I used to know this shit....but evidently my brain decided it needed the storage space for more important things.....

So I got FiOS right? Right.
My package is the 50/50 Mbps which in my opinion seems just fine. I came up on Kbps speeds and thought I was in heaven when I finally got DSL back in the day....

Right now my router says I have around 12 devices connected and using internet typically. This includes 2 Laptops, 2 phones, A few Amazon Alexa (Echo & Echo Dots), An Amazon Fire Stick, a Chromecast, A couple of Nest Thermostats, a Philips Hue system, an iSmart security camera, a couple of Tablets...I think that covers it...

Anyway...so i'm paying OUT THE ASS for this FiOS bundle that I know isn't even their top tier.... i'm talking $175/month for 50/50 Mbps; Telephone (which I don't even need or use); HD package standard & I pay an extra $10 for HBO. My "package price" is $99...but my monthly bill is $175....

Anyway...riddle me this....they trying to tell me I need faster speed internet because i use so many devices... That's Bullshit right??? It's all about the router I thought....and I have their Quantum Router which is supposed to be the bees knees....

Our phones can. But the 360 and our laptops are too old to pick up a 5g network.

we got Charter 100mbps and it's got a 2g and 5g from the router. Cel phones, firestick, Roku and I think Xbox One pick up the 5g...laptop, tablet and 360 like...nah, we good.

coming in. 2ghz & 5ghz are just the bands and the speed coming into the router doesn't really allow you "connect more devices" right?


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

If you can't access it you're not truly getting faster internet. You may be getting less clogged due to some devices running on technically different networks (I'm spitballing here) but the highest speeds are based on ability to get that 5g

are on a separate band i shouldn't really be tripping?

I know our Macbooks can use the 5Ghz band, and our phones too. I think I have everything else onthe 2Ghz band though.


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

When we walk in the phones are hooked up. But when we're on our phones we're usually not also on our laptops even when they're on a network. And when we stream we're usually doing even less multi tasking.

Are you getting throttled that hard?

weekends if we're online it's pretty sporadic.

I'm thinking we're good sticking with the 50/50 speed and this router for now...but i'll post up the 2nd part to this post in just a sec....

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

it's also about which wireless standards your devices can use (802.11a is 5GHz...but is slow). There's interference from everyone using the same channels in the 2.4GHz space, or worse yet, someone choosing a channel that overlaps another channel. The signal attenuation you get when not using beam forming (802.11ac) when on 5GHz the further you are from the wireless router. Happens when using 2.4GHz, but the signal loss isn't as bad. These lead to low signal to noise ratio, which lowers your transmit rate.

Sounds like you have a solution to your problem, but a lot of things to consider with wireless...it isn't just about the GHz.

first thing you need to do is test your internet speed. While they say 50 MB you usually never run at top speed.

you have a lot of devices that prolly run in the background all damn day just in case you want to order some shit on the fly.

your house sounds like it would lose its mind if the internet went out for a few days. LOL.

Web pages load plenty fast and whenever we're using the streaming services we don't have buffering issues or anything. It's 2017 so I don't be downloading shit enough to even care if a movie downloads in 20secs vs. 2 min.

>first thing you need to do is test your internet speed. While
>they say 50 MB you usually never run at top speed.

It usually hovers around 36Mbps which is plenty fast for me.

>you have a lot of devices that prolly run in the background
>all damn day just in case you want to order some shit on the
>fly.

Yeah I know the Nest thermostats and the Echos and the iSmart security camera are always active probably.

>your house sounds like it would lose its mind if the internet
>went out for a few days. LOL.

Yeah, we'd be hot, in the dark and have ZERO entertainment living like some savages lol...


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

that's bullshit.

i only have internet and I'm mad I pay $60 a month for 50MB. I'm about to buy a router so I can save $10 a month.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

we got 100mbps and 2 Firesticks, Roku Express, laptop, Xbox One and 360, 3 phones and 2 tablets...granted all them shits are never used at once, though. At the most, 4 or 5 joints, simultaneously...never have an issue. I had to hit Charter up for a new router a few months back, though. I called and complained because we were having to reset the router once, sometimes twice, per day. They sent a dude out and he checked signal strenght, messed with the splitter downstairs, showed me it was coming in at 100. Dude left. Not two days later, same problem. I popped up at the office with the router in my hand...sure enough, kid went in the closet and came out with a crispy, new version. I brought it home, hooked it up, called tech. support so they could throw a few levers and I haven't had a problem since.

is good, YOU good right?



"Get ready....for your blessing....."

They have a $39 internet only plan that's 50/50 speed which is what I have now....but when you go to the website, it's says "Good for up to 3 devices". So based on all y'all's helpful replies, i know that's some bullshit. SO, i'm going to pursue this 50/50 internet only package.

Once I drop down to internet only....I'm thinking about getting a TiVo to handle my DVR needs for local TV (We be watching them sitcoms and evening dramas in the fall fam!). The Roamio OTA joint includes a lifetime TiVo subscription for $399.

So ultimately i'm looking at saving loot by going this route:
Internet Only $39/month
Netflix $9/month
HBO Now $15/month
Total = $63 + some taxes i'm sure....

