DVR option works good. Recorded everything I asked for. Played back just fine. Fast forward and rewind will take some getting used to because of using a different remote.

+'s

Price. Saving over $110/month over my Dish Network package.

Streams are awesome. No buffering issues at all.

Picture quality is flawless.

Got all my Pittsburgh locals live.

DVR functions great.

Smart voice remote with Roku operates my TV on/off and volume.

Get all of the channels that I watch on the cheapest package with the exception of my regional sports Network.


-'s

No regional sports Network provided for the Pittsburgh market. (Yours may differ)

No channel numbers. Only names, so you have to scroll to the channel you want on the guide. (Haven't tried the voice option yet)

Need an independent streaming source for each viewing location. (Easily paid for in the extremely reduced cost savings)


Summary.....

Well worth the switch. Can't say how it would work for you but if you already have a Roku, Fire Stick or any other streaming device, it's free to try for a week.

I'll be using this while I still explore other options...... And there are plenty. I've found even cheaper alternatives that would allow me to get all the channels I could ask for, including my local sports. The only drawback would be the loss of my locals. They would be replaced with the national affiliates. Meaning, no local news. Because of that, I decided to order the antenna that I have pictured below. Going to install it this weekend, weather permitting. Some assembly was required. I'll let you know how it works soon.



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Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Been using the PlayStation Vue package since this past Sunday. Working well. The DVR option works good. Recorded everything I asked for. Played back just fine. Fast forward and rewind will take some getting used to because of using a different remote.

+'s

Price. Saving over $110/month over my Dish Network package.

Streams are awesome. No buffering issues at all.

Picture quality is flawless.

Got all my Pittsburgh locals live.

DVR functions great.

Smart voice remote with Roku operates my TV on/off and volume.

Get all of the channels that I watch on the cheapest package with the exception of my regional sports Network.


-'s

No regional sports Network provided for the Pittsburgh market. (Yours may differ)

No channel numbers. Only names, so you have to scroll to the channel you want on the guide. (Haven't tried the voice option yet)

Need an independent streaming source for each viewing location. (Easily paid for in the extremely reduced cost savings)


Summary.....

Well worth the switch. Can't say how it would work for you but if you already have a Roku, Fire Stick or any other streaming device, it's free to try for a week.

I'll be using this while I still explore other options...... And there are plenty. I've found even cheaper alternatives that would allow me to get all the channels I could ask for, including my local sports. The only drawback would be the loss of my locals. They would be replaced with the national affiliates. Meaning, no local news. Because of that, I decided to order the antenna that I have pictured below. Going to install it this weekend, weather permitting. Some assembly was required. I'll let you know how it works soon.



bd5632d59ff5e2a22cdadc045d5a9ced.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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We are getting ready to move, and my wife's parents are moving in with us (kind of a necessity at this point in their lives.) Once we do move, I'll likely have to go back to cable, because there is no way, with my father in-law's memory, that he would be able to get used to the environment I enjoy now with the setup pretty much just like this.

One question though. I still haven't seen any locals listed on the Roku. Is there another step? (that is, if it's even available in this market.)
 
VaDirt said:
We are getting ready to move, and my wife's parents are moving in with us (kind of a necessity at this point in their lives.) Once we do move, I'll likely have to go back to cable, because there is no way, with my father in-law's memory, that he would be able to get used to the environment I enjoy now with the setup pretty much just like this.

One question though. I still haven't seen any locals listed on the Roku. Is there another step? (that is, if it's even available in this market.)
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The Roku in of in itself doesn't give you locals. The service you subscribe to is what would give you your locals. The Roku, Fire Stick, etc..... simply give you a means to launch apps, kind of like you phone does. I'm currently using Vue on the Rokus. I also have it loaded on my Fire Stick. I launch Vue and I then have my locals.

If you want to see if Vue is carrying your locals, goto https://vue.playstation.com/watch/home. When you get there, it give you the option of entering your zip code to see what channels you get. In the Pittsburgh market, I get CBS, ABC, NBC, & FOX. All live. Here's another link that you can see what locals they offer. It could be a little dated though.....

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/every-local-playstation-vue-currently-offers-2/

And I know what you're talking about with parents. I take care of my dad. He suffers from dementia. Things as simple as changing the channel are a huge cause of confusion. I can tell you from experience, it desn't get any better. I feel for ya.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
The Roku in of in itself doesn't give you locals. The service you subscribe to is what would give you your locals. The Roku, Fire Stick, etc..... simply give you a means to launch apps, kind of like you phone does. I'm currently using Vue on the Rokus. I also have it loaded on my Fire Stick. I launch Vue and I then have my locals.

