DirecTV and Dish 2014 price increase

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazingus Are you on satellite internet service? We are currently cellular at the house and it's starting to be a drag.

No, we have OTA broadband service via two-way line of sight radio. From when we moved out here in 98 until 05 we were on dial-up , then on cellular for the next few years. We tried two other OTA providers but they were unreliable, then found the current provider a couple of years ago and have been happy with the service.

DD#1 lives a few miles away and is in a dead zone valley where they not only cannot get the OTA service, they have no cell service either. She went with a satellite provider (Exede) and has been happy with it - although my teen grandson is always grousing about the monthly download limit (our OTA provider has no limit).

[Gazingus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo No, we have OTA broadband service via two-way line of sight radio. From when we moved out here in 98 until 05 we were on dial-up , then on cellular for the next few years. We tried two other OTA providers but they were unreliable, then found the current provider a couple of years ago and have been happy with the service. DD#1 lives a few miles away and is in a dead zone valley where they not only cannot get the OTA service, they have no cell service either. She went with a satellite provider (Exede) and has been happy with it - although my teen grandson is always grousing about the monthly download limit (our OTA provider has no limit).

Thanks for that reply. We are in Bosque County and not enough population to attract the OTA companies. I may be getting Exede soon.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazingus Thanks for that reply. We are in Bosque County and not enough population to attract the OTA companies. I may be getting Exede soon.

People I know with Exede are mostly happy with it though it has the usual satellite internet issues (latency times, weather dropouts, low bandwidth allotments). I looked into it when I was trying to explore our Internet options here when we were getting ready to move here nearly a year ago.

The latency time isn't a big deal for most things, but for stuff like online gaming where fast reflexes and responses from the server are critical for not getting eaten by the dragon, it won't work well. And as for the bandwidth, if someone is occasionally a night owl or can schedule large downloads overnight, Exede has a window where there is unmetered, full-speed and essentially unlimited usage between midnight and 5 AM.

That said, it's also not for power users who need more bandwidth at high speeds. Even their top plan gives 25 GB a month, which isn't that much if you do a lot of downloads and video, but after that you will still get (slow) service for the rest of the month -- about 128Kbps, roughly 2-3x faster than dial-up -- until the next month starts and the meter resets.

[rbmrtn]

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Originally Posted by Dawg52 I already ordered the Roku 2. If I don't like it, I'll ship it to Rewahoo for a full refund.

You should have waited, it's down to $34.99 now

[Dawg52]

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Originally Posted by rbmrtn You should have waited, it's down to $34.99 now

Mine was $34.99 plus $5 shipping. Your price delivered?

[rbmrtn]

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Originally Posted by Dawg52 Mine was $34.99 plus $5 shipping. Your price delivered?

Never mind, I thought the shipping was included ( I didn't order one ).

Newegg has a deal on a refurb roku 3, it was 69.99 over the weekend.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbmrtn Never mind, I thought the shipping was included ( I didn't order one ). Newegg has a deal on a refurb roku 3, it was 69.99 over the weekend.

I was tempted by the newer model, but I figure if the $35 refurb Roku 2 passes the "proof of concept" phase and earns a high wife acceptance factor, I may buy a better one for the living room and put the Roku 2 in the bedroom (which is an older analog set anyway, doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles).

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 I was tempted by the newer model, but I figure if the $35 refurb Roku 2 passes the "proof of concept" phase and earns a high wife acceptance factor, I may buy a better one for the living room and put the Roku 2 in the bedroom (which is an older analog set anyway, doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles).

Regarding your Roku move plan you may wish to double check the ROKU2 output - I seem to recall that our Roku3 wouldn't work with the analog tv set - it only had a HDMI output

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Regarding your Roku move plan you may wish to double check the ROKU2 output - I seem to recall that our Roku3 wouldn't work with the analog tv set - it only had a HDMI output

I checked the specs. The Roku 2 XD has composite video out for older analog sets, at least from what I've read. I think Roku 3 removed support for older video outputs. If not, if I replace it I put it on eBay for half of what I bought it for, and I'm "out" maybe 20 bucks -- less than 1/4 of a monthly satellite bill.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by REWahoo I took advantage of a deal on a refurbished Roku XD for $40. No time like the present to move forward on my 'cut the satellite' resolution.

FYI:

Note that this model does not have an Ethernet (Cat 5) connection and only works via wireless. The refurb Roku 2 XS has the Ethernet conection and 1080p resolution.

On another note: When you get your refub unit, the remote *usually* is not paired to the unit. You will have to go through the pairing set up which is pretty simple.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 On another note: When you get your refub unit, the remote *usually* is not paired to the unit. You will have to go through the pairing set up which is pretty simple.

Thanks, you may have saved me some frustration.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Thanks, you may have saved me some frustration.

You are welcome. Most of these units come with a new remote which is not paired to anything, especially the refurb'd unit.

[calmloki]

The roku app on Iphone is pretty handy btw, and allows dueling remote wars.