New home tv set up HELP

[ricky2tricky4city]

We've moved and for a while have been thinking of a shake-up in how I watch tv..programs and films.

Since the kids stunning arrival ..life has changed somewhat and tv viewing/behaviour with it.

These days I'm watching mainly sport, hbo stuff and the odd thing from the main 5 channels. Very rarely (except live sport) does anything get watched when actually on.

Edit: kids watch ppig, dora, Tilly, topsy Tim , Ben holly etc etc

Thinking Kodi box and/ or NowTv box

Basically gonna ditch Sky. (multi channel package plus sports circa £58 month)

Should I use some of the saving towards a better internet connection? For streaming/ downloading?
Will BT provide the best speeds (also with the bonus of having access to their Sport content ).?
Any good sites to check speeds?
Kodi box recommendations?
Loved having sky+ planner and recorder. Any decent substitutes?.(can 1 box be a downloader/recorder of media from various sauces?)

Any Help / Advice guys.

Have chromecast. Phone is Android and use a Surface Pro...if any of that matters

 

[StephenH]

It's a very individual decision Sky or Virgin. Both have good picture quality which for me is vital, followed be convenience of use! (Sky works and is easy for the whole family)
Push for some more discount from sky - check if you can get Virgin remember!

If your main reason for ditching Sky is money, then watch your sport on the iPad/laptop and get Freeview or similar.

Im with Sky because I like it - any missing sport I use Apple TV for 3 o'clock kick offs .

 

[scaramanga]

Do you have an always on home computer? Or a NAS somewhere?

If not, do you have a computer that could be used to download torrents from time to time?

If you're relying on streaming everything you'll run into some issues from time to time - not so bad as a techie but wife/kids won't like it. Far better that you have a storage medium, even if it's just a hard drive plugged into your router.

 

[Spursman]

Just get a Kodi box, either buy one yourself and set it up or get a preloaded one. My mate sells quite a few and he offers remote support if you get stuck. https://www.facebook.com/nosubtv/

I used to have sky, got this box, started off cancelling the movies and then thought whats the point, dont really use Sky and was paying too much each month. Kodi type box has a bit of a learning curve but once you get the hang of it you'll love it.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

In reply to the replies (thanks guys)

No Virgin in my street.

As the way I view has changed, a lot of what Sky offers is not relevant to me. The series stuff I can watch on download/box set/stream format. Plus their footie offering has reduced. I'm around a lot more on the 3pm Saturday slot, so rivers are a goer and I want it to be a hq as poss (that zeed bloke?)

So my thinking was to bulletproof the broadband download capacity (i work from home a lot as well, so will help with that) so streaming , downloads etc are flawless and give the best chance of decent definition if available. I'll be using the main channel catch-up services as well and also chromecast.

Will BT trump sky,talk talk etc with their fibre speeds or is it a level playing field?

I know they can be more expensive but usually you can get an initial deal and plus I'd get BT sports with some prem and of course CL (heard there are some good teams in it this year ), plus widespread WiFi when out and about is useful.

Scara - could I use the pc as a media server and just stack a library of downloads for the kids stuff and maybe films? Can I link that to the tv and just scroll thru from my armchair via app/extension/software?.

Do you have to do a lot of searching for Kodi content or are there forums to point you the right direction?

I use a bit of popc time and proj fr tv on the surface now.

I can afford it....but Having to pay line rental is annoying enough......just feel old methods/habits need changing. And I will save a few sheckles as well.

 

[Raziel]

Just confirm you are actually saving money.

- You can get rid of tv & home phone services, but usually need to compensate by a slightly higher internet speed.
- Most cable companies in the US price it to the point that it makes very little sense to actually just buy 1 service, so if you go for just internet, its a fraction less than internet +tv. Add in Netflix/Hulu or some other streaming service and you are probably back where you started. Not sure if UK market is the same now.

Yes, you could setup some kind of media server/file location and stream via a variety of options.

 

[scaramanga]

Will BT trump sky,talk talk etc with their fibre speeds or is it a level playing field?

I know they can be more expensive but usually you can get an initial deal and plus I'd get BT sports with some prem and of course CL (heard there are some good teams in it this year ), plus widespread WiFi when out and about is useful.

It all comes via BT's fibre. I don't believe anyone is significantly cheaper so you're better off with BT so they can't point fingers when it breaks IMO.

You'll have to pay extra for BT Sport and if you're planning on streaming then don't bother.

I've yet to see a fibre connection run at less than 1080p streaming speed.

Scara - could I use the pc as a media server and just stack a library of downloads for the kids stuff and maybe films? Can I link that to the tv and just scroll thru from my armchair via app/extension/software?.

Absolutely - that would be my recommendation. That's what Kodi is designed to do, all the streaming stuff has been added on as extras. I keep all of my films/tv series on a share on the PC and point Kodi towards it.

Do you have to do a lot of searching for Kodi content or are there forums to point you the right direction?

Not at all, there's plenty of help out there.

I spend £15 per month on a site that streams all the sports channels in HD and then use torrents for TV shows/films. Others insist that it's better to put more effort in and get it free instead.

 

[Rorschach]

I think you can use your sky kit to view free to air channels without a subscription if you have the right card. I haven't tried it though.

Edit - no recording either but it's free.​

 

[Spursman]

Kodi is pretty easy to use. If you stick to exodus, U.K. Turk, 123 movies, m4u u can't go wrong.

For sports there are a couple of applications I use which are decent.

If you wanted a subscription service. There is one called hd tv (something like that) I trialled it last season and it's brilliant. ( every game. All hd, no buffering) he's doing a deal for £130for the season. All games included.