If you want to see if Vue is carrying your locals, goto https://vue.playstation.com/watch/home. When you get there, it give you the option of entering your zip code to see what channels you get. In the Pittsburgh market, I get CBS, ABC, NBC, & FOX. All live. Here's another link that you can see what locals they offer. It could be a little dated though.....

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/every-local-playstation-vue-currently-offers-2/

And I know what you're talking about with parents. I take care of my dad. He suffers from dementia. Things as simple as changing the channel are a huge cause of confusion. I can tell you from experience, it desn't get any better. I feel for ya.
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Right now I'm running Vue on the Roku (both of them). I keep seeing things about Vue adding local channels, but never see any show up (probably because my locals aren't playing along. I looked at that list, don't see anything in my market :( .) I've seen Roku channels you can add for locals, but looks like those are mostly only for local news/weather.
 
VaDirt said:
Right now I'm running Vue on the Roku (both of them). I keep seeing things about Vue adding local channels, but never see any show up (probably because my locals aren't playing along. I looked at that list, don't see anything in my market :( .) I've seen Roku channels you can add for locals, but looks like those are mostly only for local news/weather.
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Well, that sucks. There are a lot of services out there though. Others also offer locals. Maybe yours?
 
I said I wasn't pleased with Directv Now, but I might go back to them for three months to take advantage of their Apple TV offer. Who knows, maybe they have improved since I last left them.
 
So I woke up this morning to find my female Alaskan Malamute had chewed both my cable box remote and my TV remote to my Vizio...ugggh.
 
Took a few minutes during this fine February day to mount that antenna that I posted about earlier. Pointed it in the general direction that I thought it needed to go and got a bunch of channels. Got CBS, NBC and FOX. The others are just extra stuff that I probably won't watch. Still have to put cable staples up to secure the line but it works well.

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Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Took a few minutes during this fine February day to mount that antenna that I posted about earlier. Pointed it in the general direction that I thought it needed to go and got a bunch of channels. Got CBS, NBC and FOX. The others are just extra stuff that I probably won't watch. Still have to put cable staples up to secure the line but it works well.

758db689fa4967d0bfef84e9793d07c3.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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Mine was really inexpensive, looks like a mouse pad. It would only get a few channels depending on where I pointed it. But then I moved it to the attic, it's slightly bent, curved, whatever, and I get about 40 channels.
 
VaDirt said:
Mine was really inexpensive, looks like a mouse pad. It would only get a few channels depending on where I pointed it. But then I moved it to the attic, it's slightly bent, curved, whatever, and I get about 40 channels.
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I live in the 60+ mile range of the closest broadcasting tower. Couple that with living in a low lying area on compounds the problems when trying to get a signal. I'm running the gain maxed out on that antenna to draw in those channels. Before maxing it out, I could only pull in two channels.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I live in the 60+ mile range of the closest broadcasting tower. Couple that with living in a low lying area on compounds the problems when trying to get a signal. I'm running the gain maxed out on that antenna to draw in those channels. Before maxing it out, I could only pull in two channels.
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When I was living at the beach, I couldn't pick up anything with an antenna. I'm close enough to Raleigh though that I get everything except ION with an antenna (still have it hooked up for when satellite goes out). I could have re-positioned it to get ION but that would mean not getting CW22 and I like Supergirl:wub: too much to do that.
 
Received a letter the other day from my internet provider that they were bumping everyone on my service level from 1TB to 2TB and the connection speed form 200 Mbps Download to 300 Mbps Download. Of course, with that, it also comes with a $5 rate increase. That's easily worth the 1TB increase. I was concerned that I may hit my data limit but not anymore.
 
As I said I was going to do, I've made the switch back to Directv Now for at least the next three months to take advantage of their Apple TV offer. I'm really not sure why because I've never actually owned an Apple product and I'm not really tech savvy, so I probably wont know how to work it anyway. I guess I figured that I'll be using a Cable streaming option for at least the next three months anyway, so why not take advantage of the free offer. I did the same thing with Sling and Roku and ended up giving the Roku fire stick to my dad. The Apple TV 4k is a bit more expensive of a product, so that I'll be keeping for myself. I read a few reviews from people who said that they had issues using a Roku that didn't exist with the Apple TV. I'm sure that's the case, but I'd guess that there's also issues with the Apple TV that don't exist on Roku.