I could average out the cost of the TiVo over a 1 year span to be $33.25/month...

So bottom line cost is $96.25/month and I end up with exactly what I need and nothing I don't need (telephone, buncha channels I never watch, etc.)

Am I missing something here?


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

Or throttle anything past three to be unusable?

>Or throttle anything past three to be unusable?
not!
I'm using the 50/50 plan now and I don't notice any capping or throttling going on. That would really be foul if they did that.


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

They used government funds to build their infrastructure, lobbied to prevent others from expanding (such as fiber), monopolized the industry, and now want to sell your metadata and open "fast lanes" as another item to be sold
.
.
.
.
They'll fuck you over three ways to Sunday and pay whatever meager fine they get tagged with if they even get tagged. Isps have us by the short and curlies. It's just one of those truisms.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

this is what I just did about 2 months ago.
Went from Internet and Cable 3 tvs, 1 with DVR (my cable package was the highest you could get without Premium channels) with taxes and shit I was just a hair under 2 bills a month. Told Charter to drop me down to internet only. They fought the good fight, first. Transferred me to like 3 different people...who ALL quickly realized my mind was made up. Took back all their cable boxes and remotes.
Now
100 mbps internet 65
Playstation Vue 35
Netflix 12
Hulu 8
2 Firesticks and a Roku Express
Saved a cool $80 a month
Do that shit!!!

>this is what I just did about 2 months ago.
>Went from Internet and Cable 3 tvs, 1 with DVR (my cable
>package was the highest you could get without Premium
>channels) with taxes and shit I was just a hair under 2 bills
>a month. Told Charter to drop me down to internet only. They
>fought the good fight, first. Transferred me to like 3
>different people...who ALL quickly realized my mind was made
>up. Took back all their cable boxes and remotes.

Yeah, see, FiOS only lets you Chat at first...and THEN they direct you to call the 800# for further support. That's what I about to do shortly.

>Now
>100 mbps internet 65
>Playstation Vue 35
>Netflix 12
>Hulu 8

I'm hoping that TiVO will allow me to not need Hulu. My wife was talking looking into Hulu...but I like that with a DVR I really don't have to worry about shows "Expiring". I still got a whole season of Prison Break to watch.


>2 Firesticks and a Roku Express

What's the Roku Express for?

>Saved a cool $80 a month
>Do that shit!!!


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

It's on roku and firetv now

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

it's got Hulu and Netflix built in, but not Playstation Vue. I already have Firesticks on the big tv in the living room and the tv in the man cave...figured I didn't need a 3rd. So, I copped the Roku for $29 bucks.

.

I like the style and feel of the Roku better. I haven't broken it out or put Kodi on it or anything...but it's got a TON of content. Also like the mobile piece to it. The app is pretty dope.

it's near impossible to install Kodi on Rokus or jailbreak them to a large extent. In addition to being fairly locked down in terms of how much you can alter them, Rokus also automatically update even when they are powered down, so I would imagine those automatic updates makes it that much harder to install Kodi like software on them.


If someone knows more about the subject to prove me wrong, let me know.

someone asked me the other day if I had jailbroken it, so I assumed that's what they meant. I had no intention of doing that, though...I already have 2 Firesticks. I don't watch a ton of tv in my bedroom, anyway.

so don't take what I'm saying as gospel, but I'm basing my response on the two or three years of using my Roku 3 player. It has a USB port to load stuff, but so far the only thing I can run from it are media files; I have no idea how to load content that could potentially jailbreak it. And like I mentioned before, the automatic updating feature makes it that much harder to truly break the device.


Like I said before though, if someone knows better than me, they are free to correct me on my errors.

link: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/3/15913390/roku-sales-banned-mexico-hackers-piracy

swipe:
Roku sales are banned in Mexico because pirates keep hacking the devices
14 comments
by Natt Garun@nattgarun Jul 3, 2017, 8:30am EDT


Following a court ruling last week, Roku devices are now banned from being sold in Mexico. The decision comes cable provider Cablevisión, owned by media company Televisa, previously requested a court order to stop the sale of Roku devices in the country because hackers would use it to offer Roku owners pirated content from HBO, ESPN, and Televisa’s channels. Although Roku fought for a suspension of that order, the court’s decision last week upheld the ruling.

"Cablevisión cannot allow the content that it licenses from domestic and foreign companies to be illegally used," Cablevisión spokeswoman Maria Eugenia Zurita told Reuters. "We would also like Roku Inc to better supervise the use of its software so that it's not used inappropriately.”

Roku’s policies currently ban copyrighted content from being streamed over its devices without distribution rights, though the case claims hackers would develop unsupported channels with access to pirated content on Roku and sell subscriptions to users over WhatsApp. Roku, which launched its streaming devices in Mexico in 2015, plans to continue to fight the order to restore sales in the country.

but you can't install it.

it back on.





"Get ready....for your blessing....."

so I doubt I will use kodi that often. the low price has me interested in copping one of these sticks. I just want the one that has the best bang for the buck.