This is all on an android box.

 

[Rorschach]

Kodi is pretty easy to use. If you stick to exodus, U.K. Turk, 123 movies, m4u u can't go wrong.

For sports there are a couple of applications I use which are decent.

If you wanted a subscription service. There is one called hd tv (something like that) I trialled it last season and it's brilliant. ( every game. All hd, no buffering) he's doing a deal for £130for the season. All games included.

This is all on an android box.

What sports apps do you use?

 

[scaramanga]

I think you can use your sky kit to view free to air channels without a subscription if you have the right card. I haven't tried it though.

Edit - no recording either but it's free.​

That's a point - do you record/pause tv? Do you need the ability to do so?

If so, you're adding complexity - not a lot but you'll need a TV server of some kind. I can talk youthrough it if you're interested.

 

[Spursman]

What sports apps do you use?

Halow tv
Dc sports
Evolve sports
Zem tv

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Update: Bt infinity ordered, 15 days!! i have to wait for an 'engineers visit' ffs, i'm sure the last f*cker here had bt bband. anyway this monday it is.

Speeds in the road look good, guaranteed 56mb, and the package gives upper limit of 52mb, so hopefully all good. Plus the new BT smartHub (6) gets very good reviews performance wise.

£10 a month inc bt tv youview so some tv and bt sports pumped thru that. £140 cashback on quidco and £150 to spend loaded mastercard from BT (makes me wonder whether im actually paying anything? 12 months line rental paid upfront to save a few more beans. (all on12 month contract)

Luckily they've already given me a id and password so have piggy backed on next doors BT Fon to keep me going.

Now @scaramanga you may want to merge this with the football package thread over in SNV?? As it now about pretty much the chat going on about kodi, streams, packages for tv/sport.

What 'extra' does having an android box give me? against just downloading kodi to my devices (surface,laptop,smart phone) and either hdmi connecting to the tv or can i chromecast it?
Thinking of going with one of the paid services like marky suggests. Do i access these iptv thru kodi and can i therefore watch it on any device? and anywhere with a decent connection?
What set up will make use of a decent connection? and what would be detrimental?
Can kodi also manage a library of downloaded stuff films/tv/music/podcasts etc or does plex do this better (or am i just confused)
Do i need a media server to be able to call up any downloaded content to any tv or device in the house?

Lot of questions....so any help appreciated.

#cuttingtheskycord

 

[Spursman]

If you've got a android tablet you can install kodi and get the 3pm games which you wont get on another package. All this for free.

if you did want to get a no hassle paid streaming service then there is a good one available for £100 for the season. This will also include all sky and BT games.

I found chromcasting it looses the quality. For the sake of a dedicated box youre better off getting one. They arent expensive and some companies offer really good support (as they can be a bit fiddly)

You need a minimum of about 6mb download speed to have no issues with streaming. I took my box to Japan and it worked great there. i was able to watch all the Euros on BBC & ITV.

I just cant believe more people dont have these boxes. Some people are too skeptical about them. if you buy from a company that offers support you cant go wrong.

 

[scaramanga]

I just cant believe more people dont have these boxes. Some people are too skeptical about them. if you buy from a company that offers support you cant go wrong.

Mostly because they're less good thanks what's out there.

I own one of the top of the range ones and it's fine for Kodi, but if I want to use iplayer then I need to plug a mouse in. Netflix is the same. 4OD? My5? No chance, crash on launch.

Outside of Kodi they don't have the infrastructure that other players do. Fire TV, Apple TV, etc all have a mature market of apps designed to work with remotes that are subtly (bit importantly) different from the standard android ones that you get on kodi boxes.

 

[Spursman]

Ive got a T8 V3 and a MX box which was cheaper and the only thing different is the speed of downloading pictures of the shows. The cheaper boxes are pretty good for the price. Actually use my cheaper box more. Ive got 3 in my house. Dont tend to get any crash problems using the apps on there

 

[scaramanga]

Ive got a T8 V3 and a MX box which was cheaper and the only thing different is the speed of downloading pictures of the shows. The cheaper boxes are pretty good for the price. Actually use my cheaper box more. Ive got 3 in my house. Dont tend to get any crash problems using the apps on there

How do you operate iPlayer with the remote? Or something like DVBLink?

 

[Spursman]

same way as i would any other app or kodi. Both the boxes i use with no issues. they come with dedicated remotes

Under my apps it will have iplayer etc. If not you can download them to the box using google PlayStore.

Even inside kodi you can get iplayer, ITV etc. Most of the soaps i catch up on i use an addon called "Soap catchup"

 

[scaramanga]

same way as i would any other app or kodi. Both the boxes i use with no issues. they come with dedicated remotes

Under my apps it will have iplayer etc. If not you can download them to the box using google PlayStore.

Even inside kodi you can get iplayer, ITV etc. Most of the soaps i catch up on i use an addon called "Soap catchup"

When I last tried this (only a few weeks ago) the Android apps weren't optimised for remotes and just didn't work without one of those gyro/mouse type ones.

 

[Spursman]

oh yes yes, i know what you mean now. Some apps arent very good with the remote, while others are ok. You can use the mouse setting on the standard remote. its a big fiddly tho.

I find the majority of what i use it in kodi anyway. You dont really need to use the catchup services on dedicated apps

On the boxes i use, ive got a standard remote, wireless mouse and remote that works like a nintendo wii remote with a keyboard.

for viewing stuff, standard remote is fine. Anything more like typing stuff the keyboard remote is handy. Using a mouse is quite nice