Also...talk about not being tech savvy. I don't know why I never thought of plugging an Ethernet cable into the roku since the modem and roku are right next to each other anyway, but I guess I thought that it'd be the same as using wifi. Obviously that's not the case. I was having slight buffer issues using NHL TV the other night, though after plugging in an Ethernet cable, those issues no longer existed. Buffering issues were my main complaint the last time I used Directv Now, so maybe using an Ethernet cable will fix those issues as well. So for those who have no idea what they are doing and are having connection issues...give your Ethernet cable a try. :)
 
Just received my Apple tv 4k from Directv Now. Haven't actually used it yet, but this thing is so much heavier than the Roku.
 
Update: I guess I'll be staying with Roku. I created an Apple ID, but then when I try downloading an app using the Apple TV, it says that I haven't used my Apple ID in the itunes store and that I need to review my account using my computer. So then when I follow all the steps in the itunes store to add all the required information, I get an error message telling me to contact support. Moral of the story? Apple's no good.
 
Brentford said:
Just received my Apple tv 4k from Directv Now. Haven't actually used it yet, but this thing is so much heavier than the Roku.
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Interesting that they supply you with the means to access their service. I haven't seen that with any other service. Too bad you didn't have an option other than the Apple TV box.

I looked at DirecTV Now as an option for streaming. I simply couldn't get what I wanted unless I bumped up to their $60 tier. I wanted to have both FS1 & FS2. To get FS2, you had to spend and additional $25/month. I can't seem to find a lot of information on their service from their site other than the basic cable channel lineup's. I couldn't figure out if they broadcast my locals live or not.

Brentford said:
Update: I guess I'll be staying with Roku. I created an Apple ID, but then when I try downloading an app using the Apple TV, it says that I haven't used my Apple ID in the itunes store and that I need to review my account using my computer. So then when I follow all the steps in the itunes store to add all the required information, I get an error message telling me to contact support. Moral of the story? Apple's no good.
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I think it's a love/hate relationship with that corporation. I fall on the hate side. I could never understand the appeal of Apple. Now, a good Fuji or Gala.... that's a different story.
 
My findings so far after dropping Dish and going strictly streaming.

Right at the time that I decided to go this route, my internet provider bumped customers under the same tier from a 1TB to 2TB data limit per month. That worked out as a huge plus for us. I think, if history repeats itself, we will be hitting right around 1TB/month of data used. This would be under normal use for us. Normally two televisions streaming for a total of about 5 hours/day. Also, a son that is an online gamer, occasionally downloading new games which are large in size.

My needs were the ability to stream on any combination of 5 access points with at least 3 separate streams at a time. Some services limit you to the number of devices that can be used in a home while others simply limit you to the number that can be used at the same time. Hulu for example, they allow you to install their service and use it from several access points but nor more than two at at time. Unless..... you want to pay $15/month for unlimited streaming. Other services allow up to 5 simultaneous access points.

I also wanted something that my daughter could use away at college. Most of these services allow for streaming away from home on a mobile device. The only catch is that the device must be used from your home address ever 30-60 days depending on the provider. Their way of preventing you from sharing the service. I haven't been able to find any of the mainline streaming services to get past this hurdle. Coming home every 30-60 days isn't doable.

Of the mainline streaming services, I've tried two. PlayStation Vue and Hulu. Both of these provide my area with my live locals and every single channel I want with their entry level package. Each are $39/month. Hulu is in a beta stage so there are some bugs they are trying to work out. Playstation Vue works well for our needs. It has DVR capabilities at that price and is pretty straight forward to operate. Vue allows for 5 simultaneous access points while Hulu only allows for 2 at their entry level plan.

No service out there offers my regional sports network. Vue has a ton of them and yours is probably one of them. Mine isn't. For this I have to go with an IPTV service. They are very inexpensive and offer the widest variety of channels. If you are a sports fan, this is THE way to go.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Interesting that they supply you with the means to access their service. I haven't seen that with any other service. Too bad you didn't have an option other than the Apple TV box.

I looked at DirecTV Now as an option for streaming. I simply couldn't get what I wanted unless I bumped up to their $60 tier. I wanted to have both FS1 & FS2. To get FS2, you had to spend and additional $25/month. I can't seem to find a lot of information on their service from their site other than the basic cable channel lineup's. I couldn't figure out if they broadcast my locals live or not.


