What's new

how to get rid of directv, dish etc (1 Viewer)

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
i'm very close to getting rid of my directv service. Question is I have 4 tv's and I'm trying to figure out how to get them all up and running with some replacement. Any idea how I could accomplish this? I know I could get some type of set top box (roku, etc) for each but is that the best option? Is there any type of media server that will host other set top box connections or something to that effect?
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
What shows do you normally watch? Network TV? Then you can use an antenna and the TVs' internal ATSC tuners. Movies and cable - a service like Hulu, Netflix, etc. and some type of box to decode it. You also need to see if your ISP limits your downloads because some companies do unless you are streaming movies directly from them. You would be amazed at how fast you can eat up 250GB of bandwidth when watching TV. How close are these TV's to each other? Can you put your media players in a central location and feed the TV's? That's what I do with my DirecTV receivers.
 

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
I have netflix. We usually watch network tv mostly. So you have directv receivers with a media player in a central location? Tell me how that works and what all your able to do with it
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
As I said earlier, for network TV all you need is the proper antenna connected to each TV. Antennaweb.org will get you started on what size/type of antenna you need. My DirecTV receivers (3) and Blu-ray player are all located in the theater room. I have them wired so that they are all available on the projector in that room as well as the TV in the living room. If I had a TV in the bedroom, then I could share them in there as well. All it takes is a little creative wiring. In both rooms, I use the same Harmony remote with similar configurations. It makes life easy for my wife in that she can click the Watch Blu-Ray button in either room and it works.
 

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
I have ATT and I don't believe they limit. Also the tv's are not that close together.....they're all spread out throughout the house.
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
michealmyers said:
I have ATT and I don't believe they limit. Also the tv's are not that close together.....they're all spread out throughout the house.
Again - What shows do you normally watch? Network TV? You answered - We usually watch network tv mostly So an antenna will take care of most of your TV watching. Have you gone to antennaweb.org to find which antenna you need? What about your other programs? Are you willing to wait on them to come out on Netflix? Do you want a Hulu subscription to get them sooner?
 

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
It says I need a medium multi directional antenna. yeah I mean if it boils down to it....I'll get a Hulu subscription. I think I can get most of the stuff we watch through hulu/netflix/etc......but the real prob is sports. ESPN3 is the only thing available as far as I know.
 

Alfonso_M

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 25, 2000
Messages
399
This small/compact multi-directional Digital antenna (antenna direct DB2) is the best I've seen, I have installed a couple for friends right on the Satellite post (removing dish only) but of course it depends on your location, in my house I installed one in the attic and works perfectly (see pics on AMA page), it tunes all the local channels without problems, some people even set it up on a pole right next to the TV in the living room. http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-DB2-Directional-Antenna/dp/B000EHUE7I/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1309983672&sr=8-11 NBC has a free Universal Sport channels transmitting on one of the sub-channels, not prime time sports but not too bad either, I also get the 'THIS" and "Antenna TV" channels, they play old shows and movies, there is in my area a Music Video channel too.. all this plus Blu movies is all I need Sure beats paying from $60 to 100.00 a month to watch 20 minutes or more of commercials per hour...
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
Alfonso_M said:
Sure beats paying from $60 to 100.00 a month to watch 20 minutes or more of commercials per hour...
All 3 of my DirecTV receivers are DVRs so I don't watch commercials. In fact, I'm not even sure when most of my favorite programs are even on. I always have something worth watching already recorded. One DVR records shows on ABC, NBC and CBS. One DVR records Fox and cable series. One DVR records OTA HD and non HD satellite series. Saturday football is easy to schedule with the ability to record 6 high def shows at one time.
 