I also have a nice site for streaming movies too.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

they won't prime me tho...

They actually have some decent content and shows. Some great Children's shows too. Amazon is really trying to dead Netflix.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

I can change builds in like 10 minutes. Just put a new joint on my downstairs one when I updated to 17.3

this is what I just did about 2 months ago.
Went from Internet and Cable 3 tvs, 1 with DVR (my cable package was the highest you could get without Premium channels) with taxes and shit I was just a hair under 2 bills a month. Told Charter to drop me down to internet only. They fought the good fight, first. Transferred me to like 3 different people...who ALL quickly realized my mind was made up. Took back all their cable boxes and remotes.
Now
100 mbps internet 65
Playstation Vue 35
Netflix 12
Hulu 8
2 Firesticks and a Roku Express
Saved a cool $80 a month
Do that shit!!!

Still miss the interface and speed of it. The FiOS DVR is just ok...but still not as fast and smooth as my TiVO was way back when....

With that said, at least with Tivo i'm owning the equipment and at $399 vs. $20/month for FiOS DVR it pays for itself after a couple of years. I have seen them cheaper.


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

I looked on the FiOS website and read their description of the 50/50 plan. But I didn't read anything about a 3 device limit.

Unless you were using their router, I don't know how they could limit the number of devices in your home network. My sense, without looking at the marketing, is that unless you were using a 'static IP address' (a dedicated line to the Internet and something most people don't need), the device restriction sounds odd. Like a number the company would list in order to offer the suggested number of devices to be used and not a definitive number.

For the record, I'm not in networking. I do have some experience setting up home networks though and doing some basic troubleshooting.

insinuating that if you have more than that you won't be pleased.




"Get ready....for your blessing....."

Like other posters have mentioned all of your devices aren't going to be using large chunks of bandwidth at once. I wouldn't think that the Alexas require much bandwidth. The only issue would be the number of streaming services you would use at once. I did some quick searching and apparently the amount of bandwidth needed for an HD video stream is 5Mbps. So your family could realistically watch two or three videos at once and have enough bandwidth left over to use Facebook or for other activities.

"Get ready....for your blessing....."

Call Comcast about my speed experience and the did upgrade the router when they upgraded my package. SO I have to just exchange it.


.
.

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Plato

So I sat on the phone for about an hour. This is what they came up with

Existing Triple Play: $59.99
Fios Digital Voice Unlimited
Fios TV Select HD
Fios Internet 50/50

-$60 Agreement Incentive thru Jul 20, 2019
-$5 Fios Internet Loyalty Discount thru Jul 20, 2018

Existing Fios TV Select HD Bonus Pack Fee Waived
Existing Rent: HD Set-Top Box 2 $24.00
Existing $4 TV Equipment Package Discount Included -$4.00
Existing Rent: Fios Quantum Gateway Router $10.00
New HBO $15.00
New DVR Service $12.00
Estimated Monthly Subtotal $116.99
Taxes, Fees and Other Verizon Charges (see detail) $13.80
Fios TV Broadcast Fee $3.49
Estimated Monthly Charges $134.28 vs the $175 I currently pay.


I could completely remove the Cable boxes/DVR and get a Cable Card for a TiVO instead. That would take another $32 off the $134.96 bringing monthly down to $102.96 BUT, i'd need to buy a TiVO and average that into the cost...

So the breakdown is this

FiOS triple play all the way including 2 of their DVRs:
$134.28/month

FiOS triple play NO DVRs but a Cable card to use with TiVO
$136.21/month doing 1 TiVO.
$148.62/month doing 1 TiVO + a TiVO extender to have DVR in 2 rooms

The only plan she could find that was Internet Only was $59.99/month
So:
FiOS $59.99/month
TiVO: $33.25/month (averaging out the cost of a $399 TiVO OTA)
PS Vue Access Slim Subscription: $29.99/month
HBO Now Subscription: $14.99/month
Total: $138.22/month

I could back the PS Vue out of that one though....only put it in for OWN & HGTV (for family)....i'm thinking I could get those two a different way though



"Get ready....for your blessing....."

PS Vue doesn't come with the local networks in all areas, but they do have on demand content for ABC, NBC, and FOX. I think that they were able to reach an agreement with CBS to have service almost everywhere, but that doesn't include on demand, just live TV.

and can you rewind & fast forward?

I'm wondering if it's like the FiOS On Demand which has commercials AND prevents you from Fast Forwarding.


"Get ready....for your blessing....."

On the On Demand stuff, the networks usually do commercials.

The Live TV may have the commercials blocked out, which is weird.

PS Vue also has that cloud DVR service that works pretty good, that you have full control over. Unfortunately, you can't DVR the stuff on the networks, but the cable stuff can be.

and use my own that's another $19/month I can save. If I ditch the DVRs, I can shave another $20 which would bream me down to around $85/month or so I think....

Not bad.

I looked into the Playstation VUE, it was pretty cool, but didn't run optimally on the Fire Stick.....probably need the Fire TV box instead. Also I heard that they're dropping their lowest priced tier, so that kinda sucks.


"Get ready....for your blessing....."