I think it's a love/hate relationship with that corporation. I fall on the hate side. I could never understand the appeal of Apple. Now, a good Fuji or Gala.... that's a different story.
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They also had a promotion where you could pay for one month and get a Roku streaming stick, but the appeal and retail price of the Apple TV box was enough to get me to pass on the Roku Stick. I figured since I'd likely be with them for three months anyway, I might as well go with the three month promotion. I'm not sure if there was a bug with the Apple system, but after many headaches, I was finally able to create an account with and able to add apps. Now that I got passed that, everything is working fine so far, though I didn't expect to notice a difference since I don't have a 4k tv.

FS2, NHL Network at TWC are the only three channels that I'd like to have, but they aren't necessary to me. I can't remember where on the website, but there is a way to find out what local channels you'll get. With my location, I get CBS, Fox and ABC.
 
Brentford said:
FS2, NHL Network at TWC are the only three channels that I'd like to have, but they aren't necessary to me. I can't remember where on the website, but there is a way to find out what local channels you'll get. With my location, I get CBS, Fox and ABC.
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They don't seem to be real forthcoming with info on the locals. I'm pretty sure that we'll continue to use Vue because it gives us everything we need in the cheapest package. Again, with the exception of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. There are ways around that though.

Hulu has our locals but no AMC. Heck, everyone carries AMC. What's up with that? Must be some tough negotiation tactics going on or something. :idunno:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
A streaming comparison chart. More info on this can be found here.

View attachment 33853
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CBS All access is best for CBS fans. Who would have thought? I don't think I'll ever consider Fubo. Most of their channels are available on other streaming options along with other channels for a more attractive price. Not included on the list is Philo. I'll never consider them either since they don't have sport channels, but their $16 a month would be nice for those who don't care for sports. If I wasn't at all a sports fan and Philo added Trutv, I;d likely consider them.
 
Brentford said:
CBS All access is best for CBS fans. Who would have thought? I don't think I'll ever consider Fubo. Most of their channels are available on other streaming options along with other channels for a more attractive price. Not included on the list is Philo. I'll never consider them either since they don't have sport channels, but their $16 a month would be nice for those who don't care for sports. If I wasn't at all a sports fan and Philo added Trutv, I;d likely consider them.
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I tried CBS All Access this past fall when Dish Network was in contract negotiations with CBS over pricing. Conveniently, Dish Network dropped CBS locally from our channel lineup during the middle of the NFL season while the negotiations took place. :mad: While I appreciated CBS All Access for being a quick/cheap remedy for watching the Steelers games, I found little else that I watch off of CBS. I gave their Star Trek version a try but lost interest quickly. I cancelled the service after my local was restored to my channel lineup through Dish.

I looked at Fubo but they didn't broadcast ABC/NBC in my area. They didn't have AMC or my Regional Sports Network either. Also, they are slightly more expensive that other services that offer a lot more.
 
Takes Dish Network a while to ship out the return boxes but they finally arrived. One UPS drop-off location from heading to their final destination. Bye bye to high entertainment bills.

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Here's a snapshot of our general internet usage after switching over to streaming only. In addition to streaming, I've also got a son that is into the gaming world, so that's factored in as well. You may or may not have a data limit on your internet plan. We do. It was recently increased to 2TB/month. Probably a good thing or I'd have to worry about overages each month. Something that I don't want to have to think about it. In this snapshot, everything prior to March 2nd was a combination of Dish Network along with streaming. Starting March 2nd, it was streaming only. My guess would be an average of about 6 hours/day of HD and 4K content. Probably averaging about 30GB/day. Anyway, something to consider if you're thinking about cutting the cord.....

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Just a bit of info in case anyone is interested in free tv and believes that something is better than nothing, you might check out Pluto TV. Before checking it out, you must remember that it's free and you get what you pay for. Most of the channels are channels that you've probably never heard of before. To be honest, I've only ever watched a few select shows and movies on there. Commercials pop up randomly and the quality is typically standard. The only station I check out regularly is the TNA wrestling station just to see what kind of programming they have. I've known about it and used it for quite sometime, but the reason I brought it up now is because I jut found out last night that they have partnered with the Champion Indoor Football league and broadcast every game live. It will definitely gain some exposure for the league which is pretty cool. Tonight will be my first time watching one of the games on there, so I don't know what the quality will be like but I'm excited to find out.
 
Mopardh9 said:
We are cutting the cord end of the week, bye bye Comcast!
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How is it working for you? Just curious if you're getting comfortable with the decision or if you hate that you did it.

I just entered my 2nd month of Vue and Set TV. Going strong. Getting used to the change. Been able to get every game that I've wanted to watch.

Some quick things that I've learned.....