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
but your still running directv right? See I'm talking about just getting rid of it totally and being able to service my 4 tv's with something.....I just have no clue what. I know I can by the antenna.....but do I just hook that up with the coax/splitter that directv is using currently?
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
Until you ask questions I don't know what you want.
I can by the antenna.....but do I just hook that up with the coax/splitter that directv is using currently?
DirecTV doesn't use a standard splitter, it uses a proprietary multi-switch. You can replace the multi-switch with a 1 in/ 4 out standard splitter and it will probably work. For other content, you will need something like the Popcorn Hour or the Boxee. Depending on the model, the Popcorn can also stream from your PC. You could load an ATSC tuner card or two into it and have it be your whole house DVR. The Popcorn would stream from the PC instead of the internet. There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to set up this but we can't narrow it down until you list your goals. Getting rid of satellite is like saying "I need a new vehicle" on a car forum. What kind? What will you use it for? You need to think about programs you can't miss now and how much flexibility you want for the future.
 

michealmyers

Auditioning
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
9
Real Name
brett
I just want something that will sort of model directv currently. Things I'd like to have are dvr ability, channels such as food network, tnt, sports south, fox sports net, espn, any disney, or nick, sci fi, and possibly some music channels. I haven't checked out popcorn but I have looked at boxee and roku.
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
TNT has programs on their site a few days later. I'm guessing you can't download them for later viewing. I'm not sure about the Food Network but I've never seen it advertised. Sports will be impossible to do like you want. ESPN won't let you stream outside of a browser and bypass their site's advertising. Music will be the easiest with hundreds of radio stations available as well as services like Pandora.
 

CB750

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
1,035
Real Name
Bill
You didn't mention why you want to dump Direct TV. But from reading this thread I would suggest that you get some quotes from your local cable companies as you sound like you what to receive that kind of programing in your home. You can get some pretty good deals these days if you bundle your Internet, phone, and cable together in one package. Since you seem to be unsure of how to connect all of your TV's using the suggestions of others the cable company can handle the installation for you.
 

Gary Shipley

Second Unit
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
281
I have to agree with Bill. I used to have Directv but got tired of losing the signal every time there was some snow or rain. So,I went with a triple play package from Mediacom, my local cable outfit. I ended up with high speed internet (which I did not have before due to the area I live in), a set price for my phone service, HD DVR, and all the channels I had before including around 20 HD channels (for free) which I did not have before. The bundle saved us about $30 a month and I gained more than I had.
 

Jason Charlton

Ambassador
Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 16, 2002
Messages
3,557
Location
Baltimore, MD
Real Name
Jason Charlton
Yeah - it's not very likely that you'll be able to switch TO cable in order to save money unless you're willing to bundle services...


I've been with Comcast Cable here in Baltimore for several years. We have TV, Internet and phone bundled with them. As time has passed, our rates have climbed and our "special deals for new customers" have expired. We're now paying an outrageous fortune every month. As "old" customers, the deals simply aren't there anymore.


We're switching to Verizon FiOS next week - it's the only simple way to maintain our bundle of TV, Internet and phone. With all the "new customer" deals, we'll get better HD programming and faster Internet and manage to save about $80 per month. There's no contract required, so we figure there's little risk in trying it out.


If we don't like it, we'll go back to Comcast and start off fresh as another "new" customer. I'm willing to "play the system" if they're going to be such jerks to their longtime subscribers.


I'm not sure what you're getting with DirecTV now, and if you have 4 TVs (even if not all are HD) and require set top boxes, DVRs, etc. for each set, I can't imagine you'd be able to get HD service and all that hardware and come out $100/month cheaper than DTV.
 

Robert_J

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
8,350
Location
Mississippi
Real Name
Robert
with DirecTV now, and if you have 4 TVs (even if not all are HD) and require set top boxes, DVRs, etc. for each set
With some creative wiring, you can share the signal of a DirecTV receiver to multiple TV's. It's only a savings of $6.95 or something when you drop a receiver so that isn't much. I pay close to $150/month for DirecTV but I'm getting all of the movie channels as well as the regional sports package. It is well worth it to receive the programming I want. I'm out of market for my favorite college football teams (one is my avatar) so the regional sports allow me to watch a lot of games that I would normally miss. I recently started paying extra for the ability to network. It's awesome to have the guides form multiple DVRs combined into a single guide among may other things. The problem with the OP is sports as well. Without regional sports channels and ESPN, there isn't much. Especially if you are out of market for your team. You have to ask is it worth it to YOU.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,806
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top