Vue. Vue has DVR capabilities. I've been using it for NASCAR & other television shows. When you add a show/sporting event to your 'List' in Vue, you can go back at any time and choose to watch the show with PAUSE/FF/RW capabilities. If you forget to add a show to your 'List', it is still available in the On Demand section. However, if you watch a show from the On Demand section, you cannot FF past commercial's. Not really a big deal. You simply add it to your 'List' and you don't have that limitation.

Vue. Absolutely no buffering or pixelation issues whatsoever. Full HD with the quality not being a concern.

SetTV. I'm using this mainly for sports but all cable channels are on there as well. Every single sporting event is on there. I'd recommend this for any avid sports fan out there.

SetTV. There are no DVR storage capabilities that I've found. You can PAUSE/REWIND and FF live events that you previously PAUSED.

SetTV. DVR not necessary. Chances are, whatever it is that you watch, it can be found with the search option. Not only is the most recent show found, the entire series is available. I've found this to be true for everything that I've searched for to date.

SetTV. Absolutely no buffering or pixelation issues whatsoever. Full HD with the quality not being a concern.

If anyone's got any specific questions that you'd rather not post on here, feel free to PM me and I'll answer whatever questions you have about these services. Otherwise, post it here and I'll see it.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
How is it working for you? Just curious if you're getting comfortable with the decision or if you hate that you did it.

I just entered my 2nd month of Vue and Set TV. Going strong. Getting used to the change. Been able to get every game that I've wanted to watch.

Some quick things that I've learned.....

Vue. Vue has DVR capabilities. I've been using it for NASCAR & other television shows. When you add a show/sporting event to your 'List' in Vue, you can go back at any time and choose to watch the show with PAUSE/FF/RW capabilities. If you forget to add a show to your 'List', it is still available in the On Demand section. However, if you watch a show from the On Demand section, you cannot FF past commercial's. Not really a big deal. You simply add it to your 'List' and you don't have that limitation.

Vue. Absolutely no buffering or pixelation issues whatsoever. Full HD with the quality not being a concern.

SetTV. I'm using this mainly for sports but all cable channels are on there as well. Every single sporting event is on there. I'd recommend this for any avid sports fan out there.

SetTV. There are no DVR storage capabilities that I've found. You can PAUSE/REWIND and FF live events that you previously PAUSED.

SetTV. DVR not necessary. Chances are, whatever it is that you watch, it can be found with the search option. Not only is the most recent show found, the entire series is available. I've found this to be true for everything that I've searched for to date.

If anyone's got any specific questions that you'd rather not post on here, feel free to PM me and I'll answer whatever questions you have about these services. Otherwise, post it here and I'll see it.
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So far so good can't find NESN for some reason, but there are enough MLB games so I'll get to watch the Sox. Quality seems to be good, even better than Comcast, and the price is nice!
 
Mopardh9 said:
So far so good can't find NESN for some reason, but there are enough MLB games so I'll get to watch the Sox. Quality seems to be good, even better than Comcast, and the price is nice!
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I don't live in your region so I don't get NESN but I just did a search for NESN and Vue. A quick search turned up https://nesn.com/2016/10/nesn-launches-on-playstation-vue/. That article is somewhat dated. I know when I did research, I had to punch in my local Zip code to see the channels offered. When you did that, does it show up on their list?

I'll also look to see if they have NESN on SetTV. If they do, you could probably drop Vue and save even more.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't live in your region so I don't get NESN but I just did a search for NESN and Vue. A quick search turned up https://nesn.com/2016/10/nesn-launches-on-playstation-vue/. That article is somewhat dated. I know when I did research, I had to punch in my local Zip code to see the channels offered. When you did that, does it show up on their list?

I'll also look to see if they have NESN on SetTV. If they do, you could probably drop Vue and save even more.
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I've got setv, don't have playstation for Vue , maybe I'm missing it but don't see NESN on Set.
 
Mopardh9 said:
I've got setv, don't have playstation for Vue , maybe I'm missing it but don't see NESN on Set.
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K, gotcha. I thought you were on Vue and not SetTV. Yeah, I just looked at my SetTV guide. They do not have the NESN channel. Even so, you will get every MLB, NBA, NFL & NHL game. I'm kind of in the same boat. They don't have my Regional Sports Network but I can still get every single game. Most times though, the opposing or neutral announcers. I've been watching some of the Pens games on the Canadian channels from time to time. I can't wait for the NHL post season. Lots to watch.

I did check Vue. It does have the NESN channel for their region.

Price, yeah I know. You, like me, are saving a lot of money.
 
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